Episode 5: Genesis - 2/7/67

Two motorcycle police officers are making a traffic stop when they notice a car driving by with only one headlight. One of the officers makes a remark about the crazy kids with one headlight, while the other gets on his bike and says, "They're mine."

He stops the offending youth and asks for their license. The driver asks what they did, telling him they were only going 30 mph, and the officer asks the driver to get out. He points out the broken headlight on the station wagon and says it will cost him. As the crazy kid laughs about trying to drive like an old lady and getting stopped for a headlight, the officer hears a thumping sound coming from the car and asks what it is.

The youngster nervously says it's nothing, but the officer goes to the back of the car and demands that he open it. The young kid tries to explain that it's a nice girl who got a little 'oiled up' at the beach, but the officer repeats his command. The kid opens it and a glowing red light pulsates from within, as the horrified officer asks what it is. The kid slaps a lighted alien disc on his neck and he goes down silently screaming as the kids drive off.

Starring Roy Thinnes as Architect David Vincent

Guest Stars: 
John Larch as Lt. Greg Lucather 

Carol Rossen as Selene Lowell 

Frank Overton as Dr. Grayson

Written by:

  John W. Bloch

Directed by:

Richard Benedict

Act I

A police officer has seen something so terrifying that he had been driven to hysteria, and from hysteria to the thin edge of madness. His incoherent words describing a creature not of this world and a strange, metallic disc, bring David Vincent to this Rhode Island city, and Officer Hal Corman.

Mrs. Corman is arguing with the psychiatrist about why she can't stay with her husband, who is awake but unresponsive. The doctor tells her he won't be able to hear her because his mind has put up a barrier to shut out what happened to him. He says they must find a way to bring him back to reality without frightening him. She asks how they can do that. He tells her they don't have the facilities to do it there and he needs her to sign papers to give permission for them to take him where he can get the help he needs. She says she won't, but Lt. Lucather says she has to do it for Hal's sake. She agrees to give permission.

David Vincent steps out of the elevator and asks the nurse if he could see his friend, Sgt. Hal Corman, but is told he's not allowed visitors, so he asks if he can see his doctor. Lt. Lucather hears his request and interrupts, showing his ID and asking to talk to David. He asks for his identification and where he was the night before. David tells him he was on Flight 402 and hands him his airplane ticket. David asks what it's all about and Lucather says one man knows what happened to Hal Corman and he's going to find the man who was driving the station wagon. He asks David why he's there, saying he knows most of Corman's friends and has never seen him before. He says he's going to hang on to his ticket while he checks with the airline. He asks where David is staying and says he'll hear from him.

Lucather meets Joan in the hallway and offers to take her home, but she declines. He says he wants to help and she requests he do her the favor of not helping Hal, but to leave him alone instead. He says he told her how sorry he was and she says it's a little late for apologies. She remarks that he was so proud six months ago of how he and his protégé were going to take the town apart and clean it up, but while Hal lost his rank and future, nothing happened to Greg. She says if it hadn't had been for him, Hal wouldn't have been on beach patrol the night before.

David Vincent is ringing the doorbell at Mrs. Corman's apartment when she arrives behind him. He asks to speak to her and she mistakenly thinks he is a reporter. He introduces himself and says he might know something about the experience her husband had. He says that if he can talk to him, he might be able to help Hal and himself. She asks what kind of experience and David requests five minutes to talk to her. She agrees and lets him in.

Lt. Lucather is reading a report, saying it doesn't make sense, and asking what it means. Another officer explains that David Vincent is a kook and that he believes aliens are trying to take over the Earth. He confirms that he was on Flight 402. Dr. Grayson calls Lt. Lucather asking him to come over right away because Joan has told him that if he doesn't let Vincent see her husband, she'll have him taken out of his care. He says if nobody stops her, he will not be responsible for what happens. Lucather tells the other officer that if the captain asks for him, to say he doesn't know where he is. The officer stops him, saying that if it weren't for the captain, he would have been busted like Hal was, and warns him against continuing to act like a one man army or he'll lose his job and pension.

At Newport General Hospital, Dr. Grayson explains to Joan that they know little about the human mind, but that David Vincent knows nothing, and that one wrong word from him could push Hal so far into his own world that they will never reach him. She says one right word might bring him back to her. She asks if he can guarantee that and adds that she's not going to argue with him and repeats her threat to remove him from Grayson's care.

In Hal's room, she tells him they're going to help him and pleads with him to help them. David approaches him, telling him he doesn't know him, but that they both may have been through the same kind of experience. He instructs him to try to remember the metal disc with a warm metal, unknown to them, that began vibrating when it touched him. When he states that someone held the disc in the palm of their hand and tried to press it against his neck, Hal begins to shake and contort his face. David continues, saying it's alright, that he's not alone because he's seen it too, but Hal appears to become more frightened. He asks him to try to remember what he saw, asking what it was, but Hal becomes agitated and collapses on the bed. Joan yells for him and Dr. Grayson orders them all out of the room.

Lt. Lucather follows David out, exclaiming that he should have found some charge to stop him, but David says he got through to him, that he found the truth, and that Lucather needs to find a lead on the station wagon. He yells that until he finds something to book David on, he's going to stay on his neck. David says he might appreciate it later on and tells him he should put a guard on Hal Corman. He says that he's seen them and they can't allow him to talk. He tells him they only need one minute alone with the metal disc he saw to kill him, making it look like a cerebral hemorrhage. David says that he had better put a guard on him, even if he doesn't believe him.

David is in his hotel room reading a newspaper article stating that Sgt. Hal Corman is still in shock when an investigator comes to his door asking him to accompany him to the station. David asks why and is told that Hal Corman is dead from a cerebral hemorrhage. David grabs his jacket and goes with him down to the parking garage as the man secretly holds a metal disc in his palm. As he tries to bring it around to David's neck, he swings the alien imposter around into a parked car.

They struggle on the ground and David gets the disc away from him, punching the alien hard enough to send him flying onto a car, while stomping the device. The alien pulls a gun and they wrestle for it, but the alien knocks David down and brings the butt of the gun down on his head, knocking him unconscious. As he begins to lift his body up, Lt. Lucather drives up and yells at him, causing the alien to run behind a pole and begin firing at him. Lucather goes after him as he attempts to flee and shoots him, causing him to glow red and vaporize, leaving the shocked lieutenant staring at his shadowy outline on the wall.

I don't understand why Hal Corman did not die from the metal disc the first time it was used on him. Perhaps the alien kid didn't apply it to his neck long enough. It appears different than the one we saw in the first episode. The alien iDisc2 seems to be a lot sleeker and less colorful, though it appears much easier to palm. Dr. Grayson sure seems anxious to get rid of everyone and have Corman to himself, especially after he becomes responsive when David asks him about what he saw. I'm guessing he's one of them. 

Lt. Lucather has witnessed an alien death, which may help him to revise his opinion of David Vincent. There seems to be an underlying message about the repercussions of fighting City Hall unless you have friends in high places willing to protect you. Maybe we'll understand the purpose of knowing the history between Corman and Lucather by episode's end.

Act II

Lt. Lucather is in the parking garage asking the hotel owner to clear the area. He asks about the shots but the lieutenant denies it was gunfire, saying a can of gas went up. He goes to send the onlookers back to their rooms and Lucather asks Vincent what he just saw happen. He tells him he saw a can of gas go up and Lucather tells him not to be funny. David tells him he knows what he saw, but what he wants to believe is up to him. He says they need to find out what Hal Corman saw. Lucather asks who the man was he shot and David says it wasn't a man. He says he knows he's been tracking down invaders from another planet and that Lucather just saw one die. David hands a ferry ticket to Lucather that he found in the front seat of the station wagon, as well as the registration identifying the owner as Selene Lowell. He thanks the lieutenant, saying he knew he'd be glad he was on his neck. Lucather admits he came over to pick him up after Hal died. David says he didn't just die but was murdered.

Lucather and Vincent are at the Newport Sea Lab and he stops to remind David they're on police business and warns him not to louse him up. They ask a man inside where they can find Ms. Lowell and he directs them outside by the fish tank.

Selene is yelling that she is not hysterical. She asks Ken if he's afraid that mentioning Dr. Linnear's disappearance to the police will jeopardize his grant. He grabs her by the arm and asks for a chance to check. They walk along the tanks until they are greeted by Lt. Lucather and David Vincent. Ken excuses himself and Selene says that the lieutenant told her on the phone that they found her station wagon and she asks where it was.

He asks if she knew it was missing and she says she didn't because everyone there uses it and the keys are always in the ignition. When he asks if somebody there could have been driving it, she says absolutely not. David says they have a ticket stub from the ferry that proves that the car was used last night. She asks what they're not telling her and what happened to him, and Lucather asks who. She tells him that she said she wouldn't say anything but guesses she has to. She said the head of the sea lab, Dr. Linnear, is missing. She tells them that last night he felt ill and went home, but this morning she checked where he lived and there was no answer. Lucather asks her to come down to HQ when they're finished there to give them a rundown on Linnear. She says she hopes she can be of some help and invites them to come with her.

She tells them Ken, who is Dr. Harrison, is not going to be pleased that she mentioned anything to them and that everything is behind schedule, which makes it so unreasonable for Dr. Linnear to have just left. They stop to look at someone in a diving suit in the tank. David asks, if it's not secret, if she could tell them about the kind of work they're doing. She says maybe he'll see why they're under strict orders about publicity. She tells them they didn't have to worry about that under her last director, but then he had a heart attack and Dr. Linnear took over the lab and everything changed. She says that she and Ken are the only ones left from the old staff. She offers to show them something.

She takes them to a tank with something floating in it and tells them it's created life. She tells them that Dr. Linnear has had Ken experimenting with primordial conditions, that they've replicated them by running electricity through sea water, amino acids and some gobbledygook. She says it's only a small scale but will show them what their grant is giving them money to do. David asks if he can wander around a bit where the scientists are working.

He goes up a set of stairs and comments on the size of a guy's cable, saying it could light the whole city up, asking if he needs all that power when he has his own generator. He says he doesn't work there, he's just from the power company and he should ask one of the brains there. Dr. Ken is telling Lucather he doesn't have the time and Selene informs him she's going to headquarters with Lt. Lucather and Mr. Vincent. He tells her not to worry about coming back since they won't be working late. She says she'll call when they find out what's wrong. They drive off together as Dr. Grayson comes out to watch them depart.

I knew Grayson was one of them! What are the Invaders up to with their experiments generating living organisms on Earth? Is Ken knowingly working with the aliens? Will Selene's involvement with the police jeopardize her life? Was Dr. Linnear the red glowing thing that freaked Corman out in the back of the station wagon?

Act III

Grayson tells Ken he wishes Selene hadn't involved police but she was right to be concerned. He said the strain of rushing to get the lab ready may have been too much for Dr. Linnear. Ken regrets that he worried about publicity instead of Dr. Linnear. He thinks maybe he should go down to headquarters to see if there's something he can tell the police to help find him, but Grayson tells him his place is there, as he holds a rotating crystal in front of his face that emits colorful lights. He says that without the knowledge he gave Ken and without his skill, he's lost. He tells him there's a meeting next week his people will be coming to, and they will not be able to reach their goal without his contribution. He says if they lose Linnear's scientific genius, their timetable for Earth will be set back. Ken asks what he wants him to do and Grayson responds that Linnear wants him to give him human form again.

Lucather arrives at headquarters with David and Selene, and his buddy passes the phone to him, letting him know it's Joan Corman calling for him a second time. He tells her to take it easy and that he'll call her as soon as he can. He tells David she's given them the lead they've been looking for, that just before he died, Hal told her where to find the people responsible for his murder. He says there's a warehouse across the river, just one block from the ferry. David questions how a man in deep shock could come out of it to give him the information he needs and says it's a trap. Lucather says he has to go as he blames himself for Hal being on the beach that night. David calls Mrs. Corman and is informed by her landlady that she left an hour ago to see her husband's relatives in Illinois.

He asks Selene if she knows where the warehouse is and she says she could see it from the dock when she took Dr. Linnear to the ferry. David asks if she was in the station wagon the previous night, but she denies it, saying it was a week ago. She tells him Dr. Linnear was feeling sick and that he told her his doctor was across the river. David turns to the sergeant seated at his desk and asks for his help, stating that Lt. Lucather is in grave danger. He says the lieutenant only asked him to turn the wagon over to the girl and didn't say anything about having to listen to David Vincent's nightmares. David asks her to show him where the warehouse is.

Back at the sea lab, the power station guy says the only way he can get him the current he wants will blow every transformer in the city. Ken says he must have one burst of power and if the power system blows, the generators will take over. Grayson tells him to go to the power company and do it.

Selene is cozying up to David Vincent in the front seat as he drives her station wagon. It appears the police have kindly repaired the broken headlight. She tells him it's too late to catch the ferry, but there's a bridge a half mile down. She tells David she doesn't know what's going on and feels entitled to an explanation. He wonders if he'll believe his explanation or Dr. Linnear's. He tells her he believes they're being invaded by beings from another world and he thinks they've already taken over the sea lab.

Grayson and Ken are supervising as a diving suit is being lifted from one of the tanks. Ken opens the face plate and peers inside while hearing the sound of a heartbeat. He tells Dr. Linnear they're ready.

Another alien toy is revealed and it's a pretty crystal with flickering lights that allows the Invaders to control humans.

Act IV

Two men are carrying a dog sized lump on a stretcher of sorts up to the place where the enormous cable is located. Ken gives the signal and the lump is dumped into the tank where they are running the electricity.

David and Selene park at the warehouse at the docks. David gets out and she tells him that if everything he said is true, they should be going to the police. He tells her to give him just five minutes. He goes around the side of the warehouse to a door which warns of high voltage. An alien in green jumpsuit steps out of the door with a gun trained on David and tells him to come with him. He enters to see another alien holding a gun on Lt. Lucather, who apologizes to David. 

Lucather asks what the equipment is supposed to be and he informs him that it's a regeneration station that keeps the aliens in human form. He explains it's also used to get rid of them without a mark or trace, by inducing a simple heart attack. They simultaneously go for the aliens' guns, but are unsuccessful and are led to the same apparatus that killed David's only friend. The tubes begin to descend.

Back at the lab, Dr. Linnear's stuffed animal shaped body is floating in the bubbling tank as the lights flash. Selene sees the lights outside the warehouse dim and go out. The tubes stop their descent and the aliens begin shooting at David and Lucather in the dark. They break out and get into the station wagon as an alien fires after them. Selene asks about the shots and David tells her to keep driving.

Lucather notes that the power seems to be out throughout the city. David tells him the power lines he saw at the sea lab could black out a city twice the size. David says that Dr. Linnear was sick and they brought him to the regeneration station but that something must have gone wrong. He says that usually when regeneration fails, they die and burn up, but he supposes that he may have started losing his human form. He says that Hal saw something that drove him mad and that something has been at the sea lab all day.

Ken continues to run electricity through the tank. David says the meeting next week must be very important, as is Dr. Linnear, or they wouldn't risk blacking out a whole city. Selene says she knows Ken wouldn't work with them, but David says he may have no choice, and that they may be controlling him.

Grayson holds the spinning crystal up to Ken and asks what he needs. Ken says they only need ten minutes, as a naked human form begins to take shape in the tank.

David, Lucather and Selene arrive at the sea lab. They see a guard standing outside the entrance and David asks about another way in. She tells him and he asks her to distract the guard long enough for them to get inside. Lucather asks what happens when they get inside. He says that if he's right, he can make a quick phone call and be a hero back at headquarters.

Selene goes to the entrance and is stopped by Jimmy, who says he's waiting for his ride. She says she came to get Ken, but Jimmy says he left awhile ago. David and Lucather sneak by while he talks to her and then she leaves. They enter the lab and peer through the window to see Dr. Linnear floating in the tank with electricity running around his body. Lucather notes Grayson in the room and David says he now knows who killed Corman. He tells him to make the call and Lucather goes to the pay phone, conveniently located outside the room. Ken instructs them to raise the salinity level in the tank while Jimmy tries to tell them about Ms. Lowell and Grayson gets annoyed with him for distracting Ken.

While Lucather is on the phone asking for the captain, a gun is pressed to his head and an alien hangs up the phone for him. Another man brings Selene and David in with him, while the power guy says to get them out of there. Lucather and David shut the two aliens behind them out of the room and the power guy says to cut the generators. They battle the aliens in the room, causing all sorts of lab glass to break and spill chemicals all over the floor.

Lucather makes it to the generator and turns off the power. Ken picks up the gun aiming it at David Vincent, and Grayson says to kill him. Selene yells for him not to. He turns the gun on Grayson and shoots, who glows and falls near the chemicals, setting them on fire. Linnear's human form reverts to a little blob and breaks up into pieces as red and blue liquid issues forth. Selene freaks out and Lucather helps her out of the lab and David helps Ken. The lab burns and explodes.

I guess Dr. Linnear is not going to make it to the meeting and the timetable for the alien takeover of Earth has been set back for months and possibly years. What happened to the power guy? How does David Vincent know so much about the regeneration tubes and their many uses? Is it possible that David Vincent is really an alien who doesn't support the Invaders' plan to make Earth theirs and is trying to subvert them? I'll be checking his pinkies and watching him for signs of emotion in future.

Epilog

Lucather meets David at the hospital and returns his airline ticket. He asks if David's certain he doesn't want him to go with him to the FBI, but he says he's not going there. He asks why not, but doesn't get an answer since Ken comes out of the room and says Selene is asleep but having bad dreams. David asks what the doctor said and Ken tells him he called it a small breakdown. He says she'll be there for a couple of months. He leaves to go home and rest and David asks if Lucather is going to tell him what happened. He asks what good it will do.

He says she's had a breakdown and he can't remember anything, but he's still got him and that he's willing to stick his neck out for David. He says he'd regret it, that the only proof they have is the fire at the sea lab, which the power company says was due to a faulty relay. David asks about getting some coffee and he says if he's late again he's already in trouble with the captain anyway, but that his conscience is clear because he found out what happened to Hal, and maybe a little more than that. He says that coffee sounds good. They begin to walk down the hall as William Woodson gives the closing narration, and we see the crooked pinky on a hand sticking out of a lab coat attempt to make a fist as the owner watches the two enter the elevator.

One cup of coffee, a few stolen minutes. A last, small gesture of defiance for a crusader who fought and won a crusade and knows he can never claim the victory.

Co-Starring:
Louise Latham as Joan Corman
Tim McIntire as Steve Gibbs
William Sargent as Dr. Ken Harrison

With:
Jonathan Lippe...Kevin Ryan
James Devine...Jimmy
Dallas Mitchell...Andy
Bill Erwin...Manager
Dani Nolan...Nurse

And:
Phillip E. Pine as Sgt. Hal Corman

 

Director of Photography:
 Andrew J. McIntyre

Music by:
Dominic Frontiere

  
Lt. Lucather lives to continue to fight the powers that be. I thought for sure he would not make it to the Epilog since he has seen the aliens. I can understand why David Vincent would want to spare him the humiliation of being called a kook and psycho if he were to back up David's claims of alien invaders, but I still think he should welcome all the help he can get. I don't quite understand why Selene had a mental breakdown, though I guess she was just another fragile female on the edge of hysteria. 

It was an interesting concept to try and regenerate a human body form for an alien based on primordial conditions, though it wasn't clear why the regeneration tubes weren't enough to do the trick. Perhaps it was the stress of trying to get the lab ready. The real question is why the aliens can't exist in their alien form on Earth. Is it because they really look like little lumpy stuffed animals and the humans would basically laugh them off the planet? It's another good episode that's fun to watch, but not top notch. 

 Don't miss Jack Lord's consummate performance in next week's episode!