This episode functioned as a pilot for the series that began a month or so later. And despite what another reviewer states here on IMDB, it is a filmed performance (when it went to series, it was shot live). I haven't seen any other episodes of the Suspense TV series, but as a lover of the radio series that it's based on, I sure hope it got better. Also, I haven't seen a lot of embryonic 1940s television, but it seems to me that there were better things to be seen even then. But these pioneers were still trying to figure out what worked.
The issue is that for a series named Suspense, there is none of it. Basically the story relies on encounters with strangers to create the suspense, because the main characters fear that those strangers might know about their crime. But instead of using those characters to build tension, they pretty immediately make it clear that those characters aren't any kind of threat. The climax, which is intended as a mild twist, is just silly and completely falls flat; if you were paying attention, you had already figured it out.
Ultimately, this episode is of interest only as a curiosity for fans of the radio series, or for those interested in early TV.
The issue is that for a series named Suspense, there is none of it. Basically the story relies on encounters with strangers to create the suspense, because the main characters fear that those strangers might know about their crime. But instead of using those characters to build tension, they pretty immediately make it clear that those characters aren't any kind of threat. The climax, which is intended as a mild twist, is just silly and completely falls flat; if you were paying attention, you had already figured it out.
Ultimately, this episode is of interest only as a curiosity for fans of the radio series, or for those interested in early TV.
