It’s been awhile for this article, I’m sorry, I have been busy. So let’s catch up with “Fear Itself”, as these are perhaps the season’s make or break episodes.

“For Sickness and in Health”: John Landis will be forever being in horror fans good graces with his “American Werewolf in London”. The film is pushing 30 years old, but it’s a timeless classic, full of gore and humor, that’s rarely been duplicated to this day. Unfortunately, this episode blows. It’s unimaginative and has a mind-numbing dumb twist that doesn’t make a lick of sense.

A nervous bride on her wedding day gets a note that tells her, the person she is going to marry is a serial killer. From here, it dampens the day and the wedding, as each little thing her new husband does has her thinking about that note. Eventually the note comes to his knowledge. There’s no tension, no typical Landis humor, no terror. Landis gave us a fun episode with “Deer Woman” in the first season of “Masters of Horror”. I think the problem with this episode is the script written by Victor Salva (“Jeepers Creepers”). It’s a decent idea, with no payoff. I really don’t care that I’m spoiling this twist, because this episode is the worst thus far on “Fear Itself”. She basically tells her husband that the note was meant for him, not her. Wow. All this time, she’s afraid of him as a serial killer when she’s one herself? Stupid. It’s so badly handle, it makes you pissed that you’ve sit and watched this for an hour.

Avoid this episode next time a rerun is on.

“Eater”: With the last episode being so bad, if there’s one director that could save us, it’s Stuart Gordon. He’s given us some crazy, blood-soaked cinema from “Re-Animator” to “From Beyond”, yet his theater background helps him establish good characters with limited amount of space. “Eater” is essentially a story about a Cajun Ed Gein. The story is simple and violent, providing some much needed gore, despite a silly supernatural element, but hey, I’ll take this any time after the last episode.

It’s a fast-paced, lean and mean shocker. Nothing more, nothing less. This series is limiting the directors; their style is not apparent as it was in the “Master of Horror” series on Showtime. It’s making me want them to leave NBC now for Showtime. I want fear and horror, and really at this half-way point, they are more concerned with a twist ending than just horror. At least Gordon’s episode brings more gruel and terror back into this show. I hope further episode’s take note.

“Fear Itself” is on a two week break, but be here then for more analysis of this show. “Fear Itself” is on NBC and NBC-HD on Thursday nights.