For as long as he can remember, Bernard Selden (Arye Gross) has been haunted by a paralyzing fear. It started when he was six, when he set a fire that killed his four-year-old sister and today, at 27, the fear clings to him like a blanket.
Opening narration
| "Experience teaches that of all the emotions, fear stands alone in its power to move us...or to capture us in its grip forever." |
Plot
Dr. Adam Pike (Jeffrey DeMunn) has hope for a cure to Bernard's condition. He has diagnosed Bernard and believes that if he can isolate the part of the brain responsible for fear, the amygdala, he can cure him. The series of injections and radiation designed to build a layer of calcium around the amygdala produces stunning results: Bernard's fear recedes. He saves a young child who had fallen down a well. He even starts a relationship with his neighbor Lisa (Tanya Allen).
But there are side effects. Now, Bernard can use his brain to make others feel the kind of crippling fear he used to feel. He uses this ability to intimidate a local bully named Blanco (Benjamin Ratner), who had been threatening him and Lisa. But he is still a prisoner of the past, haunted by images of Mr. Wilkes (Alex Diakun), the owner of the foster home where Bernard's sister died. Bernard risks the positive gains of his treatment to go back to the day when the fear began and discover the truth.
He undergoes hypnosis by Dr. Pike and learns he didn't start the fire that killed his sister. He heads to the orphanage at Lisa's urging to confront Mr. Wilkes, only to learn the man who has been haunting him his whole life is really Father Claridge. 20 years ago, Claridge raped and murdered Bernard's sister, then set the orphanage fire to cover his tracks. When six year old Bernard stumbled upon the scene, Claridge blamed him and coerced him into taking the fall. As these memories come back to Bernard, he projects the image and sensation of being set on fire onto Claridge.
Bernard continues his treatment successfully. His fear and panic attacks vanish, along with his psychic ability, and he now has the chance to live a normal life. Claridge is a patient at the same facility, experiencing his own fears of burning alive.
Closing narration
| "In a world of terrors, there is nothing more fearsome than the unknown, especially when what is unknown...is ourselves." |
Notes
- This is the only episode in which both Alex Diakun (Mr. Wilkes / Father Claridge) and Eric Schneider (Dr. Miles Osgoode) appear. They were the series' two most prolific guest stars, having appeared in eight episodes each.
Cast
- Arye Gross as Bernard Selden
- Tanya Allen as Lisa
- Lorena Gale as Doctor
- Benjamin Ratner as Blanco
- Alex Diakun as Mr. Wilkes / Father Claridge
- Jeffrey DeMunn as Dr. Adam Pike
- Eric Schneider as Dr. Miles Osgoode
- Althea McAdam as Woman
- Matthew Prior as Boy
- Darren Moore as Gangmember
- Michael Cram as McKenna
- Howard Siegel as Superintendent
- Max Peters as Young Bernard
- Jim Smith as Mr. Wilkes
- Kevin Conway as the Control Voice (voice)