Answer Me
Just finished the Answer Me episode, and I have to say, Jean Marsh was fantastic in the episode. Marsh's performance was so over the top, I couldn't help but love it.
Troy, I could not agree more. I love Jean in this role (and it's good to see that I'm not the only one who talks to myself!)
Hey, I've worked up a theory about this episode--Is it okay if I run it by ya to see what ya think?
Okay, so here's this English aspiring actress living in an apartment in New York. For whatever reason, she goes nuts one day and decides to commit suicide (probably because she didn't get the part that she so desperately wanted). She contemplates doing it with pills or a razor, but then decides to strangle herself with a telephone cord.
While dying (or perhaps after she's dead), she tries to make sense out of what had just happened. Now of course she doesn't want to blame herself, so she decides to blame it all on the evil phone from hell that is currently strangling her.
And THIS is what we get to see--what goes on in her mind while dying on the floor, and NOT what actually happened.
What do I have to back up this theory?
1) We never see or hear anybody else but her. She does talk to Lucy and superintendent Rodriguez on the phone, but we never hear their voices. Oh but we DO hear the operator's voice on the phone towards the end, but there's one problem with that--It's HER voice!!!
2) We find out that ANOTHER English woman lived in that apartment. What are the odds that the phone strangler would get two English-women victims back-to-back?
3) Because she doesn't do many of the obvious things that anybody else would have done in that situation. Here are a few things that come to mind...
3a) She could've checked with the other tenants in the building to see if they were equally annoyed with the constant ringing and banging. We never even SEE any other tenants. How could they not have heard?
3b) While talking to Rodriguez, she doesn't even ask why an empty apartment would even have a working phone.
3c) She could've ripped the phone out of the wall and took it completely out of the building and thrown it in a dumpster (or buried it or burned it or shattered it to bits with a hammer).
3d) She could've made the same phone calls that she made there from her apartment. She had some great ideas for phone calls (operator, friend Beth, 411), but she tried them from the WRONG phone (where all of the calls miraculously went to the same unhelpful person who happened to be quite knowledgeable on the subject of phone-strangulations).
3e) She could've called Rodriguez back and told him exactly what had happened when she went in there and demanded that he come and check it out for himself.
3f) She could've left the building and found another place to live. Instead, she goes right back into that apartment after it totally freaked her out and had her running for her life the first time.
So why doesn't she try any of these obvious solutions? Because she is trying her best to convince herself that it's not her fault, so basic logic like this would prevent her from reaching her desired objective.
Now the biggest problem with my theory is that if everything that we know is all coming from her crazy mind, then how can we trust that ANY of it is true?
I admit that's a huge flaw, but it's the best that I can come up with.
I guess other alternatives are that it could all just be a nightmare in her head (while trying to get some much-needed sleep for the big audition the next day), or that it's simply the demonic phone next door with a strong craving for some good old-fashioned feminine-English neck-snuggling.
And I think that we can all relate to that!
I did wonder why she didn't talk to any other neighbors. You would think that she'd at least talk to the people on the other side of the noisy apartment.
I think her being by herself for the entire episode could represent how isolated she was emotionally. We never see anyone, and as you said, it's her own voice on the phone. There is definitely credibility to your theory.
For such a simple episode, it sure leaves a lot to think about.
You make an excellent point in how this episode addresses isolation and being all alone in the world (which is something that we've all dealt with and can relate to), and maybe that's the main point that they were going for. I never thought about that.
"Going Native" is another episode that explores this topic--Check that one out if you haven't already--I think it's really well-done, with another fine performance by a female lead (Kim Griest).
I admit that my theory takes quite a leap of faith, but I'm glad to see that you don't find it coming completely out of left field. It's the best that I can come up with (although perhaps not at all what the writer intended), but I'm always willing to explore other interpretations. It's one that can easily be interpreted in many different ways.
I watched Going Native in high school, and I just couldn't get into it. I'll definitely give the episode another go though.
Are those the only episodes you have theories on?
I think it's fantastic that we can talk and interpret an anthology show from the 80's. Even if the theories are different and unorthodox, it's still fun to try and find different explanations for things. TV shows and films are really fun when you can enjoy episodes at face value and try to dig under the surface a bit.
Yeah, try it again. I saw Going Native first-run and thought it was awful...watched it again when I bought the DVDs and found it to be a pleasant surprise.
shareI agree with you 100% Troy. It's like you're reading my mind (Hey, there's a good idea for a Tales From the Darkside episode).
Reading over this board, Going Native doesn't appear to be a favorite of many (so you might not like it), but I think it's a great "Judge not lest ye be judged" episode, and I'm happy to see that Painmonger just chimed in and liked it as well (Alright Painmonger!)
I have theories on many episodes. Just read the first page of this board, and you'll find my theories on A New Man, The Last Car, It All Comes Out in the Wash, and Dream Girl. I've been re-watching all of the episodes on YouTube, so I come back here occasionally to get my two cents worth in on episodes that make you go "Hmmm".
I'd watch that episode, haha. It's a shame the revival series didn't get picked up.
I look forward to checking out the episode again. Even if I still don't like the episode, at least I tried, right?
I also look forward to looking through your other theories.
I saw today that YouTube just took all of the episodes off the web-site (due to whining by CBS).
Greed wins again!
Oh well, at least I had fun watching those episodes while I could.
That's too bad. I suggest buying the DVD's. The seasons are very affordable, and you can get the entire series for under $50. The cases look great on the shelf too!
shareI got season 2 and 3 from the Half Price book store.
Answer me episode: Another horror/sci-fi anthology had a show very similar to this called either The Call or The Caller. On the other end of the phone it was a man's voice, and his victim was a younger woman, probably a college student. There was even a small "novelization" of the episode; I remember reading it at the library when I was in high school, in the early 1990's.
I like this theory, though when Joan thought to call a woman in the same city who used to be her best friend "before [she] stopped calling," I took it that this friend--likely to also be British, as this could have been how the two women met--was the very same one who committed suicide in apartment 12F.
The ghost could have been seeking revenge on a friend who stopped calling, one factor in the suicide.
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Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"--Pres. Merkin Muffley
Interesting take on it, Lord! I've never thought of it that way before.
Thanks for sharing.