Original Story by Phil Deguere and Steven Bochco | ||||||||||||||||
Teleplay by Alan Brennert | ||||||||||||||||
Directed by Martha Coolidge | ||||||||||||||||
Original Airdate - February 7, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||
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Story: | ||||||||||||||||
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A compelling and interesting story, "Quarantine" offers us many views of the future that are filled with hope and peace. Thanks to the new DVD set and the commentary by Phil DeGuere, we know much more about this story now than we ever did. He wrote it with Steven Bochco many, many years ago, with the idea of doing a TV series. Nothing ever came of it, so when he began working on the NTZ he thought of this story. He asked Alan Brennert to write a teleplay from the story, and Phil gives Alan full credit for the success of the teleplay. Alan changed a good deal of the story, and changed the ending completely. Phil mentioned that his story had been dark and ultimately tragic. As the violence-prone scientist from the past, Scott Wilson isn't quite menacing enough but if he had been his transformation would have been tough to believe. Tess Harper is the stand-out of the episode. She exudes confidence and seems completely at ease with what has to be done to protect their hard-won peace. The special effects of the episode are beyond reproach as well. The hanging balloons that the psi monkeys live in are wonderful; they look perfectly plausible even today. One of the series' superior efforts, though it's never gotten much attention. Hopefully the DVD release will change this.
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