Other than the fact that most of the episode takes place at night, I have no idea why the episode is called "Night Hunger". "Night" isn't a great episode, but Richard Panebianco and Nick Nichols are both good as father and son. Panebianco is suitably creepy, and Nichols is good as both the abusive father and the older man facing his own mortality and attempting to reconcile with his estranged son.
The idea of the antique "merging" with Mike is a clever one, and shows that the production staff were still trying new things. It gives the episode an unexpected twist at the 30-minute mark or thereabouts. As does the fact that Lewis gave Mike the keychain as a birthday gift. Rather than it being another antique that Lewis sold off the shelf, so to speak. There's some drama wrung out of the fact that the trio can't find the chain in the manifest.
There are also lots of nice little bits, like Ryan mentioning his own relationship with his father. And the fact that the episode is really about the Fiorno family tragedy. The trio don't play much of a part in it, and Dominic is the one that provides the "solution" to stopping Mike and recovering the item.
Granted, the episode is basically a retread of 'Christine', but Panebianco is effective going Arnie Cunningham near the end. with the white skin, black coat, and the walking-with-a-cane limp.
Overall, "Night Hunger" isn't a significantly good or bad episode. But it breaks the mold enough, and does enough interesting things, that it puts it in the upper tier of episodes.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
The idea of the antique "merging" with Mike is a clever one, and shows that the production staff were still trying new things. It gives the episode an unexpected twist at the 30-minute mark or thereabouts. As does the fact that Lewis gave Mike the keychain as a birthday gift. Rather than it being another antique that Lewis sold off the shelf, so to speak. There's some drama wrung out of the fact that the trio can't find the chain in the manifest.
There are also lots of nice little bits, like Ryan mentioning his own relationship with his father. And the fact that the episode is really about the Fiorno family tragedy. The trio don't play much of a part in it, and Dominic is the one that provides the "solution" to stopping Mike and recovering the item.
Granted, the episode is basically a retread of 'Christine', but Panebianco is effective going Arnie Cunningham near the end. with the white skin, black coat, and the walking-with-a-cane limp.
Overall, "Night Hunger" isn't a significantly good or bad episode. But it breaks the mold enough, and does enough interesting things, that it puts it in the upper tier of episodes.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?