Life can radically change in a matter of seconds. Consequences ripple beyond our wildest anticipation.

What if you could stop that moment and study it?

That’s the premise of this exceptional episode of The Outer Limits. Earth is being monitored by subtly-placed operatives from a highly intelligent, advanced race of Martians. It’s been a quiet job for our man in the field, “Diemos,” who’s blended-in among us by passing himself off as a nondescript pawn shop proprietor.

But now he’s been ordered to give complete cooperation to a superior from Mars, “Inspector Phobos.” A “controlled experiment” has been authorized to help Mars understand the motives, nature, and consequences of murder.

Not a big deal in and of itself.

But what if it led to something more serious?

So we’re going to take a close look. “Martian Computer Control Probability Division” has projected with 99% certainty that one of these will occur just four blocks from Diemos’ storefront.

The setup for “Controlled Experiment” is at once creative, charming, and straightforward. The science fiction fan will be appeased, yet those who might otherwise avoid the genre are at no risk of getting lost or bored with the gadgetry of it. A suitcase-sized “Miniaturized Temporal Condenser” serves as the touchstone device for capturing real-life events a’la present day VCR. No antennae or silly makeup for these alien visitors here either, respecting the audience’s ability to accept the setup without going over the top.

Initial finding? The motive for this murder is jealousy, and the fatal shot is fired by a drop-dead gorgeous blond staked out in a hotel lobby awaiting arrival of her philandering boyfriend via elevator.

He steps out. Words are exchanged.

Bang!

Dead.

Can that be all there is to it?

The richness of this story is in the characters, their emotions and their growth. Diemos exhibits authentic deference to his superior that rings true of just about any organizational hierarchy. Timeless.

Yet there’s something else here, too. A warmth and genuine desire to bridge the culture gaps between his home planet of Mars and the people of Earth, in a personal way, for Phobos. Before leaving the pawn shop, Diemos introduces Inspector Phobos to Earth indulgences of coffee and cigarettes. The latter with a pitch so enthusiastic that borders on needing a Surgeon General’s Warning.

Further into the plot, there’s a bit in the hotel lobby where Diemos softly corrects Phobos on a local idiosyncrasy — and his superior thanks him. True respect in a way you seldom see among the Dilbert-style bosses of the real world, struggling to impersonate behavior they took notes on during last weeks “team” training.

Humor dialogue is spot-on as well; no laugh track, and never gratuitous. Here’s how the plot is advanced through a question regarding the role played by others in the hotel lobby vis-à-vis the murder.

“Ah, yes,” Diemos answers in perfect deadpan. “They’re ‘innocent bystanders.’ It’s a tradition. Each one tells a different version of what happened.”

Later, as Phobos’ confusion mounts at the senselessness of murder, he and Diemos follow the boyfriend backward in time — up the elevator and back to the lips of another woman.

Passionate one moment, dead the next?

This makes no sense to the inspector.

“The only scientific law that applies to kissing and shooting is the principle of uncertainty,” muses Diemos.

As special effects go, the Miniaturized Temporal Condenser can be a bit over the top with its screeching, bright lights; acting, too, is in some scenes a bit over the top. But if your inner-nitpicker  can be quelled, I would argue that the impact fundamentally shows the effort and seriousness involved in manipulating time under any circumstances.

So it’s not Rod Taylor in The Time Machine or Doc Brown in his DeLorean?

Nope. Nor does it have to be.

The bigger risk in a plot like this is getting through buildup to the final act without failing to deliver. We studied murder, motive, and means, but something’s gotta pay us off for having invested the time in this.

No worries. The Outer Limits shines throughout its “Controlled Experiment.” Twice. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will leave you with one of the two questions that sets it up.

What if you could make it so the murder never happened?

  • Overall grade: A
  • Engaging look at motives, assumptions, and actions — with a strong and clever “What if?” finish.

Production

The Outer Limits, “Controlled Experiment (1963), Leslie Stevens. Written and directed by Leslie Stevens. Starring Barry Morse (Inspector Phobos), Carroll O’Connor (Diemos), and Grace Lee Whitney.