The Deserted Village
Reviewed by Bruce Dettman

Usually in the days of early television we learned little about the background of our favorite characters on our favorite shows. Occasionally the writers would throw us an informational bone (Ward Clever had a brother and grew up on a farm, Howdy Doody had a twin brother Double Doody, Chester Goode also had a sibling called Magus who, much to the deputy's chagrin, came to Dodge on occasion), but for the most part we were left pretty much in the dark with these figures seeming to have little in the way of pasts. This was also certainly true to TAOS where over the years we only gleaned a few scant facts about our beloved inhabitants of Metropolis. For instance, we knew that Jimmy lived with his mother and had an Aunt Louisa. We knew Inspector Henderson had a son named Ray and that Perry White had a nephew named Chris who was a test pilot. We knew the most about Clark Kent, his real named Kal-El, his real parents Jor-El and Lara, his adoptive parents, Sarah and Eben and where he was born, the planet Krypton. And then there was Lois (Phyllis Coates) who we gather the most personal history from in the first year episode The Deserted Village written by Dick Hamilton and Ben Freeman This, like the same year's Haunted Lighthouse (both directed by Tommy Carr), has an overall spooky and highly eerie feel to it. Almost all of it takes place in what seems to have been Lois' hometown, Clifton by the Sea, which Clark later characterizes as "a mighty fine place" but which I have to say looks a bit on the dreary and forlorn side.

Lois-even more obstinate and feisty than usual-along with Clark has wound up here after not being able to contact Mrs. Tazey (Maudie Prickett), the nurse who we are informed helped raise her. Otherwise we hear nothing of Lois' youth, parents or siblings, if any, only that she used to play at the home of the local sawbones Doc Jessup (Fred Sherman). Aside from a few others, the druggist Peter Godfrey (perennial western bad guy Edmund Cobb who also had a small role in Rescue) and his son Alvin (Malcolm Mealey from the earlier No Holds Barred episode) everyone else seems to have deserted Clifton except for Ms. Tazey who eventually turns up safe and sound (secretly carrying a handgun in her flower basket and explaining to everyone that as a child Lois always had a "weak chest"), and the doctor who hides a revolver and gas mask in his office desk drawer.

Doc also has a dog named Ranger, an Irish setter who only makes a cameo appearance before being killed by a gas bomb delivered by a strange man in what appears to be either a fire or anti-contamination suit. I can't recall if the murder of the dog upset me as a child, but I suspect it did since I watched most of these shows with my own mutt at my side.

In any case, it is this strange man who has driven just about everyone out of Clifton although those who haven't fled make no reference to him and deny there's anything wrong in their community. It's therefore pretty much left to Clark to do some digging around - literally, as it turns out - and find out what's behind all this intrigue although keeping Lois out of things seems even more difficult for him than solving the mystery, not that the identity of the guilty parties is much of one. Reeves also gets a chance to showcase his athleticism as he takes off on a fast run and effortlessly hurdles a fence.

It's the rich atmosphere of The Deserted Village, the claustrophobic nature of the place and the effective use its quirky cast of characters that makes the episode so effective and fun to watch. That, and Clark and Lois going at each other, of course.

May 2006
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