Tag: Ring

January 10, 1975 Season 1 Episode 12

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

***Since it’s the Christmas season and most people are watching seasonal programs and are rushing around, Kolchak will return on January 9th, 2026! I do apologize for the interruption, but I thought it was best. We only have 8 more to go.***

The episode centers on an escaped experimental android named Mr. R.I.N.G. (R.I.N.G. stands for Robomatic Internalized Nerve Ganglia), a government project that went off the rails. Kolchak stumbles onto the story because he missed the day before fishing, so a huge story was given to a co-worker. Kolchak was handed the chore of writing an obituary for a scientist.  But of course, he investigated it, and it was a murdered scientist that spiraled into a cover-up with secrecy, classified files, and shredded evidence. The threat here is technology running amok, walking the streets with a purpose no one fully understands. Mr Ring is basically AI before AI. He learns as he goes. 

The android itself is unsettling because it isn’t really bad. Unlike the show’s monsters, Mr. R.I.N.G. appears to be struggling to understand its own purpose and emotions. The more Kolchak uncovers, the clearer it becomes that the danger comes from the government forces that created it, not from the robot. This dynamic gives the episode a tragic feel, as though Kolchak is chasing a victim who never asked to be born. Frankenstein comes to mind with this show as well because the “monster” is trying to find itself and is not inherently bad. 

It feels close to Westworld, early Terminator, and a touch of The Stepford Wives.  Darren McGavin’s performance is especially sharp here, because Kolchak’s sarcasm bounces off humorless officials and tight-lipped agents who refuse to acknowledge anything out of the ordinary. His frustration grows as every lead is buried under regulations. One thing that is different in this episode is that Tony, his boss, is forced to believe in Kolchak this time. The government threatens the newspaper if Tony lets Kolchak continue investigating this. 

SPOILERS BELOW

The ending drives home the show’s theme: truth is buried by the system. Mr. R.I.N.G. is erased like a clerical error. Kolchak gets close to exposing everything, only to watch the evidence vanish once again. He is left with nothing except a story no one will print.

Trivia

A little trivia for you, the Tyrell Institute is used as the headquarters in this episode, and a decade later, the name would be used in Blade Runner. Many fans and critics view the Tyrell Institute in Kolchak as a direct precursor or inspiration for the Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner, sharing themes of artificial life and corporate control over synthetic beings.

January 9th episode HERE.

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