The Mortal Coil, Part 1
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| On Solid Ground | The Mortal Coil, Part 1 | The Mortal Coil, Part 2 |
[edit] Summary
Whit uses the Imagination Station in a new and exciting way... a program that simulates what life is like after death!
[edit] Plot
Whit has been working long hours on a new program for the Imagination Station, and Connie is curious about what the program is. This time, Whit tells her it is an adventure that explores life after death.
Connie is taken aback by this, but is also eager to try it. She does, and the program seems to fizzle out on her. Then Whit gets in the Station to experience the program. While it's running, Eugene enters the Bible Room, just in time to hear Whit cry out! Eugene shuts down the Station. Whit steps out, very shaken.
Later, Tom visits Whit at home and speaks with Whit about the death program. For Christians, Tom says, death is a door to eternal life with God, but it's supposed to be a locked door until God opens it. Whit knows Tom is right, but the explorer in him outweighs Tom's good sense. Whit goes back into the Station. Only this time, something goes terribly wrong, and Whit winds up in a coma!
After putting Whit in the hospital, Tom and Eugene go back to Whit's End. There, Tom tries out the program for a fraction of a second. It's also too much for him, and he orders Eugene to destroy it immediately! But after Tom goes back to Whit in the hospital, Eugene hops into the Station, with disastrous results.
Meanwhile, on the doctor's advice, Tom talks to Whit, hoping that the stimulation might "bring him back." Tom tells Whit that he had no business messing around with life after death, only God should be the one to say when and how people are to die. But even as Tom speaks, Whit's heartbeat slows down and stops completely!
[edit] Discussion Questions
- Why was Whit so adamant about retrying the death program?
- Why was Tom so insistent that Eugene destroy it?
- Why was the program so frightening to Eugene?
- What do you think heaven will be like?
[edit] Cast
| Characters | Actors |
|---|---|
| Connie Kendall | Katie Leigh |
| Eugene Meltsner | Will Ryan |
| Jenny Whittaker | Natalie O'Hare |
| John Whittaker | Hal Smith |
| Doc Morton | Diane Michelle |
| Tom Riley | Walker Edmiston |
[edit] Notes
- One really disturbing fact about this episode is reported in The Complete Guide to AIO. It says that the "first part was written to be put aside in case Hal Smith (Whit) died. But we liked the story so much, we decided to finish it." They were originally intending to use the story as Whit's death if needed. Can you imagine how all the people who had been so attached to AIO would have felt to find out the Whit, the central character everyone wishes they could meet, basically killed himself in an invention? Thankfully the episode was used where it was and they did not have Whit die when Hal Smith passed away in 1994, only a little over a year after this episode was broadcast.
- This episode flashes back to 49: Thank You, God, 93: Rescue from Manatugo Point, and 19: Recollections, a line later said in 464: The Triangle, Part 1, as well as other parts of Whit's life that have not been made into AIO episodes
- This episode received a lot of negative mail when it originally aired. As it ends with Whit flat-lining at the hospital, a lot of people were left wondering for the next week whether he was alive. It also aired near Thanksgiving, so many families were traveling and missed part 2, making the wait even longer for distressed kids.
[edit] Quotes
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