TV REVIEW : Schroder Shakes You Up in ‘The Stranger Within’

“The Stranger Within” is that rare TV commodity: an artfully made, crackling good thriller that scares you to your toes.

The CBS drama airs at 9 tonight on Channels 2 and 8, its constant, ominous undertone gradually building toward an explosion of violence. This is slow-evolving terror without gimmicks or cheap manipulation. Credit John Pielmeier’s sound script, some very good direction by frightmaster Tom Holland and first-rate performances by Kate Jackson and Rick Schroder in a story about the reunion of a mother and son 16 years after his abduction as a 3-year-old.

Or is Mark (Schroder) really whom he says he is? When he shows up at the rural Minnesota home of Mare Blackburn (Jackson) without warning and tells an initially persuasive tale about his origins, his sensitivity, earnestness and craving for affection all ring true. Yet there is something sinister about Mark and his ability to exploit Mare’s vulnerability and guilt feelings about not being a “good mom.” Moreover, Mare’s skeptical boyfriend (Chris Sarandon) begins to find holes in Mark’s story.

The plot is eked out neatly and tautly in a rugged winter setting that emphasizes the protagonists’ isolation, with that former cherub Schroder chillingly credible as a volatile character whose sweetness appears to conceal a possibly dangerous, seething anger, and Jackson on the mark as the mommy whose maternal instincts may override her judgment.

There are only a few tip-offs here. Mostly, “The Stranger Within” delivers some good old-fashioned jolts. If you like a good scare, this one’s for you.