Terrific episode of "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" has a marvelously tense story about how a fear gas device is planted on the Seaview as Nelson and crew are attempting to find the lost sub, Politor, sent to extreme depths, testing how far humans can go, possibly beyond "crush depth", a feat no one has ever accomplished before. Nelson is dead set on finding the Politor and seeing that Seaview can in fact perform such a feat, while 'the enemy' wish for him to fail so that their country can instead mine the extreme depths for the possible resources that such territory provide. Lloyd Bochner, not surprisingly, is excellent as Davis, a saboteur, who plants the fear gas device (the fear gas is hidden in a tape recorder) in the Seaview's ventilation duct which controls air and oxygen, as it travels throughout the sub causing the crew to slowly unravel as death preys on their minds. Even Nelson and Captain Crane have heated exchanges over leaving the area underwater and surfacing, abandoning the mission which would mean utter failure for all involved, the repercussions disastrous for America in that they yield control of precious resources to foreign competitors, preferably 'the enemy'. Bochner, as Davis, accompanies a highly-respected psychiatrist, Kenner (Edgar Bergen), with the authority to command Nelson to abort the mission if he believes an emotional upheaval threatens to detriment the safety of the Seaview crew. The bread and butter of this particular episode is seeing the crew, on edge and coming apart at the seams, responding to what appears to them to be a crisis, which is actually a minor ordeal heightened by the fear gas coursing through their bodies, affecting their emotions. It is when Davis learns of the unstable nature of the fear gas, how it morphs into nerve gas after 8 hours, when the plot really gets crackling and the suspense is upped even higher upon the Seaview crashing into the skeletal remains of the Politor, trapped with the controls jammed due to the collision. How Nelson will have to come up with a rescue plan and defeat the fear gas makes for compelling drama. Good performances and a nicely gripping story, with a tension that is both palpable and realistic. A solid and exciting episode of the first season. The Cold War era produced a lot of imaginative stories, VOYAGE astutely drawing from this to give us some thrilling suspensers such as "The Fear-Makers".
5 Reviews
When you see Lloyd Bochner, you just KNOW he's gonna be evil!
planktonrules7 September 2017
The story begins with a new sub, the Polidor, being put through its paces. It should be a great sub...able to go to amazing depths thanks to the Admiral. However, oddly, the crew begins losing their cool and the sub explodes...and it's all overheard by Admiral Nelson and his crew. Some think the accident was an accident...no one is prepared to learn the truth...that Dr. Kenner's new 'Fear Gas' was responsible for turning the crew of the Polidor into scaredy cats. Now, the man who released the gas, Davis (Lloyd Bochner) is aboard the Seaview and is preparing to release the gas once again in some twisted sort of experiment.
This was a pretty exciting and, most importantly, original episode. Also, I loved that Dr. Kenner was played by Edgar Bergen...of Bergan and Charley McCarthy fame!
This was a pretty exciting and, most importantly, original episode. Also, I loved that Dr. Kenner was played by Edgar Bergen...of Bergan and Charley McCarthy fame!
Nood non-sci-fi episode
tonyandpam1 May 2022
The earliest episodes of the series were the best. That was when the "enemy" was other people - spies and stuff like that - instead of space aliens and deep sea monsters. The show's transformation from political thriller to sci-fi monsters was the theme of the time though. I liked it better when it was the Man From UNCLE instead of Lost In Space but still have to admit I liked it both ways.
Voyage to the bottom of the Sea's first brilliant episode. Why? The writing!
seaview23 December 2006
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was at its best in its first (black & white) season. The Fear-Makers, the series' third outing, was its first truly great episode. The acting, budget and visual effects by L.B. Abbott were a given. Writer Anthony (Twilight Zone, The Invaders, The Fugitive) Wilson's script provided real crackle for a great cast (Richard Basehart, David Hedison, Edger Bergen, Lloyd Bochner--the supporting actors rose to the occasion and tackled the script as well.) Director Leonard Horn, one of Voyage's best, pulled out all the stops, pushing tension to the limit.
The episode revolves around a mission to find out why Seaview's sister submarine, Polidor, was lost during an initial test dive. Nelson MUST find out. As Polidor's main designer, the Admiral is riddled with questions - some say guilt. Is his motivation scientific or selfish? A psychiatrist and his assistant are aboard to monitor the effects of this deep dive on Seaview's crew. Unknown to them is the fact that one of their "guests" is a spy who has released a fear gas, the same agent that caused Polidor's destruction, on Seaview. When you view this episode, sit back and be astounded at how good sixties television could be. And how good, contrary to its general reputation, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea could be.
The episode revolves around a mission to find out why Seaview's sister submarine, Polidor, was lost during an initial test dive. Nelson MUST find out. As Polidor's main designer, the Admiral is riddled with questions - some say guilt. Is his motivation scientific or selfish? A psychiatrist and his assistant are aboard to monitor the effects of this deep dive on Seaview's crew. Unknown to them is the fact that one of their "guests" is a spy who has released a fear gas, the same agent that caused Polidor's destruction, on Seaview. When you view this episode, sit back and be astounded at how good sixties television could be. And how good, contrary to its general reputation, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea could be.
Ten Out Of Ten Classic
StuOz29 October 2016
A submarine explodes and the Seaview is called in to find out what happened to it.
One of the very best first season episodes. Perfect in script, direction, acting and suspense.
This is the sort of dark and grim tale that probably would have been less pleasing in colour (Voyage switched to colour the following year), so B&W wins here!
The seaman who plays Pryor in this would also appear in season two's ...And Five Of Us Are Left, still playing a Seaview seaman but with a different name: Werden???? The sort of name-changing thing happened with a few of the sub crew, it gets on my nerves a bit.
One of the very best first season episodes. Perfect in script, direction, acting and suspense.
This is the sort of dark and grim tale that probably would have been less pleasing in colour (Voyage switched to colour the following year), so B&W wins here!
The seaman who plays Pryor in this would also appear in season two's ...And Five Of Us Are Left, still playing a Seaview seaman but with a different name: Werden???? The sort of name-changing thing happened with a few of the sub crew, it gets on my nerves a bit.
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