The VHS cover, showing the Venusian and Jeff's understated reaction to it.
The Control Voice: The most brilliant planet in our solar system is Venus, named for the Greek love goddess. It is closer to Earth than any other planet — 28 million miles away. Until sometime in the last half of the 20th century it is still a planet shrouded in mystery, enveloped in a heavy blanket of clouds and steam. Because its surface temperature was believed to be several times that of Earth's, it was not thought possible for Man to reach Venus and come back... until one day, somebody did it.
That somebody is Colonel Jeff Barton (William Shatner), a brave astronaut working for Project Vulcan, a space exploration project whose ultimate goal is the colonization of Mars. After receiving a hero's welcome, Jeff returns to his devoted wife Ann (Geraldine Brooks) while preparing to help NASA with the next phase of the project, but their domestic bliss is shattered when Jeff suddenly collapses one night.
The Control Voice: The eternal, never-ceasing search for knowledge often leads to dark and dangerous places. Sometimes it demands risks not only of those who are searching, but of others who love them. These, in their own special way, know that knowledge is never wasted, nor is love.
Cold Hands, Warm Tropes:
- Bit-by-Bit Transformation: Happens to Jeff throughout the episode until it's finally reversed.
- Body Horror: Downplayed Trope. Aside from webbed hands and feet, Jeff's outward changes aren't notably horrific, but it's clearly not pleasant for him to lack white blood cells.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Four of the Project Vulcan personnel are only referred to by their specialties: Botany, Medicine, Construction and Electronics.
- First Contact: The cause of Jeff's transformation. While he and the Venusian never meet face to face, their encounter affects him both physically and mentally.
- Happily Married: The loving, supportive relationship between Jeff and Ann is a major Plot Point.
- Only One Name: Dr. Mike, and we can't even be sure if it's his first or last name.
- The Power of Love: Jeff muscles through the treatment for his mutation by seeing Ann through a small window port and hearing her talk about how much she missed him during his space expedition.
- Thermal Dissident: The astronaut starts to prefer hotter and hotter temperatures after returning from a mission to Venus. It turns out to be a symptom of an alien infection that threatens to turn him into a Venusian life form.
- Third-Person Person: During Jeff's "You married a man, not a headline" speech to Ann, he talks about his lifelong fascination with flight and exploration while continually referring to himself in the third person.
- Ticker Tape Parade: Jeff receives one as part of the celebration welcoming him back home.
