Starring:
George Newburn as Walter
Vincent Schiavelli as Scientist
Joyce Brothers as Therapist Bethany Wolf
Elizabeth Berkley as Ruth
Nicole DeLaina as Gwen
Trayne Thomas as Homeless Man
Michael Wiseman as Barman
Written by: Peter Atkins, based on the "Weird Science" comic books, by William M. Gaines
Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
“Planely Possible” is one of the rare “Perversions of Science” episodes, at least up to this point, that is actually based around an idea that is entirely fascinating: Elizabeth Berkley (yes, that one) plays Ruth, and as the episode begins, she exits her bedroom after hearing something crash in the living room. She thinks it is her husband, Walter, so she walks into the living room, repeating his name over and over and over again, only to find a broken item on the floor. She bends down to pick it up, unaware that a burglar stands behind her; by the time she realizes this, it’s too late, as he shoots her dead.
We are now in “modern times” with Dr. Joyce Brothers (no joke) as Therapist Bethany Wolfe. She explains, to Walter, that he must learn to let it go in due time, because there is no going back to the past. Of course, he goes through the usual motions of mourning--wondering why he wasn’t the one killed instead, wishing she were still alive--but the therapist seems to have no time for crazy ideas like that. She assures him that he will eventually learn to move on, and maybe even find someone to replace Ruth.
On the way home, he stops at a local diner, where, of course, a scientist is preaching to a small, gathered crowd about the possibilities of alternate realities (I guess nearly-empty restaurants are how scientists of the future get the word out about their latest creations). Some in the crowd seem dismissive of what he‘s saying, including the bartender, but he refuses to do anything about it because his crowds bring in a little extra business.
At first, Walter isn’t interested in all these theories. But the more he overhears, the more interested he becomes. Is there a chance that he can see his wife again? The scientist seems to infer this is a possibility, hinting that there are multiple strands of realities running parallel at any given time, meaning things that happen on one plane might never have happened at all in an alternate universe. He also mentions that he has created a device capable of allowing people to explore the different realms. It’s a lot to try to grasp, but it makes for a rather fascinating idea.
The scientist tells his followers that he has to leave, and heads out into the rain. Walter tracks him down, and asks if the scientist thinks his invention can allow him to see his wife again. Not surprisingly, the scientist is hesitant, as his creation hasn’t been thoroughly tested, but when he sees just how desperate Walter is, he knows he has a willing subject. Before you know it, Walter is in a glass tube, while the scientist explains things to him: He will only be able to see his wife, but will not be able to contact her. And in the off chance he messes with the alternate realm, it will have dire consequences for all planes of existence. I think the more I reveal, the more and more obvious things are starting to look.
Only, they’re not really obvious, because each plane provides us with some unexpected behaviors. In the first (don’t worry, I won’t ruin them all, but will instead describe a couple of the more obvious ones so you can get an idea of where this episode is headed), Walter discovers that he is now a fat, white-trash alcoholic, who abuses Ruth. Refusing to accept this, he breaks out of his chamber, tosses his obese alter-ego into a furnace, and promises his lovely wife that things will be okay…only to discover that it’s Ruth who isn’t who she appears to be.
Desperate to escape, he is unable to contact the scientist, who appears in a hologram to inform him that he is running through several alternate realities. And so the rest of the episode goes, with Walter suddenly jumping from one possibility to the other. The whole feel honestly has quite a bit in common with the quick-cuts of “Dream of Doom”, this show’s first episode--the only difference is that “Planely Possible” relies pretty heavily on special effects at a couple parts. And as we have learned, any time that happens, this show tends to falter.
Surprisingly, a couple of the effects are pretty good, but others are the same disastrous early CGI that we have seen in several of the previous stories. It’s pretty clear that the budget was so low in this show that they probably lacked the resources to pull the effects off practically, but I can almost guarantee the rushed nature of this show is a clear reason it failed to find an audience and was canceled so quickly. Even for its day these effects were hokey, and time has certainly not been kind to them.
I won’t reveal any specifics from here, but I wasn’t really all that into this episode, which many have stated is the best (or one of the best) of the entire series. I sadly have to agree with that assessment, up to this point, simply for the reason that, with the exception of the first one, all of them have been really lackluster. I kept expecting some kind of logical twist, or some kind of revelatory conclusion that would bring it all home, and instead it just kind of kept going farther and farther out into space (figuratively), leading to an entirely unsatisfactory conclusion.
Again, I have to say that it’s one of the better eps we’ve seen so far, and the level of talent they are attracting hasn’t wavered, with Elizabeth Berkley giving an unexpectedly solid performance as Ruth, and George Newburn decent as the grieving widow. Its struggles just continue to be with everything else--the main set (a basement) is boring and sparse, and while some of the “upstairs” sets are more palatable, nothing in this episode would qualify as outstanding (besides maybe the idea).
Just chalk this up as yet another failure in the “Perversions of Science” pantheon, though you can at least call it an interesting one.
EPISODE RATING: 5/10
FULL EPISODE
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