THE PRICE OF DOOM -by Harlan Ellison
The Seaview is infiltrated by mysteriously expanding plankton .

Samples of plankton brought aboard the Seaview mysteriously expand, breaking down bulkheads and threatening the lives of all on board. Admiral Nelson and Commander Crane must also solve another mystery --which of their three passengers is a foreign agent?

A Review By Mega Voyage Fan Scott McIntyre.

The Price of Doom

Written by Harlan Ellison (Cordwainer Bird)

Directed by James Goldstone

Music by Alexander Courage

Guest Stars : David Opatoshu (Dr. Reisner); Jill Ireland (Julie Lyle); John Milford (Wesley); Steve Inhat (Dr. Pinnell); Pat Priest (Karen); Dan Seymour (General); Ivan Triesoult (Crew Cut Man)

Harlan Ellison, using his "Cordwainer Bird" pseudonym, crafted the first official "monster" episode of Voyage and it's a good one. Because of network interference, Ellison took his name off the story, but what was left was top caliber Voyage. Beginning at Ice Station T, we see Dr. Robert Pinnell (Steve Inhat) and his new wife (Pat Priest of The Munsters) spending their honeymoon in sub-zero degree temperatures conducting experiments on plankton. Director James Goldstone and Ellison played up the normalcy of these two people so we can feel something when they meet their icky demise as the plankton grows wildly and absorbs them. It works well and we're effected somewhat when Pinnell yells into the tape recorder he was dictating into, "Anna! Anna!" This is a key plot point which happily figures into the resolution of the plot.

When the show resumes, we meet the guest cast. All of these people have distinctive personalities, some annoying and others simply dated. For example, Dr. Reisner (David Opatoshu) "lived and worked in Hitler's Germany" and is called a Nazi but the other jerky guest star, Mr. Wesley (John Milford). This puts Voyage squarely in the early 70's at the most, but by the time the 70's really came around, we were more pissed at Viet Nam and World War II became relegated to history. It's one of the few things that dated the series which had otherwise remained fairly timeless.

Nelson and Crane are at odds a couple of times over Nelson's acceptance of these people, but they don't have time to debate the issue as things heat up rapidly in the Arctic (pun intended). There's an amusing and gripping scene when the phony air force plane comes to pick up one of the scientists (a spy, naturally). Using a classic trick, Crane figures the ruse and has the plane destroyed, but the sequence is extremely well shot and still suspenseful.

The plankton creature itself is not too bad for the time, and seems more like an Outer Limits monster. But it's still good enough and the seriousness of the situation squashes tendencies to chuckle. Men are killed by this thing and there are honest reactions by the crew (as opposed to later episodes where no one seems to care). The music by Alexander Courage is quite good in this episode and adds tremendously to the atmosphere. Once we pass the set up of the story, the episode is propelled at quite a clip and is one of the more exciting episodes of the season.

The brainstorm Nelson gets to destroy the creature is a little out there. It seems Pinnell's wife wasn't named "Anna", but "Karen". This leads to a groaner of a sequence where Nelson says: "You see, he wasn't calling to his wife. . .what he must have been trying to say was (dramatic pause) Anaerobic."

Anaerobic bacteria, by the way, is bacteria that does not live or grow in the presence of oxygen. A nice little science flaw for Voyage, one of millions which doesn't really damage the story any. Unless you're a science whiz.

Still, as always Richard Basehart brings it off with enough authority to sell it. I buy it and we move on, as the spy is revealed and subsequently killed. Then, Crane destroys the monster and all is right again on the Seaview.

All in all, this early creature feature is a solid 50 minutes of suspense and horror, something Voyage could do quite well. Aside from a quick scene with Kowalski in a panic of losing a fellow crewman, the episode is superbly acted and holds up rather well (Nazi reference notwithstanding). It's a story that could only happen on this series and is therefore. . .a perfect Voyage.

: Special Thanks to Scott for another great review.