Growing Pains

"Terrence and Laurie Morton" lose their son when the latter accidentally takes poison in his father's lab. Barbara Kellerman plays Laurie, a diplomat, while Gary Bond plays her scientist husband. The grieving couple wind up adopting another boy, and he is an evil one, like the kid in the movie "The Omen." Crazy things happen soon after the adopted boy reaches his new home.

Overall, I was disappointed with this episode, expecting a more tense and edgy story than what was delivered. It was a bit flat, and the ending was nothing to rave about. Some of the acting was weak. The son who died was almost laughable when he staggered around in the backyard. It looked so hokey I thought I was watching a young Curly Howard of Three Stooges doing a parody of someone slowing dying. This was early on in the episode and was kind of a omen of the cheesy story that was to follow.

The evil boy who replaced the son was too nerdy looking to be convincing. This sort of storyline has been done numerous times, and far better than this. Yes, it had a few creepy moments but they were few and far between and the 51 minutes of this program seemed more like 151.