Eerie Indiana, S1 E11: Marshall's Theory of Believability

Starring:
Omri Katz as Marshall Teller
Justin Shenkarow as Simon Holmes
Mary-Margaret Humes as Marilyn Teller
Francis Guinan as Edgar Teller
Julie Condra as Syndi Teller
John Standing as Professor Nigel Zirchon
Harry Goaz as Sgt. Knight
Archie Hahn as Mr. Radford
Gregory Itzin as The Mayor

Written by: Matt Dearborn
Directed by: Bob Balaban

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Here we have an episode that pits the believable (science) against the unbelievable (paranormal phenomenon), and the battle is waged between Edgar, Marshall's scientific father, and Professor Nigel Zirchon, a man who arrives in Eerie with his "Traveling Museum of the Parabelievable". Zirchon, you see, is not an actual professor, nor does he have any sort of scientific credentials, but he still purports that everything in his “museum” is real, including the crisp, clear pictures of UFO's, and evidence of “mythical” creatures.

I shouldn't have to explain how excited our little Marshall and Simon are about this visitor, as they are certain he will simply confirm what they have always known: that Eerie, Indiana is the center of weirdness for the entire world. And their excitement reaches a fever pitch when Professor Zirchon makes an unexpected announcement: he has spotted something mysterious entering the Earth's atmosphere. His contacts at NASA confirm it can't be a spaceship or a meteor, so that leaves only one explanation: a flying saucer! And best of all, it's going to land right in Eerie!

But Edgar is skeptical. And so are we, as viewers, because Zirchon seems to be hatching some sort of plan with his assistant, that involves faking the whole alien landing! For their parts, Marshall and Simon want to get some approval from Zirchon, and bring a mold of a Bigfoot...er...foot that they took months ago out of a neighbor's backyard. Unfortunately, by the time they get it there, in a suitcase, the entire mold has broken in to little pieces. Poor kids!

Compounding matters is the mayor, who claims Zirchon's large vehicle is parked on city property, and so he must move by sundown, or he will be hit with a citation. Marshall, always being the helpful little guy, suggests he move the large truck to the Teller's driveway...needless to say, Edgar is not enthused about having to share a house with someone whose ideals and beliefs go in direct contradiction to his own, which leads to much tension between the two.

In a slight twist—one of many “slight” twists—the assistant who goes and sets up the fake space debris panics when he has a run-in with an actual Bigfoot! The following flare that he shoots in a panic is mistaken by Marshall and Simon as the falling space debris, and so the two go about to find it, dragging Zirchon and the family in tow. What they find is a metal ball that becomes the talk of the entire town!

And here's where things start to veer off from the standard children's show, as they most often do on this show: Marshall and Simon, in complete belief of Zirchon and his findings, search for proof in his laboratory...only to find the blueprint for creating the space ball, thus proving all of it was a sham. Or was it?

This episode has more twists than the average, and has a lot to say about the power of belief and family, with Edgar caught between telling Marshall the truth, or allowing him to believe things that aren't true. Where does a parent's obligation end? On the one hand, having an active imagination is certainly a good thing for a child (or teenager, or adult) to have, but it can also be counterproductive if it's allowed to go unchecked, and this plot provides the perfect setup for such an exploration of themes.

I will say the final “twist” ending didn't really do much for me; it's a little too “standard” for my tastes, especially given the unpredictable directions the show frequently likes to go. When taking the entire episode into consideration, though, it's above average and entertaining enough, and a good entry into the series.

EPISODE RATING: 7/10

FULL EPISODE

Click here. (Looks like a trap, it's not; embedding code is just over my head).