The introduction is visually amazing for a weekly-grind TV show (was it shot in a studio---with rain, lightning, crashing plane, explosion, fire...etc??), and after the violence, intensity and trauma of this opening scene, I said to myself "the rest of this show better be pretty damn' good to justify all of this;" --and IT IS..
The full 50-minute running time is required by the plot, which continually UNFOLDS layer-by-layer.....with Linc determined to stay in Savannah to carry out a humane mission, but Tod in his inexplicable "tough-guy" stance-- which becomes more annoying with each episode--willing to turn a deaf ear to the dying wishes of a most unusual "benefactor", a doomed man attempting to make amends for his reckless actions back in 1939. I was glad when Linc SHUT DOWN Tod's objections early on, essentially shaming him into joining Linc on his mission.
The subsequent events are far too involved to detail here; suffice to say that the script is wonderfully constructed and balanced, never seeming rushed, yet always leading ahead to the next phase of the plot, as Linc and Tod gradually assemble the facts from the past to solve the puzzle. I was hanging on every word (some of which, due to their Brando-esque "natural" delivery, are hard to catch).
Stand-out performances all around, excellent direction, and a fascinating, multi-leveled examination of the plight of abandoned children and their parents--both "birth" AND adoptive. Intense and moving soliloquy from the embittered (young) Daniel Travanti, a welcome appearance by actor Percy Rodriguez, a classy, restrained, soul-searching performance by Sylvia Sydney, and another excellent, "nuts-and-bolts", totally honest portrayal by Chester Morris--all highlight this moving and painful emotional odyssey.
Tod does a MAJOR about-face from his earlier attitude, as he and Linc decide to pay an under-cover visit to the long-lost orphan (now a successful young woman) for whom they've been searching. Their encounter convinces them--AND surrogate father Chester Morris-- that the need to acknowledge and accept the TRUTH about this 23-year emotional saga outweighs the pain it will cause....especially in light of the sacrifice of the girl's real father, who gave his life trying to make amends for his "sin" of long ago.
Some may disagree, but "Child of a Night" is, IMHO, equal in its emotional impact to the similarly-themed "Mud Nest" of season 2--maybe even more so--and joins that great episode on my most highly-recommended list of what Route 66 accomplished at its very best. LR