CBSRMT Episode Information Next Episode

Title

The Wheel of Life

Plot

An ex-soldier runs into a former colleague he believed dead in Vietnam. Now the friend is an influential leader of an upcoming political movement and asks him to participate. He finds out that his friend's stupendous ascent was fated by the cosmos.

Episode

0797

Air Dates

  • First Run - March 13, 1978
  • Repeat - August 12, 1978

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

62
48     14


6 Responses to Episode 0797

Anyone out there who read the original "X-men" comics, before they came to the big screen? Remember "The juggernaut", the big bad guy who was "Professor Charles Xavier's" half brother. The juggernaut was a bully, not a mutant, but while in combat in Viet Nam he stumbled into a secret temple and found a jewel that turned him into that big creature he became? There's sort of a similar plot here. Two friends are in combat (Viet Nam?) and one, right in the middle of a jungle battle, stumbles into some secret underground chamber where a group of weird monks are all playing with abacuses (abaci? :? ) and there's a big wheel turning. One of the monks tells him (telepathically?) that he's in the presence of the "wheel of life" that we all live on, and that those monks are essentially controlling all things that go on in the world. The "head monk" asks the soldier what he wishes and the soldier tells him...the leader says "How better it would have been if you would have asked to get off of the wheel" but sends him off to his destiny...

M. Trocolli

I really like the scenes with the monk talking about how it doesn't ultimately matter what happens in our lives if we are still on the wheel of illusion. that is some of my favorite RMT material. The story around it was a bit weak, though.

jlm

One of the most creative in the series. In my opinion, Lloyd Batista is either on or off...in this episode he was great.

Thomas c.

Lloyd Battista is not on of off, in my opinion. He fills in a lot, as all of the actors did, but he has great range and when he's given the chance to shine, he takes it and runs away with it. He's on the money is this episode, and, as heard in other episodes, has unusually good chemistry with Russell Horton. I wish they had been in more episodes together. The concept works better here than the actual story, but they make it work.

Zeezee1

Dames for you! Spoiler Alert coming. Everything would be fine and dandy. Two soldier buddies from Vietnam who they though each had died, run into each other, and the buddy who almost died reveals how gurus promised him he will become President of the U.S. someday and it will come true if you truly desire it, and so on metaphysical power of the mind beliefs. Alright that's great, but along comes the other guy's girlfriend. "Joe, I don't trust him."What evidence she has I didn't catch. "She doesn't care how good army buddies you were fighting side by side in the war! You were only young boys. What does he do now? For a living? Is he married? (He told Joe he's is going to become President) You don't know anything about him. I as a woman believe he is a con artist. Don't trust him! Stay away Joe." Well Joe is hard to dissuade, but eventually believes his girlfriend, goes to the gurus to stop his friend from becoming President, therefore causing the death of his army buddy. The end. Moral of the story, sometimes your girlfriend doesn't know everything.

D.C.

I rate this episode ★★★☆☆ stars for AVERAGE. The plot in this mystery, written by Sam Dann, sounded intriguing and creative. But after listening to it, I got puzzled with many questions: WHY the main character had to wait that long to reach his goal? HOW did the main character get home after seeing the Wheel of Life? HOW did the second main character land his job as a Cab Driver? WOULD it be better if this story branched out more to make it into a Political-Drama? The title is catchy, but another way to title this mystery would be “The Disciples Of Karma.” The music was good, added a lot of suspense in every scene. Sound effects such as the machine gunfire, explosions, car engine, tires screech, traffic noise, piano music in the background, the Wheel of Life turning, phone ringing, and doors were supportive, but most of these sound effects were played in 1st Act. In our Host’s Prologue, E.G. Marshall starts the show off by presenting the Game of Life. In ACT-1, a matter of chance and the story begins in Vietnam: April 4th, 1968. In ACT-2, chance, luck, and fate are the same thing and notice the stakes in our story. In ACT-3, there’s a time and place for everything, but who controls both? In his Epilogue, E.G. Marshall discusses the Wheel of Life again. His narrations were good, but should’ve added extra interpretations about the Wheel of Life such as its history, its elements, its symbols, its layers, etc. Now onto our cast: Lloyd Battista (as Rudy Kastner and 2nd Disciple), Russell Horton (as Joe and 1st Disciple), and Bryna Raeburn (as Jenny, Radio Reporter, and TV Reporter). Bryna Raeburn was splendid in her parts. Both Lloyd Battista & Russell Horton played their main roles well, however, their minor roles as Disciples was far-fetched. If anyone is interested in mystery stories involving fate/matter of chances, you should check this story out. Plus, it has a nostalgic commercial of Sine Off: The Sinus Spray Medicine. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0]

Russell


Leave a comment