A doppelgänger is a spirit that seeks to take over the body of whomever it is duplicating. In this episode, that would be musical conductor Ryder Bond (Fred Beir). Bond has been seen at multiple crime scenes where victims died as a result of spontaneous combustion. All of these victims just so happened to be colleagues and friends of Bond, which gets Carl Kolchak interested in the story.
Once he meets and gets to know Bond, Carl decides to help him. The only problem is that he could be a target the next time Bond falls asleep and his doppelgänger emerges to kill. Carl discovers that an organizer crime figure named Markoff dreamed of being a conductor and now that his spirit can't rest, he has decided to target Bond and take over his life.
To stop him, Carl must work with fortune teller Marie (Madlyn Rhue) to learn how to stop the evil ghost. That means digging up his grave - using footage recycled from "The Zombie" episode - and taking it to the arcade where he died the first time, then setting it on fire. What a loss - that place was filled with some amazing pre-video game machines and so much old pinball.
This is one of four episodes of the series that Don Weis would direct. It was written by Bill S. Ballinger, who also wrote "The Ghost of Potter's Field" episode of Circle of Fear as well as the movie The Strangler.
It all ends with Carl finally able to sleep, except it's in the back of a police car as he's hauled off to jail. He closes the story by saying, "Well, at least I won't have to worry about the doppelganger any longer. He's back in his own body and will probably be cremated, which is really rather sweet poetic justice for Frankie Markoff. My only worry now is to find Tony Vincenzo to try to raise bail. They've got me hooked on some stupid arson charge. But it's Tony's night to play cards and I don't know where he is. So I think I'll just spend a nice good night's sleep in the slammer."
Once he meets and gets to know Bond, Carl decides to help him. The only problem is that he could be a target the next time Bond falls asleep and his doppelgänger emerges to kill. Carl discovers that an organizer crime figure named Markoff dreamed of being a conductor and now that his spirit can't rest, he has decided to target Bond and take over his life.
To stop him, Carl must work with fortune teller Marie (Madlyn Rhue) to learn how to stop the evil ghost. That means digging up his grave - using footage recycled from "The Zombie" episode - and taking it to the arcade where he died the first time, then setting it on fire. What a loss - that place was filled with some amazing pre-video game machines and so much old pinball.
This is one of four episodes of the series that Don Weis would direct. It was written by Bill S. Ballinger, who also wrote "The Ghost of Potter's Field" episode of Circle of Fear as well as the movie The Strangler.
It all ends with Carl finally able to sleep, except it's in the back of a police car as he's hauled off to jail. He closes the story by saying, "Well, at least I won't have to worry about the doppelganger any longer. He's back in his own body and will probably be cremated, which is really rather sweet poetic justice for Frankie Markoff. My only worry now is to find Tony Vincenzo to try to raise bail. They've got me hooked on some stupid arson charge. But it's Tony's night to play cards and I don't know where he is. So I think I'll just spend a nice good night's sleep in the slammer."