The Outer Limits Cafe ~ View topic

Episode: 4
Air Date: October 7, 1963
Stars: Donald Pleasence, Priscilla Morrill, Fred Beir, Frank Maxwell, John Marley

"In the course of centuries, Man has devoured the Earth itself. The Machine Age has dried up the seas of oil. Industry has consumed the heartlands of coal. The Atomic Age has plundered the rare elementsâ€”uranium, cobalt, plutoniumâ€”leaving behind worthless deposits of lead and ashes. Starvation is at hand. Only here, in the void of space, is there a new source of atomic power. Above us, in the debris of the solar system, in the meteorites and asteroids, are the materials needed to drive the reactors. Yet in their distant, silent orbits, these chunks of matter are beyond the reach of man, beyond the reach of human hands, but not beyond the reach of human minds. Driving along a country road in an ordinary car is a modest man: Harold J. Finley, quiet and profound..."

A university teacher develops a device that, once implanted in the brain, can manipulate objects through mind power.

Galaxy Being Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 49

This one makes my bottom 5. I gave it a 3. If there ever was an episode of the series that would put me to sleep, it's this one. Never a fan of Donald Pleasence, he is incredibly dull in this one, but then the whole episode is.

Site Admin Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 82

Not as bad as some think - Donald Pleasance is an introvert with some desire to be an extrovert, at least to be something better and make a difference. A man ruled by his wife, a la Henry Bemis, at least this guy has "the power" to put her in her place.

6

Corpus Earthling Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 53

Middle of the pack. Story isn't anything to write home about, but Pleasence keeps things interesting.

6 points

Galaxy Being Joined: 11 Jul 2007 Posts: 15

A middling effort for me as well - I rated it a 6.

I like Pleasance - this was probably my first time seeing him in anything - but overall the episode just comes off as a bit blah.

Harry

I like Donald Pleasance a LOT, but the ending was barf city for me. Rolling Eyes

Even as a kid. Shocked

Oh sorry, TZDZ, I mean't I didn't like the ending. Laughing

Creeper- do you go over to the TZCafe? Your sense of humor would be appreciated by some of us there.

Its all dedicated to Twilight Zone, and its a huge board, loaded with info, esp. if you like the series.

TZ DZ Fan

Galaxy Being Joined: 16 Jul 2007 Posts: 9

I enjoyed this offering but I did feel that parts of the story were simply unbelievable. A very interesting idea though. I enjoyed Pleasance's performance immensely. 7

The best I seen yet next to "the sixth finger", I've always liked Donald Pleasance and he was great in this. The story reminded me a little of "Forbidden Planet" with Dr Morbius's monster of of the id, pretty much the same principle with their repressed anger killing people except that this monster manifests as a cloud rather than an invisble giant lion type monster. I really felt for Pleasance's character, the way his wife and the principle treat him would make me angry too, they thoroughly deserved what they got. In fact the only thing that would have differed with me is that I wouldn't have killed myself, instead I'd have taken revenge against a few more people 8). 8/10

Galaxy Being Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Hawaii

Oddly enough, this particular episode can be used as a metaphor for the Japanese practice of suicide. Note the fact that Finley commits suicide at the ending (although in an indirect way). Now consider the fact that Japan has the highest suicide rate but also the lowest murder rate. From that, the conclusion can be made that it's Japan's highest suicide rate that results in the country's lowest murder rate.

When Harold Finley redirected the id-entity at himself, it can be seen as that episode's metaphorical expression of someone committing suicide in order to save innocent lives similar to how Japan's highest suicide rate results in their lowest murder rate. [/i]

Site Admin Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 82

Galaxy Being Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Hawaii

Thank you, James. To receive a favorable response from the Admin, feels certainly gratifying. Note that more analysis of this episode will be forthcoming.

Site Admin Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 82

Galaxy Being Joined: 03 Nov 2007 Posts: 9 Location: Hawaii

After over a week, I decided, on second thought, that to add further analysis might ignite too much controversy because my next post would have consisted of too-inflammatory a commentary directed at the psychiatric profession. Since I don't want to jeopardize your site, James, I decided to put aside the analysis, until I can find a way to post without sounding volatile. [/i]