A fine first part from the bleak battlefield to the exit of the hospital (i.e., the impressive-enough baren twilight ground, the arrival in the present time and the shock-contrast produced by the futuristic soldier on the local population, the confrontation with the two cops—the vaporization of the police car is reminiscent of "The Architects of Fear"—, the noise of the locations—the streets and the elevator—that Qarlo can't stand because of his highly sensitive (bestial) ears (his only Achille's heel)—that will help him to locate the sound of the telephone line in Kagan's home—, Qarlo is attached and chained as a wild animal from a circus in the police car's backseat, straight jacket Qarlo locks up in the padded cell while both officials stare at him up in a unlit room, the drastic education process of Qarlo by Kagan that includes a documentary film: whose four scenes describe basic emotions: first, love/good, a mother and her baby and a happy couple walking in the countryside and then, hate/bad, a police's training academy and a trooper armed with a bayonnet rifle that moves to the camera)—thanks to Michael Ansara's predatory performance—ruined by Lloyd Nolan's stiff and stuffed 1950's acting and by the intrusion of a typical family setting a la "The Special One" that paves the way of this mainstream and prosaic season. Hopefully, Tim O'Connor's abrasive copper performance is much better. The futuristic outfit is anachronistic due to its medieval armor type and, above all, the naive comic book-like helmet with a centered antenna—only the well-designed wristwatch and the laser machine gun can be taken as authentically futuristic. The time vortex is too naive and can be interpretated as a pre-"The Time Tunnel" one. As in "Tourist Attraction", you can notice an extra narration to help the story. There's an amusing futuristic detail: Quarlo smokes his last self-lighting cigarette before the showdown! The first link between Kagan and Qarlo is a cigarette in order to communicate and share feelings. In my opinion, the episode would have worked if the producer carried on increasing the tension—staying in a straightforward logic—and, after its release from the asylum, Qarlo should have escaped from and wandered in the dark streets of the town and found at last the Enemy to achieve their abortive past showdown. This is the first episode with the following elements: military characters—but here with a fanatical instinct to kill where pet smells the enemy—and a family. Qarlo looks and acts like a proto-Klingon from "Star Trek" (see "Day of the Dove"). The chaotic landscape makes reference to the Apocalyptic vision of the future from "The Man Who Was Never Born". The opening narration gives you an idea of the type of regime where Qarlo used to live: "Trained from birth by the State..." The State not only trained the soldiers (like guinea pigs) but brainwashed them with permanent stimuli (see the earphones helmet that emits orders)—as in Aldous Huxley's "A Brave New World", Qarlo is the product of the artificial birth. Considering that both antagonistic soldiers are dressed the same way, you can figure it out that they belong to the same army and indicate the world lives in a constant civil war or is reduced to two sides like during the Cold War. The purpose of the fight seems absurd as in George Orwell's "1984" and the artificial constant state of war. At first glance, the two warriors look identical—Allen Jaffe used to be Ansara's stuntman—but only tiny costume details as the sleeve insignia (a black circle with a lightning for Qarlo and a silver diamond-shaped square with a lozenge and lightning for the ENEMY), the shirt (coat of mail vs. black nylon) and the laser machine gun (a double sights vs. a semi-opaque sights) can differentiate them. Moreover, important details are missing: the stake of the fight and the description of the sides, who is the Enemy (name, psychological profile, background)? these lacks reduce the episode to an abstract and shallow anti-militarist essay; and besides, there's one bio-psychological incoherence: how can a doctor educate, in such limited time, a mature (and savage, in terms of civilisation) man whose brain is conditioned at birth and whose advanced age closes any chances to evolve; in a way, it's an utopian script in the line of French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the myth of the good savage. In the background of the battlefield setting, we see a building and probably from a city and we can hear sound effect from "Moonstone". The name of the Official military asylum—G.I.C.D. Psychiatric Security Section—reminds an institute as The Human Factor Research Center. As in "The Zanti Misfits", we can hear a new language but one from the future and that reminds the coded lingo used in George Orwell's "1984". The theme of language is dominant: first, the meeting with Panama hat, gum addict and casual/streetwise talking Inspector Tanner who is skeptical about Tom Kagan's ability and Qarlo and his "1984"-like Newspeak from the future that is described as "a guttering English, vastly speed it up, and filled with slang of his time": Name, Qarlo, Clobregnny, Pri, RMENTNDO meaning My name is Qarlo Clobregnny [name], Private[rank], RMENTNDO[serial letters instead of the usual serial numbers?], "Do you peep?" for Do you understand? or "Think-Speak-C.O." meaning that a reconnaissance cat sends telepathic informations to the Commanding Officer. When Qarlo leaves his cell, he walks through a long corridor along with Kagan: the corridor is typical of the show. The fact that the lead has never experienced feelings will be developped in another episode but with the alien character of Ikar in "Keeper of the Purple Twilight" but also the structure of society—in the Earth of the future, there're three classes: the soldiers (raise on a special island), the workers and the "purple" mystic rulers. We learn that Qarlo used to eat in garbage cans, as a cat, while fighting in the future—thanks to Kagan's daughter. I think "Soldier" 's lost potential is included in Ellison's masterpiece script: "Demon With A Glass Hand" (and by contrast, an adaptation that his originator prefers). Anyway, it is director Gerd Oswald's favourite season 2 episode. This is the first episode with no monster gimmick at all: a mark of quality during that season. This main plot has been recycled in James Cameron's "The Terminator". Notes: Some material is by Seeleg Lester. Actor Tim O'Connor as well as Vic Perrin did the recorded and mechanical ordering voice of the helmet: "Find the ENEMY! Attack! Kill!"