▶ "One Step Beyond": Episode of the Week (9/03)

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2 жыл бұрын

"LEGACY OF LOVE" -- SEASON (3) EPISODE (13). December 20 1960.
COMMENTARY (spoilers alert): What does science really understand about memory (?) The mental storage system of the human being has been described as essential for the process of learning, and it is known that memories are formed by chemical changes between nerve cells. There are different types of memory (motor-skill memory and factual memory) and different levels of memory as well (immediate: short-term and long-term). Memory can be lost (amnesia), impaired (Alzheimer's), or erroneous (paramnesia - i.e. deja vu). "Legacy of Love" asks the viewer to believe that there is yet another type of human memory: a genetic or hereditary memory that is passed from one generation to the next.
As a parallel to this perceived development, John Newland's narration offers the example of the starfish. If the parent body of a starfish loses a limb, the lost limb will, by itself, regenerate a new body. Is this limb a "child" of the original body, thus "remembering" the whole of which it was once an component (?)
By extension: is Mari Anne in "Legacy of Love" remembering a relationship that her mother once experienced? Is she, in essence, a genetic regeneration of her mother, somehow encoded with the same memories (?) Does she, as a part of her mother's genetic material, remember the whole (?) Do we only inherit the color of our eyes, or is there a deeper memory locked in our minds, too (?) Are flashes of deja vu actually inherited memories of a different lifetime (?) These are the issues of "Legacy of Love," and new ones to the "One Step Beyond" oeuvre.
The concept of a genetic memory that goes as far back as the caveman is often used to explain man's baser, seemingly instinctual responses in situations of extreme fear or danger. When somebody acts violently in these situations it is often said that he has "regressed" to an earlier stage of human development. The implicit suggestion is that somehow he remembers his ancestors' battles with the giant mammoths or the sabre toothed tigers and is thus calling on that long-suppressed experience today to fight a very different set of dangers. Though many experts do espouse the idea of a genetic memory, established science does not generally accept it as a valid concept, perhaps because the very mechanisms of memory are not yet fully understood. Like other "psychic" experiences described on the show, the genetic memory facets of "Legacy of Love" would best be described as speculative. Carl Jung termed this concept the collective unconscious, a universality of human experiences and fears that are the result of predispositions from distant ancestors. On a more personal scale: racial memory is the inheritance of personal memories of ancestors, and that would seem to be the case in 'Legacy of Love."
In content: "Legacy of Love" focuses on another couple whose love is doomed not to be. Like the time-crossed lovers in "Delia" or the couple shadowed by a premonition of death in "To Know the End," Mari Anne and John are trapped in a love which cannot live or thrive. After all, their love is but an echo of their parents' affair, and their duty here is to resolve that original relationship (which ended sadly) and not destroy the lives of John's family (he has a wife and children) in the process. So again, "One Step Beyond" seems to suggest that a psychic experience can be healthy, even cathartic, when handled correctly. Mari and John "act out" the roles of the forbearers in harmless fashion, and in some sense they close the issues that left the romantics of a past life feeling incomplete. Of course, on an absolutely skeptical level, Mari and John also have a great excuse they can use to legitimize their weekend affair. "I'm sorry dear, I wasn't responsible. It was this hereditary memory thing that made me unfaithful . . ."
The climax of "Legacy of Love" reveals that Mari Anne's mother had a relationship with John's father, and that she had been thinking of this special relationship of late, dreaming about it. Was that "dreaming" the impetus that spurred John and Mari Ann to go to the same place at the same time and finish what their parents had started long ago (?) Perhaps, but regardless of the answer, 'Legacy of Love" makes for an involving and mysterious episode . . .
From John Kenneth Muir's definitive book "An Analytical Guide to Television's One Step Beyond": • ▶ "One Step Beyond" Ba...

Пікірлер: 44

@one-step-beyond-1959 2 жыл бұрын

Trying out a new feature for this channel: an every-Friday opportunity for subscribers -- new and old alike -- to view and comment on an OSB episode. Let's see how much interest there is in doing this . . .

@brianboisguilbert6985 2 жыл бұрын

Great idea!!!!

@sarahalbers5555 2 жыл бұрын

I like it!!

@joantrezza 2 жыл бұрын

I'm happy to help,love this show!

@kathleenmacellis7253 2 жыл бұрын

I love it !

@deborahwallace9801 2 жыл бұрын

Bering's tears to my eyes thank you so 😍

@thomasrowan5951 2 жыл бұрын

Clever story. Very interesting how generations continue into the future.

@barbararemsen8207 2 жыл бұрын

This was a very good episode. It kept me guessing as to what was really going on between those two.

@SarahHannah7 2 жыл бұрын

Some of these have real depth. Very thought provoking. Much enjoyed, and I like this Friday get-together idea!

@TheAlien101 2 жыл бұрын

My very life is *One Step Beyond* so watching it makes me feel normal

@robertsamson4610 2 жыл бұрын

Same here.

@TheAlien101 2 жыл бұрын

@@georgeviau4558 yeah well what to others is paranormal, for us a freaking normal. Like a routine normal.

@mrzimmermanforever 2 жыл бұрын

sme here

@lorraine4755 2 жыл бұрын

I love that music brings me back to my old city brick home.

@one-step-beyond-1959 2 жыл бұрын

Memory . . . is a theme of this episode (and this channel) . Discussed in the commentary . . .

@ericcurda2787 2 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah..precious memories..

@lucylove4514 2 жыл бұрын

The music in OSB always scared me when I was younger, it`s really beautiful to me now, but still a bit eerie. Thank you for these wonderful videos. Takes me back.

@marywood772 2 жыл бұрын

Great to see. Takes me back to my childhood…

@xxix8779 2 жыл бұрын

OSB... always so so good!! I just Love it all ( music,real acting/ actors, b&w, simple but always smart and deep...

@sarahalbers5555 2 жыл бұрын

I also love the retro clothing and hair styles. It's a complete win!

@jeffashley5512 2 жыл бұрын

Great episode. Charles Aidman did so much TV work including MASH, Night Stalker and Twilight Zone. Little Girl Lost was a great TZ episode that would inspire Poltergeist.

@brendaorozco1203 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for posting

@stephanieclini3834 2 жыл бұрын

Merci beaucoup pour ce très bel épisode.

@missjoshemmett 2 жыл бұрын

Actually, it is called Deja Vu. And it is part of genetic memory. I learned that in the 1990s in a class at Schoolcraft College in MI. We do inherit everything. That is why we use such a small part of our brain. We do inherit our ancestors' memories, but what if you could actually recall them? We would go insane. So that part of the brain protects itself. But every once in a while, a door (if you will) opens and we remember something that we think we know something about but, at the same time, we know we don't. Deja Vu.

@nancyallen628 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting this

@RacerX888 2 жыл бұрын

About 30 years ago, I sliced the tip of my first finger off about 1/4 inch from the end. I just covered the open end with Polysporin, wrapped it really well with bandages and left the bandage on for 3 weeks. When I removed the bandages, my finger had completely grown back. I was stunned.

@juliefarrell3957 2 жыл бұрын

Great stuff in the drop down 😊

@one-step-beyond-1959 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

@kathleenmacellis7253 2 жыл бұрын

Wow ! Excellent episode !

@KathyJeanActress Жыл бұрын

I love to rewatch this episode especially.

@one-step-beyond-1959 Жыл бұрын

It's among my favorites, as well. But I'm a soft touch for romantic episodes (like "House of the Dead") . . .

@IslandGirlKelly 2 жыл бұрын

What a fabulous episode. I had never seen that one. I truly hope that it was based on an actual event.

@robertsamson4610 2 жыл бұрын

Same here I never saw or heard of this episode until today. ^^

@IslandGirlKelly 2 жыл бұрын

@@robertsamson4610 It was brilliant.

@michaelrichardson1898 2 жыл бұрын

The shows were researched before it was produced.

@jackiekidwell5004 Жыл бұрын

I've seen this haunting episode many times, it is so well acted and well written: one of the very best episodes not only of One Step Beyond, but all shows. As I just said, the acting is absolutely superb and so natural and real. 😃😃😀😀😄😄👍👍😉😉

@one-step-beyond-1959 Жыл бұрын

Yes, it's not one of the more sensational OSB episodes: the Titanic sinking (!) . . . Lincoln being shot (!). Instead, it subtly opens up another dimension of connections in reality for us to consider . . .