The Mice

[Lieutenant Gerard]

While not a stellar episode of the Outer Limits, this one nevertheless remains one of my personal favorites for two reasons. First, is the wonderful job Henry Silva did as Chino Rivera, a convict who is a very unlikely hero. Second, is the uniqueness of the "bear"; the Chromoite, as it were. Here we have a creature that, apart from it being bipedal, is completely alien and totally different from what one would expect from the planet Chromo. Since the transmissions from Chromo (Superbly done by Robert Johnson, it's unsettling strobing and wavering might suggest it's being broadcast from underwater!) are all in English, and Dr. Kellander says that once the Chromoites learned it, they spoke nothing but English, it's logical to assume that the form of such creatures would be at least vaguely human. Not so with this alien, whose form resembles some horrible experiment gone wrong at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. The fact that the alien utters not a single word upon arriving on Earth and for the duration of its stay is even more perplexing, seeing as how Dr. Kellander is sufficiently convincing enough in his statement about the Chromoites having an unwavering preference for the English language. This alien is sufficiently creepy in all respects, especially when it is spotted "eating", if you can call it that. Unfortunately it displays some goofy characteristics however, that should never have been attempted by the creators of the show. It tries, most unsuccessfully, to scale a first floor window, and also looks completely ridiculous when operating push buttons and dials. Despite these two embarassing instances, it still gives off a wonderful air of unearthly danger, especially when it kills Kellander's assistant.

 

In contrast to the kind words I have spoken for the bear of our story, I must admit there are some things about this episode that leave me, at the very least, puzzled. First, are the human scientists. It's odd that neither of them seem to have any deductive reasoning whatsoever. They are either grossly incompetent or criminally negligent. For instance, when the strange goo in the pond is discovered, something which supposedly neither one has ever seen before, neither scientist can put 2 and 2 together and figure out that maybe their new alien visitor has something to do with it? Their only concern is how to kill it (Aren't all old sci-fi scientists concerned with killing alien life they don't understand?) instead of perhaps studying it further, since it is something totally new. Secondly, after Kellander's assistant is murdered by the Chromoite, Kellander immediately accuses Rivera of the crime, without even bothering to think about any other possibilities. Did Kellander ever think that this new presence at the lab, which has unrestricted access to all areas by the way, might have something to do with his assistant's death? The Chromoite itself has never displayed any sort of effort to either communicate or prove itself benign with the resident humans in any way. Since it first arrived, the alien had displayed nothing but aggression, and yet it seems to be trusted implicitly.

 

Finally, what can be said about the dubious hero of Chino Rivera, other than the fact that he's the only one worthy of the title of hero in our story. Both scientists are as impotent as Landau's Bellero Jr. is in "The Bellero Shield". Rivera's saving of the day at the end is predictable, yet enjoyable nonetheless. The greatness of this episode is not so much the episode itself, although it is good, but the fact that it leaves much to the imagination. What happened to the guard that was transported to Chromo at the end? And what is Chromo itself like? The fact that questions like these remain in the viewers mind long after the episode is over atest to the greatness of The Outer Limits series as a whole.