2 Martians disguised as humans are sent to investigate the strange human custom of murder, and use a machine that can alter time to help uncover the mystery.
I couldn't believe it when I first saw this episode in syndication in the 70's. THE OUTER LIMITS was always so dark, so spooky, so scary, so... SERIOUS. But not this time! I guess every show needs at least one comedy to balance things out, and this one was it. It starts out low-key enough, as a hard-nosed inspector shows just how alien he must be by exhibiting no knowledge of even the simplest of Earth-- or "human"-- customs. But once the "experiment" gets underway, he begins to enjoy himself just too much. I guess he was more "human" than he realized!
The cast is a real stand out. The inspector is played by Barry Morse-- future "Inspector Philip Gerard" for 4 years on THE FUGITIVE, and later, "Prof. Bergman" on the 1st season of SPACE: 1999. The outpost manager is Carrol O'Connor, 7 years before he played "Archie Bunker" on ALL IN THE FAMILY, and even longer before he played "Chief Gillespie" on IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT. The blonde packing heat determined to shoot her boyfriend is Grace Lee Whitney, 3 years before she played "Yeoman Janice Rand" on the earliest episodes of STAR TREK!
If the IMDb is correct, Leslie Stevens both wrote & directed this-- uncredited. I didn't see any credits on screen for this one. Gee, I wonder why? (heh heh)