I listened to this a second time all the way through yesterday for re-reviewing:

- I fully agree with you that some episodes needed to be two or three-parters. (I like that quote from Stephen King). Over in my listening log I said as much on the episode "The Ninth Volume" (You're hung up on "ninths" this thread)...some episodes have too much promise to be relegated to one hour.

- I'm sort of with you on the "six..five..three" stuff...however, I think that's the brilliance of the CBS RMT writer in using certain elements as descriptive rather than narrative tools.

A further case in point...did you notice that sometimes Hatcher would say: "No...no...no..." before he'd say his "signature" phrase?

A. Was he trying to tell himself "No...don't do this...I don't want to do this"?

B. Was he trying to tell his intended victim to stop doing something. (At one point, though, he said it in front of the colonel and the doctor, neither of which he was ready to kill.)

C. Was he remembering something hideous the enemy had done to him in "programming"?

We'll probably never know, and that's one of the things that IMHO can sometimes make a well-written program like an RMT episode.

- On that note, did you notice the fake medium, after Hatcher escaped the first time? When her partner was saying "Let's forget about Hatcher" she said, twice: "No...no..." - like Hatcher. Interesting.

- Another subtle yet equally powerful element. We have no visuals so much of the RMT "theatre of the mind" must rely on dialogue.

You know how much I respect the military so this isn't a slight on anyone there. Notice however, whenever the colonel was contacted by the doctor (including at the very end) he'd always say something to the effect of "Will this take long, doctor? I've got an appointment." Whenever the doctor would say "It's about Hatcher" the colonel would nonchalantly say "oh, him."

It's likely the colonel was indeed a very busy man. However, this served to set the tone for how (seemingly) insignificant Hatcher's life really was in this episode.

- At the 11:04 mark is a piano and brass interlude (a sped up version of a music bed I commented on in "Hickory Dickory Doom") that was probably one of CBS' most used "bad things are happening" music pieces. I, too, like the eerie (viola?) seance music around the 20:03 mark.

- I've talked about some of my favorite male RMT personalities. One of my favorite female personalities is Bryna Raeburn (sic?) who apparently plays both the "fake medium" and Hatcher's first victim in this episode.

- One last thing...anyone get the feeling that the wealthy client (whose son "Kenneth" was shot down in wartime) of the "medium" was about to learn that Hatcher was her son? I know he wasn't, and her last name was different than "Hatcher", but there was some kind of connection made as well. Perhaps one former POW looking after another, or both of them doing the same?