A stu\u00addent has a vio\u00adlent argu\u00adment with his pro\u00adfes\u00adsor, storms out of class, then returns sev\u00ader\u00adal min\u00adutes lat\u00ader, bran\u00addish\u00ading a gun and shoots the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor before the entire class. Its a clas\u00adsic open and shut case, except the stu\u00addent does\u00adn\u2019t remem\u00adber any\u00adthing of the inci\u00addent. That\u2019s what gets Petro\u00adcel\u00adli\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\n [http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071032\/]<\/p>\n \u201cPetro\u00adcel\u00adli\u201d<\/em> was a short lived lawyer series, set in the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan South\u00adwest. Antho\u00adny Petro\u00adcel\u00adli (Bar\u00adry New\u00adman<\/a>) left the faced-paced big city to take up a legal prac\u00adtice in the myth\u00adi\u00adcal city of San Remo, with the aid of his wife Mag\u00adgie (Susan Howard<\/a>) and the assis\u00adtance of pri\u00advate inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtor Pete Rit\u00adter (Albert Sal\u00admi<\/a>).<\/p>\n Descrip\u00adtion:<\/em> This episode (#13 of the first sea\u00adson) starts with the scene described above: Petro\u00adcel\u00adli is called in to the case, inter\u00adview\u00ading the stu\u00addent, Willie, and hear\u00ading that he does\u00adn\u2019t remem\u00adber any\u00adthing of the inci\u00addent. Actu\u00adal\u00adly, any\u00adthing after he called anoth\u00ader pro\u00adfes\u00adsor for help. Fur\u00adther inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion con\u00adfirms the rest of the case, how he was dis\u00adcov\u00adered in the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor\u2019s office, steal\u00ading his gun, after mak\u00ading the call to deter\u00admine if the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor was there or not. Its a tough case to take, but Petro\u00adcel\u00adli is will\u00ading to take it as long as Willie is will\u00ading to try to remember.<\/p>\n But its the dis\u00adcov\u00adery that the rest of bul\u00adlets in the gun were blanks that real\u00adly cap\u00adtured Petro\u00adcel\u00adli\u2019s atten\u00adtion. The gun was a clip-fed auto\u00admat\u00adic dou\u00adble-action pis\u00adtol, mean\u00ading that it car\u00adried sev\u00ader\u00adal bul\u00adlets in the clip but could also have one loaded in the cham\u00adber, ready to fire, which was the case. Its obvi\u00adous that some\u00adone unfa\u00admil\u00adiar with guns did not known to remove the bul\u00adlet from the cham\u00adber if the intent was to replace all<\/em> of the bul\u00adlets in the gun with blanks.<\/p>\n Noth\u00ading about the case seems to fit, how\u00adev\u00ader, until Petro\u00adcel\u00adli, Susan, Pete and Pete\u2019s girl\u00adfriend take the evening to see the love\u00adly stage hyp\u00adno\u00adtist Anabelle Tracey (Francine York<\/a>.) After try\u00ading to get Petro\u00adcel\u00adli up on stage, they get Pete up instead. The stat\u00aduesque hyp\u00adno\u00adtist imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly has Pete flus\u00adtered, a state that she will take full advan\u00adtage of in per\u00adform\u00ading her induction.<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cThank you, thank you. And now, I\u2019d like to ask for anoth\u00ader vol\u00adun\u00adteer from the audi\u00adence. Anoth\u00ader man \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n (close\u00adup) \u201c\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 because I like men.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cI promise I don\u2019t bite. (laughs) Not much.\u201d<\/p>\n Pete gets up on stage and stands before the hyp\u00adno\u00adtist, star\u00ading at the floor.<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cTell me some\u00adthing Mr. Rit\u00adter: may I call you Pete?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cWell, that\u2019s my name, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cTell me some\u00adthing Pete, have you ever been hypnotized?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cWell, no, I don\u2019t believe so \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n Petro\u00adcel\u00adli: \u201cNo, but\u2019s he\u2019s been in a fog for the last ten years!\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cDo you like my eyes Pete?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cWell, I\u2019ve got noth\u00ading against them.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cWell, um, would you look at me, hmm?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete final\u00adly looks up at Annabelle\u2019s face as she smiles charm\u00ading\u00adly towards him. Her voice and man\u00adner\u00adisms have become more and more inti\u00admate and per\u00adson\u00adal; her voice has become soft\u00ader and her atten\u00adtion is now total\u00adly direct\u00aded to Pete.<\/p>\n Pete stares at Annabelle for a long moment. Out in the audi\u00adence Mag\u00adgie remarks to Tony \u201cHe\u2019s scared to death.\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cAm I \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 hyp\u00adno\u00adtized yet?\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNo, not yet. You like my eyes, don\u2019t you Pete?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete grins. \u201cWell, I sure have seen worse.\u201d He\u2019s quite fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by her now.<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNow, Pete, I\u2019m going to count from five back\u00adwards and I want you to lis\u00adten to me very care\u00adful\u00adly in case I make any mis\u00adtakes. Are you ready? … Are you ready?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cYep.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle counts \u201cFive \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 four \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 three \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 two \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 one \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d as the cam\u00adera switch\u00ades between close\u00adups of Pete and Annabelle as she says each num\u00adber, until the last num\u00adber, show\u00ading Annabelle snap\u00adping her fin\u00adgers beside Pete\u2019s head, and he falls imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly into a trance. His eyes close and his head drops forward.<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cCan you hear me Pete? \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cEee-yep.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNow we\u2019ll just see how asleep he is.\u201d She lifts his arm and lets it go: it imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly drops to his side. \u201cWoo, he is<\/em> sleep\u00ading. Now those friends of Pete\u2019s \u00e2\u20ac\u201d tell me some\u00adthing about Pete, some\u00adthing that he\u2019s fond of.\u201d<\/p>\n Tony: \u201cWomen!\u201d<\/p>\n Mag\u00adgie: \u201cBeer!\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cBeer \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that\u2019s fine. Now Pete, I\u2019m going to bring you out of it, but before I do we\u2019re going to have to agree on some\u00adthing, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cAll right \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cWhat we\u2019re going to have to agree on, Pete, is that beer tastes like tur\u00adpen\u00adtine, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cOkay \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNow I\u2019m going to give you a word; a post-hyp\u00adnot\u00adic word. After I wake you up, you won\u2019t remem\u00adber any\u00adthing that we\u2019ve said while you were sleep\u00ading. But as soon as I say the post-hyp\u00adnot\u00adic word you will imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly remem\u00adber and believe that beer tastes like tur\u00adpen\u00adtine \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cRight \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNow, the post-hyp\u00adnot\u00adic word is \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 uh \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 mar\u00adbles. Have you got it?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cYes \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cNow Pete I\u2019m going to bring you out of it, and as soon as you come out I want you to ask for a beer. Now here we go: Five \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 four \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 three \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 two \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 one \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 and\u201d more and more com\u00admand\u00ading\u00adly and snaps her fin\u00adgers. Pete wakes up to a round of applause.<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cMind if I have a beer?\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle laughs; Tony in the audi\u00adence is sud\u00adden\u00adly think\u00ading over the implications.<\/p>\n Annabelle says \u201cA nice cold glass of beer\u201d as the beer arrives. Pete holds it in his hand and starts to take a drink.<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cYou want to get on with that hypnotizin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cYou like the beer?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cTastes great.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cYou\u2019re sure: have anoth\u00ader taste.\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cNow if you\u2019re try\u00ading to get me drunk you picked the right liq\u00aduid because I love beer.\u201d<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cThat\u2019s just fine, Pete: now, Pete, I think you ought to have one more sip. Oh, by the way, Pete, when you were a boy, did you ever play with marbles?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete gri\u00admaces in disgust.<\/p>\n Annabelle: \u201cWhat\u2019s the mat\u00adter Pete?\u201d<\/p>\n Pete: \u201cThis isn\u2019t beer: this is turpentine!\u201d<\/p>\n Tony: \u201cThat\u2019s it: that\u2019s got to be it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Upon ques\u00adtion\u00ading by Petro\u00adcel\u00adli, Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Logan states that Joan and Willie are two of his best stu\u00addents, two of his teach\u00ading assis\u00adtants. He also admits that the two have car\u00adried their mutu\u00adal explo\u00adration of hyp\u00adno\u00adsis far beyond his expec\u00adta\u00adtions. Inves\u00adti\u00adga\u00adtion also reveals that Joan bought the blanks, and she admit\u00adted replac\u00ading them and set\u00adting up the whole bit of the\u00adater to prove her point about the pow\u00ader of hyp\u00adno\u00adsis and to prove the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor wrong. She just did\u00adn\u2019t want any\u00adone to get killed, but was too afraid to come for\u00adward until con\u00adfront\u00aded by Petrocelli.<\/p>\n That\u2019s when Petro\u00adcel\u00adli does what no defense attor\u00adney does: put his client on the wit\u00adness stand. As Willie is on the stand, Petro\u00adcel\u00adli plays the record\u00ading of Pro\u00adfes\u00adsor Logan\u2019s record\u00ading machine, which is the post-hyp\u00adnot\u00adic trig\u00adger to put him into a trance. He remains in trance until Petro\u00adcel\u00adli fires a blank from the pis\u00adtol, the release trig\u00adger. It may have been the\u00adatri\u00adcal, but the court found it con\u00advinc\u00ading enough to free Willie. Joan, how\u00adev\u00ader, will be charged with manslughter, a case Petro\u00adcel\u00adli is will\u00ading to take.<\/p>\n And, at the end, every\u00adthing it back to nor\u00admal, except for Pete, that is, who\u2019s drink\u00ading root beer because he still thinks beer tastes like turpentine.<\/p>\n Com\u00admen\u00adtary:<\/em> Its the clas\u00adsic dilem\u00adma: can you use hyp\u00adno\u00adsis to make some\u00adone do some\u00adthing they would\u00adn\u2019t nor\u00admal\u00adly do, in this case, com\u00admit mur\u00adder? Its a ques\u00adtion that\u2019s been debat\u00aded even before George Estabrooks announced \u201cI can hyp\u00adno\u00adtize a man \u00e2\u20ac\u201d with\u00adout his knowl\u00adedge or con\u00adsent \u00e2\u20ac\u201d into com\u00admit\u00adting trea\u00adson against the Unit\u00aded States.\u201d <\/em>Mil\u00adton Erick\u00adson answered in the neg\u00ada\u00adtive but the con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsy still con\u00adtin\u00adues, and has become the basis for a num\u00adber of sto\u00adries, includ\u00ading the most famous exam\u00adple, \u201cThe Manchuri\u00adan Can\u00addi\u00addate\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n Expert opin\u00adion tends to strong\u00adly favor Erick\u00adson here, but how\u00adev\u00ader, in this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, the argu\u00adment starts get\u00adting unclear. For one thing, there is the rela\u00adtion\u00adship between Joan, the hyp\u00adno\u00adtist, and Willie, the sub\u00adject in this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion. Their pro\u00adfes\u00adsor indi\u00adcates they have tak\u00aden their explo\u00adration of the sub\u00adject to depths beyond any of this oth\u00ader stu\u00addents. That implies a tremen\u00addous lev\u00adel of trust and famil\u00adiar\u00adi\u00adty between the two, which can be cap\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adized upon here.<\/p>\n Then there is the very real antag\u00ado\u00adnism between Willie and his pro\u00adfes\u00adsor. \u201cAnd his half-wit the\u00ado\u00adries on hyp\u00adnot\u00adic induc\u00adtion \u2026 It start\u00aded when he began quot\u00ading William James<\/a> on hyp\u00adno\u00adsis. You might as well start quot\u00ading Calvin Cooledge on wom\u00aden\u2019s lib!\u201d Willie says. He is hon\u00adest\u00adly angry at the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor, a reac\u00adtion the whole post-hyp\u00adnot\u00adic trance is designed to take advan\u00adtage of.<\/p>\n Added to the mix was the image of the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor hold\u00ading a shot\u00adgun instead of the point\u00ader he wield\u00aded, part of the flash\u00adback scene that Willie is reliv\u00ading. See\u00ading the class in imme\u00addi\u00adate dan\u00adger from the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor might just have been the final piece that drove him to final\u00adly pull the trig\u00adger, as he does hes\u00adi\u00adtate to fire until the pro\u00adfes\u00adsor turned to him.<\/p>\n How\u00adev\u00ader, it is<\/em> pos\u00adsi\u00adble that on some lev\u00adel Willie was aware of what he was doing, trust\u00ading that Joan had some\u00adhow arranged for the safe\u00adty of every\u00adone involved. He could even have checked the clip him\u00adself and dis\u00adcov\u00adered the bul\u00adlets were blank, not know\u00ading, like Joan, that there was a live bul\u00adlet in the cham\u00adber. But once the deed was done, instead of being the result of a deep trance, he is suf\u00adfer\u00ading from the trau\u00adma of killing some\u00adone that he has post-trau\u00adma amnesia.<\/p>\n Rec\u00adom\u00admen\u00adda\u00adtion:<\/em> High\u00adly rec\u00adom\u00admend\u00aded, not only for the extend\u00aded stage hyp\u00adno\u00adsis scene but also for the way the sto\u00adry makes the case that mur\u00adder under hyp\u00adno\u00adsis can<\/em> be pos\u00adsi\u00adble under the most demand\u00ading of cir\u00adcum\u00adstances. Unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, how\u00adev\u00ader, it is extreme\u00adly hard to find. The series has not been released on DVD and prob\u00ada\u00adbly only exists in video\u00adtape col\u00adlec\u00adtions. It was<\/em> shown on the TVLand cable chan\u00adnel many years ago (which is where I got my copy.) I have not been able to find any clips on YouTube, either.<\/p>\n Triv\u00adia<\/em>:<\/p>\n Ref\u00ader\u00adences:<\/em><\/p>\n\n
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