May 13, 2003 - 740226 - The Edge Of Death

[dsndblm]

This one really kept me on the edge of my seat. A farmer who it seems has never been sick a day in his life has an accident and injures his arm. He is unable to go about his usual day to day life. He finds a mysterious black bag, finds out his wife has some health problems. I won't spoil the rest. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did.

David

[vgarci]

Alex Harper and his wife, Judy, live on a farm where Alex has suffered a recent injury to his arm. He speaks with his doctor and learns that his arm will never been completely healed and worse, that his wife has a serious heart condition. During the tale, Judy becomes audibly upset when she happens upon a man "without a face" who wants to "communicate". After her story is reinforced by other's who have seen the strange looking man, Alex and Judy find a black doctor's bag behind their barn. Eventually, they open the bag and find prescriptions in bottles that are unlike anything they've seen before. The prescriptions are for some of the most hideous diseases known to man. Alex puts some of the appropriate powder on his arm and has a miraculous and complete recovery.

Warning: Plot spoiler ahead. The story is excellent. The characters keep us guessing and we learn of several points where the plot is forshadowed. For instance, we learn that the man in black is a "new kind of man" early in the story. Later we learn he is a fururistic reaper. His medicines are actually a prescription for death and I can imagine him without a mouth, as a metaphor for a silent grim reaper, dressed in a black hooded cape. The exterminator is portrayed with a very strange voice that seems a bit contrived but I think it actually helps to give us a futuristic bent. Excellent choice for a show of the week, David!

[vgarci]

David,
You are NOT going to believe this. Please read the introduction from our newest member at:

http://www.iamoka.com/cbsrmt/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1505&sid=493cae37cdf4e7069bae249540315f97#1505

[Ethelmertz]

This story about a farmer who’s arm has recently been injured in a farming accident is a good one. Sometimes, people are willing to try anything to restore their health and this story is a very good example of that. The farmer’s wife tells him one morning of strange lights she had seen the night before and he is not sure he believes her. She leaves to go to the doctor and he finds a black bag that looks like a doctor’s bag but he cannot open it. He learns from the doctor that his arm will never quite be the same and also that his wife has a heart condition. As she returns from the doctor, his wife very excitedly tells him of a man , dressed in black that she had just seen. Apparently he does not have a mouth but was trying to comminicate with her. . The strange man’s existence is verified by authorites about the same time the black bag is accidentally opened. The bag contains vials with pills or powders in them with the names of diseases that that are fatal to humas. The farmer puts some powder on his arm and it is healed. The farmer assumes the vials contain cures. The farmer meets the stranger without a mouth when he comes for the bag and who tries to tell him these vials are not what they seem and that fortunatly he chose to use one that did not harm him. The farmer doesn’t understand him so he knocks the strange man out and gives his wife a pill for heart attack. When the stranger wakes up the farmer tells him that he gave his wife the pill. This is when the farmer learns that the pills are used for exterminating the overpopulated place where the stranger comes from. The farmer is heartbroken that his wife is now dead.

I like this show, although some clues to it’s ending are easy to figure out and are quite classic, you still aren’t sure till you hear the ending what will happen. The man in Black and the wife’s reference that she had just seen death and also the stranger mentions that his people have not learned to curve their reproductive powers are some of the clues. If there are people out there, we always think that they are more advance than we are and probably have hope that they will have answers or cures for us. We are so eager to live forever.

A very good show that I haven’t heard before. Thanks for picking this one out.

Ethel

[vgarci]

Ethel,
Great post! It's great to hear your comments. :)

[bwonka]

Great pick, David. As you see from Vince's post, the timing was marvelous for me on this one. Listening to it scratched a mental itch that I've had for 20 years now.

When I first heard this on the radio, I was completely surprised by the disturbing twist at the end - this must be why it stuck with me for so long. I can even remember where I was and what I was doing when the stranger revealed the true function of the pills, but I don't remember anything else leading up to that point.

bw

[brian1984_2001]

This one was truly a captivating tale. It is funny how a newbie just mentioned that as one of his favorites.

It's the cautionary tale of messing with forces you don't understand and jumping into something before you know all the consequences (like I did owning a boat).

It also speaks to the desperation one must feel when they are losing someone they love.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

This story certainly has its' spooky elements. A guy in black and with no mouth for one thing. A "lunatic" on the prowl who is a mutation for another. The use of the music in the first 2 acts is really effective..it is suggestive and alluring..... "What the hell is going on here?", that is what it is saying. Something deadly. It is dangerous. It is ominous. We know the dog is a gonner when chasing a guy who leaps over walls and practically flies. Something "far away" is going on. Is this guy an alien? Is he a "freak" of nature? The suggestion with the story in the first two acts, musically and thematically is of a sense of danger. A sense of an outsider. We have a couple with health problems (something to fear and dread in itself.) The third act twists this. The meaning is ultimately clarified. There is a suggestion of another possibilty. There is hope! A cure!!!!!! The cure even works, as our adventurous, if not foolhearty protagonist discovers with his white powder. Forget the warnings of the first two acts! This cure works. "I, in my desperation and mistrust of my doctor friend ( humanity, logic and science) know what is best for my wife. I'll give her this unknown medication!" Horahh Horahh! Damn Fool. The story then reveals itself. The outsider to be feared is ourselves, only represented in a future sense. Man is folly. Nature is supreme. Our future rules out. Inevitable?Nature creates a future man that replaces the present! Man's own future and nature replace the present moment ( it is a given that the past, present and future run together in this story ) for an advantage...the advantage of technology. Surely, this modern, advanced fellow is no physical match. He gets rather easily knocked out! But on a mental and technological plane, watch out. He reigns supreme and will have his way. That is the scary element of the story. His folly in his day is an uncontrolled reproduction to the point that "ony the higher forms exist" in his day. His technology is the tool to seek an answer for his humanity
(a prediliction of absolute supremacy). Replace others from another time! That's the solution. The hell with them! With ourselves! The future of man is more folly as well, despite his technology. The drive is overwhelming! If he replaces the present (a past to his future) he devoids his own existance. What price be paid? In both time spans? A wife. A future. His knowledge at the time is sufficient to understand that if he changes the past he changes the present (his future). Like our single minded protagonist, he thinks narrowly and of himself only. Despite our well spoken futuristic friends' verbage, his goal is our destruction. (and his own?). Human nature? Destroy the past, replace the future.The show is scary for it's indirect perception and representation of us. The forces at work are not pretty. Hope it isn't reality. ...9.5..UNTIL NEXT TIME

[dnagle]

I liked this show. It has that spooky "beyond this world" undertone that made the series so great, where you know something is going on that isn't just bad, it's supernatural. You just had to know there was something really wrong about the "doctor's" bag Alex finds. And when Michael finally speaks up it is definitely creepy. But the tie-in with the mental hospital kept me guessing ... there seemed to be a deranged lunatic on the loose, but he just kept appearing in different places with no apparent purpose. That slow, winding plot development was a hallmark of the whole series. I like having the original ads - one had Art Linkletter (there's a major figure from my youth) and another admonishes everyone to conserve energy. This was my first Show of the Week and I really enjoyed listening to it.

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

Well, keep on listening and giving your reviews...its too much fun to pass by. ..UNTIL NEXT TIME

[Texas]

I liked this one.

For some reason, when I read about different people seeing the same alien faced man I thought of the movie "Signs"...however, the twist with him instead being an "advanced", futuristic man was a nice one.

And Marshall's ending with how the man would ask how his arm was healed was quite poignant. My heart sunk along with the husband's as the future man was telling him what he was going to find at his house after his wife took the "medicine".

[vgarci]

Dnagle,
Great to have you join the 'SHOW'. Don't be afraid to wade in on the past show's of the week as many of us read the logs faithfully and would welcome your opinions. It's a great way to start listening and enjoying with us. For me, I think I listen more closely and pay attention to details when I'm reviewing for the SOTW.

[dsndblm]

Thanks for all the feedback on my favorite episode everyone.

David

[Charlie]

This is an interesting program. I would say that it didn't go quite the direction that I expected. A number of twists and turns to think about kept it interesting. There are good lessons in programs like this but you can't fault people for doing whatever they need to do to stay alive. Hopefully we won't see an increased number of people without mouths running around (although I know a few people that would be better off that way).

Charlie

[UNTIL NEXT TIME]

The wife had a heart condition that required dietary changes. Her prognosis was favorable. The farmer had that carefully explained to him. His folly killed his wife......She was not about to die until he interveened......UNTIL NEXT TIME

[Charlie]

That's a good point but fear and emotion can cause you to do those sorts of things. :?

Charlie

[dave]

i guessed the ending early on so wasn't too suprised.

i liked the escaped psycho with no mouth part. that was creepy.

the farmer was willing to try unknown meds too quickly for me. but some people do that sort of thing .