In my opinion only a very select few of the episodes of this show were ever so well made or joyously optimistic and utterly moving as this one was It has such a beautiful strong sense of positivity and wonder to it that effortlessly touches the heart, and powerful important themes of human goodwill and simple kindness to others, and it hammers home the karma point again and again that if you at least try to be a basically decent, human being and put out the good as opposed to fear and negativity, that's what comes back to you. I believe in that. That sometimes, seemingly random chance and circumstance can subtly help you out in small or large ways, give you little chances and steps in the right direction to take, in vague and roundabout ways... Just like the sweet '90's song says "You Get What You Give!" What I love the most about the story and how strong it is, is that the main bulk of it is really just two guys talking, sitting there and just brilliantly playing off each other as the tension mounts. I thought both Frank Whaley and John Savage were terrific and had a great chemistry together that was exactly what the story needed for where it was going. John Savage was especially good and played it to the hilt. His almost child-like purity of character and expressions are simply mesmerizing and immediately draw you into the story. And I love the scene where he discusses what "Intelligence" is defined as. I think I have at least the good half of what defines it! He uses his guru-like simple, yet forceful philosophies of compassion and lofty concepts of ultimate selflessness to battle the Frank Whaley character's selfishness and compel him to remain seated while the events unfold around them. Something else I love about The Conversion is that it's set during Christmas and despite being nothing at all to do with the holiday there is something very festive about the atmosphere that generates a warm sense of wellbeing. And that beautiful spiritual song fits the finale perfectly and absolutely says it all. The mysterious transcendent beings of peace featured in this tale of redemption of the spirit never seemed to appear again in any of the later loose story arcs that they did. They really should have brought them back! It was all so much doom and destruction... Terrible dark futures and Armageddon scenarios where all of mankind had been invaded or enslaved by insidious and cruel alien races, or wiped out by madmen with doomsday devices, by plague or merciless robots! It would've just been interesting to see a little more of these benign "Children of the Stars" who to me seemed to suggest that there was some kind of divinity and larger design to the rather cold Outer Limits universe that was beyond the petty actions of man and alien alike. It's a shame that a great many of the other episodes of this show weren't quite up to the level of quality this was, not that there wasn't many gems to enjoy throughout the seasons. But this one to me just couldn't be better. I hope they look back and are still proud because there's no question that it's possibly the most emotionally uplifting and soul-stirring episode of the entire series. Bravo!!! ðŸŒ
11 out of 15 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink