Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'The Tribunal'

 Fans of this Show sure seem to love Time Travel.

This is the 2nd highest rated Episode of the Show.

In 'The Tribunal,' the Cold Open shows Prisoners of Auschwitz during WWII.

A man- repeat Actor Alex Diakun- is amongst them, grabs an Officer's coat and runs away.
They pull out a device and vanish!

In the Present, a Lawyer- Saul Rubinek- is on his own mission.

He has found out that one of the Auschwitz Guards- Radamacher- is still around and hiding in Town.

The man denies this and now he has to bring evidence to prove this.

The man from the beginning brings him the coat, which belonged to that same man.

That evidence is not enough, since the coat is too well preserved (since it was literally taken moments earlier).

This means that the guy has to go back and get more, which means another trip with the younger version of Radamacher.

He games the system better this time- hiding the stolen evidence in a safety deposit box- and this helps Rubinek's case.

He goes to meet with the guy and sees his strange watch.

This sends him back to 1944 and he narrowly escapes thanks to the Traveler.

He pushes the case against Radamacher and then learns from the Time Traveler that this won't work, as the old man fled the Country.

This pushes Rubinek to threaten him, but then they get a better idea.

They take the old version back to 1944 and he ends up being killed by his younger self, closing the loop and pleasing The Tribunal.

As a bonus, he takes the Granddaughter (who died originally) back to the Present.  The Tribunal won't mind.

A really poignant and strong Episode.  It is easy to see why this is rated so highly.

Outside of the Plot, this one was personal, as the Writer lost family in the Holocaust.
The Writer actually did a version of this Plot for Quincy M.E. with another Rademacher hiding.

The Sci-Fi Element here is strong, but never takes the focus away from the Story.  It is a device to allow the Story to play out and bring emotional resonance to things.

The Acting is all around quite good.  No complaints there.

If I were to nitpick, the immersion in the 1944 Scene drops a bit when they just stop speaking German.  It's a weird thing to do, all things considered.

That said, a strong Episode that fits the Sci-Fi Theme and is a damn good Story.
Now here's me looking at anyone who thinks that I'm being 'too mean' to the Nazis here...

Next time, a Prisoner faces a choice between Death and Science.  In hindsight, the 2nd may have been a bad choice!  See you then...