The Defenders (TV Series) The Accident (1961) User Reviews

Who's fault is it?

[schappe1 · 16 September 2016]

A boy is hit by a car. The driver is drunk. His parents refuse to let him have an operation because of their religion. A judge appointed a guardian- the hospital administrator - so the operation can take place. The child dies. Could he have lived if operated upon earlier? And did the fact that the father removed him from his hospital bed so they could pray on the floor exacerbate his condition? Is the drunk driver, who is responsible for the injury, also responsible for the death?

Some interesting questions. And the episode is not a condemnation of religion or parental rights. It's a classic "Defenders" attempt to get you to think about what is right and wrong, not to tell you. There's also a subplot about getting the drunk driver, (a rather silly woman), to take life - and her actions - seriously. The attempt almost tragically backfires.

As good as this is, it was done even better on Dr. Kildare (A Reverence for Life 4/29/65), thanks to a wonderfully nuanced performance by Dennis Weaver. Lonnie Chapman in this one is rather one-dimensional.

Science v. Faith

[westernone · 3/10 · 1 September 2016]

The story involves a boy's injury after an auto accident, but his parents are against surgery because their religion forbids it, he dies soon after.

The flighty girl that caused the accident while driving drunk is early on established as a low intellect, emotional child-woman whom we can freely pity and care about, whereas the parents are rigid, and stone faced, holding to their extreme dogma that all but insures the boy's death. (The name of their church is a made-up denomination.)

A shining hero in the form of the state appears, overriding the parent's stupid superstitions and the boy does get worked on, but maybe too much time was lost arguing with the primitives, and death comes.

Later in court, a doctor testifies that possibly operating in time might not have saved the lad's life. So the medical profession, and science, is off the hook. Then it comes out that the prayer-obsessed father made the boy get out of his bed multiple times to pray, rupturing the wounds and that, unsubtley suggests that religion killed the kid. The drunk driver is off the hook too, and gets a slap on the wrist. The lesson here is, I take it, The world would be a better place if we could do away with religious faith just like we can with parental rights.