Her Pilgrim Soul/I of Newton 

In "Her Pilgrim Soul," two scientists must discover why the spirit of a woman is reliving a previous life within their holographic computer. "I of Newton" showcases a mathematician in a battle of wits with the Devil for his soul.

Directors:

Wes Craven, Kenneth Gilbert

Writers:

Rod Serling (created by), Alan Brennert

Stars:

Kristoffer Tabori, Anne Twomey, Gary Cole

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Kristoffer Tabori	...	Kevin Drayton (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Anne Twomey	...	Nola Granville (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Gary Cole	...	Daniel Gaddis (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Wendy Girard	...	Carol Drayton (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Betsy Licon	...	Nola - Age 5 (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul") (as Betsy Jane Licon)
Danica McKellar	...	Nola - Age 10 (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Katherine Wallach	...	Susan (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Richard McGonagle	...	Lester (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Nelson Welch	...	Ruskin (segment "Her Pilgrim Soul")
Sherman Hemsley	...	Sam (segment "I of Newton")
Ron Glass	...	The Devil (segment "I of Newton")
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Aidman	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

In the episode "I of Newton", Sam is a math professor who, in a moment of frustration, offers to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for the solution to an equation. The Devil appears and Sam must figure out how to save his soul from eternal damnation.

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Plot Keywords:

devil | equation | spirit | scientist | computer | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Gary Cole (Daniel Gaddis) would later play James in Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics (1994).

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Goofs

Kevin says that Nola is aging 10 months per hour, and that this equates to 10 years per day. 10 months per hour times 24 hours is 240 months, or 20 years per day.

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Quotes

The Devil: Here's the back story, Sam. You don't mind if I call you Sam, do you? I mean, I think we're really connecting here in a positive way. And I'd like to cut through all that "victim-demon" negative imaging, you know what I mean?
The Devil: [takes off his mirrored sunglasses, revealing mirrored eyes] Okay, here's the deal. All that mathematical lingo you were spouting? It's beautiful, man, it's like poetry. Brought tears to my eyes. Just happened to have the right phonetic structure to be a good old-fashioned ...
[...]

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Connections

References Gremlins (1984)

User Reviews

Very Touching Renewal of the Soul/He's Moving on Down

"Her Pilgrim Soul" is a touching little half hour. Two men, experimenting with Holograms, one of them Gary Cole, most recently on "The Good Wife, find a nine month old fetus, floating in the air of their holographic column. What happens is that every couple hours the fetus ages, become a toddler, then a teenager, then a young woman, and so on. It would seem that when this woman died, her soul was caught up in the ethos and brought down into their experiment. The man, who is having emotional troubles and problems with his marriage, becomes captivated by this figure. Soon there are thoughts of love. But there is a greater message and a connection to the past. And there is William Butler Yeats, the source of the title. The second feature involves Sherman Hemsley from "The Jeffersons," playing a mathematician, saying, "I'd sell my soul to solve this problem!" Of course, this brings Ron Glass's devil into the equation and Hemsley must parry and thrust in a sword fight for his eternal being. This one is strictly for humor. Glass proves to be quite incompetent. They should have called Weezy.

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1985 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Persistence of Vision Films (I), CBS Entertainment Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

48 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1