The Parallel

Description: Season 4, Episode 11

Air Date: March 14, 1963

Plot Summary: After coming down from orbit, an astronaut finds himself in an alternate reality.

Review: This episode has an intriguing plot line, but they don't capitalize on the material enough to make it interesting. We have an astronaut, named Gaines, who is performing what is meant to be a routine entry into Earth's orbit. Unfortunately, he disappears from every kind of instrument while experiencing some kind of flashing light. When Gaines wakes up in a hospital, he has miraculously landed his capsule and remembers nothing after seeing the light. Although it's never explained why, Gaines' family feels there is something unusual about him--a kind of innate awareness. Gaines too suspects something is wrong as he's told his memories about various events are jumbled up. Obviously this is not true as Gaines realizes a lot of things, even in history, are different than his memory. Gaines realizes he has inexplicably crossed into a parallel universe where only minute details have shifted compared to his world. When Gaines is confronted about the capsule subtly having alterations, he is magically transported back to the moment of the flashing light. Coming down from orbit, Gaines is relieved to learn he is back in his own world with a family that recognizes him. The military doesn't believe his story at first until they detect another capsule on their instruments before it too disappears; they conclude that that must have been the other universe's Gaines crossing through our world. And that's all there really is to it--nothing special or a final twist.

Ehh, it's not that this episode is bad, per se, but it doesn't go anywhere and drags despite having a ton of material to work with. I also felt there should have been a major revelation along the way. Something along the lines of Gaines discovering a change in the alternate reality so significant he knew he couldn't stay. You know, like the Axis powers won WWII or the Allies immediately went to war with Russia after WWII as many wanted to do. That could have opened the material up further to explore different ideas.