Tales from the Darkside: I Can't Help Saying Goodbye starts as a young girl named Karen (Alison Sweeney) says goodbye to her mother (Helen Duffy), moments later & her mother is killed in an explosion. It seems that Karen can see when someone is about to die & can't help saying goodbye, her sister Libby (Loren Cedar) realises this after Karen says goodbye to her fiancé Max (Brian Benben) who then also dies soon afterwards. Libby decides to take drastic action to prevent her little sister Karen from saying goodbye to anyone else...
Episode 2 from season 3 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during October 1986, directed by John Strysik this is a somewhat heartfelt & occasionally sad little tale of a young girl with an unwanted gift. The script by Jule Selbo never actually makes it clear whether Karen causes the death's of the people around her by saying goodbye or she merely senses the future & is compelled to say goodbye, either way the one glaring plot hole in I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is that if indeed Karen can foresee someone's death why doesn't she take adequate steps to prevent it? I mean why not save her mother? Why stand by & let her best friend Susie break her neck? For me the story doesn't quite work although as already pointed out in the other user comments the ending is quite sad, rather poignant & a bit of a downer.
Like most Tales from the Darkside episodes I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is set in a single location. There are no special effects in this one to speak of & it's not even really horror themed either, in fact I'm not quite sure who I Can't Help Saying Goodbye was made to appeal to. The acting is good from an unknown cast although Brian Benben did get his own sitcom telly show imaginatively titled The Brian Benben Show (1998 - 2000) which ran for nine episodes & was a massive flop.
I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is a good example of the wide variety of story lines from this series but it strayed from it's horror anthology roots a little too much for me.
Episode 2 from season 3 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during October 1986, directed by John Strysik this is a somewhat heartfelt & occasionally sad little tale of a young girl with an unwanted gift. The script by Jule Selbo never actually makes it clear whether Karen causes the death's of the people around her by saying goodbye or she merely senses the future & is compelled to say goodbye, either way the one glaring plot hole in I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is that if indeed Karen can foresee someone's death why doesn't she take adequate steps to prevent it? I mean why not save her mother? Why stand by & let her best friend Susie break her neck? For me the story doesn't quite work although as already pointed out in the other user comments the ending is quite sad, rather poignant & a bit of a downer.
Like most Tales from the Darkside episodes I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is set in a single location. There are no special effects in this one to speak of & it's not even really horror themed either, in fact I'm not quite sure who I Can't Help Saying Goodbye was made to appeal to. The acting is good from an unknown cast although Brian Benben did get his own sitcom telly show imaginatively titled The Brian Benben Show (1998 - 2000) which ran for nine episodes & was a massive flop.
I Can't Help Saying Goodbye is a good example of the wide variety of story lines from this series but it strayed from it's horror anthology roots a little too much for me.