The Special One

Mr. Zeno is an alien that takes on human appearance and is dedicated to locating children with a high IQ to indoctrinate them and use them as the vanguard of an upcoming invasion of Earth. The background of this story is to show how adults can manipulate children to the point of turning them into soldiers for their own benefit. Richard Ney composes the disturbing and disturbing Dr. Zeno, the atmosphere is quite somber as most of the action takes place at night and in the room of Kenny, the chosen child. The final scene is fantastic and the moral very sobering. One of my favorite episodes.

"The Special One" is one of several episodes, to include "Counterweight", Expanding Human" and "Cry of Silence", that had a great premise compromised by other factors. These episodes could've been classics but fall short.

The story deals with aliens recruiting gifted children to aid their invasion plans using government programs to educate them.

The show's best performance comes from the father who confronts the alien recruiter (Richard Ney) and is compelled to jump out a window. Ney is also effective here.

Unfortunately, the father's performance overshadows those of three leads MacDonald Carey, Marion Ross, and especially Flip Mark who is a monotone dud.

Richard Ney's teleportation scenes are the special effects highlight, and Flip Mark's "Feather Churner" weapon is an embarrassment for Outer Limits.

The mix of the good and the bad put this episode slightly below middle of the pack for this reviewer.

Roy and Agnes Benjamin are over the moon, when their young son Kenneth is chosen as a child protégé, and set to be given extra, out of school tuition by Mr Xeno. Concerns are raised however, when Kenneth's behaviour becomes very odd.

It's a great episode, thoroughly enjoyed this one, once again it's that formula of something ordinary, like tuition, being used as a tool for something that ultimately became so menacing. Great imagination behind this one, especially at the conclusion.

What a dramatic introduction, that certainly put you on edge, you came away aware that Xeno was an incredibly powerful and malevolent individual.

It's a long first series, and you have to hand it to the writing team, for constantly delivering new ideas, this one had a unique feel.

I liked that the introduction was altered somewhat in the main body of the story, now I may be wrong, but I think that may be a first.

Richard Ney was just so good here as Xeno, he really did present as someone a little menacing, a little strange, and from a child's point of view, the stuff of nightmares.

Enjoyed it.

8/10.

The introduction to this episode was fantastic--starry and thrilling to watch. I also loved the teleportation--very effective despite a very small budget. The only problem is that it let you know then and there that Mr. Xeno was a BAD man---a very, very bad man indeed! In hindsight, I think it might have worked better had this only been revealed later in the show--to give it suspense. Still, it's one of the best episodes of the series.

Mr. Xeno then arrives at the home of a couple (MacDonald Carey and Marion Ross) and introduced himself as a special tutor sent by the government to work with their genius son. They agree but after some time, the father is a bit concerned--weird sounds are emanating from his kid's room and Mr. Xeno just seems to 'pop in' with no notice. Later, however, the father realizes Xeno is not human. The problem is, no one believes him, his son has now been pitted against him and there is some evil brewing. What's next? See this one for yourself.

All in all, there isn't much to dislike about this one. Fine acting, exceptional writing and a story that keeps you on edge--this is one to see.

UPDATE: I just saw an old episode of "Tales of Tomorrow" (available through the public domain at archive.org) that was VERY much like "The Special One"! In fact, it would appear to have inspired this "Outer Limits" episode. Try watching "Many Happy Returns"--you'll see what I mean that it seems to have inspired this show a decade later.

Richard Ney stars as Mr. Zeno, a self-described tutorial emissary from the government who has chosen a child science prodigy named Kenny Benjamin(played by Flip Mark) for his help, but his father(played by Macdonald Carey) grows increasingly suspicious about Mr. Zeno, and these fears are later confirmed when he sees him seemingly disappear into thin air! Turns out that Zeno is really an alien who has tutored other children to aid him and his species in their effort to take over the world, and also dealt with at least one other father in a harsh manner. Will Kenny be helped in time by his father, or does he already have things under control? Straightforward story is a bit protracted(especially the finale) but is still reasonably interesting, with a nice character twist at the end.