episode #09 - Devil's Island

episode #9 / Air Date: 11.11.66
written by Bob & Wanda Duncan; Directed by Jerry Hopper

The time: 1895. The place: the French penal colony known as Devil's Island. Two arriving prisoners make a break for it and Doug & Tony are mistaken for them (and we never find out where those two actual prisoners swam away to). Tony behaves really foolishly in the 1st half of this one, grabbing at both the Sergeant (Theo Marcuse) and the commandant (Oscar Beregi) - he gets some lumps for his troubles. Then Doug really upsets the commandant by holding him at gunpoint (then naively trusting him); he gets a day in a hotbox. The Time Tunnel crew try to grab the two time travelers and snag another prisoner (Marcel Hillaire) instead.

The scene of the man-from-the-past in the Time Tunnel complex is pretty good; he's astonished, prefers to stay there and then is convinced he must return (not even partaking of his 1st good meal). And, Beregi & Marcuse are made-to-order villains, mostly amusing. But, the two time travelers and, by extension, the writers indulge in really faulty reasoning, seems to me. They're intent on escaping; why not wait to get transported out in a day or so, as what usually happens? They behave like they will be stuck there for a year or more, seeming to panic - maybe it's that 'freedom impulse' in all men? BoG's Score: 5.5 out of 10

Epilogue: Tony lands first on a city street; Doug arrives a minute later - he's arrested by French soldiers, who look like they're from the 18th century...
Time Trivia: Star Trek TOS actor alert - Marcuse appeared in Catspaw