Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Devil’s Platform

November 15, 1974 Season 1 Episode 7

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode stands out as one of the most polished and eerie episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. It blended political ambition with supernatural horror in a way that worked. The episode follows Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), the Chicago reporter who never backs down from a strange lead, as he investigates a string of mysterious deaths, all linked to a political figure, Robert Palmer (played by a favorite actor of mine, Tom Skerritt). Palmer’s charm and clean-cut image make him the perfect candidate for office, except for one detail: he’s literally made a deal with the Devil.

What makes this story memorable is how grounded it feels. The murders are bad enough, but the real horror comes from the suggestion that evil often hides behind respectability. Kolchak’s investigation takes him through a web of corruption and secrecy,  from a reporter’s curiosity to outright disbelief that someone could strike a deal with the devil in modern Chicago. Yet as always, Kolchak’s sense for the bizarre proves right, and the evidence, mysterious paw prints, unexplained fires, and a black dog that appears and vanishes, points squarely toward the supernatural. The dog starts to follow Kolchack at the beginning. My guess is that this was influenced by The Exorcist, which was released a year earlier. 

Skerritt plays Palmer as a man who seems almost too perfect, a slick politician whose every move is rehearsed. The scenes between McGavin and Skerritt are great, especially when Kolchak pushes too hard and Palmer’s mask slips just enough to reveal him. Tony Vincenzo (Kolchak’s boss) is more open in this one to Carl investigating this politician, although minus the he made a deal with the devil part. He is willing to go along with everything but that. 

It remains one of Kolchak’s finest episodes so far, smartly written and unsettling. It captures everything that made the series unique. It’s a good commentary about power, ambition, and the price of selling one’s soul.

SPOILER

The climax, involving a showdown between Kolchak and Palmer, delivers both suspense and irony, as the Devil’s disciple realizes that even dark deals have expiration dates.

One line I loved, Kolchak’s boss, Tony Vincenzo, and Kolchak were arguing about Carl’s suit and hat. Kolchak asked him what bothered him so much about his hat? Vincenzo’s reply was classic: “What’s under it.” 

The Complete Episode

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

16 thoughts on “Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Devil’s Platform”

  1. While I have some recollection of the episodes so far, this one does not sound familiar. But the idea that evil doesn’t just lurk in the shadows is as frightening as any of the songs on the current series of Turntable talk!

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  2. Pingback: Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Devil’s Platform – MobsterTiger

  4. good line! Sounds like an interesting episode and the idea that evil lies behind the respectible veneer seems like it’s far less of a reach and far more understood now than it might have been in the 1970s. Now, if you tell me that Kolchak and Palmer’s showdown involves a fiddle made of gold….

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  5. Another one to tune in to. I’m sort of restraining my watching so that it stays current with your blog, so that it stays fresh. I’ll check it out this weekend. Tom Skerritt is an actor I like too, he added a lot to ‘MASH’ and ‘Alien.'(PS, I also like the Star Trek Continues series so far- everything does have that 60s lighting and costume look, and the actors do their best to retain the personality of the originals. It’s better than I’d hoped, after looking at the first two.

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    1. I meant to mention MASH on here…when I think of him I think of him in that movie.
      Speaking of Star Trek Continues…one of the production guys commented on that post the next day…he was a writer/producer…which was a really cool thing.
      I think out of all of them…the guy playing Spock has the hardest job. I’m glad you are liking it…you can tell it was a labor of love from these actors who were real fans.

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      1. That is cool that the production guy commented- its amazing how WP can cross paths with so many. I think the Spock character works pretty well- no-one is going to BE Nimoy! I believe for a fan based production it is far better than it could have been, at least so far.

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      2. If you liked those two…you will like the rest I believe…like I said…the last two could easily have been in the original…so you have seen the Apollo character…which was cool to see him come back.

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  6. I was able to see this one, thanks to your sharing the link, Max. Skerritt was perfect for the politician under a satanic contract. It is a super episode, and the showdown at the end was quite frightening to me.

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