Cliffhangers was an interesting experiment; an attempt to revive the thrills and drama of the old movie serials. It enjoyed a cult following, but never had the ratings to continue the experiment. It was lacking in budget and the short segments inhibited the development of the story. It was split into three segments: Stop Susan Williams, The Secret Empire, and the Curse of Dracula.
Stop Susan Williams features the beautiful (and tall) Susan Anton as the title character, a photojournalist searching for clues to the death of her brother. As the series opens, she finds a small notebook with mysterious notations. Her discovery is interrupted by a dark figure in a trench coat. She finds herself pushed out a window and off a ledge, miraculously escaping harm when she lands in an awning.
Susan embarks on a journey around the world to unravel the clues to a conspiracy, something that will result in a spectacular event on May 15. She has three weeks to solve the mystery.
Susan meets up with mercenary Jack Schoengard and slowly unravels the mystery, while finding herself pursued by assassins dispatched by the conspirators. She faces deathtrap after deathtrap.
There is a germ of an idea here, but it is never fully developed. Susan seems to just stumble into further clues, but never really seems to learn much. The deathtraps are rather mundane and never seem particularly threatening. The conspiracy is eventually explained, but comes across as laughable, as you never quite believe they have the resources to pull it off.
The biggest problem here is the acting. Susan Anton was still a neophyte, and she is not particularly good. She has a very limited range and seems to have been hired more for her looks. Her costumes look ridiculous, given the environments she enters. The rest of the cast, with the exception of Ray Walston, are just as forgettable. Only Walston makes an attempt at bringing the weak story alive.
The writing was rather shallow, with poor dialogue and gaps in logic. The episodes followed a pattern of resolving the previous cliffhanger, move to a new location and a brief piece of exposition, and the set up for the next cliffhanger. The story never really gets rolling, it just seems to be picked up and moved to the next setting. It is devoid of the great stuntwork that made the old serials thrilling, and the mystery that made them compelling.
Stop Susan Willams has a core of an idea that needed greater development. The script should have been developed more and greater care was needed in casting. The story really needed a larger budget, or at least more creative use of the limitations. Given the trend of remaking old TV series, this is a case where a remake could actually be better than the original.
The final episode was never broadcast in the US, but here's what happens: Spoilers: Susan, Jack and a scientist are trapped in a cave, while attempting to disarm a nuclear device set to explode. The cave is located near Camp David, where a major summit is occurring. The scientist has been injured and can't continue. Using her flash, Susan is able to find flashlights and radios, which allow her and Jack to remain in contact with the scientist. They locate the bomb and begin disarming it. They succeed in removing the detonator and throw it away before it can trigger the bomb. The resulting detonator explosion opens a shaft, leading to the outside. Everyone is able to get to the outside, before the shaft collapses. Jack has left behind a half million in cash, but they laugh it off. Meanwhile, the leader of the conspiracy escapes, to plot a new attack.
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