The Time Tunnel (TV Series) The Death Merchant (1967) User Reviews

A Villain to Sink Your Teeth Into

[fcabanski · 7/10 · 22 November 2016]

Machiavelli turns out to be, to turn a phrase, a Machiavellian villain, a treacherous antagonist for Doug and Tony. Too bad he never made a return to the series. Maybe he would have returned had there been a 2nd season.

The episode is marred by some series inconsistencies with the Time Tunnel workings. Shifting Machiavelli's dog and then Machiavelli in time takes extra power, from the Hoover Dam, and overloads the control circuits. But that never happened before when people shifted forward and back in time. It suddenly takes more power than the complex can generate or handle to move one guy in time.

Machiavelli is invulnerable because he out of his own time. He explains that he died hundreds of years ago, so killing him is impossible - you can't kill someone who already died.

But when Doug and Tony traveled to the future in "Chase Through Time", they weren't invulnerable.

By the same logic, Tony and Doug should be invulnerable in the past, because you can't kill someone who hasn't been born. Also, anyone shifted out of their place in the past to the Tunnel complex should also be invulnerable. But it was never the case until Machiavelli in this episode.

Tony having amnesia interferes with the main, exciting element of this episode. The conflict of Doug, Tony and the TT complex staff vs Machiavelli.

An insane philosopher in the middle of a WARZONE

[profh-1 · 6/10 · 28 December 2022]

Tony & Doug once again land smack in the middle of another famous historical battle (you'd almost think The Time Tunnel must be programmed to do this on purpose). This time, it's the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Complications arise (don't they always?) when Tony is first believed dead, then revived only to have amnesia and be mistaken for a Confederate messenger, while Doug is rescued by a Union Major. But that's not the worst of it. Somehow, Italian Rennaisance philsopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli has also been transported there from the 1500s, and is delightedly having the time of his life by offering to supply the Rebel Army with a huge cache of gunpowder to even the odds. WHAAAAAT?

A number of TIME TUNNEL episodes paralleled early DOCTOR WHO stories, and it strikes me that in this case, we have an utterly-bizarre variation on "The Time Meddler". That one was The Doctor's first encounter on the show with another time traveller from his own planet, deliberately interfering with a period in history where Norsemen invaded England. Here, Machiavelli has no idea how he moved through time, but The Tunnel crew seem certain they must have done it accidentally, since his "signal" somehow is identical to Doug's. But I'm not so sure, as when they try to move first Machiavelli's dog, then the man himself, it causes a HUGE overload and explosion in The Tunnel. Things got so bad and in need of repair, that for the only time, they had to hook their power in with Hoover Dam, as apparently the complex's own gigantic (and presumably nuclear-powered) generators weren't enough to move one dog and one man. I think it would have been fun to have a sequel to this story that would have revealed some OTHER experimental time project was really responsible. (Maybe one further in the future.)

As so often, the guest-actors really make this one. Machiavelli is played by the always-mesmerizing Malachi Throne, whose other memorable characters include "False Face" on BATMAN, "The Thief From Outer Space" on LOST IN SPACE, "Blackbeard The Pirate" on VOYAGE, and "Commodore Mendez" in the STAR TREK 2-parter, "The Menagerie". He was also ther narrator on LANCELOT LINK, SECRET CHIMP. This guy got around!

John Crawford is the Union Major. Crawford has such a "normal"-looking face, that over the years his presence in some shows has totally escaped me, as several times I've failed to recognize him from one appearance to another. I've seen him in COMMANDO CODY, SOLOMON AND SHEBA, THE LONGEST DAY, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE TOWERING INFERNO, THE ENFORCER (the Mayor), episodes of THE FUGITIVE, BATMAN, STAR TREK, VOYAGE, BANACEK, and most outstandingly, LOST IN SPACE ("The Time Merchant").

Kevin Hagen, perpetually cast as hard-boiled, narrow-minded, annoying characters, is Rebel Sgt. Maddox, the most sympathetic part I've ever seen him play! He actually believed Doug's wild story, and when he got killed, it really hurt (even though, in theory, he was on the "wrong" side of history). He really got on my nerves as the recurring baddie on LAND OF THE GIANTS.

This was the 2nd time Doug & Tony wound up on opposite sides, with one bent on killing the other. When it happened to Doug, it was the result of Nazi scientist brainwashing. With Tony, it's amnesia compounded by mistaken identity. It often seems to me James Darren has two moods on this show: serious, and angry. Here, he's angry on STEROIDS. And he doesn't even remember who he is! OY. A crazy episode to be sure, but highly entertaining.

Machiavelli in Gettysburg

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 16 May 2017]

The Time Tunnel was part of my childhood in 1971 when for the first time l watched this remarkable series and along my lifetime always had a opportunity to see one more time some episodes, now definitively each three months l'd watch a new one and in "The Death Merchand" once again in American civil war on final act at Gettysburg where Tony and Doug end up, they stay as always in both sides of the war, but this time have an extra guest Machiavelli, however it to be totally absurd, he lives in Italy in sixteen century but who cares, it's The Time Tunnel indeed where everything is possible, this sounds good!!! As guest stars are Malachi Throne and Kevin"Kobik"Hagen...amazing episode as always!!

Terrible and Inaccurate Episode

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 14 February 2010]

Doug and Tony are transported to Gettysburg in the American Civil War. Tony is killed in an explosion, but the time tunnel personnel revive him with the shock of a power surge. Meanwhile Doug is saved by a Union major and wears the Yankee uniform. When the confederate Sergeant Maddox meets amnesic Tony, he believes he is a courier and he wears the confederate uniform. When Doug and Tony meet Machiavelli, who had accidentally been brought by the time tunnel, the man tries to manipulate the time travelers.

"The Death Merchant" is a terrible and inaccurate episode. The philosopher and writer Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli has researched the behavior of princes and wrote The Prince in 1513 and is considered the founder of the political science. This awful episode describes him as an evil man, in a total absence of research of history by the lazy writers. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Túnel do Tempo" ("The Time Tunnel")

Mind Blowing Time Travel Story With Machiavelli

[StuOz · 16 August 2006]

The Time Tunnel gets a fix on the wrong person - Machiavelli (Malachi Throne) - and sends him through the time vortex and into a civil war - Gettysberg! Machiavelli seems to be having a ball despite being a total fish out of water. Meanwhile in the command centre, Ray and General Kirk bitch about what to do with the situation they created.

This is my 4th or 5th favourite episode of Time Tunnel and when it comes to storyline, well, The Death Merchant has the most imaginative story of the series (I know another Irwin Allen fan who agrees).

Seriously, I have seen all B&W Twilight Zones, all 1960s Star Trek, Star Trek: The Voyage Home (1986), all Back To The Future films, and can say that this hour nailed the greatest time travel story in history!

In my other reviews of Irwin Allen TV, I often proudly go on record as saying that style over substance was the key to these shows, but not with The Death Merchant, it is story, story, story and style is also here as a bonus! Style comes in truck loads from Malachi Throne and a flamboyant music score that plays on his outrageous quirks.

This is a never talked about quality of The Time Tunnel, the casting of the figures from history. Billy The Kid, Merlin The Magician, a crazy pirate, Machiavelli, etc, all come to life in Time Tunnel thanks to some wonderful guest stars. And Malachi Throne is one of them. Most remember Throne from Lost In Space's Thief Of Outer Space (1966), but to me, he is Machiavelli in The Time Tunnel!

But I said this was Tunnel's 4th or 5th best episode, it is not the best, despite all that I have said, it has two minor problems. Firstly, the writers don't bother giving us much information on exactly who Machiavelli is, perhaps they thought he was so well known that no background knowledge was required. Well, sorry guys, not everybody did History is High School. Because of the standard of Throne's performance, he IS the episode, we want to know all about him...a bit like The Joker in Batman (1989).

Instead, we get too much of our time travellers running around in circles because one of them has memory problems. Boring!

However, by the time we get to the final 60 seconds, well, we no longer care about the lesser sections of the hour, without wishing to give too much away, the ending involves location filming, Machiavelli, dramatic lines, disaster, two explosions, and in the final five seconds - flamboyant music.

I hope you enjoy The Death Merchant, a true mind-blower!