Date of airing: November 9, 1996 (CBS)
Nielsen ratings information: 14.5 million viewers, 9.5/16 in Households
As this show was becoming a tiny bit more supernatural over the past couple of episodes and potentially for the next few hours as well, it is also more and more a variant of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, the predecessor of EARLY EDITION's Saturday evening timeslot. It could not have escaped anyone who has watched the show about angels and the show about a guy who gets tomorrow’s newspaper today that Samantha’s story is eerily similar to what you find on TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, even going so far as to almost making me sob when the “climactic” part of the story begins and Gary has to do a little more than just turn someone’s life around – he actually has to save it. When Samantha was already one leg over the railing, ready to jump into the cold water and end this traumatic life of hers, all I could think of was how Monica would have been standing on the bridge as well, her head and hair lighting up in soft and warm orange light, giving one of her “God loves you” monologues. And of course, I got a small urge to start watching TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL now, especially since I want to know if its religious nature would “do it” for me as an atheist.
However, this is EARLY EDITION, and Gary ain’t no angel (at least not literally), but he does know the future and he is here to prevent tragic fates from happening with the help of his two closest friends. Gary is not much of a talker, he just lets the emotions play out, which makes for a compelling TV show and great entertainment. And every once in a while emotional stories like Samantha’s are needed for this achy breaky heart of mine, which sometimes does need that kitsch. I like crying when watching sad stuff, and I cry easily when doing so. Someone, please tell me why this is a fact and I feel happy after having been miserable.
 |
| Gary has a miserable day looking for someone during a rainstorm. |
As dramatic as Samantha’s story was, it was also a good one. One might roll their eyes a little bit when it comes to her suddenly showing up at Gary’s hotel room door, after the two only exchanged a minute or two at the bus stop, but here she was, in desperate need of help and support, without saying it out loud. It makes for a nice and quick character arc, but it became noticeable midway through how the story wasn’t having much of an outcome or leaving a lasting impression with either the characters or the viewers, since Sam’s story was kind of generally generic and not unique enough to be wholly impressive or tragic. 44 minutes were probably not enough to turn this story into a true tragedy.
Then again, every once in a while you stumble upon throwaway stories and filler episodes that impress you so much that they do indeed leave something of an impression. The season one episode of PERSON OF INTEREST with Linda Cardellini is one of those examples (and of the few episodes I saw of that show, this one has been most memorable for me, years after I watched parts of it), and although I don’t think that this episode of EARLY EDITION will leave the same kind of impression, it was at least a good and solid hour of television, and one that might deserve to be on the list of should-be-watched because of the nature of the emotions and how it can be great and wonderful and life-saving to have a random connection with someone at a bus stop. Next time when you are about to cry your soul out in the rain, sitting at the bus stop, having no family to fall back to, and a person comes up and seems to want to help you… Maybe it’s just another Gary Hobson. Are you going to talk? Do you reach out to that person for the help you so desperately need?
Chuck’s story could have been cut out of the episode, since it has even less meaning than everything that happened in this episode, but it’s at least nice to know that Chuck can be sort of a good creep, albeit a creep nonetheless. I didn’t know what to say about what a date looked like in his eyes (telling the woman to wear a black dress that cost her an arm and a leg? What’s so wrong about shirt and jeans and fast food?), but I was rolling my eyes into another dimension. Then again, he tried to not sound like an asshole, although unfortunately he still did, which means Chuck still needs a lesson on how to talk to women and how not to look like the inevitable creep when he finds the opportunity to talk to a woman. Why Lenore was still interested in going out with him was beyond me, but maybe Chuck just needs a girlfriend for an episode or two. Maybe even someone like Chuck deserves to be happy, even if that happiness is only defined by a woman at his side.
 |
| This is not a happy family. This isn't even a family. |
After this episode ended, one might ask though if Gary is still interested in finding a job, or how he is able to pay the rent for the hotel room. He seems to be getting better at handling problems, even going as far as stealing Samantha’s father’s business card out of her wallet (wait, she actually had his business card? Wasn’t this a tad bit convenient for the story?). Yet he is still somewhat of a loser when it comes to having a private life. No relationship, no income, and the paper is still defining his life, and pretty much his day 24/7. If he wouldn’t have had Chuck and Marissa, would he have gotten crazy by now?
