Although episodes 17 - 20 of the landmark '60s TV series "The Outer Limits" had comprised one of the most impressive runs of that fondly remembered show's 1 1/2 seasons, the five episodes to follow would not be nearly so. Those earlier eps had included three ("Don't Open Till Doomsday," "The Invisibles" and "The Bellero Shield") that are among this viewer's personal Top 10 to this day, plus one ep, "ZZZZZ," that is almost universally admired by all "OL" fans, largely by dint of Joanna Frank's truly remarkable performance. But starting with episode 21, "The Children of Spider County," the show entered a period of solid but merely middling affairs, and indeed, it would not be until episode 26, "The Guests," that the series offered up what is for me a truly stellar hour of TV. As for the episode in question, "The Children of Spider County," which was first broadcast on 2/17/64, it is a decidedly lesser affair that yet has numerous redeeming qualities, as will be seen.
In this episode, the U.S. Space Security department is concerned over the fact that four prominent men of learning have recently vanished. All had been born in the titular Spider County, of different vanished fathers; all had been born in the same month and, strangely enough, had sported the same middle name: Eros. (Was it a coincidence that this ep was first aired just three days after Valentine's Day?) Making a leap of logic that is almost too much to credit, U.S.S.S. member Bartlett (John Milford) presumes that the four have been kidnapped by aliens FROM the planet Eros, and goes to Spider County to follow a fifth man, Ethan (Lee Kinsolving), who fits the same pattern. As it turns out, Bartlett had been absolutely correct in his surmise, and he soon learns that an alien from Eros, Aabel (Kent Smith), has indeed come to Earth to bring all the sons of Eros home. But this turns out to be somewhat problematic, now that Ethan has acquired a new galpal, Anna (Bennye Gatteys), who he does not want to leave behind....
During the course of this somewhat unfocused episode, we learn that Aabel is desirous of having the half human sons of Eros return to their home planet to supply that world with the desirable quality of being able to dream, and this episode is suitably oneiric in feel itself. Sadly, it just doesn't seem to hang together. Perhaps things might have made a bit more sense if we could have heard something from those other four half-brothers at the end, and been able to divine their reasons for staying behind. Another problem for this viewer was the makeup effects on the Aabel creature itself; a most unimpressive and unconvincing effort by Project Unlimited here. If the alien's insectlike head had featured moveable eyeballs, they would have seemed more realistic, instead of looking like the wooden ping-pong balls that they do. Still, as I say, the ep DOES feature any number of +++ aspects. Director Leonard Horn (who had previously helmed such classic "OL" episodes as "The Man Who Was Never Born" and "The Zanti Misfits") utilizes shock cuts, overhead and low-angle shots, and extreme close-ups here to good effect, while DOP Kenneth Peach does solid work with the mist-shrouded day and night sequences. (Most of this ep does seem to have been shot outdoors.) The effects showing Aabel's transformation from alien to human guise are nicely handled, as is the zapper ray that he uses to eliminate his foes. Perhaps best of all, though, is the work turned in by Kent Smith, who, in the 1940s, had starred in three classic "psychotronic" outings: "Cat People," "The Curse of the Cat People" and (one of my all-time faves) "The Spiral Staircase." He lends a great dignity and gravitas to the role, and indeed, his speech concerning his home planet might be the hour's single greatest moment: "...In our world on the planet Eros, it was the absence and abhorrence of dreaming that made men no good. They worked like insect slaves, they fought evil wars, they gathered lush riches and splendid pains, but they took no time out for dreaming, and dreaming became a lost art. And as always happened, they began to die off, and for all their riches, they began to die...." Screenwriter Anthony Lawrence, who had also penned that "Man Who Was Never Born" ep, is to be thanked for a truly well-written few minutes here. If only the rest of the ep were up to that poetic and emotional level! Unfortunately, almost half of the episode seems dedicated to a long foot chase through the woods, as Ethan and Anna try to elude the authorities. I suppose the bottom line is that "The Children of Spider County," while still more entertaining and challenging than just about anything else on the small screen in 1964, must pale in comparison to other great episodes of "The Outer Limits"'s first season, many of which, it must be granted, were extremely tough acts to follow....
In this episode, the U.S. Space Security department is concerned over the fact that four prominent men of learning have recently vanished. All had been born in the titular Spider County, of different vanished fathers; all had been born in the same month and, strangely enough, had sported the same middle name: Eros. (Was it a coincidence that this ep was first aired just three days after Valentine's Day?) Making a leap of logic that is almost too much to credit, U.S.S.S. member Bartlett (John Milford) presumes that the four have been kidnapped by aliens FROM the planet Eros, and goes to Spider County to follow a fifth man, Ethan (Lee Kinsolving), who fits the same pattern. As it turns out, Bartlett had been absolutely correct in his surmise, and he soon learns that an alien from Eros, Aabel (Kent Smith), has indeed come to Earth to bring all the sons of Eros home. But this turns out to be somewhat problematic, now that Ethan has acquired a new galpal, Anna (Bennye Gatteys), who he does not want to leave behind....
During the course of this somewhat unfocused episode, we learn that Aabel is desirous of having the half human sons of Eros return to their home planet to supply that world with the desirable quality of being able to dream, and this episode is suitably oneiric in feel itself. Sadly, it just doesn't seem to hang together. Perhaps things might have made a bit more sense if we could have heard something from those other four half-brothers at the end, and been able to divine their reasons for staying behind. Another problem for this viewer was the makeup effects on the Aabel creature itself; a most unimpressive and unconvincing effort by Project Unlimited here. If the alien's insectlike head had featured moveable eyeballs, they would have seemed more realistic, instead of looking like the wooden ping-pong balls that they do. Still, as I say, the ep DOES feature any number of +++ aspects. Director Leonard Horn (who had previously helmed such classic "OL" episodes as "The Man Who Was Never Born" and "The Zanti Misfits") utilizes shock cuts, overhead and low-angle shots, and extreme close-ups here to good effect, while DOP Kenneth Peach does solid work with the mist-shrouded day and night sequences. (Most of this ep does seem to have been shot outdoors.) The effects showing Aabel's transformation from alien to human guise are nicely handled, as is the zapper ray that he uses to eliminate his foes. Perhaps best of all, though, is the work turned in by Kent Smith, who, in the 1940s, had starred in three classic "psychotronic" outings: "Cat People," "The Curse of the Cat People" and (one of my all-time faves) "The Spiral Staircase." He lends a great dignity and gravitas to the role, and indeed, his speech concerning his home planet might be the hour's single greatest moment: "...In our world on the planet Eros, it was the absence and abhorrence of dreaming that made men no good. They worked like insect slaves, they fought evil wars, they gathered lush riches and splendid pains, but they took no time out for dreaming, and dreaming became a lost art. And as always happened, they began to die off, and for all their riches, they began to die...." Screenwriter Anthony Lawrence, who had also penned that "Man Who Was Never Born" ep, is to be thanked for a truly well-written few minutes here. If only the rest of the ep were up to that poetic and emotional level! Unfortunately, almost half of the episode seems dedicated to a long foot chase through the woods, as Ethan and Anna try to elude the authorities. I suppose the bottom line is that "The Children of Spider County," while still more entertaining and challenging than just about anything else on the small screen in 1964, must pale in comparison to other great episodes of "The Outer Limits"'s first season, many of which, it must be granted, were extremely tough acts to follow....