The Outer Limits (1963) 1.11

It Crawled Out of the Woodwork

starring Scott Marlowe, Kent Smith

directed by Gerd Oswald

Professor Stuart Peters goes to work for NORCO, a west coast research lab. He is killed and then later revived during his first day on the job. The killing is done by an unknown energy source over which the scientists at the lab have some degree of control. He is revived and kept alive with a pacemaker. Everyone else at the lab is in the same condition, alive but only thanks to a pacemaker.

Stuart goes to see Jory (Scott Marlowe), his brother, to encourage him to leave the area. The two get into an argument. Stuart trips and falls into a tub of water. The pacemaker malfunctions electrocuting Stuart. He dies once again. Police Detective Sergeant Siroleo interviews Jory who is surprised to learn that Stuart had a pacemaker. He tells Siroleo about NORCO.

Siroleo goes to NORCO where he talks to Professor Bloch (Kent Smith), the man in charge, and Professor Stephanie Linden, Stuart's colleague. They try to kill him in the same way that they murdered Stuart but Professor Linden has a change of heart and frees him from the deathtrap in which She locked him.

Bloch and Siroleo fight. Linden gets ahold of Bloch's gun and shoots him. Bloch opens the gate (with his last gasp of life) and unleashes the unknown energy source. Siroleo survives but Professor Linden is killed.

Thoughts

I like the premise of this episode but there are things about this episode that don't add up or I don't understand. It felt like they threw a bunch of things (weird energy source, pacemakers, etc.) into the mix and never really bothered to sort them out. It gets very hand wavy when it comes to the science. What exactly was the deal with the energy source? How did Siroleo evade its deadly touch? How were the scientists able to control the energy source? What was the deal with killing people and then bringing them back using pacemakers?

I wouldn't say that this is a great episode but I like it. There's a definite message here about messing with forces beyond your control. I think that they are also trying to say something about the problem of undoing certain actions. Some people will like it but I think that a lot of people will just roll their eyes at this episode and move on to what ever comes next.

Notes

This is the first of two episodes of The Outer Limits (1963) in which Scott Marlowe appeared. He appeared in one episode each of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) Wonder Woman, and Star Trek the Next Generation. The episode of TNG in which he appeared was 5.03 Ensign Ro.

This is the first of two episodes of The Outer Limits (1963) in which Kent Smith appeared. He also appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Night Gallery, and Wonder Woman. He appeared in 14 episode of The Invaders, the first of which was 1.15 Moonshot. I've also seen Kent Smith in Cat People (1942) but the thing I've watched most recently in which he appeared was The Night Stalker (1972).

BarBara Luna played the part of Jory's girlfriend in this episode although I didn't mention her in the summary. This is the only episode of this show in which BarBara Luna appeared. She also appeared in episodes of The Invaders (1.13 Storm), Star Trek (1966), The Six Million Dollar Man, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. She is often credited as Barbara Luna but according to IMDb her first name is spelled BarBara.

Michael Forest played the part of Professor Stuart Peters. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in one episode each of The Twilight Zone (1959) and Star Trek (1966). 

Joan Camden played the part of Professor Stephanie Linden. This is the second of two episodes of this show in which she appeared. The other episode was 1.02 The Hundred Days of the Dragon. She appeared in four episodes of Four Star Playhouse and in Tower of London (1962).

Ed Asner played the part of Detective Sergeant Siroleo. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in one episode each of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He appeared in two episodes of The Invaders, the first of which was 1.16 Wall of Crystal. I've also seen him in They Call Me Mr. Tibbs! (1970) and heard his voice in Up (2009).

This is the third of 14 episodes of this show that Gerd Oswald directed. The previous one was 1.09 Corpus Earthling. He also directed two episodes of Star Trek (1966), the second of which was 1.27 The Alternative Factor.