Plague from Space

This episode involves choices that would be hard to make. It involves a base where a spacecraft is inadvertently compromised, allowing a plague to take over the base. Anyone in contact with the alien (who is really a kind of interplanetary Typhoid Mary) becomes ill with no hope of survival. It builds pretty good suspense and is brought to a logical conclusion. I'm really interested in how often this series dealt in the bleakest of themes. There are few happy endings or messages of hope. These were all made post World War II, after the A-bomb, and probably fed into the fright register of the average viewer. The acting here is pretty good and the story one that could conceivably happen. In contemporary times people would not have been so quick to delve into the mysteries of the space ship. Apparently, quarantine wasn't an option or a choice.

This is an exceptional episode from "Tales of Tomorrow". "Plague From Space" is an especially harrowing episode--mostly because it SEEMS almost like something that could happen. It also features some nice acting from its lead, Gene Raymond.

The show is set on an air force base. From out of no where, a meteorite is spotted...but soon they realize it isn't a meteorite--it changes course, and a meteorite NEVER does that. It turns out to be a spacecraft--a very odd one. That's because there really isn't a pilot inside. It's more like a passenger...or, more accurately, a weapon in the form of a passenger. Soon, folks all over the base start keeling over...some of them dying! What's next? What's happening? See this episode and find out yourself.

This is a dark show--very, very dark. That might even be why I liked it, as I like my sci-fi to be dark and foreboding--and it's in this one in spades! It also proves you don't need a big budget to make an excellent show.

An extraterrestrial vehicle lands at a remote desert air force base with a single passenger, dead from a massive bacterial infection. Too much time is spent on the opening scenes of Col. Ward (Gene Raymond) drinking and feeling sorry for himself but once the UFO begins its landing approach the episode picks up. With only about 15 minutes left to develop a complex scenario, the story takes great leaps in logic about decoding alien languages, figuring out alien pathophysiology, etc. But the final 'twist' is novel and Ward's climactic decision well set up. Star Trek fans will be pleased to see a young James Doohan as Sgt. Morgan. The episode I watched on-line has an interesting interlude, during which representatives of the show's sponsors (Jack Kreisler Mfg. Corp. And C. H. Masland and Sons) accept a Loyalty Award on behalf of the show from the V. F. W. For "...broadening... the American families' understanding of modern science". That shows such as 'Tales of Tomorrow' did much to interest viewers, (especially young viewers), in science and technology is undeniable, but it is interesting to see this contribution so prominently recognised by a veterans' organisation.