Another great story from Elspeth Eric. Very touching. Also "Sand Castle", "Help Somebody", & "Answer Me" all have the same feel to them.

A man on holiday by the beach exercises his dog by tossing a red Frisbee for it to catch. A young girl comes across him and the two become friends. The girl is friendly and open and invites him around to meet her mother, a set-up, so to speak. The mother is gracious enough and reveals to him that they have suffered a great loss, her son was drowned when the tide came in and swept him out to sea. His sister tried to save him, but could not. There are some references to some kind of extraordinary ability the girl has but not much is ever made of it.

The Red Frisbee my favorite love that

Love this one! Perhaps my favorite! An interesting and enigmatic little story about a mysterious love on a tropical island with an open ending that makes you want to know more!

We used to listen to Mystery Theater in the back seat of my parents car all the way home from my grandparents farm every weekend. Even though I was exhausted I would stay awake to listen. If we got home before it was over we'd stay in the car in our driveway until it was over. If we didn't I would have nightmares! LOL! Happy memories from childhood.

A pretty good tale from Elspeth Eric. I really couldn't call it a love story myself, but others might do so. It seemed to me to be more of a cathartic tale for the women involved than anything else.

Sorry Elspeth Eric, but the statement in the story that a mother's love for a son is the closest thing to pure love that a woman experiences is pure mallarky. Otherwise a sweet story. Jada Rowland's is one of my favorite CBSRMT voices.

It's true that a mother's love (in general) is often the closest thing to pure love, but I agree that it's a silly assumption that a mother's love for her son is greater than the love she feels for a daughter. Elspeth Eric had some strange ideas about human psychology.

Love this episode....definitely in my top ten!!!

This episode has some of my favorite actors in it. The storyline is great....maybe a touch anti-climactic, but still really great. I love the characters....the dog is fun. The whole episode paints a 'fun summer on the water, first romance' picture in my mind. I truly love this episode.

I rate this episode ★★★★★ for EXCELLENT. If there's 1 word to describe Elspeth Eric's writing for this Drama-Mystery, it would be "Compelling!" There were 4 types of Love in this tale: Friendship Love, Family Love, Self-Love, and Romantic Love. There was compassion, companionship, affection, and a lot of mystique in every scene; like it was an episode of a soap opera series. The dialogue at the 32-minute mark was definitely an eye-opener for me. Another way to Title this would be "Wild Talent" or "The Great House" or "The Tide Turned" because those phrases were used repeatedly in this CBSRMT episode. The sound effects of the seagulls, the labrador retriever barking, the ocean waves on an Antilles beach, doors being knocked/tapped in the great house, and tea cups clinking were perfect to hear. And so was the music. Peaceful melodies in ACT-1, sympathetic tunes in ACT-2, and mystique tracks in ACT-3 were delightful to hear to make this story a classic mystery. In his Prologue, E.G. Marshall brings up the topic of Modern; in which it wouldn't have existed without magic and superstition from the past. In ACT-1, he draws us into the story where it's on Antilles beach in the Caribbean island. He draws us again that all talent is wild. In ACT-2, after explaining what happened in the previous act, he questions us CBSRMT fans if we ever been to a perfect house where someone who lived there was unhappy? (It's like saying have you met someone who's going through hellish times while living in paradise) In ACT-3, he asks the fans again, "Does a wild talent live in each of us?" Of course, yes. We use what talent we posses in order to be successful. But more importantly, in his Epilogue, he mentions 19th Century novelist/poet/playwright Gertrude Stein who asked, “What is the answer?” she asked, and when no answer came she said: “Then, what is the question?” (I wonder is Elspeth Eric was a fan of hers) And finally, our captivating cast: Robert Dryden (as Benedict), Jada Rowland (as Nikki), and Teri Keane (as Monica). SPECIAL NOTE: if you have the CBSRMT Episode Guide Book, you will notice a typo in the book where it says Mandel Kramer playing the role of Benedict. Jada Rowland is my #1 favorite actress of CBSRMT and this is one of her best parts. Robert Dryden & Teri Keane's acting was mesmerizing to me, especially when they converse when it was dead silent in their scenes. Not only do I highly recommend this story to everyone, I also highly recommend to check out #1288-THE SAND CASTLE; another Drama-Mystery that also takes place on the beach, also starring Jada Rowland, and also written by Elspeth Eric. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =^D

One of my favorites. Lots of levels to this storyline. Just listened to Sand Castle & noticed similar points in the storyline.

The older man or widower meeting up with a young girl is a repeated theme in many of these, sometimes the girl seems a little too young or naive such as in Answer Me. So sometimes I find these particular stories somewhat disturbing.

Excellent show! While Russel used the term mesmerizing I think it fits this episode well. It has a certain quality that just keeps you listening on the edge of your seat even though it was not really an action type episode. It illuminates the human condition of you never know what someone is going through! On the outward appearance they look perhaps like they have it made but are living in quite desperation. Check this one out and lets us know what you think!

Yes,im with you Cathy on that Dirty old man springs to mind...very distirbing indeed.

This is a superb episode. Miss Eric was a magnificent writer .

I'm curious to know why so much emphasis was placed on the frisbee's color being red. Whenever the frisbee was mentioned it was called "The Red Frisbee". Throwing the Red Frisbee on the beach. Nikki, bring the Red Frisbee with you tomorrow. The dog carried his beloved Red Frisbee in his mouth. I remember buying a red frisbee back around 1975, but they came in packages of white, red, blue, green. Many colors. We just called it a frisbee regardless of what color it was. Wasn't too concerned what color it was. Yet here it is "be sure you bring the 'Red' Frisbee. Besides, dogs can't see the color red. Why would the dog pick the red frisbee as his favorite? For the dog it would look gray. Also the ending is kind of strange. SPOILER alert. Didn't actually catch how old the dirty old man was but I assume if the mother fell in love with him, he'd be close to the mother's age. Yet the man turns her down and asks the daughter to love him who at the beginning he thought she was 17 years old, but she could look like she could be 12 years old! Eew!

What makes you assume the girl looked 12? The girl was 17, and she could have looked 20, for all we know. Ben fell in love with the girl, but he didn't want to be involved with a minor, so he left. He wanted to wait for her to turn 18, which is the legal age of consent. It seems that their relationship was based on more than just lust. They seemed to have a genuine soul connection, so it's not so creepy in that context. I just wonder about the awkwardness of the mother being in love with him and she has to watch him and her daughter, etc. That part is really awkward.

He said, "I judged her to be about 17, but she could have been 12 or 20." I don't think they mentioned her actual age again.

Actually, age of consent varies, depending on the state, but in any case, he wanted to wait for her to be 18 first.

This story is very well done, although it gets weird when the strange Freudian issues between mother and son, and the weird "daddy" issues with the daughter come into the story toward the end. Other than that aspect of the story, the episode is very well done, and I love the peaceful atmosphere this story invokes.

I really disliked the film “Ordinary People.” This was so similar in so many ways I really wasn’t into it from the beginning. But the truly revolting part was the “love” triangle among the characters. Ben never stood up to the mother on behalf of the daughter and he led the mother on with the anticipation of his return. I find Elspeth Eric’s writing very disturbing because she reflects so much of what’s wrong on this world. I encounter enough of these matters in the real world that I don’t find any enjoyment listening to them in my spare time.

Good story. Enjoyed the healing the man was able to bring to this broken family.

I wish I could have meet and talked with Elspeth and picked her brain about all these stories she wrote in the same vein for CBSRMT. They are my favorite episodes and I want to know more.

Shades of "Ordinary People."

There's just something about EE's mojo. I find that more of her stories seem to linger in my mind than just about any other writer on CRMT—"The Last Plan" especially. I was drawn to this episode even before I knew she was its author. When I found out it was her, it only endeared me more. Living steps away from a beach and shoreline myself, I find the first 5 minutes or so of this story especially enthralling. There’s a kind of radio branding to Ms. Eric’ work…a macabre melding of say a David Mamet and Aaron Sorkin with Hitchcock and Serling. The sounds, the ambience, and especially this episode’s opening music underneath the narrative, indeed encapsulates the quirky auteur melancholy that is her talented signature.