Nightmare

This episode brought Joseph Stefano, the series creator and writer of this episode, into conflict with Rod Serling. Serling fully supported the military and authority, and many of his "Twilight Zone" episodes revolved around the military. In Serling's script for "The Rack," a man who broke under torture in the Korean Conflict is blamed for being weak and failing America. In Serling's view, the military was always right.

"Nightmare" is a new view of this situation; the quotes of the general in the episode are essentially correct about the number of American prisoners who were broken in the war. Serling couldn't imagine American soldiers permitting torture, especially on other Americans. This despite such things as the Tuskeegee Syphillis Project and the exposure of soldiers to atomic blasts to determine the effects of radiation. One wonders how he'd react to Abu Gareb, water torture, and the show "24" in which torture is approved as standard American heroic action.

For those who think these "old TV shows" were simplistic compared to today's shows with CGI, sexual content and viral-marketing web sites, consider this; have there been any modern shows that dared raise a debate about their premises like the ones raised by Stefano and Serling? Would anyone produce a series arguing against the right-wing paranoia presented in "24?"

This is quite a good study in human nature and includes some fine acting performances, including one by Martin Sheen. A group of intergalactic warriors are put in a prison camp on a remote planet and interrogated by the aliens there. Their understanding is that they are at war with these folks and the revert to the old name, rank, and serial number stuff. Unfortunately for them, the tactics employed are those often used. Divide and conquer, keep them guessing, turn them against each other. The aliens have a kind of want/weapon that can steal a person's speech or make them blind, or whatever is necessary to put them in a weakened position. The neat thing about this episode is that there is a kicker her which I will not mention. The interaction among the players is quite realistic and the audience is left out of the loop for most of the show. This is as much a psychological drama as it is science fiction. Well written and well presented.

I have always liked good science fiction. The Outer Limits is one of the best of the science fiction series. These 1960's episodes were shot in B&W which added to their moodiness and effectiveness.

In "Nightmare," a group of soldiers land on planet Ebon to fight. They are captured and become POW's. Their alien interrogator uses all sorts of mind bending, hallucination type of devices to extract information from these POWs.

This is a VERY powerful episode. It depicts the brutality of POW interrogations. I think this episode, along with the movie 36 Hours (1965), should be MANDATORY viewing by anybody undergoing POW resistance training.

The ending of this Outer Limits episode will blow you away.

"Nightmare" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" that would be easy to dismiss. After all, the sets are minimalistic and the show, like the rest of the series, features aliens which look a bit silly today. But don't give up on this one--it's very good and well written.

The show begins with a group of soldiers from Earth traveling by rocket to fight in a war across the galaxy. The ship is captured and they awaken to a hellish prison run by a scary looking alien who seems almost godlike with his powers. He torments them by blinding one and making another mute. He restores these powers later but seems like an incredibly nasty alien bent on breaking their wills and making them betray their planet. But naturally, there is a BIG twist.

Clever writing and a nice twist makes this one worth seeing. It also gives you a chance to see a young Martin Sheen in a rather emotionally-charged role.

During an interplanetary war, a UE (Unified Earth) crew of human men is taken as prisoners of war on the enemy planet Ebon. Elected leader Ed Nelson (as Luke Stone) demands to be the first interrogated, but the aliens choose mentally unstable Martin Sheen (as Arthur Dix) instead. Ironically, Mr. Sheen has just been relieved of his ability to speak. One by one, the Ebonites use sensory powers on their prisoners. They want to know some details about an impending attack from Earth. As the aliens acquire information, the men begin to suspect a traitor among themselves. Beautifully written by "Outer Limits" producer Joseph Stefano, "Nightmare" is an excellent and thought-provoking episode of the acclaimed series.

******** Nightmare (12/2/63) John Erman ~ Ed Nelson, James Shigeta, Martin Sheen, Bill Gunn