Host John Newland tells us he is in April 1912. He pulls a book off the shelf and mysteriously says “We will return to it later.” Like me with that 1,000 page LBJ biography.
Grace Montgomery wakes up from a nightmare. She screams for her mother despite not being six. In fact, she is a beautiful woman. Her mother does rush to her room. She frantically says, “It was water, dark water. I was drowning. I couldn’t swim anymore, I was drowning.” Her mother blames pre-wedding jitters. “In four days, you’ll be on your honeymoon in Switzerland, and you can’t drown in Switzerland.” You know, unless ya falls into one of those big vats of chocolate.
The next morning, her fiancee Eric Farley comes by the house to see “how the future Mrs. Farley looks in the morning.” After his terror when her mother answers the door, they sit down for tea. Eric surprises her by saying they are not going to Switzerland; they are going to America! [1] He giddily asks her how she thinks they will get there, but in 1912, that’s not a big f***ing mystery. It is by boat, specifically The Titanic. Even more specifically, they are in cabin 111B right next door to John Jacob Astor. [2] Thanks to Astor’s 29-years younger wife, April 14th won’t be the first night the Farlings have trouble sleeping.
She acts excited, but is worried because of her nightmare. Her mother reads from the paper that The RMS Titanic is the world’s largest and most luxurious liner. “By virtue of her five watertight compartments, she’s being hailed in marine engineering circles as the unsinkable ship.”
That night, Grace has another nightmare. People in the water! A huge ship going down! She says she could even read the name Titanic on the lifeboats in her dream. The next day, she and Eric discuss her dream. He racistly says, “You don’t believe what you see in your sleep unless you’re a gypsy.”
Surprisingly, the next scene is on Titanic. Other passengers have also had premonitions, bad feelings, heebies, and jeebies. More surprisingly, the next next scene is in New York City, although not as surprising as if Grace and Eric were there. Artist Harry Teller has hypnotically drawn a picture that his wife calls “awful, but his best work.” To be fair, it is pretty awesome.
That night, Titanic hits the iceberg. Even after being ordered to the lifeboats, Eric is cheerfully reminding Grace that the ship is unsinkable. He puts her on lifeboat 4, but he goes down on the ship, and possibly one of the stewards. Hey, why keep pretending?
Host John Newland returns, as promised, to the book. It was published in 1898 and tells the story of The Titan, a ship whose dimensions and fate are the same as The Titanic. It is a familiar story of hubris, arrogance, and the resulting loss of thousands of lives, so even more like that LBJ bio than I thought.
The second episode is as well-crafted as the first. The production was enhanced by using footage from old Titanic movies. Still, there is a certain sameness that I fear will creep into every episode. Is this just going to be the premonition/reincarnation of the week?
Other Stuff:
- [1] They could have ended the episode right there; like the Twilight Zone that ended with the characters fleeing to Earth rather than from it. It did not register with me that this was set in England. I guess the elegance and manners seemed possible to me in this country 112 years ago.
- [2] The Astors were actually in rooms C62 and C64, which frankly ruined this episode for me.
An elderly couple thinks they have solved their problem by feeding their son to the dogs. It is the ancient trope of the Monkey Paw again, but that’s OK; it is always fun. They used their first wish to bring their dead son back to life. Seeing the horrific results (i.e. he is a millennial who demands to live in his old room and stay on their insurance), they used the 2nd wish to send him to the Dobermans.
Somehow this devolves into Delores being criticized for not being married. Yvonne says, “There’s a good reason no man will have you and it has absolutely nothing to do with that ugly hammertoe of yours.” I don’t care for these English productions, but they can be funny. I just can’t see Brooke Shields selling that line. She says men avoid Yvonne because she is dull, “Duller than Buckingham Palace.” Although she is clearly forgetting the excitement when Prince Philip said, “Prince Harry is marrying a what?” [1]
That night, Marlys is in a car accident and dies. Delores discovers Marlys had a million Pound insurance policy. Delores is distraught that her wish caused Marlys’ death. Yvonne advises her to destroy the Monkey Paw, but she is convinced that she can beat it. Before Yvonne can stop her, she shouts out, “I wish Molly was the way she was just before the accident!”
Dr. Mark Crest is working on a teleportation device. Bets are being taken on the outcome of today’s test using animals. I appreciate that the betting pools on the board are:
He finds himself back in time, 18 hours before the test. And wearing the same shirt, BTW. Cleo is in a different outfit, so what gives? [2] He chalks it up to deja vu. Julie flirts with him, but Cleo interrupts them. She is already steamed that Mark hijacked her idea for disposing of toxic nuclear waste and corrupted it into a transporter. Here’s an idea: transport it!
Spinster Miss Lowen is playing solitaire with all her friends when the doorbells rings. How exciting, it is the winner of the 1960 Emmy for Worst Casting in a Drama or Limited Series, Stanley Adams! Tonight, Mr. Adams is playing the role of Detective Berger. Although an interesting character, this big, fat guy never once struck me as being a real police detective.[1] He was more like a Peter Lorre character who wandered onto the wrong soundstage in search of a better buffet. Nevertheless, he and Miss Lowen did take a very talky first act and make it fly by.
He demands food which Miss Lowe provides. He drinks the milk straight from the bottle; and that’s in addition to being a murderer. She does not risk spoiling the ruse by offering him the leftover 
Miss Lowe admits she knows the phone number and calls her. She has cleverly called Detective Berger though. Who knew Miss Lowe was capable of such deception? Collins catches on, though. He grabs the phone, but she brains him with a candelabra. If she were Jewish, he’d be dead. He awakens after the police arrive. They bandage him up and haul him away.