| The Death Ship Airdate: February 20, 1966 |
| Voyage's take on Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians." Seaview is on a test run of a new automated computer system with a skeleton crew of Nelson, Crane, and 8 scientists and technicians. Unknown to the two officers, a nefarious foreign power has planted an agent on board the sub (one of the scientists--but which one?) who intends to sabotage and kill in order to use Seaview to disrupt a peace conference being held at sea on what is referred to as "The Peace Ship." Seaview's planned exercise will take her no closer than 50 miles to the ship, but not all plans go exactly as . . . er . . . planned. |
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| Early on, Seaview suffers her first act of sabotage (on the reactors) and a technician turns up dead--crushed in some machinery, presumably an accident. But when another man (Klause) is found dead from gunplay, it becomes apparent that there's definitely some bad business going down. |
Herb
Volland and Ivan Triesault (soon to be dead.) |
Ivan Triesault
in the process of getting dead. (Mouse
over.) |
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With Seaview dark for lack of power and eerily quiet, and all remaining scientists ordered to stay in the control room, Nelson and Crane search the sub. Passing through a small room, the two officers are suddenly locked inside as a hatch slams shut and boiling steam pours in. The two escape, return to the control room and find it deserted, save Winters. As with Star Trek's red-shirts, all technicians must die, and indeed, they do, one by one. Scientists as well, for that matter. One is found floating in an aquarium, another (the nervous Chandler) freaks out and flees in the mini sub which quickly implodes from the pressure. |
| When Nelson realizes that the goal must be to use Seaview to destroy the Peace Ship, he and Crane destroy the various missile and torpedo control systems. Crane is nearly killed in a booby-trap explosion, and is left in a weakened state from concussion. By now, the original crew of 10 is down to 5 including Winters, Stewart, Stroller, Nelson and Crane. Nelson discovers some tricky business with Seaview's wiring and is suddenly electrocuted in a haze of high-voltage. A stunned Crane verifies that the Admiral is dead and stores his body in sick-bay. Winters soon turns up dead as does Stroller, leaving only Tracy Stewart and a mighty ticked-off Crane. The anger with which he pursues the terrified woman is downright creepy! Just as the two are struggling, a hatch slams shut, trapping them, and they realize they're not alone. Crane is able to escape and steal his way to the control room and attempts to stop Chandler, who has jerry-rigged a firing system to the torpedoes. |
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It turns out Chandler faked his own death--he was not in the mini-sub when it imploded--apparently rather a dummy had taken his place. He's been orchestrating mayhem aboard ship ever since his own faked death, and must now be stopped, even as he stands at the periscope assembly with the remote firing control in his hand. In his weakened condition, telegraphed by the bandage on his head (remember his booby-trap concussion), Crane is overpowered. Nelson rises from the dead to shoot a shocked Chandler before he can launch Seaview's torpedoes. Nelson, with Crane's cooperation, has also been playing the faked-death game and is thus able to save the day before the last reel spools out. |
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Mark Says: This episode starts off with a bang and goes on to redo the "Ten Little Indians" and does a pretty good job. No big guest stars but a capable group of actors. It’s never explained how Chandler (who is clearly seen inside the mini-sub as it lowers away) manages to escape before the mini-sub implodes. |
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Mike Says: The episode is dark--literally. Seaview's reactor is put out of commission early in the game and emergency lighting is the the rule--relatively gritty stuff for year-two. Bodies turn up with great regularity and there is substance to the mystery and danger and the way the story's characters interact. Elizabeth Perry is absolutely wonderful in this episode and could co-pilot my submersible any day. Not only was director Abner Biberman Elizabeth Perry's father-in-law, he also shares Voyage's season-one Outer Limits connection, having directed Limits' "The Human Factor" with Gary Merril, Harry Guardino and Sally Kellerman back in 1963. Perry appeared with Anthony Eisley in Limits' season-two episode, The Brain of Colonel Barham. |
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Lew Gallo (not yet dead) and David
Hedison
Return