Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 17 Brain Drain Review

(*Note: This episode actually aired after episode 18. It appears that the DVD release switched these two episodes, but for the purposes of following the DVD release, I will call this episode 17.*) Brain Drain originally aired on April 25, 1988. This was a strikingly good episode in comparison to the bore Tattoo was. The antique in this episode is a trephanator. This is an old medical object that could transfer spinal and brain fluids from one person to another. What the object does, is transfer intelligence. The villain has an IQ below 60. He kills 3 people by transferring their intelligence into his brain. The villain is played by the same actor who played the villain in episode 3. While doing some research on the series, apparently many actors play multiple roles throughout the series. I was going to say 'how could the producers not think we'd notice?' but seeing as it's already happened in episode 9 and episode 17 is the first time I notice, it's really not that big of a deal. This is also a heartbreaking episode. Jack's past is revealed. He was engaged to a woman who appears in this episode. He got married to another woman, but his traveling tore them apart and they got divorced. The woman he was engaged to, he proposes again and she says yes to marrying him. However, happiness doesn't last long on this show...she dies before the end of the episode and after losing her intelligence, she can't even recognize her fiance. That last point is never directly stated, but it's implied from the way she acts around him. This was a great episode, ultimately a fantastic view.