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"The Last Battle"
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VBS episode
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1x17 / 17th of 110 aired
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First aired
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Written by
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Irwin Allen, Robert Hamner
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Directed by
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Felix E. Feist
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Previous episode
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Next Episode
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"Mutiny"
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Summary[]
Admiral Harriman Nelson is on a plane, headed for Washington, D. C. He is persuaded to have a cup of coffee by the stewardess. The man sitting next to him distracts him, then switches a package of sugar on Nelson’s tray as he looks out the window. Nelson opens the package of sugar, pours it into his coffee, then starts drinking it.
Some time later, Nelson is unconscious, which he is then carried to the exit by several men after donning parachutes (including one that was placed on Nelson), who then open the door and jump out of the plane.
Several days later, Nelson awakens somewhere far away in a room with a person watching footage of Adolf Hitler. He recognizes the man as to being named Schroder, who is trying to bring a new version of the Nazi party to power. He shows Nelson to a building in the camp where several other people are being held, which consists of a nuclear specialist, an Olympian athlete, a psychologist, and an expert electrician. All of the men either supposedly died or disappeared when they were actually kidnaped and then taken to the camp. Schroder would later explain that the men's expertises would enable him to rule the world, along with the Seaview, since he planned to capture it and simultaneously launch nuclear missiles at the United States and Russia, which would result in each country blaming and destroying the other in a strike, which then Schroder’s new Nazi party would take over the world (as Nelson was the last person that was needed in order for Schroder to begin carrying out his plan).
Meanwhile, back on the Seaview, Captain Lee Crane makes the decision for them to leave, even without Nelson, although he employs his communications officer to continuously listen for a signal of some kind from the admiral.
Back at camp, Nelson creates a homemade short wave radio from various items at the base, which included the athlete taking a piece of wire from a fence in order to send the Seaview a message as to where they are via morse code. Seaview responds, sending a message back saying that they are on their way. Schroder intercepts the message, which he and a few of his guards come into the bunker and ask for the radio, which they confiscate.
Still determined to escape later, Nelson asks his bunkmates about what else is in the camp, which it is revealed there are bunkers and such, one of which the athlete had been inside before. Nelson asks if he saw anything recently that could be of interest. The athlete responded that there were some kind of nets that he had never seen before. Nelson concludes that they were submarine capturing nets, so they would have to move quickly to destroy the bunker before the Seaview arrived and would be captured. The athlete said that there was a blind spot that could not be seen by anyone in the guard tower and that he would make a run for the bunker. Right after sneaking out, rather than using the blind spot, he beat up a guard, took his gun, then shot and killed a few of the guards, which he was then apprehended by Schroder and several other men. However, instead of being punished, it is revealed that the athlete was a traitor all along, which he told of Nelson’s escape plan to Schroder, which he is then let go in order to look like Nelson’s plan was being carried out, as the group later started assembling several homemade grenades.
Some time later, once the group’s plan to move out begins, Schroder and several guards intercept the party. Nelson rolls a grenade at them, which doesn’t explode. Schroder then explains the athlete’s part in the scheme, that he made sure the explosive content of all the grenades was removed. Schroder, the athlete and the guards then go into a building where they are about to capture the approaching Seaview when the building explodes.
Later back on the Seaview, Nelson brings Crane up to speed, saying that he figured the athlete was the most expendable person in the camp, especially since he figured it was a little too easy for him to obtain the wire that would be used for their homemade radio. Nelson also made the athlete’s grenade lethal when he wasn’t paying attention (as the athlete still had it with him inside the building when it exploded), along with creating a timer from spare parts of his watch to rig the grenade to detonate.
Cast[]
- Richard Basehart as Admiral Harriman Nelson
- David Hedison as Captain Lee Crane
- Robert Dowdell as Lt. Commander Chip Morton
Guest stars[]
- John Van Dreelen as Schroder
- Joe De Santis as Miklos
- Rudy Solari as Tomas
- Eric Feldary as Deiner
- Dayton Lummis as Reinhardt
- Ben Wright as Brewster
Links[]
The episode can be seen at hulu.com on the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea channel