Old-School Television: Tales of Tomorrow- The Crystal Egg

Life happened and I couldn't get around to the third Episode on Saturday.  Stupid friends and family!

Regardless, let's take a belated look at one of the many...

Today's tale is a fairly-well-known tale from a famous Writer.  Many of you may know who it is, but I won't SPOIL that just yet.  Don't scroll to the bottom- that's cheating.

Since I can't read the DVD Box properly, let's watch...

The Episode begins with a shot of a Phonograph.  We begin to hear a man tell the tale of how he found the titular artifact.  The Framing Device has me worried...

A man shows up at an Antique Store and is interested in buying said Egg.  The Owner tries to extort him for a bunch of money- well, okay, 5 and a 1/2 pounds.

Since he can't pay right away, he leaves the item there to pay later.

Said Egg is then given to our hero to study it until the man comes back for it.  What does he find?

A gateway to Mars!  He can see a world that has only been dreamed about!

On the plus side, it allows them to re-use the set from the last Episode I watched.

Unfortunately, his time with the Egg is too short-lived.  He still has more to study.  He still has more to learn!

He gets really desperate, even going to the new Owner and pleading his case as well.  His search for knowledge will not end!

Well, it actually will.

We eventually see the record reach its conclusion and see a man break the record, destroying the evidence.  We see our obsessed hero dead.  Holy Shyamalan!  The End.

This is certainly a different one.  The previous two Episodes featured Monsters- visible or invisible.  This one is all about a man obsessed.  That's not bad- just different.  As a whole, the whole thing feels like it used to be a Short Story.  Is that bad?  I don't think so.  You might.  Big deal- wanna fight about it?  In all seriousness, it is a unique way to do the story.  The framing device is not too invasive and really does what it is supposed to do: frame the story.  That's it.  Understand that this is arguably the first Sci-Fi/Horro Series, so there is alot of experimentation involved.  It is a solid story told in a pretty straight-forward way.  Could more have been done with the story?  Certainly.  It makes me want to look and see if other Shows have done said Story (like Night Gallery or what have you).  Incidentally, did any of you not know who wrote this Story?  If you didn't, here you go...

Next up, break out your tiny daggers and square force-fields.  That's right- we're going to Dune for real this time.  Stay tuned...