episode #04 - The Man With the Power

Air Date: 10/7/63 writer: Jerome Ross Director: Laslo Benedek

A mild college teacher (Donald Pleasence) purposely has himself operated on (before the episode begins) to have a special "link/gate" gizmo inserted in his brain. This device allows him to tap into a limitless energy source - electromagnetic power - and focus this energy merely by using his brain, just by concentrating. The point of all this has to do with the space program; the scientists in the program are looking into alternate, better power sources for their craft and this looks like the best bet. Unfortunately, a person's unconscious or subconcious desires also manifest as destructive power via this special device in the brain.
The manifestation of this "power" is depicted as this miniature storm cloud, complete with lightning bolts. If powerful enough, these bolts can disintegrate a person. This premise was famously used in Forbidden Planet (1956) - it proposes that if a person's mind is amplified, all hell will break loose due to still primitive, hidden urges underneath. Pleasence, as usual, conveyed a quiet eccentricity, possibly masking some long-suppressed rage. His character has been stuck in a boring, useless (in his own eyes) job for many years and he now sees a chance to make a big difference. He does, but not in the way he planned. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

NOTE: as sometimes happens with a clearer picture on DVD, some scenes become less impressive: the professor moves a big fossil rock with his mind at one point and the wires holding it up are clearly visible.
Outer Trivia: Ed Platt plays the college dean and Pleasence's boss; he would soon start, in a year or so, to play Maxwell Smart's boss on Get Smart - quite a change of pace. Comic book writer/artist John Byrne borrowed this title and some of the premise for his story in Fantastic Four #234 (1981) - it had a similar mild-mannered character with limitless power.