Main cast: Margot Kidder (Jane Reynolds), Stephen McHattie (Johnny), Darren McGavin (The Old Man), and Page Fletcher (The Hitchhiker)
Director: Phillip Noyce

The third season of The Hitchhiker starts out with an episode that is closer to horror than its usual “whatever excuse to show nookie” motive, but Nightshift isn’t exactly solid in that respect.

The premise is intriguing. Jane Reynolds has the night shift at a retirement home, and she reigns supreme over the residents. She’s, predictably enough, cruel and petty, and she also forces all the residents to surrender their jewelry to her for “safekeeping”. She and her boyfriend Johnny pawn off the trinkets and pocket the money for themselves.

Then, one day, comes what seems like an old coot in a coma, and he has on his finger this ring with a huge, shiny red gem, She must have it! What she and Johnny don’t know is that this time around, they are messing with the wrong person…

People looking for the usual soft porn stuff will have to be content with a glimpse of a topless Margot Kidder. What else is there? Unfortunately, the bulk of this episode is wasted on trivialities like Jane being a big meanie, and there is no proper build up or anything. The fun stuff only happens late in the episode, and then I blink and it’s over. The episode is over.

Maybe this show should go back to bringing on the sleaze again, as it seems to flail more than usual when it tries to be more, shall we say, respectable.