Episode #85 "Hell Hath No Fury"

[Matt5]

Me too - great episode with an early 1988 feel .

Feels like an "Equalizer " episode in places with the production 

[Remington]

Yeah it's no Missing Hours or Cows of October. But it ain't Death and The Lady or Gods Work lol. It's not bad. Just not my thing. Cheers.

[ViceFanMan]

1 hour ago, Remington said:

Yeah it's no Missing Hours or Cows of October. But it ain't Death and The Lady or Gods Work lol. It's not bad. Just not my thing. Cheers.

Yeah Death and the Lady & God's Work are superb episodes and a couple of my favorites! Hell Hath No Fury isn't quite as good as those, but it's still good. 

[ViceFanMan]

Ok...watched this one again tonight. I have a question:

I've always assumed the end was implying that even though Beaks had originally raped Ellen, and was harrassing her about getting a public apology via the tabloid talk show...he ultimately was not the psycho calling her with the threatening messages. 

However, I just read a different take on the end of this one...stating the end was ridiculous like Missing Hours, because this one too inferred supernatural aspects as Beaks seemed to be still calling & threatening Ellen from the grave...or that Ellen was imagining most of the calls in her head. 

My question is...was the end really supposed to imply that Beaks "ghost" was still threatening Ellen from the dead, or she was crazy and imagining it--or was it like I always assumed, and Ellen's phone psycho was a different nut obsessed by the case? 

[summer84]

18 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Ok...watched this one again tonight. I have a question:

I've always assumed the end was implying that even though Beaks had originally raped Ellen, and was harrassing her about getting a public apology via the tabloid talk show...he ultimately was not the psycho calling her with the threatening messages. 

However, I just read a different take on the end of this one...stating the end was ridiculous like Missing Hours, because this one too inferred supernatural aspects as Beaks seemed to be still calling & threatening Ellen from the grave...or that Ellen was imagining most of the calls in her head. 

My question is...was the end really supposed to imply that Beaks "ghost" was still threatening Ellen from the dead, or she was crazy and imagining it--or was it like I always assumed, and Ellen's phone psycho was a different nut obsessed by the case? 

I would say, that Ellen was still mentally effected by the events after Beaks dead and he was still haunting her in her mind. In the intro he calls her up and says "You should have accepted the apology", which is also repeated at the end of the episode. 

Watching the episode again it appeared more of a thriller to me. 

Also of if you look closely at the blurred image in the intro phone call, to me it couldn't be anyone, but him. 

 

Edited July 31, 2017 by summer84

[vicegirl85]

18 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Ok...watched this one again tonight. I have a question:

I've always assumed the end was implying that even though Beaks had originally raped Ellen, and was harrassing her about getting a public apology via the tabloid talk show...he ultimately was not the psycho calling her with the threatening messages. 

That was my take on it as well--and that makes it pretty creepy, as it would mean she could never relax again.

Will have to watch again because the other interpretation does make sense, too.

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, summer84 said:

I would say, that Ellen was still mentally effected by the events after Beaks dead and he was still haunting her in her mind. In the intro he calls her up and says "You should have accepted the apology", which is also repeated at the end of the episode. 

Watching the episode again it appeared more of a thriller to me. 

Also of if you look closely at the blurred image in the intro phone call, to me it couldn't be anyone, but him. 

 

Yeah, it does seem the 1st call was from Beaks...so I guess the others were too (except for the end)?? I had just always assumed the calls were from another psycho, but Ellen thought they were from Beaks and hired the hit man...who ironically killed Beaks for nothing.

But, maybe it all was still in Ellen's mind and she was "losing it"...thinking Beaks was still calling her after he'd been killed. However, didn't Trudy hear the phone ring at the end too? She couldn't tell who was on the other end, but I thought she heard the phone call?? I don't know...I always thought I "got" this one...but maybe I don't? 

[summer84]

16 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

Yeah, it does seem the 1st call was from Beaks...so I guess the others were too (except for the end)?? I had just always assumed the calls were from another psycho, but Ellen thought they were from Beaks and hired the hit man...who ironically killed Beaks for nothing.

But, maybe it all was still in Ellen's mind and she was "losing it"...thinking Beaks was still calling her after he'd been killed. However, didn't Trudy hear the phone ring at the end too? She couldn't tell who was on the other end, but I thought she heard the phone call?? I don't know...I always thought I "got" this one...but maybe I don't? 

Yeah, they were probably just trying to confuse the viewer.

 Beaks was the one that raped Ellen and he made the first phone call, so I had no reason to doubt, that the other phone calls weren't from him also. I think that, as you said Ellen was "losing it." The phone call at the end was real, both Trudy and Ellen heard it, except Ellen was imagining things regarding what the voice said. (How I see it) 

Trudy mentions at the beginning of the episode, when she talks to Castillo, that Beaks said at the sentencing, that he would kill Ellen. And this whole story revolves around him harassing her.

Although one question does come to mind... How come Ellen got away with killing Beaks, it doesn't make any sense, that she didn't get tied to the murder.  

Edited August 1, 2017 by summer84

[ViceFanMan]

8 hours ago, summer84 said:

Yeah, they were probably just trying to confuse the viewer.

 Beaks was the one that raped Ellen and he made the first phone call, so I had no reason to doubt, that the other phone calls weren't from him also. I think that, as you said Ellen was "losing it." The phone call at the end was real, both Trudy and Ellen heard it, except Ellen was imagining things regarding what the voice said. (How I see it) 

Trudy mentions at the beginning of the episode, when she talks to Castillo, that Beaks said at the sentencing, that he would kill Ellen. And this whole story revolves around him harassing her.

Although one question does come to mind... How come Ellen got away with killing Beaks, it doesn't make any sense, that she didn't get tied to the murder.  

I think your scenario is right. That's how Im going to view this one now.  

As for Ellen getting away with Beak's murder...her hired hit-man was killed by Trudy, so there was no witness or physical proof of Ellen's involvement to take to court. She didn't "truly" get away with it as everyone knew she was involved...but "technically" she got away with it because there was no evidence left. 

[summer84]

8 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

I think your scenario is right. That's how Im going to view this one now.  

As for Ellen getting away with Beak's murder...her hired hit-man was killed by Trudy, so there was no witness or physical proof of Ellen's involvement to take to court. She didn't "truly" get away with it as everyone knew she was involved...but "technically" she got away with it because there was no evidence left. 

Yeah, you're right. The evidence was sort of speak eliminated.   But what about the add about the hitman, Ellen marked and Trudy saw that. Oh well...

Not ready yet, but I'm probably going to rank this episode very low. Too bad, I wanted it to be a good episode with Trudy. 

[ViceFanMan]

3 hours ago, summer84 said:

Yeah, you're right. The evidence was sort of speak eliminated.   But what about the add about the hitman, Ellen marked and Trudy saw that. Oh well...

Not ready yet, but I'm probably going to rank this episode very low. Too bad, I wanted it to be a good episode with Trudy. 

Just because she had the magazine doesn't technically prove Ellen was the one who hired the assassin...they needed corroboration from the killer himself. 

This wasn't the best episode of season 4...but it wasn't too bad either. Wild ending and a decent drama for Trudy. Don't judge it too harshly. 

If you want to rate episodes low...think of Missing Hours and Cows of October! 

[Matt5]

On 24/11/2017 at 4:25 PM, APalFromHawaii said:

It's not a bad episode (remember...Missing Hours... Ough!!!) , but Trudy-Centered episodes (Dutch Oven , as an example) are definitely not my thing.

So yeah! I don't have much to say 

Good points - I didn’t mind this one however weak in places . The plot was lifted straight from the 80s tv show “The Equalizer” starring Edward Woodward - that show had many episodes like this.!

[ViceFanMan]

On 11/24/2017 at 10:25 AM, APalFromHawaii said:

It's not a bad episode (remember...Missing Hours... Ough!!!) , but Trudy-Centered episodes (Dutch Oven , as an example) are definitely not my thing.

So yeah! I don't have much to say 

I actually liked this episode okay...not one of my all-time favorites or anything, but this was still a good dramatic, if not pretty wild ending, episode for Trudy. This isn’t Out Where the Buses Don’t Run, by any means...but I still don’t understand why some have such a problem with this episode?   I like it and enjoy watching it every time I go thru the series. 

[Matt5]

17 hours ago, ViceFanMan said:

I actually liked this episode okay...not one of my all-time favorites or anything, but this was still a good dramatic, if not pretty wild ending, episode for Trudy. This isn’t Out Where the Buses Don’t Run, by any means...but I still don’t understand why some have such a problem with this episode?   I like it and enjoy watching it every time I go thru the series. 

Yes I always quite enjoy and Trudy is fine 

[JoeyStockwell]

Just an absolute mess of an episode. The story was ridiculous (was Beaks ever the one calling her?), the dialogue was awful (that audience in the opening), the victim was a grating character, and the vice squad made themselves equally unlikable (rooting for the death of a man who had technically served his sentence). The anti-white venom spewed by the writers in the opening was laughable as well.

The episode had a lot of potential with its premise. A released criminal seeking forgiveness and reintegration into society. A victim losing faith in the justice system and seeking revenge. Instead we were treated to a cartoonishly evil criminal performing stalker antics that would have realistically landed him back behind bars after the first phone call.

The only bright spot of this episode is Castillo who seems to be the only one acting the way he should. His speech at the end tearing apart the conduct of Trudy, Stan, Gina, etc. would almost have you believe they were intentionally written so badly in this episode. Great stuff.

Trudy episodes are always awful. As bad as Missing Hours for completely different reasons.

Edited September 26, 2019 by JoeyStockwell

[mjcmmv]

5 hours ago, JoeyStockwell said:

 

The episode had a lot of potential with its premise. A released criminal seeking forgiveness and reintegration into society. A victim losing faith in the justice system and seeking revenge. Instead we were treated to a cartoonishly evil criminal performing stalker antics that would have realistically landed him back behind bars after the first phone call.

The only bright spot of this episode is Castillo who seems to be the only one acting the way he should. His speech at the end tearing apart the conduct of Trudy, Stan, Gina, etc. would almost have you believe they were intentionally written so badly in this episode. Great stuff.

 

You make some good points. I found the victim annoying as well. It was hard to feel sympathetic at times. I do think the rapist did show some behavior that justified her terror though, like showing up one day where she worked. I agree that the Castillo speech was well done and badly needed as a wakeup call for the team. 

5 hours ago, JoeyStockwell said:

 

Trudy episodes are always awful. As bad as Missing Hours for completely different reasons.

I did l like Dutch Oven, though. It's a shame because I liked Trudy. They should have given her more episodes and ones that were better written than Missing Hours and Hell Hath No Fury. 

Edited September 26, 2019 by mjcmmv

[ViceFanMan]

On 9/26/2019 at 12:14 AM, JoeyStockwell said:

Just an absolute mess of an episode. The story was ridiculous (was Beaks ever the one calling her?), the dialogue was awful (that audience in the opening), the victim was a grating character, and the vice squad made themselves equally unlikable (rooting for the death of a man who had technically served his sentence). The anti-white venom spewed by the writers in the opening was laughable as well.

The episode had a lot of potential with its premise. A released criminal seeking forgiveness and reintegration into society. A victim losing faith in the justice system and seeking revenge. Instead we were treated to a cartoonishly evil criminal performing stalker antics that would have realistically landed him back behind bars after the first phone call.

The only bright spot of this episode is Castillo who seems to be the only one acting the way he should. His speech at the end tearing apart the conduct of Trudy, Stan, Gina, etc. would almost have you believe they were intentionally written so badly in this episode. Great stuff.

Trudy episodes are always awful. As bad as Missing Hours for completely different reasons.

Although I agree this episode could have probably been done better...it’s not that bad! It still has a good freaky/creepy stalker vibe to it & I actually think Olivia Brown’s acting was pretty good for what the script was. I enjoy Hell Hath No Fury and watch it every time I go through the series. I’m sorry...but no episode is as horribly wretched & deplorably disgraceful as Missing Hours!!   It’s probably the worst episode of television in TV history!   

[Matt5]

The score was very “Equalizer” esque.

[RedDragon86]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:47 AM, mjcmmv said:

You make some good points. I found the victim annoying as well. It was hard to feel sympathetic at times. I do think the rapist did show some behavior that justified her terror though, like showing up one day where she worked. I agree that the Castillo speech was well done and badly needed as a wakeup call for the team. 

I did l like Dutch Oven, though. It's a shame because I liked Trudy. They should have given her more episodes and ones that were better written than Missing Hours and Hell Hath No Fury. 

I use to think that "Dutch Oven" was a weak episode in season 2 like "Free Verse" or "Trust Fund Pirates" but I view it now completely different. The story might not be intriguing as LMD or Lombard but I think the plot was just a platform and the episode was more about a psychological test for Trudy, to see how she would cope with what happened. 

[Matt5]

53 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

I use to think that "Dutch Oven" was a weak episode in season 2 like "Free Verse" or "Trust Fund Pirates" but I view it now completely different. The story might not be intriguing as LMD or Lombard but I think the plot was just a platform and the episode was more about a psychological test for Trudy, to see how she would cope with what happened. 

I saw this one recently and pretty standard 1980s plot used by many cop tv shows at that time and the score by John Petersen was a bit horror driven.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Matt5

[RedDragon86]

1 hour ago, Matt5 said:

I saw this one recently and pretty standard 1980s plot used by many cop tv shows at that time and the score by John Petersen was a bit horror driven.

John Petersen did the score for which episode?

[Matt5]

14 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

John Petersen did the score for which episode?

Most of his work was heard on “Hell Hath No Fury” it was like a rip-off The Equalizer score - very un-Vice like.

[RedDragon86]

1 minute ago, Matt5 said:

Most of his work was heard on “Hell Hath No Fury” it was like a rip-off The Equalizer score - very un-Vice like.

Oh I see, silly me. I got a bit confused because me and mj were discussing "Dutch Oven" and I was thinking surely he doesn't mean an episode in season 2 

 

[Matt5]

55 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

Oh I see, silly me. I got a bit confused because me and mj were discussing "Dutch Oven" and I was thinking surely he doesn't mean an episode in season 2 

 

No worries friend.

[Assasinge]

Alright, i can't be the only one who thought this episode was pretty garbage. Eh? Now it's not the worst of Season 4, but it was so freakin' boring! I don't know why I'm rewatching Season 4 sometimes honestly. I thought the opening of the episode was slight distasteful with that one idiot woman in the audience wishing to be....*ahem* by him. You know? And then the whole premise was just a run of the mill rapist looking rapist threatening Ellen, and driving her mad and such. The only thing I found to be watchable was Trudy's personal involvement creating a conflict. I did find that interesting and appreciated them giving her more to work with this time around but other than that, really mad. No nice visually, not even any music? Nothing memorable from the episode whatsoever for sure. I'd probably rate this a 4/10 honestly.