Description: Season 3, Episode 17
Air Date: January 12, 1962
Plot Summary: A crazy tycoon wants revenge against the people he feels have wronged him throughout his life.
Review: This is another one of those episodes where you can tell they had an idea for a story but couldn't figure out how to expand upon it. I know this episode tends to get steady airings which perplexes me since there wasn't much going on here. All you have is an asshole, named Radin, who is still holding a grudge against 3 people he thinks humiliated him at various points of time. Of course those instances of humiliation were moments when Radin was held accountable for doing something bad, but he doesn't see it in those terms. My biggest gripe is how did this guy still become some successful tycoon despite all of these upsets in his career? Now don't get me wrong, I'm certain most of the world's elite business people are assholes who more than likely did not get where they are through honorable means, but if Radin had these instances slowing him down, coupled with his petty and obsessive nature, how did he manage to even stay focused enough to build a business empire?
Anyway, Radin's little scheme is to trick these 3 people into believing the world was going to be destroyed in a nuclear strike. I suppose he wants to bring them down to his level or, due to their ability to make him feel weak, he wants to make them experience this too. Nevertheless, Radin claims to have the most sophisticated bomb shelter imaginable and wants the 3 to beg for their lives. As anyone with even an inkling of intelligence would realize, no one would go along with this scenario. Shocked that people would rather die with the people they love rather than beg to live with an asshole, Radin freaks out like a baby throwing a tantrum. Then the episode truly loses whatever focus it had as Radin is convinced the world really was destroyed, and he's the last man on Earth. In actuality, Radin is having a mental breakdown outside his building. And that's all she wrote. Eh...I don't know. I can see certain interesting aspects to the story, but they're flimsy. Maybe if Radin's plan wasn't so blatantly stupid the story could have worked.
Radin was played by the actor best known as the creepy Dr. No! Joseph Wiseman. Seems like Radin took lessons from Dr. No or vice versa. The beady eyed look that I'm superior and everyone fucked me over personna. In Dr. No Wiseman stood in front of a funky shaped fish tank. In this episode he has the same nasty game face but in front of a kitschy circa 1961 science mobile that's always in motion. Radin for radon? Wonder what they were getting at.
ReplyDeleteDepending on how long filming took, there is a strong chance one of these portrayals influenced the other. This episode aired January '62 which means it was filmed some time in '61. "Dr. No" came out in October '62, but I have no idea about it's film schedule. But this wouldn't be the first time TZ had a strange overlap with an actor's film roles.
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