'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' started off greatly with "Revenge" and "Premonition", but sadly hit a stumbling block with the disappointing "Triggers in Leash". Season 1, like all the seven seasons of the series, was an interesting and worthwhile one, with some real winners but also a small cluster of misfires. Which is true of the series overall too, expectations were high due to hearing so many great things about it and considering that Hitchcock is one of my favourites.
"Don't Come Back Alive" could have been a good deal better than it was, considering the great title. It is to me not one quite of the worst episodes of the series, but it is in my view a lesser entry of Season 1. It is an improvement over "Triggers in Leash", but is nowhere near on the same level as "Revenge" and "Premonition". "Don't Come Back Alive" does have its good things and just about worth a one time watch, but is let down by the story being rather all over the map.
Starting with the good things, "Don't Come Back Alive" is slickly and atmospherically shot with some suitably eerie lighting that suits the type of story very well. The music has an ominous vibe and the choice to have Gounod's "Funeral March of a Marionette" as the series' theme tune continues to be a stroke of genius. Hitchcock's bookending is intriguing, this aspect did vary throughout the series' run but it works very well in this episode.
Furthermore, Sidney Blackmer plays his role with intense conflicted edge. Virginia Gregg makes much of little and their chemistry is good. The twist ending wasn't too predictable and was nicely executed.
Which unfortunately cannot be said for most of what came before it. On the whole, the story felt too rushed and comes over as choppy as a result, over-stuffed and the crammed sprawling structure made coherence not a strong suit. Some serious suspension of disbelief is needed, as quite a lot of the story is utter nonsense and this is an episode that really would have benefitted from a much longer length, all of this being the complete opposite of the narratively thin "Triggers in Leash".
Moreover, the script could have had more verve and too often sounds awkward, it fares best in the bookending. While there is a little bit of suspense later, most of the time that aspect was lacking due to being distracted by the far-fetched-ness and the jumping about. Robert Emhardt for my tastes was too smug in his role and came over as annoying.
Overall, watchable but this could have been a lot better. 5/10.