Main cast: Mark Hofmaier (Amy’s Dad), Brian Fitzpatrick (Carl), and Jenna von Oy (Amy)
Director: Peter Stein
Glim-Glim is meant to be a tearjerker, and my god, it will make sure everyone watching this thing feels something even if Brian Fitzpatrick and Mark Hofmaier have to overact and manic things up like they weren’t just high; someone must have added burning coals into their boxer shorts.
There are three people left on Earth after a great plague: young Amy, her father, and the designated mean-hole Carl. They are sharing a place with an alien upstairs, Glim-Glim, while the humans keep to the basement and the adults view the adults with suspicion.
Amy soon befriends the alien, and the show then makes it unnecessarily clear that Glim-Glim is a good guy, working to cure the plague and what not, while the adults are the bad guys that can’t get over the alien’s appearance. Predictably, the adults’ paranoia and suspicion will end up in tragedy.
The true tragedy, if you ask me, is Mark Hofmaier’s attempt at acting. It’s just too much, his constant overacting and manic facial expressions. His delivery of his lines is overwrought and nerve-grating to the ears, and really, the character is just too over the top. The designated mean-hole is pretty over the top too, but is still overshadowed by the atrocious acting abilities of Mr Hofmaier. Let me just say that I’m not too shocked to see that this show is the highlight on his IMDB profile.
It’s not too surprising, then, that the young lady playing Jenna ends up being the best actor here, along with the fellow wearing that cute alien costume that they probably stole from a costume shop downtown.
The episode is a predictable one, as the ending can be seen coming from a mile away. Let’s just say that the script isn’t subtle at all when it comes to giving away the ending early on by hammering how good Glim-Glim is and how bad those nasty human men are.
Still, it’s an alright one, I suppose, if one can overlook the cringe-overload that is especially Mr Hofmaier making every scene awkward and even unintentionally comical to watch.
