This is the best entry in the series I watched in tribute to its creator William Castle; the plot is certainly the most original and intriguing and, incredibly enough, somewhat predates James Cameron's THE TERMINATOR (1984) by a decade. A man (James Franciscus) is estranged from his wife (Elizabeth Ashley) over what she deems the excessive attention he gives to tragic premonitions received via recurrent nightmares. Though Franciscus had failed to save his father, he determines not to repeat the same error with his little daughter – and, in this case, manages to get Ashley involved as well (she even begins to have visions of her own!). The event that he witnesses this time around is his girl's death (shot while riding a horse in a carousel!) in the distant future – at the hands of a young man who, as it turns out, has yet to be born
so he has a hard time preventing the murderer's would-be parents from getting hitched!! What he tries to do, in fact, is seduce the boy's mother (Meg Foster from Laurence Harvey's WELCOME TO ARROW BEACH {1974}) away from her fiancé – even if it means Ashley has to witness the 'affair'! This seems to work because the prospective husband confronts them on the point of jointly leaving town and, in a tussle for his gun, ends up killed by Franciscus! The irony is that Foster is already pregnant
yet Ashley persuades her former hubby to spare her and, by extension, the baby too – arguing that the incident has brought the couple back together again, so the best they could hope for is to reshape their daughter's grown-up life! The title refers to a quotation imprinted over the entrance of the local courthouse – where Franciscus first sees the trial of his daughter's killer, but is then himself arraigned over the death of that same man's dad! An amusing idea during the prophetic passages – lifted outright, incidentally, from Castle's own comic fantasy ZOTZ! (1962) – involves a slowed-down soundtrack whenever the characters speak.
6 Reviews
Storyline of episode incorrect!
mjl52924 October 2017
I read the story line and a review regarding this episode and they were incorrect. Julie Barnes(Meg Foster) fiancée was Rafe Norris(Jeremy Slate), not Ed Barnes(Karl Swenson)he was her Dad?? Once I saw the episode it made more since, Ed was way to old for Julie's fiancée for 1972, audiences would not have approved. This would not be and issue now a days. Storyline needs to be corrected.
Fate & Destiny
AaronCapenBanner14 November 2014
James Franciscus plays Paul Dover, who has been troubled with recurrent nightmares of his daughter Emily being shot to death while riding a carousel. He views this as a premonition of the distant future, and so decides to go to the town this will happen in to stop it from happening. While staying there, he falls for the owner of the hotel called Julie(played by Meg Foster) who will play a part in this event, since her fiancée Ed turns out to look like the man who murders Emily! He confronts Ed, where a drastic turn-of-events will propel him even more into his daughter's possible fate...Intriguing episode plays around with fate & destiny with interesting results, leading to a subtle but effective ending.
A darker corner of The Twilight Zone
ebeckstr-131 October 2021
This series is what The Twilight Zone might have been had it persisted into the 70s and taken on 70s ESP sensibilities. This episode features the great James Franciscus, who is appeal as an actor elevates everything he was in. The tale itself is pretty conventional but none the less entertaining, and one of the darker episodes of the series, rooted as it is in the idea of seemingly unavoidable fate.
One of the best ones!
BandSAboutMovies22 January 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Don McDougall started his directing career in 1951 and worked on everything there was to make on TV. Cowboys shows like Cowboy G-Men, Rawhide, Bonanza, Buffalo Bill Jr. And The Roy Rogers Show. Adventure like Jungle Jim and Mod Squad. Pop culture milestones like the Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man, Kolchak and Star Trek. Even The Dukes of Hazzard and The Fall Guy.
For this episode of the stories of Winston Essex, he's directing from a script by The Phoenix creator Anthony Lawrence and master of horror Richard Matheson.
Paul Dover (James Franciscus) has the worst dreams. The worst is the one where his daughter Emily gets murdered when she grows up. So he follows the clues of his dream and ends up in the city where he believes she'll die. His mission takes a backseat to the love he finds with Julie (Meg Foster!), who runs the boardinghouse he's living in and is engaged to the man who murders Emily in Paul's nightmares.
These dreams have already cost Paul his marriage to Karen (Elizabeth Ashley, Windows) and left him with darkness hanging over him after he doesn't follow those psychic warnings when he believed his father's life was in danger. So when he sees a vision of Emily getting shot on a carousel by a man not yet born, then you understand why he wants to break up Julie and Ed, who will one day give birth to that killer.
This is one of the better episodes of this show and, as always, Sebastian Cabot is perfect as the storyteller.
For this episode of the stories of Winston Essex, he's directing from a script by The Phoenix creator Anthony Lawrence and master of horror Richard Matheson.
Paul Dover (James Franciscus) has the worst dreams. The worst is the one where his daughter Emily gets murdered when she grows up. So he follows the clues of his dream and ends up in the city where he believes she'll die. His mission takes a backseat to the love he finds with Julie (Meg Foster!), who runs the boardinghouse he's living in and is engaged to the man who murders Emily in Paul's nightmares.
These dreams have already cost Paul his marriage to Karen (Elizabeth Ashley, Windows) and left him with darkness hanging over him after he doesn't follow those psychic warnings when he believed his father's life was in danger. So when he sees a vision of Emily getting shot on a carousel by a man not yet born, then you understand why he wants to break up Julie and Ed, who will one day give birth to that killer.
This is one of the better episodes of this show and, as always, Sebastian Cabot is perfect as the storyteller.
Dead girl on a merry-go-round.
mark.waltz25 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
To the real world, James Franciscus is a complete wacko. In his own mind, he's sure of what he believes in. He's a believer in paranormal dreams, and he's certain that his daughter Lisa James will be murdered by her boyfriend. Trying to get everybody else to see that is extremely difficult, and realistically, who would believe someone like that? There's ex-wife Elizabeth Ashley, his current girlfriend Meg Foster and his daughter's boyfriend's father, Jeremy Slate.
The boyfriend, George McCallister, is a bit odd, which makes his suspicions all the more valid to him. Something is definitely up though, and it's a bizarre journey into resolving this. The one interesting element of this episode is the effects that occur when Franciscus is having these visions, but the story itself is presented in a very convoluted manner that just boggles the viewer's mind.
The boyfriend, George McCallister, is a bit odd, which makes his suspicions all the more valid to him. Something is definitely up though, and it's a bizarre journey into resolving this. The one interesting element of this episode is the effects that occur when Franciscus is having these visions, but the story itself is presented in a very convoluted manner that just boggles the viewer's mind.
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