"The Sentry" marked the 20th and final episode of this regrettably brief series, but an opportunity to watch Mr. And Mrs. Darren McGavin working together on screen. Actress Kathie Browne lamented being typecast in 'goody two shoes' parts, mostly in Westerns, and broke that mold in the memorable STAR TREK episode "Wink of an Eye," playing the fertile queen of a dying alien race who seduces Captain Kirk aboard the Enterprise. Perhaps McGavin was among those viewing that night in 1968, for within a year the two were wed and remained together until her passing in 2003 (her husband following in 2006). This could have been a turning point for the show had it gone on, a regular antagonist for Kolchak who happens to be a sharp, attractive police lieutenant succeeding in a man's world, but alas it was not to be due to low ratings and the star's burnout. This week's monster is a reptilian creature stalking victims in an underground facility in which the workers have confiscated its eggs for study, an actual TREK plotline from "The Devil in the Dark," padded with endless footage of Kolchak riding around empty corridors. Jack Grinnage is absent for only the second time on the show (previously missing from "The Zombie"), Tom Bosley plays a helpful guide, John Hoyt a suspicious autopsy surgeon ("he was bitten to death by a crocodile?"). The star would fondly remember the two movies that introduced his best known role, but rarely commented over the years on the series that resulted.
