User Reviews

Here we go again. Another character is taking something that he/she shouldn't have. In this case we have a 200 year old man who has developed that depression that comes with relationships coming and going, people dying off while he goes on. He apparently has developed a juice that keeps him alive. At some point back in the 1800's he was charged with murder, and so the current police detective (this is so stupid, I can't even believe it) wants to bring him to justice. These SFT police kind of run their own show. I guess it's up to him whether a person should be charged or not. Actually, he's interested in the young research assistant in the lab where the guy works. There are the constant displays of affection which certainly don't help the mood of our poor guy. He has almost no interest in the scientific realities of the most remarkable cases of the century. Anyway, he is talked into letting the guy continue to help with the research. Some of these don't really pass the smell test. Of course, we're supposed to suspend our feelings and think these two are to be admired. This is a really awful episode.

This suspenseful story about longevity is an example of how this series went beyond science and science fiction to stress a human interest in its content. It reminds me how less than a decade later "The Outer Limits" often featured a Gothic or Romantic fiction to its stories, beyond the mechanical gimmicks of conventional sci-fi and fantasy.

The three talented B-level lead players do a fine job of propelling the narrative, with the suspense generated throughout by what the 200-year-old man refuses to disclose to them. He's a sympathetic yet mysterious character, and the central theme resembles that often associated in fiction about vampires, who live on beyond the time span of their victim or lovers.

The director Herbert L. Strock is best known for his sci-fi/horror schlock movies ranging from "Gog" to "I Was a Teenage Frankenstein", but he does a good job of directing this show with a straight face.