Main cast: Eddie Bracken (JJ Fredericks), Philip Anglim (Mack), and Carla Herd (Dolores)
Director: William Wesley
Mack has no money and nowhere to go, so he breaks into a deserted hotel hoping to get some rest. Inside, he encounters another occupant: JJ Fredericks. Freddy is perpetually drunk, but the friendly fellow demonstrates that he can wish things out of nothing: food, electricity, furniture, even money.
Mack’s immediate thought is to exploit the amicable but addled old fool for his own benefit, but there is an unfortunate downside to Freddy’s ability: everything the drunk creates out of thin air has something really wrong about it. The food he pulls out of thin air tastes awful, a rocking chair swings from left to right instead of back and forth, and money has the words on each note all wrong as well as Mack’s face on it.
Undeterred, Mack has a bright idea. Maybe Freddy will get things right if the man had been sober. Really, what can happen when Freddy sobers up anyway?
The Maker is a pretty brilliant episode, actually, quite The Twilight Zone-ish in many aspects, and both the lead actors put on a good show. Eddie Bracken is frighteningly convincing as the perpetual drunk, while Philip Anglim manages to keep up with him very well.
In a way, this one is a comedy, but fortunately, it’s that rare comedy on this show that works. The two male lead actors have chemistry and can play off one another well in what is essentially a two-man comedy act. The twist at the end also makes way too much sense, a rarity in this show, and watching this episode again is a fun experience because I get to see the way the episode drops a number of foreshadowing about that twist.
My only issue is the pacing. The middle part dips a little because these characters’ antics become repetitive and hence somewhat tedious to follow after a while.
Still, that’s a small matter. This is one of the more entertaining highlights of this season, maybe even the show, so it’s a nice way to remember Monsters.
Wait, there’s still one more episode? Ugh.
