Nightmare  (Airdate: January 28, 1968)
STORYLINE         

Piloting the flying sub on a systems check, Crane spots a UFO he assumes is a falling satellite, then receives an urgent message from Nelson indicating that something has boarded the sub; the Admiral is cut off mid-word.  Crane returns to Seaview to find her cloaked in shadow.  Hatches close and lock behind him, herding him through the ship; force fields strike him, he hears phantom orders on speaker

that missiles be prepared for firing.   He eventually encounters a stranger named Bentley, who claims to be a UFO expert and that everyone else is dead.   Bentley dashes off and Crane hears more phantom operations.   Soon Bentley's voice is added to the reports, warning that there's no way out for Crane and that he's going to die.  He soon discovers Bentley dead with a wet-suited Patterson the apparent killer.  Pat claims self defense and throws in with Crane, but is himself soon killed.  Nelson, Sharkey and Kowalski finally show up and put Crane on trial for the death of Patterson.  Crane escapes, makes his way to the missile room and throws himself into a circuitry panel to short circuit the missiles that Bentley, has fired.   In the melee, Bentley is killed.  When Crane comes to, he finds things pretty much back to normal.  Nelson explains that everything Crane experienced was a delusion created by the aliens as a test.  Except for the missiles, which actually did fire.  Crane is a hero once again.

Written: Sidney Marshall Directed: Charles Rondeau Guest Cast Jim Bentley....................Paul Mantee   Paul Mantee as Bentley gets collared by an angry Captain Crane

Mark says: A blooper in Act I as Crane shakes Bentley and yells, "Why did you kill me?" He quickly amends it to, "Why did you TRY to kill me?"  A budget-saver but it has its creepy moments.

Mike says:  Considering that it's season four--a great episode.  Well written, directed and downright eerie in spots.   David Hedison's scenes with the guesting Paul Mantee are tight and intense.  The scene with Nelson and company putting Crane on trial for Patterson's murder truly is a nightmare.  An aptly titled and very successful outing.

The Abominable Snowman  (Airdate: February 4, 1968)
STORYLINE
          Seaview heads south to check on the fate of the Paulson Antarctic Expedition.  As Nelson and company approach the coordinates of Paulson's home base, the water temperature soars and against all logic, Crane locates a tropical forest where Paulson's base is supposed to be.  An unconscious Paulson and one of his assistants (Rayburn) are given over to Doc's charge as Nelson tries to decipher the researcher's notes.   Incredibly, they are all that is left of an expedition of over two-dozen.  Soon, the Abominable Snowman of the episode title is raising havoc, turning the submarine upside down, crushing the life out of several hapless crew, and eventually Rayburn as well.  Paulson's ill-conceived project to turn Antarctica into  habitable territory is sending the world's weather askew and Nelson is ordered to destroy Paulson's work.  When Crane finally kills the Snowman, it momentarily reverts to its true form, professor Paulson, then disappears.  Seaview blasts Paulson's tropical base to smithereens and temperatures and the world's weather return to normal. 

Written: Robert Hamner Directed: Robert Sparr Guest Cast Hawkins.........................Bruce Mars Rayburn.........................Dusty Cadis Snowman.....Darryl Scott McFadden Snowman’s Voice.........Ronald Gans Corpsman....................Frank Babich Kowalski’s friend_______________

Mark says: This episode terrified me as a kid but flat direction by the usually reliable Bob Sparr robs the monster of much of its menace.  The acting of Dusty Cadis in the storage room must be seen to be believed. There’s still some creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere and crewman Hawkins’ desperate (and doomed) run for life is chilling.

Mike says:  For some reason, the charcoal eyes always always bothered me.  It was impossible to avoid the feeling that buried somewhere in all that carpet was a zipper.

Secret of the Deep   (Airdate:February 11, 1968)
STORYLINE
          An unknown power is out to blackmail U.S. shipping, and John Hendrix of Allied Intelligence is on board Seaview to pursue the culprit; he relentlessly pushes Crane for success and explains to Nelson, who is caught in the middle, that a hostile power is using biological mutants to get its way.   Seaview is heavily damaged by an electronic bolt, and after makeshift repairs, Hendrix demands Crane take her down again.  Nelson strikes a compromise, agreeing to go down in the diving bell.  He is almost caught by a giant undersea monster.  As it turns out, Hendrix is a double agent who is working against Nelson & company.  He tips off a secret undersea base when the Admiral and Sharkey head its way in the Flying Sub.  The two again narrowly escape disaster, return to Seaview and struggle to engage Hendrix, who eventually leaves the sub in order to supervise her destruction.  He is promptly eaten by one of his own mutants--a giant shark.  Repairs are whipped up and a torpedo or two finish off the undersea base and the mutant creatures. 

Written: William Welch Directed: Charles Rondeau Guest Cast John Hendrix.......Peter Mark Richman Circuitry crewman...Richard Vitagliano Two-headed Carpet Monster makes yet  another guest appearance on Voyage

Man-Beast  (Airdate: February 18, 1968)
STORYLINE 
       While Nelson works with Institute scientists re-testing a new deep-dive breathing mixture back in Santa Barbara, the wheelchair-bound Dr. Kermit Braddock directs a descent in the diving bell to almost 40,000 feet.  Crane is the human guinea-pig testing a new breathing mixture that will allow such deep dives with no decompression time.  Initially unknown to himself or the rest of the crew, when Crane passes out during the dive, he begins to undergo a gross transformation into a werewolf-like beast.  Discovering the problem with the gas and unable to contact Seaview (a beast-crazed Crane has wrecked the radio gear), Nelson takes the Flying Sub to Seaview with an antidote.  Nelson arrives to find Crane in a temporary state of reversion, horrified that a crewman is dead and that he killed the man.  In reality, it is Dr. Braddock, able to walk after all, who killed the man and who sent Crane down in the bell in an attempt to duplicate the experiment--hunting for a reversal of a condition he also has.  Inevitably, the suffering Braddock is killed and Crane injected with the antidote before it's too late.

Written: William Welch Directed: Jerry Hopper Guest Cast Dr. Kermit Braddock....... Lawrence Montaigne See David Hedison transformed into Man Beast.  Click Here,

Mark says: A rather jarring and whiny music score makes it tough going but Lawrence Montaigne brings real pathos to the role of Dr. Braddock.  The makeup shots in shadows are effective and the glimpse we get of the dying Montaigne is creepy, as is Crane's "monster face" during the conclusion in the diving bell.

Mike says: Disagreement on the music score thing.  Leith Stevens' score gives this episode what so many later-season Voyages lack--forward drive.  Energy oozes from the soundtrack as every filmic element comes together.  An intelligently written monster story.  Crane's suffering under the influence of Hendrix' gas is palpable.  Superbly acted on all accounts.  Directed with push and drive.  This episode is a great example of the fact that yes, you can do an effective monster show.  The key is in the writing.