The Woods

The Woods
Season	2
Episode	23
Directed by	Nelson McCormick
Written by	Veena Sud
Airdate	22 May 2005
Date of crime	3 November, 1972
IMDb	View site
Previous	Best Friends
Next	Family (Season 3)

Description

The discovery of nine human skulls leads Lilly back to George Marks, the serial killer she was unable to incriminate months earlier, and who walked away a free man. As the detectives reinvestigate his mother's murder from 1972, George is forced to emerge from hiding to face Rush again. This time, their very lives are at stake in their final showdown.

Cast

Main Cast

• Kathryn Morris as Lilly Rush
• Danny Pino as Scotty Valens
• John Finn as John Stillman
• Jeremy Ratchford as Nick Vera
• Thom Barry as Will Jeffries

Guest Cast

• John Billingsley as George Marks
• Karina Logue as Simone Marks
• Sal Landi as Jacob Leonardo (2005)
• Sonya Leslie as Det. Lennie Desalle
• Vic Polizos as Lee (2005)
• Hugh Scott as Lee (1972)

• Ash Christian as Jacob Leonardo (1972)
• Nick Price as George Marks (1972)

Co-Starring

• Christina Cellner as Young Lilly Rush
• Chet Grissom as Evan (2005)
• Unknown child actor as Evan (1972)

Notes

• This episode is based on serial killer Robert Hansen.
• During one of the flashback scenes a young George plays a 45 of John Denver's "Sunshine on My Shoulders", however this is an anachronism, as the scenes were set in November 1972, and the song would not be released until late 1973.
• This episode was chosen as "The Worst TV Show of the Week" and "the most psychologically disturbing" by The Parents Television Council because of its themes of familial dysfunction, rape, and murder.
• DeeDee Cooper is mentioned and appears dead in this episode.
• The shots of John Finn and Jeremy Ratchford in the opening later made for Season 3 onward are from this episode.
• The song "Riders on the Storm" was also heard in the episode "Metamorphosis".
• As Jeffries and Vera see at the gun store, George Marks may see himself as Orion the hunter. One of the versions of the myth of Orion says that he was the lover of Artemis, the Greek goddess of moon and hunt and that he once tried to rape her; outraged, the goddess killed him. That's more or less what happens between George and Lilly: he brings her to the "woods" and assaulted her, not physically, but mentally by making her tell him all her terrible childhood memories. After that, she shot him to death in self-defense.

Music

• John Denver "Sunshine On My Shoulders"
• The Doors "Riders On The Storm"
• Jethro Tull "Aqualung"
• The Eagles "Witchy Woman"
• America "Sandman"
• Michael A. Levine "Rush & George"
• Closing Song: The Who "Behind Blue Eyes"