The Night of the Human Trigger

Burgess Meredith is absolutely wonderful in this very funny episode. A tour de force. It's worth watching for his performance alone. I literally laughed out loud many times throughout the episode. An easy 10 for me.

Does the blame go to casting director James Lister for deciding Burgess Meredith could function effectively as a WWW villain? To writer Norman Katkov for an unimaginative scenario which fails to balance the violence with humor (a balance crucial to this series)? Director Justus Addiss for his lackluster pacing? Or to Meredith himself for playing his part with no hint of jocularity--or so much as the slightest suggestion he was happy to get the role. It doesn't help that the character's large-scale homicidal plans have no logical connection to his chief grievance. I'd have expected Meredith to do a dynamite job in this role--but he bombs badly. Instead of an air of evil glee, he conveys a disposition of grumbling misanthropy. Maybe he was just having a bad week.

WWW had a lot of outrageous scenarios, but this one went too far with the farcical tone. Too much winking at the audience, as if to say "see how silly this show is?"

Even Burgess Meredith can't help this one.

Meredith plays an absent-minded heavy who is saddled with two sons who are dumb as a box of rocks. As much as I normally love WWW's crazy plot twists with megalomaniac world conquerors, this one falls as flat as Orkney Cadwallader (Meredith)'s plot to seize control by causing earthquakes.

In addition to his sons, he has a daughter who is clever, but is also preoccupied with finding a proper suitor. She spends most of her time either fawning over West or wanting to kill him. There's no love lost on her father, either, whom she sees a limiting the number of potential beaus.

Most of the early episodes were well written, but this one fizzles out like wet dynamite.