Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Episode Guide Year 1

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Episode Guide, Year One, show 17.
Production information and notes by Mark Phillips
Story synopses, Mike Bailey

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The Last Battle
Mutiny

The Last Battle Airdate: January 4, 1965

En route to Washington, Nelson is drugged and kidnapped, and awakens in a Nazis-style prison camp off the coast of South America. Col. Alfred Schroder informs him that he is to be the lynch-pin of a group of scientists who have "disappeared" over the past 6 years; now in Schroder's "custody," they are to spearhead a Nazis Fourth Reich. Nelson is introduced to the other captives and immediately starts building a shortwave radio with which he contacts Seaview (Crane has had Sparks monitoring the most likely bands Nelson might use in trying to make contact.) Even as the nuclear sub speeds

island-ward, Schroder reveals to Nelson that his kidnapping was merely a ruse to lure the world's most powerful weapons platform (Seaview, of course) to the island, thank you very much. Schroder intends to initiate World War Three with a couple of well-placed missiles, after which his Fourth Reich will emerge from the ashes.

Dayton Lummis as Gustav Reinhardt.
Dayton Lummis as Reinhardt

Ben Wright as Benjamin Brewster.
Ben Wright as Brewster

Joe De Santis as Miklos

Rudi Solari as Alejandro Tomas.
Rudy Solari as Tomas

Careful composition of images so typical of year one Voyage.
"How do the Schroders of the world get so good at it?"

Nelson returns to the group with the disturbing news and they set to squabbling about how the Nazis are getting their information. Is one of them a spy?
Reinhart sums up their internal problem:
"Divide and conquer, divide and conquer some more. How do the Schroders of the world get so good at it?"
But alas, unknown, one of them is a spy -- it's the athlete, Thomas. And it's Thomas who volunteers for the dangerous job of reconnoitering the island for information on what the Nazis are planning for Seaview.

While out on his "mission," Thomas fills Schroder in on the Admiral's latest thinking and returns with information that leads Nelson and the scientists to conclude that the Nazis plan on using submarine nets to capture Seaview (which indeed, they are). Nelson concocts a plan to bomb the control facility the Nazis are using to manage the nets. Through subterfuge, he gets the bomb, along with Schroder and Thomas into the control center. Just as Schroder is about to order the nets closed on Seaview, the bomb goes off, killing all present, and effectively wrecking the colonel's planned Fourth Reich.

Written: Robert Hamner
Directed: Felix Feist
Guest Cast
Col. Alfred Schroeder.......John Van Dreelan
Alejandro Tomas.........................Rudy Solari
Miklos.......................................Joe de Santis
Benjamin Brewster......................Ben Wright
Col. Carl Deiner.........................Eric Feldary
Dr. Gustav Reinhardt...........Dayton Lummis
Stewardess...........................Sandra Williams
Henchman............................Charles Horvath
Passenger..............................Miriam Schiller
Nazi guard............................Glenn R. Wilder
Crewman’s voice........................Paul Kremin

No rear-screen projection. The set is real, "borrowed" from Foxes cuncurrent production Von Ryans Express.
Fabulous movie set "borrowed" for filming "The Last Battle."
It was built originally for Fox's Von Ryan's Express .

Mark Says: A tired, talky storyline with little suspense. There is some promised interested when the Nazis plan to capture Seaview with submarine nets and had this occurred, it would have taken this show out of its routine. They also missed out by not giving the sexy Sandra Williams more to do.

Mike Says: Actually, there are a number of things to like about this show. It at least attempts to introduce some moral concepts into the conflict as in Nelson's comments about Schroder -- "It's the idea that has to be destroyed, not just the man." The Stalag set is fabulous; the first images of Schroder viewing his Nazis war clips of Hitler are chilling. The guest cast looks authentic and turns in thoroughly believable performances.

Mutiny Airdate: January 11, 1965

Admiral Nelson witnesses the destruction of Neptune, a submarine intended to be Seaview's sister ship. A monster-sized jellyfish is the culprit, apparently the product of mutation and a rare undersea pocket of a highly radioactive ore - carnotite. This is an episode loaded with impressive miniature effects and is an explosive showcase for the talented Richard Basehart. David Hedison, guest Harold J Stone and the entire cast turn in intense performances in what is one of the series top entries.

"Mutiny"
Written: William Read Woodfield
Directed: Sobey Martin
Guest Cast
Admiral Jiggs Starke........Harold J. Stone
Capt. Jim Jefferson...................Jay Lanin
Jackson...................................Lew Brown
Fowler....................................Steve Harris
Neptune sonarman...................Cal Naylor
Diver..........................................Ron Stein

Richard Basehart's performance as a tortured Nelson is explosive.

Mark Says: The highlight of this episode is Richard Basehart’s performance, along with a intriguing hypothesis of how a giant jellyfish might really exist. Good acting and writing, with a restrained but impressive showdown between monster and submarine.

Mike Says: Writer William Read Woodfield delivers the goods again. Too bad some of the stranded-at-sea rear-screen shots are obviously fake. On the other hand, the storm scenes, the hardest to create, are anything but ineffective. The episode's "bear," a giant jellyfish, is simply out-and-out fabulous miniature photography and holds up as well as anything produced today, be it CGI or whatever. When it gets to emotional crunch time, Basehart's performance is amazing. Even the often flat direction of Sobey Martin steps up several notches for this episode, although much of the final effect in that department may have been punched in by the editor.

Since this episode is just so darned good, click here for the Classic -- Episode treatment, a photo-enhanced five page synopsis of "Mutiny."

This episode was also the basis for MAD Magazine's send up of Voyage. Click here for a sample of the MADness

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