TV Reviews : Dr. Raynor Returns for a ‘Deadly’ Sequel

Can we get too much of a bad thing? Following ABC’s miniseries of “Deadly Intentions,” based on the book and curious life of Dr. Charles Raynor, the network comes back with two more hours--”Deadly Intentions . . . Again?” It airs at 9 tonight on Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42.

It’s an oddity that raises another question: Is there life after TV has done your life?

Raynor, now played by Harry Hamlin, gets out of prison after six years for having plotted the murder of his wife. He seems joyed at returning to freedom with his second wife (Joanna Kerns) and their two children. But inside, he seethes about the book about him and the miniseries starring Michael Biehn as him. (At one point we even see a clip from the earlier miniseries.) Raynor contrives to drive his second wife crazy and go on to kill the author of the offending book, the first wife, the judge, etc.

We don’t know what’s real and what isn’t, of course, because all the names are changed and the network refers to this as a drama “suggested” by the events. But we are also told that this “Dr. Raynor” is back in jail for 15 more years, hinting that there may be more deadly intentions ahead.