YMMV / The Outer Limits (1963) S 2 E 16 "The Premonition"

• Padding:
  • A common criticism of the episode. As David J. Schow writes in The Outer Limits Companion:
    ...the Suspension of Disbelief is wounded by the severe padding. We see doubles for the Darcys running hand-in-hand, back and forth between the airbase and the crash site, no fewer than four times. The camera lingers overlong on still photographs, non-moving tableaus, and Space Age-ese countdowns in both real time and slow motion.
  • Schow also describes the Limbo Being as "totally extraneous". Story editor Seeleg Lester admits that "You didn't need that creature trapped between two worlds, but I brought it in because ABC needed something", referring to the network's mandate that the series feature a Monster of the Week as often as possible.
• Values Dissonance:
  • The Darcys' Lack of Empathy toward the Limbo Being can produce this in some viewers. The Darcys don't even consider trying to help the Being or show any sympathy towards him; they just threaten to set him on fire (forever!), interrogate him, then leave him to his Fate Worse than Death while they escape using the information they forced him to provide.
  • It doesn't help that Jim Darcy's Jerkass tendencies (especially his less-than-ideal behavior around his family) put him in Designated Hero and Unintentionally Unsympathetic territory. As Craig Beam notes in his review of the episode:
    As much as I like Dewey Martin, his Jim Darcy comes off as a bit of a dick when you examine his interactions with his family. After he rigs the seat-belts in the runaway truck, he takes a quick look at his daughter and says, simply and emotionlessly, “All we have now is hope.” A few minutes later, when Linda gives him a last “I love you” before time catches up with them, he doesn’t bother to return the sentiment. After time re-synchronizes and he climbs out of his wrecked X-15, he makes sure somebody puts the fire out before he even bothers to see if Linda survived her car crash. And, most egregiously, he provides The Outer Limits with its first and only count of spousal battery when he “takes charge” of Linda’s hysteria by straight up smacking her across the face.
• The Woobie: If the Limbo Being doesn't qualify as one, no character does.

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