I dunno, I have to say that Star Sapphire left a bad taste in my mouth. The subject matter was a little too disturbing. The fact that Fred Gwynne was such a good actor and had such a lecherous, sexual tone to his voice whenever he hypnotized the girl made it all the more disturbing.

I think I find \"Bobby Deland\" more palatable because, although both shows deal with abused orphans, in \"Bobby\" it happened in the past, whereas in \"Star Sapphire\" we\'re actually listening to it happen in the present. Also, in \"Bobby Deland\" there is a bit of hope at the end---in \"Star Sapphire\" the best we get is, perhaps, justice, since Fred Gwynn\'s character is shot at the end.

I didn\'t really feel I took away a good or helpful message from \"Star Sapphire\", although I suppose there was some hope and comfort in the fact that the girl was strong enough to resist killing the farmer\'s wife in the end, and that the two of them were rid of the farmer and could live peacefully together. The rest of it, though, I felt was just basically listening to an exercise in abusive manipulation. Also, it\'s quite tragic that the girl was forced to kill someone. I can\'t say I enjoyed this or found it to be very enriching thematically.