Wait a minute, the guys from Motley Crüe went on a camping trip? Oh, wait, I guess these are cavemen. The goofy clothing and hair threw me off, although I suspect the smell would not have cleared things up. One of the guyz gets the hots for a girl at the boar-roast and beats her mate to death in a sneak attack. Even back then, the cute ones went for Neanderthals. He screams triumphantly and grabs the girl.
Arthur in the lab.
This is just a daydream by meek anthropologist Arthur Zeller as he stares at an exhibit on prehistoric man. He is jolted back to reality as James and Laura, who he has a crush on, leave for the night. Arthur returns to his lab and injects a serum marked DOMINANCE into a mouse which was meek as, well, a mouse. The mouse becomes more aggressive and Arthur sees this as a way for mankind to reacquire some lost virtues. He presents his findings to the funding committee.
This must be the toughest Anthropology Department in America. Arthur’s colleagues are all alpha-males who continually play pranks on him and emasculate him in front of Laura. Chairman Stansfield tells Arthur later that he is not funding his project because he thinks he does not have the guts to fight the challenges to his work. The proposal seems worthy though as 3 days later, the test rat has crushed his enemies and heard the lamentations of their lady-rats. Like every scientist ever on Outer Limits, he decides to use the drug on himself.
Arthur doing an experiment.
The next day at work, he is more assertive. He suggests a hardball plan to deal with rival researchers. He tells the Chairman that he is afraid to do what is necessary to keep this department on top. And he says he doesn’t care what they think, he is going to keep eating at Chic-Fil-A! When James teases him about his new attitude, Arthur tells him, “F*** off.”
Hey, Hollywood, take a lesson from Canada. This was an effective jolt because we get maybe one F-bomb per season from this series. Hollywood version:
James: What the fuck, Arthur? You’re acting like a fucking maniac! Are you fucking high?
Arthur: Fuck off for fuck’s sake. Boy, I hate that fucking Chic-Fil-A!
As Arthur continues taking the DOMINANCE drug, he becomes more aggressive. He shouts down the homeless guy who always hassles him. At work, staring at the caveman exhibit, he begins to channel the caveman. We get caveman-POV shots of the man’s dog as the man follows him through the jungle on a hunt. Then I guess we get a dog’s-ass-POV because we see the caveman running toward the camera. Laura’s scream awakens him as he has just hurled a spear that nearly pierced both her ears; the hard way.
Arthur testing his flint spear theory.
He explains that he has been researching the penetrating power of flint spears. He apologizes and says he would “never want to skewer you . . . not with a spear anyway.” Heyyyoooo! My man! Oh, wait, she doesn’t appreciate that. She stomps away outraged at that kind of lewd talk from a guy who doesn’t look like George Clooney. With his new-found confidence and aggression, he gives the Chairman a beat-down that night.
Well, it goes on mostly where you would expect since we have seen this story a hundred times. Leland Orser did excellent work here as the meek Arthur all the way through to the uninhibited caveman. That is really the best reason to sit through this episode. Jenny Copper was also good as Laura. The others were mostly so loathsome that it is hard to be objective.
Arthur discussing his research.
The ending was unexpected. I guess after going all Altered States, Arthur didn’t have Blair Brown’s awesomeness to ground him back to his human form.
Other Stuff:
- Title Analysis: Yeah, I get it, but what a waste of a title. Look at the movie The Descent — that’s what I want from a descent!
The voice gives them the data to build such a system. As they watch a radar screen, they are able to identify satellites. One of the blips is not a satellite, though. They watch it moving across the screen. As it moves vertically up the screen, one of them says, “It has an upward trajectory.” Er, on a 2-D global map, wouldn’t that indicate it is moving north? He is not the dumbest in the group, though. As the blip approaches Montana, Milhurst says, “It is over south-central New Mexico.”
This is one of those episodes that makes me wonder how much TV from 50 years ago reflected reality and how much was a whitewashing — literally and figuratively — of the world.
On the boys’ first day, they mold clay into such challenging shapes as a snake, a pancake, an ashtray, and a fabulous sculpture of a man, made by the titular Aaron Gold. Over the next few days, Aaron skips some of the other camp activities to seriously work on his sculpture. Bernie is impressed with Aaron’s attitude and skill, although the figure is still deficient in arms to the tune of one.
The next morning, Aaron is crushed to see that Bernie has added an arm holding a sword to the figure. It is obvious why when his father shows up and HE IS AN MONSTER!!! At least, that’s how it feels. Mr. Gold arrives at the Ceramics Tent and the camera zooms in on the right sleeve of his jacket which is neatly folded, pinned to his shoulder and empty as a Bill & Hillary 2020 Speaking Tour. Not only does the camera zoom in, but the shot freezes, and the orchestra swells. Buster Bluth was treated with more respect.
According to the introduction — and why else would I pay for a bunch of 80 year old public domain stories — this is “the most atypical story one could imagine in the pages of a pulp: a little old lady takes a hard-boiled detective and leads him around by the nose.” Well, the age and the body part are different, I’ll give’m that.