History Recap / TheOuterLimits1963S1E3TheArchitectsOfFear

* AnAesop: Aside from the more outlandish moral (see SpaceWhaleAesop), the narrator makes a point that it's not fear that brings people together, but love, trust and making the effort to prosper with one another.

* ScarecrowSolution: Essentially what the scientists aim to achieve using the Thetan's DNA. Allen even uses the allegory of a 'scarecrow' to hint to his wife what he hopes to achieve. Her views are more dubious, as she aptly points out "[[RealityEnsues Some scarecrows don't even scare crows]]."

* IronicEcho[=/=]MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic when Allen recieves it from his wife, because he's already started to undergo the procedure to become a Thetan, meaning he's already been touched by "evil". On the other hand, it's meaningful when Thetan-Allen gives it to his wife, because it's how he lets her know who he is. And given she'll end up a single mother because of his impending death, he's making sure she and their unborn child will be protected.

* IronicEcho [=/=]MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic when Allen recieves it from his wife, because he's already started to undergo the procedure to become a Thetan, meaning he's already been touched by "evil". On the other hand, it's meaningful when Thetan-Allen gives it to his wife, because it's how he lets her know who he is. And given she'll end up a single mother because of his impending death, he's making sure she and their unborn child will be protected.

[[caption-width-right:350:Yvette gives a pre-transformation Allan the "mark against evil".]]

* AnAesop: Aside from the more outlandish moral (see SpaceWhaleAesop), the narrator makes a point that it's not fear that bring people together, but love, trust and making the effort to prosper with one another.

* IronicEcho [=/=]MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic when Allen recieves it from his wife, because he's already started to undergo the procedure to become a Thetan, meaning he's already been touched by "evil". On the other hand, it's meaningful when Thetan-Allen gives it to his wife, because it's how he lets her know who he is. And given she'll end up a single mother because of his death, he's making sure she and their unborn child will be protected.

The world has entered a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-esque setting in which nuclear holocaust appears imminent. In the hope of staving off an apocalyptic military confrontation between nations, an idealistic group of scientists working at United Labs plans to stage a fake AlienInvasion of Earth in an effort to unite all humanity against a perceived, common enemy. The scientists have managed to study the planetary conditions on the planet Theta. They draw lots, and physicist Dr. Allen Leighton (Robert Culp) is chosen to undergo radical surgical procedures that will transform him into a projected figure from a planet with a different atmosphere. Leighton's death is faked, and the bizarre series of transplants and modifications to his body proceed. His wife, Yvette (Geraldine Brooks), persists in not believing he is dead; she feels sympathetic pain as Allen suffers on the operating table. Complications arise when the effects of Leighton's transformation extend beyond his physical appearance and begin to affect his mind, a situation compounded by the scientist's strong psychic link to his pregnant wife.

* IronicEcho / MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic when Allen recieves it from his wife, because he's already started to undergo the procedure to become a Thetan, meaning he's already been touched by "evil". On the other hand, it's meaningful when Thetan-Allen gives it to his wife, because it's how he lets her know who he is. And given she'll end up a single mother because of his death, he's making sure she and their unborn child will be protected.
* NoAntagonist: Every character in this story has good intentions--which is one of the reasons why it's so tragic.

* TragicHero: Allen.

* ScarecrowSollution: Essentially what the scientists aim to achieve using the Thetan's DNA. Allen even uses this allegory to hint to his wife what he hopes to achieve. Her views are more dubious, as she aptly points out "[[RealityEnsues Some scarecrows don't even scare crows]]."

* {{Foreshadowing}}: An InUniverse example for Allen's wife. His speech about scarecrows seems like small talk to her. It should've been her first clue of what Allen and his colleagues were planning. When she later learns the truth, she gets a sobering InUniverse [[FridgeBrilliance shower thought]] about what he was trying to tell her.

* IronicEcho / MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic from the receiving end, because the hero ultimately dies a horrible death as an alien. On the other hand, it's meaningful from the giving end, because it's how the hero lets his wife know who he is.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: An InUniverse example for Allen's wife. His speech about scarecrows seems like small talk to her. It should've been her first clue of what Allen and his colleagues were planning. When she later learns the truth, she gets a sobering InUniverse FridgeBrilliance about what he was trying to tell her.

* IronicEcho/MeaningfulEcho

* AnAesop: Aside from the more outlandish moral (see SpaceWhaleAesop), the narrator makes a point that it's not fear that bring people together, but love and trust in one another.

!!Tropes:

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the end, when the scientists try to explain themselves to Yvette.

* SpaceWhaleAesop: You shouldn't try to fake an alien invasion to stop the Cold War because the ship might crash.
* StockFootage: Used in the film the scientists watch at the beginning.

->'''The Control Voice''':Scarecrows and magic and other fatal fears do not bring people closer together. There is no magic substitute for soft caring and hard work, for self-respect and mutual love. If we can learn this from the mistake these frightened men made, then their mistake will not have been merely grotesque, it would at least have been a lesson. A lesson, at last, to be learned.

[[quoteright:307:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outer_limits_architects_of_fear_9212.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:307:The "Thetan", seen more clearly in this publicity photo than the actual episode.]]

* GenghisGambit: The plot of the episode, where Allen volunteers to be turned into a fake Alien to be launched at the United Nations as a scarecrow tactic. The plan blows up in their face before it can even be executed, thanks to a weather satellite (used as the Thetan's "spaceship") malfunctioning and crashing near their lab, and a nearby duck hunter killing Allen.