Episode Spotlight: "Second Chance" (3/02/1964)

“Second Chance”

Season 1, Episode 23

Originally aired 3/02/1964

Fifty years ago tonight, The Outer Limits went a bit cuckoo and presented a mediocre episode that, frankly, only a loon could love. Sorry, but this one's for the birds.

Dave Crowell is slumming as the captain of a flying saucer ride at Joyland Amusement Park, spending his free time casually flirting with Mara, the ride’s stewardess. What they don’t know is that, during the night while the park is closed, a bird-faced alien has been toiling to turn the ride into a fully-functioning, spaceworthy craft. 

The alien has telepathically lured five individuals to the park: the irate and volatile Arjay Beasley and his long-suffering wife Susan, along with a trio of teenagers: All-American quarterback Buddy, his girlfriend Donise and his lackey mascot Tommy. The alien approaches each of them, pretending to be a park employee in costume, and gives them free tickets to the flying saucer ride. Despite varying levels of ambivalence, all five show up at the ride.

The alien temporarily sedates Crowell and launches the ship into space. He explains that he is from the planet Empyria, a world that, in 82 years, will be struck by an Earth-like asteroid. Empyria will be forced out of its orbit and will eventually collide with Earth. The Empyrian has gathered these seven Earthlings in the hopes that they will help devise a way to avert the double catastrophe.

Crowell, who in reality is a disillusioned astrophysicist, agrees to help. The other Earthlings steadfastly refuse, however, clearly too absorbed in their own petty interpersonal conflicts. A struggle among the teens ends in tragedy when Tommy is accidentally sucked out through the airlock; later, Beasley resorts to attempted murder to convince the Empyrian to take them home.

The Empyrian intercedes and laments the Earthlings' savagery and lack of cooperation. He explains that each of them was chosen because they, more than anyone else, needed a second chance, which this opportunity could give them. They still refuse to help, and the Empyrian agrees to return them to Earth. Crowell assures him that several scientists will eagerly volunteer to help, then shares a tender moment with Mara to simulate a happy ending.

RANDOMONIUM

“Second Chance” began as an original teleplay by Sonya Roberts called “Joy Ride,” which was heavily rewritten by Lou Morheim (both received screen credit).  Unhappy with the changes, she insisted that her pseudonym “Lin Dane” appear in the credits. The final episode suffers from its fractured authorship, much as earlier episodes like “ZZZZZ” and “The Children of Spider County” did. For every interesting character moment, there’s a corresponding sci-fi action cliché to undermine it. In his Outer Limits Companion, Schow places most of the blame on Morheim, providing copious examples and comparisons (which can be found here; scroll down to see the salient tear pages). 

My single favorite moment in the entire episode is when Crowley tells Beasley that it's all real, that they are in fact flying through outer space. Beasley, dumbstruck and dazed, asks "But why? Why is it real?" It's a moment of fearful, almost childlike wonder that, for a brief moment, humanizes the bitter and detestable Beasley. I'll assume I have Roberts (and not Morheim) to thank for that. 

Paul Stanley occupies the director’s chair for the first of three tours of duty; he’ll also helm “The Guests” in a few weeks and “Counterweight” next season (the latter of which is actually quite similar to “Second Chance”; more on the similarities when we get to it in December). Director of Photography Kenneth Peach brings a more austere, workmanlike look to the proceedings than we’re used to (yes, I already miss Conrad Hall’s intense contrasts and canted angles), but given the limited sets (a merry-go-round, a Coke machine and the interior of the flying saucer) he does fine. Act three opens with a seriously trippy 360-degree shot of the unconscious abductees with random lights swirling around. And speaking of canted angles, we’re treated to a hilariously over-the-top pre-Star Trek flinging-back-and-forth sequence as the saucer passes through a meteor shower. I don’t know if we have Stanley or Peach to thank for this (or both), but a good laugh was quite welcome as I slogged through the episode.

*Sigh* So once again we have a goofy and circuitous alien plot, the failure of which results from the alien’s puzzling failure to simply ask for help (“The Mice”), coupled with mankind’s inherent penchant for assholery (take your pick of the episodes we've already seen; humanity is almost invariably portrayed in a negative light on this show… probably rightly so). The abduction of Earthlings --- even a smart guy like Crowell --- seems laughably pointless, considering the fact that Empyria is four centuries ahead of Earth in technological development (try to think of a task we could only accomplish with the help of early-1700’s scientists. Can’t think of one? Me neither).  Of the seven (six after poor Tommy bites it) abductees, only Crowell could even hope to contribute anything of value (but again, I tend to doubt it). Beasley in particular is such a caustic dick that he could never be anything but a liability to the project. 

But really, all of the abductees are awful people with their respective heads shoved deep into their respective asses (except for Crowley and Mara, the Ross and Rachel of the group), and could never bring anything good to such a noble undertaking as saving two worlds. Donise is a shrieking basket case, Buddy is sullen prick, Tommy is a groveling suck-up, and Susan... well, I guess she isn't terribly offensive (her only real crime is staying with Beasley). I also have a hard time believing that these seven were chosen because they have “the least to lose” by abandoning their lives on Earth. Wait, these folks? Out of the entire human race? Really? Well, how about... I dunno, death row inmates? 

The sight of Tommy’s corpse floating outside the airlock is certainly chilling, but the fact that the others --- particularly his fellow teenagers --- seem to forget about it almost immediately dissolves most of its impact. There also seems to be no meditation on just how his absence will be explained, once the others are returned to Earth. His parting shot reminds me of the title sequence from TV’s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which featured a cutout of Gil Gerard spinning in a circle.

So the Empyrian uses his goofy medallion to disintegrate people (the night watchman at the top of act one) and objects (Beasley’s pocket knife in act four); more interesting is his ability to render people unconscious with what appears to be some kind of telepathic sedative (the visual manifestation of which is a series of concentric circles emanating from his face; we saw this identical effect in “The Galaxy Being” when Andy the Andromedan torched his various victims). So he really doesn’t need the medallion most of the time, since he could in theory sedate his foes indefinitely. And really, if the Empyrians are peace lovers, they really shouldn’t be disintegrating people at all, especially a minimum-wage slob just doing his fucking job.

The Outer Limits is often guilty of reusing props from other TV shows and films (last week’s “Specimen: Unknown” was practically drowning in leftovers from the 1959 CBS series Men into Space). For “Second Chance,” however, a brand new spacecraft was commissioned. Granted, it’s a fairly stereotypical flying saucer job, but it works in context (since it's masquerading as an amusement park ride). What’s really impressive is the full-scale set of the saucer’s interior. Two stories, baby!

As a lover of all things retro-futuristic (please bring back the original Tomorrowland, Disney!), I love the "vision screen" part of Joyland's Flying Saucer ride. We see some swell seen-'em-a-thousand-times stock shots of various space phenomena, accompanied by Don Gordon's soothing ruminations on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Sublime.

“Second Chance” is something of a sci-fi take on Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men (which is one of the plays I did in high school; I was Juror #7). Both feature a semi-random collection of people with varying neuroses (and varying levels of intolerance) trapped in close quarters, laboring under tensions that culminate in the threat of violence with a knife. Good thing the jury room didn't have an airlock.

The Empyrian’s bird-faced mask appeared again, rendered even more birdlike with the addition of a beak, in season two's "The Duplicate Man." It then resurfaced a couple of years later (with a different beak) in the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage” in 1966.

The act two scene in which Beasley angrily does battle with an uncooperative pop machine (with his poor wife trying futilely to diffuse him), is strongly reminiscent of a similar scene from “The Fever,” a first season Twilight Zone episode in which Everett Sloane tangles with a stingy slot machine.

The Empyrian clearly has some difficulties manipulating the controls of the saucer, what with his talons and such, but like the Chromoite before him, he gets the job done in spite of his sub-dexterous handicap. However, he has no trouble whatsoever getting handfuls of both ladies during act two (props and respect, Big Bird).

Other carnal delights include Janet De Gore’s glorious, unstoppable bosom and the above-described opening shot of act three, in which we’re treated to a floor-level pan across both ladies’ laps (while they’re unconscious, no less! Talk about a voyeur’s paradise!). I couldn't actually see up their skirts (though I tried; believe me, I tried), but it’s possible that DVD’s limited resolution simply isn’t sufficient to allow such wonders. MGM, if ever there was a reason to remaster the series in high definition….

AURAL PLEASURE

The music you hear in this episode is music you've heard before and, before the season is over, you'll most definitely hear again (and again, and again). That's right, kids, it's another stock-scored job in which you'll thrill to such timeless Dominic Frontiere tunes as:

Building Terror, Love Theme (“The Human Factor”)

Spaceship, Time Loops (“Controlled Experiment”)

Escape and Recapture, Transit Attempt, Chromoite Breaks In (“The Mice”)

The Big Finish (“The Borderland”)

I couldn’t place the music punctuating Beasley’s attempt to murder Crowell and their resulting struggle; I can only assume it came from Frontiere’s previous work on Stoney Burke. Speaking of which, our old friend the “Stoney Burke Mystery Cue” is back once again (at time stamp 11:11; see clip below). It appears twice more, at 19:12 and 23:30.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Don Gordon, who was marvelous in “The Invisibles” exactly one month ago, appears again here as Dave Crowell, Empyria’s Great White Interstellar Hope. Interestingly, he's billed as a "special guest star" this time around (wonder what changed during that month?). Gordon was also quite good in two Twilight Zones (“The Four of Us Are Dying” and “The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross”; the latter co-starred the lovely Gail Kobe, who appeared in last week’s “Specimen: Unknown.” He got to kiss her and everything, the lucky sumbitch). He also appeared in "The Trial," an episode of my newest sci-fi TV obsession, The Invaders (1967-69).

Simon Oakland’s distinctive voice is unmistakable through his Empyrian costume, adding an extra layer of gravitas atop an already-standout performance. A year earlier, he appeared on Daystar’s pre-TOL series Stoney Burke (“Image of Glory,” which also guest-starred TOL alum Dabbs Greer). He also did a Twilight Zone (“The Thirty-Fathom Grave”), but y’all probably remember him as the psychiatrist who explains Norman Bates’ condition at the end of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.

The detestable Arjay Beasley is brought to angry life by John McLiam, who did two stints on Stoney Burke (“Fred” and “Five by Eight by Eight,"). McLiam also visited The Twilight Zone a total of four times (“The Shelter,” “The Midnight Sun,” “Miniature,” and “Uncle Simon”; you won’t actually see him in that last one because his entire scene didn’t make the final cut). Oh, and he also popped up on The Invaders (“Storm”).

John McLiam (center), giving some fatherly advice to Bennye Gatteys (left),

whom we enjoyed recently in "The Children of Spider County."

We've got two TOL babes to drool over this week. First up is Janet De Gore, who plays space stewardess Mara Mathhews. Next we have Mimsy Farmer, who plays self-absorbed teen beauty Donise Ward (before you ask, Mimsy turned 18 before “Second Chance” went into production, so there’s nothing creepy about me checking her out). As far as I could tell, neither actress has any other series or genre connections. 

HOME VIDEO RELEASES

“Second Chance” flitted onto VHS in two forms. First, there was the standard retail edition, sold in fine stores everywhere, which featured the customary awesome cover (love the screaming women in the background; but hey, MGM, why no headlining actor? Don Gordon's name was shown on "The Invisibles" box; strange that we don't see it here). Second, there was the mail-order exclusive Columbia House edition, which paired the episode with “The Children of Spider County” from two weeks ago (creating a double feature of wasted-potential mediocre offerings).

Meanwhile, the episode got no love on LaserDisc: a total of 28 TOL episodes were released on the (then) superior format, leaving 21 to a tape-only fate. Until 2002, that is, when MGM released all 32 first season episodes on the (relatively) new DVD format (season two followed in 2003). MGM would go on to re-release the DVDs two more times (in 2007 and 2008), but as of this writing hasn’t taken the next logical step and committed to a Blu-ray release. Therefore, MGM, I fart in your general direction… but I’ll happily give you a “Second Chance” if you rectify this oversight pronto (see what I did there?).

Ah, Hulu, that gleaming wonder of modern entertainment! You (or somebody like you) can watch The Outer Limits on Hulu’s website, which means those of you who don’t own the series on home video can now easily enjoy every single episode with a few mouse clicks. The best part? It’s 100% free! I know… crazy, right? However, bear in mind that this particular Life Hack has a frustrating limitation: you can only take advantage of it on a computer. Hulu Plus, which allows paying members to stream content to mobile devices and Blu-ray players, does NOT include The Outer Limits at this time. Dammit.

TRADING CARD CORNER

Topps allocated an impressive three cards to The Empyrian in their 1964 Monsters from Outer Limits cards (a mint set of which will cost you at least a few C-notes; the 1995 reprinted set, which I own, can be had for a few fins or so). Our fine-feathered friend is recast as a “mad genius” from outer space who uses his “mind stealer” device to collect thoughts from unsuspecting humans. His downfall comes when he accidentally gathers the thoughts of the mentally ill and flees in a confused state. Oh. My. God.

MERCHANDISE SPOTLIGHT

You crafty model-building types might be interested in the Empyrian 1/8-scale resin model kit from Dimensional Designs, sculpted by Chris Choin (DD/OL/EM-04). I couldn't track down any decent shots of a completed model, so we'll have to settle for the single tiny image I found (right). $49.95 plus shipping and you can have your very own bearded alien-bird creature. Flying saucer not included.

THE WRAP-UP

"Second Chance," like other similarly-mediocre offerings from this middle-of-the-season slump, is ultimately less than the sum of its parts. Is it awful? No. Simon Oakland's Empyrian is one of The Outer Limits' most noble --- if a bit misguided --- aliens, and we do get some tasty eye candy (the ladies, the saucer, plenty of blinking lights, etc.) to make the trip a bit less disappointing.

Episode Spotlight: "The Invisibles" (2/03/1964)

“The Invisibles”

Season 1, Episode 19

Originally aired 2/03/1964

"It's all happening so fast, so much faster than I expected. All over this rich, great country, hosts in all the right places... Men in places so high... no one would believe how high they are!"

Three unassuming and anonymous men named Planetta, Castle and Spain are recruited to join the Society of The Invisibles, a secret organization conspiring to take over the US government --- and presumably the world after that --- by exposing key government officials to parasitic organisms which take over and control their actions. Each of them will be assigned different targets in different cities. The men are inoculated against accidental possession by the parasites, but Castle’s inoculation fails, rendering him deformed and unable to move forward.

Spain and Planetta are cleared for duty, however, and each are assigned separate targets in different cities, with the explicit instructions that they are not to contact one another (they’ve made a pact, however, to meet up secretly after their respective targets are infected). Spain is actually an undercover government operative investigating the Invisibles, and plans to use Planetta as an unwitting contact point between himself and his GIA (Government Intelligence Agency) superiors.

Spain’s assigned target is Senator Hilary Clarke in Washington D.C. He secures a job chauffeuring Clarke’s wife thanks to Oliver Fair, an Invisibles agent posing as Clarke’s aide. Just as Spain’s inoculation wears off, he’s shocked to discover that Clarke is already a member of the Society, and that the parasite he’s been hiding in his room is actually intended for him. He manages to sneak off, incurring a broken ankle in the process.

Almost delirious with pain, he makes his way to a nearby water treatment plant where he’s learned Planetta has been stationed. He reveals his true identity, at which point Planetta reveals his target for infection: Spain! Planetta releases the parasite, which eagerly comes after Spain as he feebly attempts to crawl away. GIA agents arrive on the scene and shoot Planetta (and the parasite) in the nick of time.

RANDOMONIUM

“The Invisibles” is another original teleplay from series producer Joseph Stefano, who as far as I’m concerned never wrote a bad Outer Limits script (I was going to cite the mediocre “Moonstone” as the exception, but he only helped mapped out the story, so that one doesn’t really count). Here he’s firing on all cylinders, crafting a tale rich in duplicitous intrigue, a riveting variation on the espionage adventure genre. The story would work equally well if the methodology involved was simple brainwashing versus extraterrestrial parasitic possession, but the inclusion of the crabby little beasts never feels grafted on or out of place. All the story elements flow nicely together and, like many other TOL episodes, could be expanded quite easily into a feature-length film. 

The power duo of Gerd Oswald and Conrad Hall is on hand for yet another heady cocktail of stellar directing and gorgeous noirish photography, and some of their staging and lighting evokes their previous triumphs, particularly “It Crawled Out of the Woodwork.” The dark hallway leading into the Invisibles complex is every bit as foreboding as the one leading into The Pit (the Energy Being’s domain). The storage lockers with screened windows, inside which the parasites lie in wait, look a bit like miniature Pits. Both episodes employ the same low-angled view as the villains (Senator Clarke here, Doctor Bloch) smugly level pistols at the heroes and subsequently lose themselves rhapsodizing about their respective dastardly plots. Both episodes depict their protagonists pushed to their limits and screaming in primal and abject fear (Spain as the parasite chases him down, and Stu Phillips as the Energy Being approaches him).

Sad to report, “The Invisibles” is the last time we’ll get to enjoy the power trio of Stefano, Oswald and Hall… until the very end of the season, that is, when all three will gloriously top themselves (impossible as it may seem) with “The Forms of Things Unknown.”

The Society of The Invisibles’ plot is an interesting mash-up of similar conspiracies depicted in earlier episodes. Here we have the strategic replacement of government officials from “The Hundred Days of the Dragon” crossed with the parasitic alien possession angle of "Corpus Earthling." It never feels derivative, however; in fact, the deft blending of already-explored concepts is highly successfully. I’ll just declare for the record, right here and now, that “The Invisibles” (which first premiered 50 years ago tonight) is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, definitely in my top ten (I’ve stated in these pages that I don’t rank the episodes, which is true; however, I think I can pretty easily identify my ten favorites). 

As Governor Hillmond (or, if you prefer, the Ruler of the Society of The Invisibles) explains, the parasites were “conceived in the nothingness of space, sired by a satyr of cosmic energy, formed by the coming together of sick nameless nuclei that had waited a billion, billion years for that precise ungodly moment. We fell to Earth, and the velocity of that fall quickened the seed of intellect, at the same time that it stunted the evolution of our primitive form.” Damn, that’s almost poetic.

Hillmond indicates that the victims “suffer to the edge of death,” and that they’re “never the same again.” The hosts appear to still be human with no outward molestation, which begs the question: how much of their inner selves remain intact? Is the human mind obliterated, leaving a hollow shell occupied by a creature that mimics its victims? Or is it a shared, more symbiotic type of possession? Is the host aware of what is happening from moment to moment, but powerless to stop it? Would a host survive if the parasite vacated? 

Successful attachment results in the parasite fusing on a molecular level with the host’s spine, and is therefore not visible (at least when the subject is clothed; it’d be interesting to see a host’s naked back). “Improper” attachment results in the host becoming a hunchback (as it does with Castle, and did at some past point with the unnamed recruiter), but the mechanics of this unfortunate possibility are never addressed. Does the parasite miss its mark in those cases, and instead fuses with the host’s shoulder? The parasite is still present (hence the hunch; say that fast three times), but in what capacity is it controlling the host (if at all)? The recruiter is sufficiently creepy, but Castle just seems a bit… well, a bit mentally challenged after the ordeal. 

Speaking of the recruiter, check out time stamp 20:45, in which the doctor is demonstrating the attachment procedure to the new recruits. As he warns them that “defective attachment can result in deformity,” he looks directly (and a bit disgustedly) at the recruiter’s hump. I defy you not to pity the recruiter as you watch his face crumble a bit. Poor bastard.

The parasites look like a cross between a giant isopod and a crab. They aren’t terribly fast, and I’m a lot bigger than them, but I’d absolutely run like hell if one was coming toward me. I do love those little crustaceous feet, clacking anxiously like typewriter keys…. reminds me a bit of Clark Nova, the bug/living typewriter in 1991’s Naked Lunch, David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William C. Burroughs’ 1959 novel.

The casting of Neil Hammond and George MacReady as key political figures in the conspiracy is inspired, as both actors bring a sense of menacing gravitas which, in both cases, eventually dissolves into near-orgasmic, impassioned reverie as they grovel to their alien masters. Both pull it off beautifully (both have wonderful voices too; particularly Hammond, who will employ it to great effect next week in “The Bellero Shield”).

I detected some interesting homosexual undercurrents in the episode, particularly between Spain and Planetta. Ha! You thought I was going to point out Richard Dawson’s reading of Oliver Fair, didn't you? Well, okay, I’ll start there: Fair (who may as well be wearing a neon sign to advertise his sexual orientation) is blatantly trying to seduce Spain when he asks if they can talk privately in Spain’s “little room” (Spain hilariously rebuffs him with a pointed “Why?”). But the real sparks occur when Spain and Planetta are alone: the two immediately adopt dominant and submissive roles upon arriving at the training complex. Naked from the waist up, they endure the probing of the hungry (amorous?) parasites as their inoculations are tested (talk about bareback!). The parasitic invasion of the flesh --- which, as far as we can see, only targets men --- could be interpreted as a metaphor for sexual penetration.

Come to think of it, Naked Lunch (the film, not the book) was positively seething with homoerotic undercurrents… I wonder if Cronenberg was at all inspired by “The Invisibles.”

AURAL PLEASURE

In his Outer Limits Companion, David J. Schow reports that Dominic Frontiere’s score for “The Invisibles” is composed of new, somewhat-reorchestrated renderings of cues from previous scores. He mentions “The Architects of Fear” and “The Man Who Was Never Born” by name; however, those aren’t the only episodes represented here: we also hear several selections from the more recent “Don’t Open Till Doomsday” as well as the old favorite “It’s Here” from “The Human Factor.” Upon closer examination, the various cues do in fact sound at least somewhat different from the original recordings. Of particular interest is “A Father’s Search” from “Don’t Open Till Doomsday” (heard at the top of act three), which  is significantly slower and more ominous in its new rendering. Have a listen:

It’s worth mentioning that “The Invisibles” was the last score Frontiere recorded for The Outer Limits,* so in a way it serves as a nice greatest-hits-retrospective type of thing (the rest of season one will be scored with existing cues, with the notable exception of “The Forms of Things Unknown,” which we’ll address in early May). Unfortunately, the new(er) recordings don’t appear to have survived the ensuing half-century, as “The Invisibles” is conspicuously absent from La La Land Records’ comprehensive soundtrack set, which reportedly includes everything that still exists. I suppose it’s fortunate that a rehashed score is lost versus an entirely original one, but still…. well damn, I wish we could have it; in fact, I wish we could everything, every single bit of music Frontiere ever laid down, for both The Outer Limits and Stoney Burke (I’m a neurotic completist when it comes to these things).

One place the lost music might be found is on the original negatives. In their Definitive Edition DVD release of The Twilight Zone, Image Entertainment was able to provide isolated music tracks for many of the episodes because they were harvesting image and sound from the original camera negatives (which they did again for the subsequent blu-ray editions, yielding even more isolated music) and, thanks to these releases, the vast majority of the Twilight Zone scores are easily obtained. While I’d be thrilled to get The Outer Limits remastered in high definition for blu-ray, I’d be doubly thrilled if isolated music tracks were included as supplemental content. Seriously, I’d donate a kidney, maybe even a lung. I’d offer my first born, but she’s 21 now and out of my control entirely.

Anyway --- the “Invisibles” score (or lack thereof) aside, La La Land Records’ three-disc Outer Limits soundtrack collection is an absolute must-own for any fan of the series (or of great dramatic music). It can be had for a measly $15.98 plus shipping, so grab it before it’s gone forever (they can’t last forever at that price).

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

Don Gordon is excellent as GIA Agent Luis B. Spain in the first of two Outer Limits starring roles (he’ll return in March in “Second Chance”). He’s also a two-time Twilight Zone veteran (“The Four of Us Are Dying” and “The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross,” the latter of which just turned 50 a couple of weeks back... and costars two-time TOL alum Gail Kobe).

Gov Lawrence K Hillmond (a.k.a. the Ruler of the Society of the Invisibles) is brought to life by George MacReady in the first of two Outer Limits appearances (he'll return in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles" in April). He also appeared on The Twilight Zone the same year ("The Long Morrow," which just turned 50 a few weeks ago).

Thanks to the fact that TV shows are shot in a different order than they are shot, Neil Hamilton (General Hilary J. Clarke) appears in two consecutive episodes (this week's "The Invisibles" and next week's "The Bellero Shield"). He's probably best remembered as Commissioner Gordon on TV's Batman (1966-68).

Richard Dawson (Oliver Fair) is certainly a familiar face, but not because of any other genre appearances. Dawson was the original host of TV’s long-running game show Family Feud, which I watched regularly as a kid (not so much these days; I'm not a big Steve Harvey fan).

Dee Hartford plays Mrs. Clarke in her only TOL appearance. She also appeared on The Twilight Zone the same year ("The Bewitchin' Pool," that venerable series' final episode) but, more importantly for our purposes, returned to the Daystar fold for "Fanfare for a Death Scene," the pilot episode of their Stryker series (which never got picked up). And yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and call her a TOL Babe.

The Invisibles Recruiter (the unfortunate hunchbacked fellow) is played by Walter Burke, who will return in "The Mutant" in March. He also appeared in "The Big Tall Wish" on The Twilight Zone.

The cast of "The Invisibles" includes a trio of Stoney Burke veterans. First, William O. Douglas, Jr. (Henry Castle) appears in "The Weapons Man" of that pre-TOL Daystar series (here on The Outer Limits, he was also the Andromedan alien in "The Galaxy Being," the Ghost of Private Gordon in "The Human Factor," and Aabel of Eros in the upcoming "The Children of Spider County"). The unnamed Doctor is played by John Graham, who popped up in SB's "The Wanderer." Finally, the undercover GIA agent at the power plant is played by Len Lesser, who appeared on SB twice ("Bandwagon" and "Kincaid").

HOME VIDEO RELEASES

For Columbia House's mail-order VHS club, “The Invisibles” was paired with “O.B.I.T.” (another favorite of mine). The episode was also sold individually in stores... but hey, there’s something strange about that cover. That's definitely Don Gordon’s face, but he never wears a plaid shirt and cardigan sweater in the episode. It’s actually the outfit worn by Tony Mordente (Planetta), so it seems MGM opted to do some creative Photoshopping (or maybe a manually cut-and-paste job, since digital image editing was in its infancy at that time) for some unknown reason.

Personally, I would've gone with a shot of Spain with the Parasite on his naked back (as seen in act two), since it’s a much more iconic and memorable moment. I guess it's not quite as dramatic, but...

“The Invisibles” was left out when 28 (of the 49 total) Outer Limits episodes were released on LaserDisc between 1990 and 1995, which must’ve pissed more than a few collectors off. However, MGM acquitted itself with the 2002 release of the entire first season on DVD (the second season arrived in 2003), but made the unfortunate choice to use dual-layered, double-sided discs (DVD-18s), which are prone to eventual failure. MGM announced that the series would be released again (in three volumes, with the longer first season split in half) on DVD in 2007, which raised the hopes of at least one fan (yeah, it was me) that the series would either be remastered in high definition (as Image Entertainment had done with The Twilight Zone two years earlier) or, at the very least, repressed on standard, reliable DVDs. Those hopes were unceremoniously dashed when it was revealed that inside the pretty new slim packaging were the same exact same discs from five years earlier. The three volumes were collected into one omnibus package in 2008. And now, six years later, MGM still hasn’t revisited the series for a blu-ray release. I’d love to think that new high definition masters are being created as I type this, but I have absolutely no reason to put faith in MGM at this point.

It therefore pains me to recommend that new fans watch the series for free on Hulu versus shelling out money for the DVDs. The streaming versions look about as good as the DVDs if you have a halfway decent internet connection and, since the DVDs have virtually no supplemental features (and again, they’re pressed on DVD-18s, which will likely fail at some point), so you aren’t losing anything. Hulu has all 49 episodes, so knock yourself out, kids.

TRADING CARD CORNER

Along with the Helosian (“O.B.I.T.”) and the Crystalline Parasite (“Corpus Earthling”), the Invisibles Parasite was suspiciously absent from Topps’ 1964 Monsters from Outer Limits card series. The Rittenhouse series ignored it as well, which leaves us with the 1997 effort by DuoCards. Their 81-card offering was split between the classic series and the (dramatically inferior) Showtime series (as well as select reprints of the classic Topps cards). The classic portion focuses exclusively on the first season; however, a “season two preview” card indicates that a second set was planned (but unfortunately never materialized). New series aside, it’s actually a thoughtfully-conceived and nicely executed set. The first dozen or so cards feature color behind-the-scenes pics (which I bet we’ll also see in the upcoming The Outer Limits at 50 book from David J. Schow), followed by 32 cards depicting each season one episode. “The Invisibles” is card #33.

MERCHANDISE SPOTLIGHT

The Invisibles Parasite would've made a great Sideshow Collectibles action figure, with poseable legs and anterior claws, and rendered in 1/1 scale (like their Zanti figures and their Twilight Zone Invader), but it unfortunately never happened. Maybe it would've been too big, I dunno. It’s a damn shame, though. In fact, it’s a damn share that the line ended so soon. 

However, all hope is not lost: like most Outer Limits aliens, the Invisibles Parasite was immortalized in a resin-and-metal model kit from Dimensional Designs (DD/OL/AP-22), sculpted by Ken Ito. Ito was also responsible for the excellent Ichthyosaurus Mercurius model (from “Tourist Attraction”), and his work here is similarly impressive. Google Images didn’t yield any Mr. Enamel shots this week but, fortunately, Ito himself has a painted specimen on display on his website, and it’s pretty amazing.

Check out that underside! Not that anybody’s gonna display it flat on its back, but it’s nice to know one has that option. DD lists the kit as being 1/8 scale, which is clearly a mistake, since that would make it about the size of a Cadbury Cream Egg. Ito’s site indicates that it’s actually 1/2 scale, which sounds much more likely (though a full-on 1:1 life-sized parasite would've been awesome). If you've got assembly-and-paint skills (I don’t), and would like your very own Invisibles Parasite (I do), $59.95 plus shipping and you’ll be golden, baby.

Milton Bradley released four Outer Limits puzzles in 1964, and the Invisibles parasite was depicted on one of them (he's up there in the upper right corner). These puzzles, oddly enough, command huge sums these days.  

THE WRAP-UP

Thoroughly riveting and highly entertaining,"The Invisibles" marks yet another resounding success for The Outer Limits. It ends on a semi-optimistic note, as we presume that Spain's survival and Fair's apprehension will equal the beginning of the end for the Society of the Invisibles' nefarious plans... but as Senator Clarke pointedly observes, their conspiracy goes all the way to the top. In this age of polarizing politics and economic upheaval, would it be such a stretch to imagine an alien influence is behind it all, engineering humanity's ultimate destruction?

As I watched the State of the Union Address last week, I gazed at the televised triangle of Vice President Biden, Speaker of the House Boehner and President Obama, and I couldn't help wonder... which of them might be an Invisible?

....perhaps all three...?

* Frontiere recorded the score for “The Forms of Things Unknown” a month after “The Invisibles” session. However, it was intended primarily for the pilot episode of The Unknown (a series which never made it to air), so I don’t count it as a true Outer Limits score. La La Land Records agrees with me, since it’s not on their TOL soundtrack (they released it separately, on a different Frontiere soundtrack, as The Unknown). So there.