A "time convulsion" sends an astronaut from 1963 into the future where he lands on Earth and meets a "child of the doomed age", a bright, intelligent but diseased man, Andro(Martin Landau in hideous make-up) who informs him of the time for which he now inhabits, an earth no longer the one he left. An extraterrestrial microbe, that's it, was the cause of mutations and the absence of reproduction. Bertram Cabot, Jr. is the biologist who would isolate and develop a symbiont with unforeseen side effects which created genetic changes and, in the process, destroyed humanity. Andro has an ability to alter his appearance through hypnotic suggestion, perhaps the sole attribute as a result from the microbe which led to the end of the human race. Captain Joseph Reardon(Karl Held), disgusted with all that remains of Earth being an extended underground library, will head back through the time warp, with Andro in tow as a means to warn the human race of their future destruction. What Reardon, or Andro for that matter, will not expect is to die due to his going back through the time warp perhaps because in doing so(as he was probably not supposed to do)altered the pattern of events which would lead to his demise. Andro will set out to kill Bertram Cabot Jr so that the future will be changed for the better, falling in love with the mother who was to give birth to the father of extinction, Noelle(a barely recognizable Shirley Knight, so lovely, young, and skinny), in the process. John Considine is Lt. Bertram Cabot, an army soldier who is to wed Noelle, finding a rival in Andro who has created an altered face and body to mask the monster underneath the suggestion. Andro begs for Noelle and Bertram to not marry, but when both refuse, he will plan to shoot Cabot on the day of their wedding as a desperate last resort. But Noelle may not be in love with Cabot after all..
Another one of those anti-war parables about how science, used as a way to defend one country against its enemies, can lead to devastating consequences. It also contains a "what if" scenario--if you could go back in time and change the course of history, would you? THE TWILIGHT ZONE had an episode similar to this(well, in regards to going back in time)with Russell Johnson(the Professor of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) attempting to stop Lincoln's assassination called BACK THERE. So there have been other shows tackling the subject of the possibility of altering the course of history and the ramifications which come . The finale to this is certainly tragic and unnerving(what will happen to the person left alone?)and Landau's performance is quite haunting. What makes this episode's subject matter so interesting is that while containing a pacifist message, its better to not destroy ourselves by using science as a way to protect us and hurt the enemy, it considers the only hope for mankind the murder of one person so he can not give birth to the father of destruction. Even under heavy make-up, Landau echoes the aching and desperation in forbidding the future which led to humankind's undoing, especially since he gets a chance to see Earth as it was before some scientist f#cked it up.
Another one of those anti-war parables about how science, used as a way to defend one country against its enemies, can lead to devastating consequences. It also contains a "what if" scenario--if you could go back in time and change the course of history, would you? THE TWILIGHT ZONE had an episode similar to this(well, in regards to going back in time)with Russell Johnson(the Professor of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND) attempting to stop Lincoln's assassination called BACK THERE. So there have been other shows tackling the subject of the possibility of altering the course of history and the ramifications which come . The finale to this is certainly tragic and unnerving(what will happen to the person left alone?)and Landau's performance is quite haunting. What makes this episode's subject matter so interesting is that while containing a pacifist message, its better to not destroy ourselves by using science as a way to protect us and hurt the enemy, it considers the only hope for mankind the murder of one person so he can not give birth to the father of destruction. Even under heavy make-up, Landau echoes the aching and desperation in forbidding the future which led to humankind's undoing, especially since he gets a chance to see Earth as it was before some scientist f#cked it up.