The Mice

A distant planet contacts Earth and sends plans for a matter-transmitter (a primitive prototype for the Transporter seen on STAR TREK 3 years later). The authorities decide to test it by using a convict pulling a life sentence. But when the alien arrives, things get a LOT stranger than anyone imagined...

Like a lot of "lesser" OUTER LIMITS episodes, this one rambles a bit, and the more action-filled 2nd half is more confusing than suspenseful. But there are 2 standouts that make it memorable. One is Henry Silva's convict, who proves a far more fascinating and likable character than one might expect (indeed, I find this one of his BEST roles!). The other is the alien, which I can only describe as looking like something you'd get if you blew your nose too hard. Not sure if the thing is actually frightening, or just really disgusting to look at!

Look quick (and carefully) near the end for an early cameo role by Dabney Coleman, still more than a decade away from fame as the preacher on MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN (growing that moustache must be the best career move he ever made).

I get a kick out of it when Silva's character hands a revolver over and says, "Just watching him for you. He's a killer!"

A prisoner is asked to be apart of a dangerous experiment.

Not really a favourite episode, in fact for several years I hated it, but a more recent screening went over a bit better as the acting and general story draw you in from beginning to end.

After 15 episodes of quality entertainment, I am sorry to say that the next two or three Limits shows leave one hell of a lot to be desired.

In fact, after watching The Mice I would even consider jumping two or three shows and going straight to the episode: The Invisibles (this one is a total knockout). From The Invisibles onwards the series continues to be very good.

If one were to evaluate the way science works in our culture using "The Outer Limits" as our guide, we would conclude that we stupidly launch headlong into whatever another alien culture wants and ask questions later. Henry Silva plays a convicted murderer who has been given the opportunity to participate in a major experiment. He volunteers to be sent to another planet through teleportation while the aliens send one of their own in exchange. The other guy comes first and he looks like a gigantic garlic with legs. He is allowed to roam around the compound. While there he spends lots of time at a pond where he throws things in the water. What develops is a living substance that he eats (actually he stuffs the substance in some part of his body). He is also quite dangerous when confronted, especially if his food source is threatened, and he manages to leave a couple of bodies in his wake. Meanwhile, Silva's prisoner becomes the center of things. It turns out the murder he committed was justified in his mind because the man had done horrible things to his sister. He develops a bond with a young female doctor at the facility who sees him in a much more positive light.

One thing. Watch the portrayal of the police in this episode. They are probably the most incompetent characters one has ever seen. When attacked, they throw their guns into the air and allow the threatening figure to get hold of them. The thing moves about two miles an hour and probably couldn't catch a one legged man. And it's not the element of surprise because they are out there looking for something dangerous. Just a sidelight.

There is one red herring in the plot as well (unless I missed something). A policeman, lying in the transportation device, disappears. Where did he go? No one mentions him. Also, there is critical denouement. Why did the aliens do what they did without using other means? Food for thought (no pun intended).

A Scientist has devised some ingenious technology, that allows people to be transported to another planet, a scheme is set up to transport prisoners to The Plant Chromo in an exchange. The Prisoners are volunteers the alternative is life in prison.

This isn't an episode I'd deem a classic, I wouldn't say it has anything particularly memorable, other than the obvious, a few years ago there was an advertising campaign for a blocked nose/sinuses relief product, it put me in mind of that.

Not a classic, but definitely still full of merits, I like the question of ethics, the value of a Prisoner's life, did he have any choice but to accept the mission, it was definitely an interesting concept.

The first half has an element of suspense, that opening sequence definitely added a degree of curiosity, I found the second half just bizarre, some of it perhaps didn't make a lot of sense. It is very well paced, I really did like the characters.

There are two terrific performances here, Henry Silva and Diana Sands were both terrific I thought, and despite the less than convincing looking subject from Chromo, they both managed to make their characters so sincere, they both bolstered the story hugely.

7/10.

This episode stands out not so much for its creepiness or writing or any of the traits we usually associate with Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, etc, as for some unusual casting against type and against Hollywood 'rules' of the time.

Henry Silva usually plays creepy, stiff bad-guy types. But in this episode, he's personable, dynamic, and outgoing.

More interestingly, Diana Sands - a black actress - is cast as a central character. This was rare in 1964. She plays a doctor - NOT a nurse - and interacts closely with Silva's character in a time when blacks and whites rarely touched each other on television.

Probably, her light complexion and Silva's character being Hispanic mitigated the circumstances, but still pretty unusual for the time.