The Inheritors Part II

And totally unexpected.

We get a glimpse of this when "The Lieutenant" meets the child "Johnny" near the end of Part 1, and we wonder if the children themselves are the pullers of strings. No, but willing and eager participants.

The only question is "of what?"

In a contemporary retelling, this would have ended badly or bloody.

Odd that words were not trusted, but words, the right words, solve the entire conundrum.

Robert Duvall continues to deal with genius alien trouble makers.

As another poster noted, you can just watch Part Two, without seeing Part One, and follow the story very well. In fact The Inheritors actually feels like a more solid production if you just watch Part Two.

Don't get me wrong, Part One is fine, however Part Two is a really solid hour from beginning to end, while Part One slowly moves along at times.

So take your pick: watch all of it or just Part Two if you are rushed for time.

Note: the director of this hour would later direct Star Trek's outstanding Where No Man Has Gone Before.

"The Inheritors" is a brilliant, touching melodrama, with the real monsters not being the aliens, but the worst part of ourselves. Fortunately, the decent part of humanity wins out, and those who needed help on this world will find it on another, one where the circumstances of the inhabitants make them caring and giving.

Supposedly, writer Seeleg Lester was at work when he noticed one of the production secretaries typing the script and crying. She turned to him and said "This is the most beautiful thing I ever read."

S1 was filled with gothic grotesques, S2 was more straightforward SF. But who's to say that there wasn't a little room in the series for this story, where magic settled for a moment, wonder touched a few lives, and a few odd pieces fell smoothly into the jigsaw of creation?

In Part 2 of "The Inheritors" ep of "The Outer Limits", government agent Adam Ballard (Robert Duvall) continues his pursuit of Lt. Phillip Minns (Steve Ihnat) and his three men-Sgt. James Conover (Ivan Dixon), Pfc. Francis Hadley (Dee Pollock), and Pvt. Robert Renaldo (James Frawley)-all of whom are in some alien mind control. And now Ballard finds out they're taking some handicapped children with them...Okay, let me say just now that while there's some suspicion among the men under Minns about their mission and why they're doing what they're doing on it, the explanation puts nearly everyone at ease when it's said in a calm and understanding manner especially concerning the kids. So on that note, both eps of "The Outer Limits" called "The Inheritors" are recommended. P.S. I didn't mention in my review of the previous installment that a couple of "Hogan's Heroes" future players were in that one: besides Dixon-who was Sgt. Kinchloe there, Leon Askin-known as General Burkhalter there-was his boss here though he had no scenes with Dixon. Also, one of the children was played by Suzanne Cupito who later changed her name to Morgan Brittany as an adult and played Katherine Wentworth on the original "Dallas". Incidentally, she also played a child of similar condition as here previously on a movie called Stage at Thunder Rock which I reviewed a few days ago.

I won't add to the other reviews with a recap, just to say that the incredible performance by Steve Inhat is unforgettable0- he is a lost genius of an actor. Robert Duvall shows why he would soon become a major star . Inhat's moving monologue at the end always has me crying- if you aren't crying, watch it again.

The only jarring note for me was the incredible cheesy "spaceship" which shows the production didn't have the funds for anything more- they should have just shown a doorway or something but not a container which would not hold 6 kids and 4 adults!!

The closing narration was one of of all the OL episodes- this is one I watch several times a year. The finest.