Lieutenant Fitzgerald (an intense and excellent performance by William Reynolds) is a U.S. army soldier fighting in the Philippines during the second world war. Fitzgerald discovers much to his dismay that he has the uncanny psychic ability to accurately predict which soldier will die next in combat.
Director Richard L. Bare relates the absorbing premise at a steady pace and maintains a grimly serious tone throughout. Rod Serling's tough script astutely captures the nerve-wracking unfairness and hellishness of war. The ace acting by the able cast keeps this episode on course: Reynolds does strong work in the lead, with sturdy support from Dick York as the skeptical Captain Phil Riker, Barney Phillips as the no-nonsense Captain E.L. Gunther, Michael Vandever as the doomed Smitty, and Warren Oates as a cocky jeep driver. Fitzgerald's anguish over his "gift" and ultimate resigned acceptance of his own inevitable gloomy fate adds an additional element of wrenching pathos to this overall fine episode.
Director Richard L. Bare relates the absorbing premise at a steady pace and maintains a grimly serious tone throughout. Rod Serling's tough script astutely captures the nerve-wracking unfairness and hellishness of war. The ace acting by the able cast keeps this episode on course: Reynolds does strong work in the lead, with sturdy support from Dick York as the skeptical Captain Phil Riker, Barney Phillips as the no-nonsense Captain E.L. Gunther, Michael Vandever as the doomed Smitty, and Warren Oates as a cocky jeep driver. Fitzgerald's anguish over his "gift" and ultimate resigned acceptance of his own inevitable gloomy fate adds an additional element of wrenching pathos to this overall fine episode.