The Mutant

The People of Earth have spread their wings, and travelled far and wide, reaching a habitable planet named Anex One, communication with the first exploration party fail, so Doctor Evan Marshall is sent to learn just what's gone wrong.

This has been the hardest episode to review so far, in some ways it's one of the best episodes I've seen so far, it has some great elements, but there are a couple of flaws.

So, on the debit side, the romance element was a disappointment, hard to believe, it just didn't serve any purpose in the episode. Why on Earth was Julie in an immaculately pressed skirt and high heels. I can't say I was sold on Fowler's appearance, Warren Oates was chilling, he delivered the lines well, but the ultimate in BEM's, I wasn't sold.

The idea of a planet similar to Earth, but closer to the son, I'm not sure how that would work scientifically, but a great concept.

The story however was wonderfully creepy and sinister, the idea of those scientists being held captive by Fowler was chilling, he was definitely intimidating.

It's a story that could easily be developed into a movie, there's so much to it, I could see it as a blockbuster.

A small cast deliver, Larry Pennell was very good as Evan, the hero of the piece.

Overall, I'd still say it's one of the better episodes, it deseverd to be a top three, just a few to many flaws.

8/10.

Larry Pennell stars as Dr. Evan Marshall, a psychiatrist sent to a remote outpost planet called Annex One that had been designated suitable for colonization, but that has since changed, since one of them has died, and it's obvious that the survivors(who are forced to wear thickly tinted goggles from the endless sunlight) are covering up something which turns out to be the botanist Reese Fowler(played by Warren Oates) who was caught outside in the planet's acidic rain that has transformed him into a bug eyed mutant capable of reading thoughts, and acquired the power to kill on touch. Just how can Reese be stopped before all is lost? Oates is good here, though story is sparse, and script too talky.

A colony in outer space is troubled by a guy with special powers.

For decades I was turned off by this episode by one thing: the make-up job on that guy's eyes. I just could not get past the fake look of it.

But, as I have said in past reviews, repeat viewings do wonders for The Outer Limits, and now today I actually love this hour.

Thanks to the other reviewers, I never picked up on the cross over with Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before, but in my opinion at least...Trek did it better!

Be warned, this hour is a bit slow...but well worth watching...once you get past the guy with the big eyes.

On a colony in outer space, a crazed mutant crew member (Warren Oates) controls everyone with his incredible psychic powers. He can read their thoughts and kill with a single thought! And, when an investigator is sent from Earth, he is in danger, as the all-power (and VERY bug-eyed) mutant is not about to let him return home with knowledge that the colony is being terrorized!

Rixrex is correct, the plot for "The Mutant" is clearly reworked in the second "Star Trek" pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Both involve a normal guy becoming a mutant--a seemingly all-powerful and completely amoral mutant who scares the crap out of the rest of the folks! And, in both cases, there clearly is a need to stop this mutant--lest everyone die when they happen to displease him...and they are surely eventually going to do this! And, now that I think about it, they both are variations on the "Twilight Zone" episode "It's a Good Life"--where an evil child controls everyone--lest he wish them out of existence or worse! This is NOT a bad thing, as the evil mutant idea produced some great episodes of these series--as these three are among the best. It also was used, with a few variations, in the magnificent "Village of the Damned". So why did this work so well? The idea of people becoming vicious all-powerful monsters is so compelling--as it explores the basest instincts within all of us. Heck, using the reasoning in these shows, even Mother Theresa would have become an animal depending on her circumstances. Well worth seeing--well-written and suspenseful.

An unfortunate space traveller gets incredible power on a sun drenched planet when a kind of toxic rain falls on him. He begins to mutate and with that loses his humanity. Unfortunately, for him, he longs to be with people but has a killer inside him. His very touch kills and he enjoys intimidating those around him. As you can imagine, once people get wind of this, they try what the can to survive, as each meets a violent death. There are good performances here, especially by Warren Oates, who plays Reese, the mutant. This has been done in other sci fi efforts, but the eeriness of this makes it a good bet. It all gets down to what a one of a kind personage can do when he has absolute power to destroy.