Friday the 13th the series - What a mother wouldn't do?

 Friday the 13th the series - What a mother wouldn't do?

PLOT - A pregnant woman is devastated when her doctor informs her that she should end her pregnancy since her child will be born with a rare breathing condition that will end it's life shortly after birth. Having no idea what to do, she wanders around in the rain only to notice a beautiful wooden cradle in the display window of an antique shop. Going in she meets the owner, a kind old gentlemen who comforts her and takes her into the back for a nice cup of tea and to explain how truly special the cradle is.   

Nearly a year later a lot has changed, that old antique owner is dead and the store is now called Curious Goods, with his distant niece and nephew running it, trying to get back every single cursed object he sold. Around this time we learn that the woman who did end up getting the cradle did indeed end up giving birth to a sickly baby. Both her and her husband learn the curse of the cradle, the baby is never allowed to leave the cradle and before a certian date and time, they must kill seven people in water and their young daughter will be healed.  

LOWDOWN - Since I'm sick yet again with the stomach bug, I decided to write up a quick review of one of my personal favorite episodes from my all time favorite show Friday the 13th the series. This is an episode I clearly remember watching back when I watched re-runs of the show for the first time back in 2007 when it aired on Chiller (back when the channel was still good.) In fact I've been meaning to do a whole post bitching about how shitty that channel got before I canceled it. Anywho, What A Mother Wouldn't Do was one of the boldest episodes that ever aired through all three seasons. This deals with some pretty heavy issues such as abortion, murder, death of a child, and how truly far parents could go to save their own child's life. 

I feel the end of season 1 was just starting to get truly going with it's awesome story-lines and cursed objects. This was a perfect way to bridge off into the second season which is my personal favorite out of all three. In my eyes the further you get into season 1, the better the episodes are. In fact the episode that aired before this one was Badge Of Honor which guest starred Christine star John Stockwell. 

What A Mother Wouldn't do has one of my favorite openings to an episode. I love the little surprise you get when the woman wanders into the antique store only to find Uncle Lewis standing there, showing that all of this happened in the past. 

I found this object very interesting. First off it's back-story is awesome, a cursed wooden cradle from the Titanic. How a young woman tried to push the cradle up on a lifeboat to save her baby, only to have it knocked over resulting in the child drowning. The curse ends up being that these parents MUST always keep their baby inside the cradle or she'll die almost instantly. That they must kill seven people in water before April 14th at 12:15 or the curse won't work anymore and the baby will die.

April 14th 12:15 is the date and time the Titanic sunk. 

I love how clever each kill was, how they always had to die in water. How they bludgeoned the doctor in the lake, drowning the janitor in the bathroom, ect. Each death is very creative with how quickly these parents react in order to save their baby. Watching the mother was very heartbreaking. Here is a woman who has been told that her baby would die even before she was ever born. You have to sympathize for her. In fact it seems as though she's the only one fighting to keep her child alive. Just the line she tells her husband "This is the only child I'm ever going to have...I'm not going to let her die." Just certian moments in the episode show how crazed and driven she is to keep her child alive. Just the look on her face when her friends surprise her with the cradle at the baby shower, or how she's talking to herself when she truly thinks she's killed all 7, thinking that her and her baby can finally have a normal life. The complex storyline between the husband and wife was very well written. I love how guilty the husband is, and how he just sees each death as cold blood murder. I love how in the end he gives up thinking the curse didn't work and tells his wife he's had enough. He wants to just hold his daughter and hope she knows he tried to stop her pain.

The biggest moment in the episode has to be when the mother knows the time is up. How she runs and throws herself off the balcony just to save her baby and how our three leads look down finding her dead in the water fountain, and the husband shot and killed underneath the broken fish tank. "Seven dead by water...the curse is fulfilled." 

A tragic ending to say the least.

I love how guilty our three leads feel as well. Just the scene where Micki tries to lift the baby out of the cradle and it starts violently rocking back and forth and the baby starts screaming. I love how they see that even if they stop this curse from happening, a poor innocent baby will die. 

And of course that epic scene where the crazed mother tries killing Ryan and the nanny in the water, screaming "You're the last!" and just the look on her face when he barges in soaking wet. I think this is when the mother knows she screwed up and has to sacrifice herself. 

A very serious and low beat episode, with a tragic ending. I do love the small glimmer of hope though with the baby smiling on the bus, finally healthy and alive.

To me this is one of the best episodes in the entire series and every time I listen to the soundtrack, I love the faint nursery jingle that plays over the original these.

= first part of episode, rest of it is on YouTube

5 Stars!