Looking for a television episode from a long time ago.

May 19, 2008 8:37 PM

TV Filter: Help me find an episode of a show I saw over a decade ago.

I don't watch TV much anymore but there is this episode of a show that has been bugging me for a long time as I try to track it down. Here it is in all its vagueness:

It was in the mid to late 90s. The show was possibly the x-files (although I think I have researched nearly every episode and haven't found it) and it was about a man on death-row who the main characters were trying to determine his guilt or innocence. I don't remember many other details about the episode but I do know that it climaxes with the male protagonist finding that he is innocent, he is rushing to the prison, it is raining ferociously and he is on a countdown against time to stop the impending execution. The song "lightning crashes" by Live is playing over the climax and I believe that the protagonist just barely misses the execution and the man is put to death. If you find this you will be my internet hero for a day. The key I think is lightning crashes playing in the episode but my searches have turned up nothing to date.

posted by occidental to media & arts (6 comments total)

I remember this. The show was Strange Luck with D.B. Sweeney and the episode was called "Last Chance."

Here's the "Last Chance" episode page on tv.com.

You're right in that a big key was the Live song. I haven't thought about this show in over a decade.
posted by macguffin at 8:45 PM on May 19, 2008

BTW in case it helps in the future, I found this by searching: ""lightning crashes" live episode execution"
posted by macguffin at 8:48 PM on May 19, 2008

(Sorry for posting yet again) After reading the show's Wikipedia page linked earlier: it looks like the twist to the story was that the innocent man didn't die, while the real killer did.
posted by macguffin at 8:55 PM on May 19, 2008

Wow, I love metafilter. Fast! Thanks, that is the episode, the song was used really well in the context, I think that is why I still remember it to this day.
posted by occidental at 9:02 PM on May 19, 2008

And here it is on YouTube! Looks like a VHS rip.

The Live song starts near the end of part 4.
posted by macguffin at 9:07 PM on May 19, 2008

Yeah, Strange Luck. Damn, I loved that show. Brilliant concept. The weird shit that happens to most TV characters and makes it hard to buy into them was the entire premise of the show.

Back when it was on, it aired Friday nights, after American Gothic. God, that was a good night of television.
posted by Naberius at 9:52 PM on May 19, 2008