Because this is an anthology series, I was unsure if I could write a decent rewatch or perhaps even better, first watch blog for this. I mean, because every episode is with a different cast and each episode is with a completely different story. I decided to try it for this first season and if I feel that this is indeed working, I will continue with seasons 2-7, if not, my first season blog will be the last.

Cast / writers / directors:

Well, as I mentioned, there isn’t a main cast, every episode is a story on its own, that is the way anthology series work. It is quite possible that certain actors will return several times for different parts but that’s it. So, no main cast as well as no recurring cast, only guest stars and boy, I’ve seen so many familiar guest stars, often with a SCI-FI past. I will not mention everybody but mainly the ones I found to be interesting! I already mentioned Bea Bridges in Sandkings. For us SCI-FI fans he will always be Major General Hank Landry on Stargate SG-1. Lloyd Bridges (a.m.o. Battlestar Galactica 1978); William Sadler; Kate Vernon; Bruce Davison; Elizabeth Pena; Louis Ferreira; John Heard; Annette O’Toole; Blu Mankuma; David Cubitt; Allison Hossack; Rebecca De Mornay, John Savage; Frank Whaley; Roger Cross; William B. Davis; Tom Butler; Nicole De Boer; Robert Patrick; Alyssa Milano; Saul Rubinek; Jason London; Garry Chalk; Sarah Strange; Michael Dorn; Peter Outerbridge; Richard Thomas; Robert Wisden; Larry Drake; Leonard Nimoy; Dwight Schultz; Alberta Watson; Molly Parker; Ryan Reynolds; Elizabeth Rosen (Cadet Hailey, SG-1); Tom McBeath; Robert Lewis; Gary Jones; Perry King; John Novak; Mimi Kuzyk and Don S. Davis.

It is quite a list and I’m forgetting many of them and this is only the first season! I see a lot of Star Trek actors, as well as Stargate actors. Funny thing is, Stargate had yet to start during the first season of The Outer Limits, which ran in 1995/1996!

To name a few directors: Adam Nimoy; Lou Diamond Philips; Jason Priestley; Rebecca De Mornay; Peter DeLuise; James Head. A few writers: Brad Wright; Naren Shankar; Jonathan Glassner; Tracy Tormé; George R.R. Martin; Manny Cotto; Pen Densham and many others. With this I just wanted to let you know, how many familiar people there were involved with this series. And again, I only named a small number of people here.

Episodes:

Well, like it says in the beginning of this blog, it touches on many genres like SCI-FI, horror; fantasy, mystery, time travel. Overall the first season is mainly a hit and miss. Especially towards the end of the first season, the stories got better, more interesting. The first season opens strong with Sandlkings, episode two, Valerie 23 is also a strong episode with William Sadler and Sofia Shines, where an android companion should help with a lot of loneliness. I thought The Second Soul, episode 5, was also very interesting and had a twist ending I did not expect. After episode 5 the next 5 episodes were okay, but not much more than that. When we get to episode 10, Corner of the Eye is a rather interesting episode. Aliens are hiding among us and the priest can see them because of a cancer in his brain. The aliens pretend to have the best intentions. Starring Luis Ferreira. Episode 13, The Conversion was also quite entertaining, An angel like creature helps this man evade arrest by becoming the angel like person, at least the way he looks. He then also makes a meaningful gesture. Set in only one place, a diner. Episode 14, Quality of Mercy, also is a story set in one ‘room’, a alien prison cell. Only two actors, Robert Patrick and Nicole de Boer.

From episode 15 on the quality of the episodes increased with episodes like Caught in the Act; The Voyage Home and New Breed, Best episode till that point! This episode was from beginning to end interesting, engaging with a theme that is still relevant today. Guest starring: Peter Outerbridge and Richard Thomas. It finishes as expected, but still creepy when Groenig’s girlfriend gets cut but her wound is gone within seconds, because she was intimate with Outerbridge’s character. The Message was also a strong episode, definitely one the best this season. Really engaging story about the one who is in contact with aliens. By chance Robert Vitale recognizes what she, who is deaf, is writing, because he worked for NASA in the past and recognizes binary. Guest stars: Robert Wisden & Larry Drake. Yet another strong episode called I Robot, with Leonard Nimoy. Leonard Nimoy in it makes it even better, always love him in anything, such a great actor, such a presence. Curious, the district attorney wants the robot to be destroyed and of all things, the robot saves her life as it gets destroyed by the truck. So cool that Leanord Nimoy also played in the original I Robot episode in 1964 of the Outer Limits second season. This is actually a remake of the original episode. The finale two episodes are strong too, about an alien invasion, but with an alien race that has patience. Final episode is a clip show, I am not that fond of clip shows, in fact, usually I hate those, but this episode connected the alien stories we saw in the first season, which I thought was very interesting.

Final Word:

Well, as I said, this season had its ups and downs but it is very clear to me that the last part of the first season, the quality of the stories became better, which is very hopeful for the following seasons. For me one downside, no English subtitles on the rest of the series, which I can live with but it is outright a disgrace for people of hard of hearing, it should be mandatory on every DVD, Blu-ray or 4K disc. Well, regarding my season one blog, as I noted in the beginning, I wasn’t sure if this would work for an anthology series but I think it went okay, so quite possibly I will write a season two first watch blog too when the time comes.