Line #26 Recap/TheOuterLimits1963S1E3TheArchitectsOfFear


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/outer_limits_architects_of_fear_9212.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The "Thetan", seen more clearly in this publicity photo than the actual episode.]]
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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mark_against_evil.png]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:Yvette gives Allan the "mark against evil".]]
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7	->'''The Control Voice''': Is this the day? Is this the beginning of the end? There is no time to wonder. No time to ask why is it happening, why is it finally happening. There is time only for fear, for the piercing pain of panic. Do we pray? Or do we merely run now and pray later? Will there be a later? Or is this the day?
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9	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 (Creator/RobertCulp) 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 (Creator/GeraldineBrooks), 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.
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11	The scientists' plan is for Dr. Leighton, as the Thetan creature equipped with an energy weapon and spaceship, to land at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations in an effort to create initial panic. This panic, in theory, will be resolved as the world unites to fight the invader. Leighton, now a perfect simulation of an inhabitant of the planet Theta, is launched into orbit as a weather satellite but the mission goes awry when the spaceship comes down off course and lands in a wooded area near the United Labs facility. After disintegrating their station wagon with his laser pistol, Allen is severely wounded by three duck hunters armed with shotguns as he emerges from the underbrush. In a futile attempt to possibly heal his wounds, Allen stumbles back to the lab. Yvette again feels his pain and hurries to the lab looking for her husband. She arrives as the Thetan enters and collapses to the floor. Before dying of mortal wounds, the creature demonstrates "the mark against evil", a personal gesture - touching a finger to the lips, and then to the forehead - which they once shared, and Yvette then realizes the horrifying truth that the alien is, in fact, her husband.
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13	->'''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.
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15	!!The Architects of Tropes:
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17	* AnAesop: Aside from the more outlandish moral (see SpaceWhaleAesop), the Control Voice makes a point that it's not fear that brings people together, but love, trust and making the effort to prosper with one another.
18	* BodyHorror: Allen's transformation does not look pleasant.
19	* DeathFakedForYou: The scientists fake Allen's death so there will be no questions about his disappearance.
20	* DownerEnding: The plan was a complete failure and Allen is killed. Even worse, he dies in front of his wife and she [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay figures out it is him in his final moments]]. The scientists of the project [[IDidWhatIHadToDo try to reassure her that this was something they needed to try]], but she angrily points out that [[HumansAreBastards chances are it would not have stopped mankind's hostilities]].
21	* DrawingStraws: The scientists use a variation to choose which one of them will be transformed.
22	* EpicFail: The plan goes to hell the very second it reaches its final stage, with Allen landing dozens of miles off course. The only thing Allen's sacrifice does (aside from making everybody involved sad) is to become a "weird news" segment and maybe bar talk for a trio of hunters.
23	* {{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 revelation]] about what he was trying to tell her.
24	--> A scarecrow would change everything...
25	* 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.
26	* TheGrotesque: The Thetan is meant to look terrifying. It does.
27	* IronicEcho[=/=]MeaningfulEcho: The Mark against Evil. On one hand, it's ironic when Allen receives 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 does the exact same gesture 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.
28	* NoAntagonist: Every character in this story has good intentions -- which is one of the reasons why it's so tragic.
29	* OffScreenVillainDarkMatter: It's not too hard to accept that the scientists could acquire a weather satellite or even warp Allen's biology so horribly, but where would they have gotten the know-how or resources to build a fully functional disintegration pistol?
30	* OneHitKill: The Thetan may ''look'' intimidating, but one gunshot wound is all it takes to put it out of commission.
31	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: At the end, when the scientists try to explain themselves to Yvette, she gives them a brief but effective response.
32	-->'''Yvette:''' I know what you thought. He told me what you thought. But how could you ''think?!''
33	* SanitySlippage: When his transformation starts to kick in, Allen undergoes a scary "schizophrenic episode" during which he starts babbling nonsense and threatening his fellow scientists.
34	-->'''Allen:''' Listen, there's more to this levitation than just the physical. I am... I'm really able to fly. ''Are you aware of that?!''... You think your putty little hands can hold Prometheus? Odysseus? Tycho star? Goosey, goosey gander, whither you wander?
35	* 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 "[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Some scarecrows don't even scare crows]]."
36	* ShootTheShaggyDog: Allen's sacrifice achieves nothing and leaves his wife to raise their child alone.
37	* ShoutOut: Creator/AlanMoore references this episode in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' to acknowledge the similarities of their GenghisGambit plots.
38	* SpaceWhaleAesop:
39	** You shouldn't try to fake an alien invasion to stop the Cold War because the ship might crash.
40	** If you're going to do it anyway, maybe you should take the young guy with the pregnant wife out of consideration because he has so much to lose. Besides, his wife might figure out what's going on, with or without a psychic link to her husband.
41	* StockFootage: Used in the film the scientists watch at the beginning, which shows a simulated nuclear attack.
42	* TragicHero: Allen, who becomes a TragicMonster.
43	* WasOnceAMan: The Thetan Allen has become by the end.
44	* WellIntentionedExtremist: All the scientists want to do is unify humanity and prevent a nuclear holocaust. As for their methods...
45	* TheXOfY: The title.

Context Recap / TheOuterLimits1963S1E3TheArchitectsOfFear