The Inheritors Part I

Robert Duvall stars as a government agent named Adam Ballard who has been assigned to a most peculiar case: Four men(played by Steve Inhat, Dee Pollack, James Frawley, and Ivan Dixon), all soldiers, have been shot in the head during an ongoing Asian war, but have survived. The bullets used in all four cases were manufactured from meteorite fragments that have somehow healed their bodies, and given them a secondary brain wave pattern that has given them increased intelligence and an inexplicable drive to complete a project that Adam believes is for sinister alien purposes, but the fact remains that no one has been hurt, or any laws broken, so why the pursuit? Excellent episode with fine acting, intelligent script and smooth direction. First of two parts.

The basic plot is unique and intriquing but hampered by poor writing. The story jumps around and is disjointed making it hard to follow in sections. Perhaps they could have got someone else to write the teleplay. Overall though, a good episode and I look forward to the conclusion.

Robert Duvall is up against four genius troublemakers.

Fans of Star Trek's Whom Gods Destroy: this hour is for you! Steve Ihnat did two really good sci-fi characters in his lifetime and Whom Gods and The Inheritors are where you find those characters.

Granted, he was more fun in Star Trek but you hang on his every word in The Outer Limits.

Robert Duvall, the story and acting are all fine. The only issue I have is the sometimes poor musical score which sounds like the score for the 1950s flick: It Came From Outer Space.

Note: Part 2 is better than part 1.

When I watched this two-part episode of "The Outer Limits", I had no idea that it was a two-parter. Instead, I accidentally watched the second episode--because the DVD had part one and part two on different sides of the disc. Oddly, however, part two alone made for one of the greatest episodes in the series!

Everything in part one was explained or alluded to in part two. What you see in part one is mostly about the Lieutenant--his injury, the surgery, the beginnings of his odd psychic powers, etc.--but there is also much more emphasis on the work of the government investigator (Robert Duvall) and his tracking down the cause of the strange changes in four soldiers all shot in a place which seems to probably be Vietnam (though the country is left unnamed). Regardless, four soldiers have brain injuries from weird bullets and the four find themselves being compelled to work on some strange other-worldy project--and the government is very worried about what this project may be. I'd say more, but it would spoil the suspense.

It's all very interesting but also seemed a bit stretched thin--like the episode could have been done in 30 minutes. Still, it's all very interesting and along with its conclusion make for great viewing. Well worth seeing--and very intelligently written.

Are the most amazing episodes of any television show in the entire history of television.

Written by Perry Mason writers Sam Newman and Seeleg Lester with Ed Adamson, they seem to have surpassed just about all of the science fiction and speculative fiction of that decade.

This story is like a well woven tapestry, each piece causes instant intrigue, genuine curiosity, and wonder.

The underlying mechanisms of the plot, a meteor in an enemy territory (I'm pretty sure with the Korean War in remembrance) that has unusual properties, brings an alien agenda to earth 🌎 in the minds of four soldiers, each recovering from an identical wound.

It was interesting how in the 60's we had stories where the characters openly discuss aliens and spaceships, not just within the confines of The Outer Limits, but other shows as well.

And these two episodes are the very Zenith of this type of storytelling.

We don't know why these men are affected, we don't even know what with until halfway through the 1st episode.

Robert Duvall is a government agent who is trying to make sense of all of it- and at the beginning, he is even remarkable with his characters ability to pull answers out from under rocks. But then his character shifts, back into Intelligence Operative Mode, where he stops investigating why and focuses upon using force. Whereas the target of his pursuit, Steve Inhat ("Lord Garth" from "Whom Gods Destroy" on Star Trek), is operating totally above board, with kindness.

The other affected men start questioning themselves, but that is all they can do: even when one of them in a spot of soul-searching asks himself or God: "is what we are doing, in fact evil?" - and there is no answer for that in this first part, not definitively. We also reflect on this same question, but the answer is not given, not until the 2nd part.

I remember seeing this when I was a child, the story is more relevant to the modern world.