Army lieutenant is cursed with gift of premonition.
Battlefields are not the usual locale for occult happenings. This one is. It's the waning days of WWII in the Pacific theater and an infantry officer (William Reynolds) suddenly undergoes spooky premonitions of who will live and who will die. Fine performance by Reynolds on whom the episode turns. He manages the gamut of emotions in very convincing fashion, among the best of the series. You get the feeling he's really on the ragged edge. Also, the production crew turns an ordinary sound stage into effective recreation of battlefield headquarters, where most of the action takes place. Very atmospheric in its use of light and shadow, the photography lends the small jungle clearing a believably eerie appearance. Then too, the supernatural moments are strangely unsettling and well done. Some nice touches, as when Reynolds tosses his shaving kit aside before getting in the jeep, or when the camera picks up the shattered reflection in the broken mirror. Probably because this was still the first year of production, the episode is done with extraordinary care, and it shows. Purple Testament may not quite make the first rank, but it's darn close.