Controlled Experiment

A pair of Martians named Phobos and Deimos are keen to learn and understand the human act of murder, they transport to one certain incident in which a young woman turns a gun on a man.

It's definitely the most curious, perhaps the most unique episode of Thr Outer Limits that I've seen so far. I can only imagine what viewers thought of this when it first went out, it is do different to previous episodes, this one really does play for laughs, there are no scares, no jumps, no horror, it is purely a fun episode.

It put me in mind of Two X Files episodes, From Outer Space and How the ghosts stole Christmas, both are very funny, and curious within the show, but they work.

I loved the two lead characters, it was interesting to see that a potential spin off had been touted featuring them, it would have been so interesting, Barry Morse and Carroll O'Connor are great.

I get why this one may be a little divisive, if your thirst is purely for the more horror toned episodes, you may be a little frustrated, and at times it is a little repetitive, but take it for what it is, a really unique story.

Charming, 8/10.

One of the non-speaking characters, the one on his own left sitting on the couch, drops a newspaper when the gun goes off. The newspaper's headline: "I Let Go of the Bumper and the Bus Ran Over Me." Amazing what you can do with a high-def TV.

Second factoid, the actress playing Arlene Schabel (upstairs love interest), has her name spelled Linda Hutchins in the credits. She is otherwise known as Linda Hutchings.

Several members of this episode's staff, the blonde actress (mentioned in other reviews) the production manager Lindsley Parsons, production associate John Erman, makeup supervisor Fred Phillips, art department Richard Rubin, assistant director Robert Justman, went on to work on Star Trek projects.

Special effects Ray Mercer went on to work on Star Wars.

"The Outer Limits" goes for tongue-in-cheek in this episode with two Martians (assuming ordinary earthling appearance) who are sent to earth to study human beings. They are told there will be a murder taking place at a 'less than first class hotel' and take their equipment to the scene and wait for the event to take place.

The scene: A sexy blond waits in the lobby. The elevator door opens, a man steps out. The blond stands up and faces him.

Blond: "Bert Hamil!! You're a two-faced, no good, black-hearted two timer!" Man: "Carla!! Don't shoot!!" Blond: "Don't come begging to me. Take that!!" The gun goes off, the man grabs his chest and falls to the floor. (Love the dialogue--right out of a 40s murder mystery.) The Martians watch but are dumbfounded and have no clue so they decide to rewind the scene (in real time) but still draw a blank. Then they run it in slow motion, backward, forward, upside-down, inside-out, stop the action stepping into the scene for human physiology tests such as blood pressure, temp, etc., and now take the scene further back in time and follow him to find out where the man was coming from on the upper floors--a sexy brunette is up there. Still nothing. They finally decide to redirect the bullet trajectory to see what result that produces, and do so but according to headquarters, what they have done will alter future events with a devastating result to the solar system. Now they're in quandary and discuss what to do.

Considering television was in its teens in 1964, this "Outer Limits" episode isn't bad. Carroll O'Connor plays one of the Martians and its interesting to see him in action prior to his "Archie Bunker" fame.

The plot was hokey but enjoyable and the Martian equipment looked like gadgets anyone could have bought at a toy store in 1964; the special effects are simplistic (the director got a lot of mileage out of "the scene" by playing and replaying it) and when the Martians stepped into the stopped action, the actors did their best to hold their positions and not flinch.

If its a Saturday night and there's nothing else on cable, give this one a shot. Ooops.

I have no problem with a "serious" show occasionally going for a few laughs. It was also fun to see "All in the Family" star Carol O'Connor and "The Fugitive" star Barry Morse playing a couple of Martians (in disguise, I assume). But the thing would never get to the point. It wasn't the fact that we watched that girl (Janice Rand from Star Trek) shoot that idiot coming out of the elevator. It was the endless discussion and the faded negative effect that we had to wait through to get to the next event. I'd swear that half the episode was a gray mass, first out of focus, and then back to whatever was going on. I did enjoy the stolid, serious Martian, Morse, getting into cigarettes and coffee, but it took so long to deal with the issues. What they do at the end is sort of startling, but it's all in good fun.

This is an unusual episode for "The Outer Limits" because this episode is played strictly for laughs. While its counterpart, "The Twilight Zone", often made some comedic anthology episodes, "The Outer Limits" was almost always deathly earnest and serious---making this a radical departure.

The show begins with a Martian agent (Barry Morse) making contact with another Martian who's been living undercover with humans for many years (Carrol O'Connor). It seems that the Martians are worried about people, as they are very violent and MAY need to be eradicated for the good of the universe. So, Morse's job is to observe them--and specifically to understand why murder occurs, as no other sentient being does this. And, his bosses back on Mars are worried that humans might infect others with this desire to kill. So, using a special time machine that allows them to stop and restart time, they investigate in EXCRUCIATING detail one particular murder. What's next? See the show.

While this was a pretty forgettable and slight show, it did make me smile from time to time and was entertaining. Worth seeing...and very strange for this show.