The Invisibles

[Lieutenant Gerard]

The Outer Limits take on cloak and dagger, this episode exemplifies the need people feel to be a part of something greater than themselves, whether such "somethings" are noble or not. Groups such as the Invisibles, (as well as secretive paramilitary groups such as neo Nazis in this day and age), which require unswerving loyalty and even fervent religiosity, tend to attract the losers and dregs of society, and this is exactly the point the Control Voice makes at the beginning of the episode. Unfortunately Luis Spain, an undercover GIA agent, is not that far up the social totem pole from the losers and dregs he seeks to stop. Spain forms a relationship with fellow recruit Genero Planetta only when said relationship will benefit him in his mission, and he has no trouble deceiving Planetta to serve his own ends, no matter how noble. If he were not already engaged by the GIA, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine Spain becoming a legitimate Invisible.

 

It is interesting to note that before we find out what General Clarke really is, he seems unconcerned that his wife's social secretary (whatever that is) is spending so much time alone with her, yet he instructs Spain to make a mental record of everywhere he drives her. It is also interesting to note that the only real "attachment" that occurs in this episode is that of the creatures to their hosts. The humans all seem dispassionately detached from one another, which is especially exemplified at the end when the trigger happy GIA agents accidentally shoot the noble Planetta while he's trying to remove the Invisible from Spain's back. Even within the Invisibles society itself, camaraderie is starkly lacking, since members of the organization have no trouble insulting their peers (see the part where the procedure of attachment is demonstrated on Spain's dead GIA contact, and the lecturer plainly insults his deformed assistant, much to the assistant's dismay).

 

The issue of personal attachment in human beings is explored further by Stefano in the character of Genero Planetta. Planetta is tragically pathetic throughout the story, and it seems as though the only reason he joined the Invisibles was to try and form some kind of relationship with his fellow man. When he feels betrayed by Spain in the end, he reacts wildly out of control, almost as if he's some kind of crossed lover. It is unfortunate to realize that characters like Planetta exist in our everyday world, and usually join subversive groups like the Invisibles out of a need to feel connected to people. Perhaps in the end, the Invisibiles ruling over our world would not have been such a monstrous idea, given that the "hero" of our story and his GIA organization seem as cold and detached as those who become hosts for the creatures (at least the hosts display a sort of religious zealousness in relation to their other-worldly masters; the GIA and their agents show no emotional investment in their cause at all). Perhaps the Invisibles might have given the human race a much needed sense of community, (in one way or another) had they succeeded in the end. Of course this theme is further played out in another great episode, "The Architects of Fear."