3.16 --- The Cold Equations

Directed by : Martin Lavut Written by : Alan Brennert (story by Tom Goodwin) Starring : Terence Knox, Christianne Hirt First aired : 7th of January, 1989. Thomas Barton (Terence Knox, Tour of Duty) is a rescue mission pilot, currently shuttling over some medicines and supplies to a colony somewhere far away in another galaxy. His ship is fitted with enough fuel and materials to last one journey, a fact which becomes a nuisance once Thomas discovers there is a stowaway aboard the ship, whose mass makes the trip impossible to finish. The stowaway is a young girl called Marylin (Christianne Hirt), who boarded the ship in order to visit her brother who is stationed at the planet Thomas' ship is flying to. The problem, though, is that as noted above, the ship can't reach its destination with that much extra mass on board. The solution is even more ugly - standard procedures call for a quick execution of the stowaway, with the ejection into outer space the final act. Marylin is shell-shocked upon hearing this, and Thomas isn't exactly at ease himself, knowing that either she dies, or both of them, as well as the numerous colonists awaiting the medicines onboard, die instead. Thomas tries to reduce the ship's mass by gathering all excess weight he could find into one pile, but their dash of hope evaporates upon finding out that the assembled goods are not even half the neccesary weight. It is becoming obvious that Marylin will have to "take one for the team", so she asks if she can speak with her brother through the vidphone before condemning herself. After some delay, her brother phones in, only to hear the horrible story himself. He is devastated by the news, but Marylin comforts him, saying she will always be with him in some shape of form. Her conversation finished, Marylin announces she's ready and steps into the airlock. Thomas reluctantly ejects her, then walks back to his cockpit, where emotions finally overflow him as he begins to cry. *** "The Crime and Punishment" through the Twilight Zone, one might say. The Cold Equations is universally regarded as one of the rare season 3 highlights, and while I do admire the story, which has a lot going for it, I just didn't really think it was a great TZ episode. In essence, it was a pretty straightforward story, with the only "twist" mailed in somewhere around the third minute - the rest deals with Marylin coming to terms that she'll be dead before the ending credits. Of the two leads, Hirt leaves a better impression - Knox just feels too distant, and his tears in the end wind up looking forced and stilted. The sets and special effects aren't too shabby, which is a bonus considering the shoestring budget 3rd season was shot on. Overall, I rate it "good", not "great". This episode caused quite a ruckus back in the day, as CBS freaked over the ending, finding it horribly inappropriate Marylin offs herself. According to Alan Brennert (via Zicree and his companion), the studio heads offered alternative solutions, ranging from "Marylin cuts off her limbs" to "Thomas shoots her in cold blood", but the production team stood its ground, and CBS finally backed off.