In mid 90’s drama Picket Fences what happens when you explore the “Heart of Saturday Night” in Rome, Wisconsin? Nothing much…just love and death and friendship and dreams and stars. Just life.
Young Matthew Brock (Justin Shenkarow) goes cruising with the guys, ends up at a party with the in-crowd, and acts as a go-between in a domestic dispute.
Jimmy and Jill (Tom Skerritt and Kathy Baker) try to rekindle their romance until a zipper accident douses their ardor. Judge Bone and Wambaugh (Ray Walston and Fyvush Finkel) see a friend die and end the night standing in a lake, their pants rolled up like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, contemplating eternity.
Saturday night in Rome: boring, sad, frustrating, ethereal — a miracle. And based on this marvelously subtle, sweet, and profound episode — which has the strength and integrity of TV’s Golden Age dramas — it’s hard to imagine a better place to spend an evening.
Original Airdate: October 27, 1995