Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

The Outer Limits: Season Two Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 21, 2023

Kino Lorber rounded up a rather interesting bunch of people to do commentaries on both this set and The Outer Limits: Season One, including such experts as David J. Schow, who wrote (or co- wrote) two books about the series, and in that regard, when even these "superfans" of the show comment about the rather noticeable fall off in quality for The Outer Limits' abbreviated second season, attention should probably be paid. As absolutely ludicrous as some of the first season of The Outer Limits undeniably was, it almost always had style in abundance, as I overtly mention in my The Outer Limits: Season One Blu-ray review. Had that style translated to over the top ratings, my hunch is this second season would not have had to function under strictures imposed by network types, who wanted something a little more accessible for audiences. But even given that obstacle, the fact that so many of the first season's vaunted production personnel either left of their own accord or were dismissed after the premiere year meant that the second season was, as several commentators on this set explicitly mention, a very different show.

The second season of The Outer Limits still managed to offer at least one all time classic episode, the very well remembered The Demon With a Glass Hand starring Robert Culp. The second season is also notable for its premiere episode, Soldier, which fans will know bears a certain similarity to The Terminator, which resulted in writer Harlan Ellison getting a belated "thank you" credit on the James Cameron film. But as is gotten into in the supplements, if the first season tended to emphasize scientists and military types dealing with various "bears" (i.e., the show's nickname for its "monsters of the week"), this second season repeatedly highlights a supposedly hubristic force compelling Mankind to poke its figurative nose where it doesn't belong. There's also a recurrence on extraterrestrial intelligence trying to "reach out and touch" various people in assorted ways.

In terms of the staff that departed, many point to the exit of Joseph Stefano as dealing a death blow to the series, but I'd argue that the absence of Dominic Frontiere may have done at least as much damage, if arguably a bit more subliminally. Frontiere is not especially well remembered these days, which is a real shame, as Frontiere had an incredibly distinctive sound and a really contemporary grasp of orchestration that to my ears and with regard to The Outer Limits in particular often pushed his work into the realm of such avant garde composers as Edgard Varèse. His use of brass is especially striking throughout his work, both here and in such other television outings as his theme for The Rat Patrol.

Frontiere was a journeyman who may not have reached the pinnacle of television and film scoring in terms of general fame, but his IMDb page shows how busy he stayed for decades and how incredibly accomplished he was. For lovers of a certain kind of kitsch, I can also highly recommend Frontiere's two late fifties albums of so-called Exotica, which take things to extremes that perhaps not even Les Baxter could have imagined. One of the highlights of this set for lovers of things like isolated scores is the really fascinating commentary by Reba Wissner on the pilot for The Unknown, a proposed spinoff to The Outer Limits that never materialized, and which was reworked as the final episode of the first season, slightly retitled as The Forms of Things Unknown. Wissner is a Frontiere archivist and goes into some detail on Frontiere's score for the pilot, as well as playing some never before heard cues, which may suffer from poor sound quality but which are invigorating nonetheless.

Another unfortunate absence is that of cinematographer Conrad Hall, who gave a number of first season episodes an indelible "look" which instantly became a hallmark of the series. There are passing attempts in the second season to recreate some of the Expressionism of the first season, but the bulk of the episodes feature much more traditional framing and lighting. For all of the real and/or perceived deficits, however, the second season has at least a couple of interesting episodes aside from The Demon With a Glass Hand, including the rather heartfelt two part The Inheritors. There are also some undeniable lower points during this half season, but even some of those can provide some fun "trivia" datapoints, including a relatively rare chance to see the real life "Baby June" from Gypsy as the middle aged wife of Eddie Albert in an episode which takes the "misbehaving pet rock" conceit (as I jokingly termed it) of an episode in season one and transfers it to misbehaving tumbleweeds.

A lot has been made over the years concerning a perceived connection to Star Trek The Original Series, and while that connection includes everything from production personnel to props, a cursory glance at three of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review may indicate that there were more obvious tethers as well.

The Outer Limits: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Outer Limits: Season Two is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.34:1. The overall quality of the video presentation this season may be just slightly less consistent than in the first season, but I'd argue that at least some of the variances are due to an increased use of stock footage, which I assume was necessitated by smaller budgets. The actual set bound material tends to be very much in line with the general excellence of the first season presentation, while some of the outdoor location footage can be just a bit less well detailed and with less appealing contrast. There are a number of very small signs of age related wear and tear. The entire presentation has a very healthy organic appearance.

The Outer Limits: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the first season, all the episodes in this set feature DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono audio. The show is really talky a lot of the time, and the mono track more than capably supports all of the dialogue. Sound effects can be a little less convincing at times, and I am just not as much of a fan of the music in this season as I was for the first season, but it also sounds generally full bodied. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Outer Limits: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Soldier - Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow


• Cold Hands, Warm Heart - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam


• Behold Eck! - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner


• Expanding Human - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner


• Demon With a Glass Hand - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam


• Five TV Spots (SD; 4:36)

Disc Two

• Cry of Silence - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Gary Gerani


• Cry of Silence - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner


• The Invisible Enemy - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam


• Wolf 359 - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Craig Beam


• I, Robot -Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow


• The Inheritors: Part 1 - Audio Commentary by Film Historians Gary Gerani and Steve Mitchell


• ABC New Year's Eve Promo (SD; 00:43) stems from 1999.

Disc Three

• The Inhertors: Part 2 - Audio Commentary by Film Historians Gary Gerani and Steve Mitchell


• Keeper of the Purple Twilight - Audio Commentary by Film Historian David J. Schow


• The Duplicate Man - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas


• Counterweight - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner


• Creature Features (SD; 2:42) features David J. Schow discussing The Outer Limits at 50.

Disc Four

• The Unknown (HD; 46:24) is the unsold pilot for a spinoff series, and presents an alternate version of the final episode of season one of The Outer Limits.


• Please Stand By (HD; 44:16) is the pilot for the series, which was slightly rejiggered to become The Galaxy Being from season one.


• The Premonition - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Tim Lucas


• Please Stand By - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Eric Grayson


• The Unknown - Audio Commentary by Film Historian Reba Wissner


• 12 TNT Promos (SD; 22:53)


• David J. Schow - Showtime Interview (SD; 22:45)


• Penn & Teller - TNT Host Segments (SD; 20:41)


• Cliff Robertson - Full TNT Interview (SD; 36:05)


• Joseph Stefano - Full TNT Interview (SD; 1:04:47)


• Joanna Frank - Full TNT Interview (SD; 21:02)


• TNT Interview with Casting Director Meryl O'Loughlin (SD; 23:44)


• Interview with Writer Anthony Lawrence (HD; 9:14)


• The Museum of Television & Radio's William S. Paley Television Festival (SD; 1:13:09) stems from 2000.


• Project Unlimited (SD; 9:58) features David J. Schow discussing the fabricators of some of the "bears" seen in the series. This has some great archival footage which should delight diehard fans.


• What's New on ABC? (SD; 6:32) is part of a 1963 promo with Edie Adams. This is anamorphically stretched, but I for one would have loved to have seen the entire special, not just the few minutes devoted to this series.


• The Outer Limits Phenomenon (SD; 12:08) is an archival promotional piece with (hilariously) Mike Rowe and Eleanor Mondale hosting a special devoted to the reboot.

The Outer Limits: Season Two Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was kind of gobsmacked to hear Reba Wissner mention that Dominic Frontiere's archives are kept at the University of Wyoming, since my family has a long multigenerational history with that institution and there is in fact a rather sizable foundation bearing my surname that one of my uncles bequeathed to it to help minority students get help with tuition. As his heir, I'm privileged to get the quarterly thank you notes from the scores of kids this money has aided. Just recently, a Facebook group devoted to legendary movie stars also posted a letter Barbara Stanwyck sent to the University of Wyoming along with a ton of scripts, so I might jokingly state that it sounds like Laramie may be the place to go for Hollywood ephemera these days. That personal connection aside, while this second season has probably undisputed quality deficits, it still has at least one iconic episode in The Demon With a Glass Hand, and I'd argue that the supplements on this set trump the excellent bonus features on the first season Blu-ray release. With caveats noted, Recommended.