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SERIES BACKGROUND: This series is basically The Outer Limits with regular characters (and a little bit of X-Files thrown in). The list of people who have worked on both this series and The Outer Limits include four producers (including the series creator, Richard Barton Lewis), at least five of the regular actors (Derek de Lint, Martin Cummins, Robbi Chong, Helen Shaver and Kristin Lehman), along with what has to be an extremely long list of guest stars (Gabrielle being among them).
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: This is the only episode I have seen of this series, and is yet another entry in the "Worth Seeing Only if You're a Fan of Gabrielle" category. A friend of mine whose judgement I trust tells me that overall this series is pretty good (probable, since The Outer Limits was good as well), but that this episode is a poor representation of it. Having seen this episode, I can confidently state that there is no reason to distrust him regarding the latter. The episode raises more questions than it answers, most of them beginning with phrases like "What the hell was the point of...", "What possible reason would he / she have for...", "You call THAT a motive?", "How can anyone need so much time to figure that out..." and so on. The lion's share of Gabrielle's work in this episode takes place before the opening credits, and her two brief appearances from there on show her as a ghost and don't require much acting at all. Her opening scene, thankfully, at least gives her a chance to show she can act.
My guess is that this episode was thrown together at a point in the off-season in which ideas were running short. Two plots run side-by-side: Mary Miller's death, and a road trip between two of the regular characters which features revelations about one character's brother and ends with the two characters kissing, a plot line which could only be of value to regular fans of the series who want to see these two characters hook up. Even though the road trip segment takes up a fair amount of time, the Mary Miller segment could have been effectively resolved in half the time it was given.
Worse still, the acting in this episode from just about everyone except for Gabrielle runs from mediocre to awful (not as bad as what you'd see on "Starlight," of course, but what is?). For example, Helen Shaver (who I've only seen once before, in an episode of The Outer Limits), and the usually capable Kristin Lehman (who was very convincing as a Russian in The Outer Limits episode "Dead Man's Switch") were mediocre, and almost everyone else (including the usually excellent actors Kevin McNulty and Camille Mitchell) was awful in this episode. I cut some slack to series lead Derek de Lint and his painfully slow verbal delivery because he is not a native speaker of English, but I can't find any excuse for the others. Of the series regulars, only Robbi Chong acquits herself in this episode, something that none of the guest stars except for Gabrielle pulled off.
KUDOS TO GABRIELLE: In her opening scene, even those unfamiliar with her work can see that she really can act. This can't be classified as one of her best performances because her character was killed off almost instantly, but compared to everyone else in this episode she looks like a major league ballplayer on a Little League team.
BLOOPER: Just as Mary's spirit appears on top of the bell tower, she calls her brother's name - but her lips don't move.
APPEARING HERE AND ELSEWHERE WITH GABRIELLE: Sheila Moore, who played Sister Margaret, also appeared in "As Time Runs Out." Kevin McNulty, who plays Paul Miller, played Dr G. Thomas in "For the Love of My Child The Anissa Ayala Story," an FBI agent in "Judgment Day: The John List Story," Lee Goldberg in "In the Doghouse" appeared in "Mother, May I Sleep with Danger" and "The Advocate's Devil," and plays Stanley Wasserman in "Robson Arms." Matt Frewer, who plays Scott Wagner, played Nate Natleson in the movie "Dead Man's Gun" (in the "Fool's Gold" segment).