This post is less a review and more of a discourse of why I thought this ep was so...awesome...
"The Production and Decay of Strange Particles" borrowed heavily from physics and lent the idea that life or at least consciousnesses could come from atomic particles. Man, that's awesome! The ep really introduced infinity and the possibilities that infinity could provide.
The lead was played George Macready and Mr. Macready was easily the most dignified actor on the American screen. If you needed a diplomat, scientist, pope or executive, Macready always delivered.
The plot was weak; a new life form arrived somehow, possessed humans and caused a big explosion. Macready had to understand and counter act the the events and with inspiration from his wife he ...."used his brain!".
There was plenty of stock footage used and in fact went over the line into classic stock but I forgave all of that just to hear all of the chemical compound names and even more.... chemical compound names plus isotopes! The over the top nerdiness was much more rewarding than the morality lectures of the Bellero Shield et all. Even a nuke explosion and then a another nuke explosion to put everything back! Dude!
TOS was scary because the intro parroted civil defense drills, every Outer Limits episode was a nuclear attack warning and this ep took you right to the fission.
I'm more experienced in life now and more critical but this ep's thrill is not gone. I don't visit the quality of the ep any longer, I visit the quality of the experience.
