Originally published in Liquid Cheese magazine. Click here to buy a copy.

by Billy Anderson

I'm gonna tell you 'bout Outer Limits, 'cause [Liquid Cheese editor David Kosanke], in issue #5, rated it as a top SFantasy TV show. There were 49 episodes, total, each one like a short, unique feature film. 49 reviews would be way too many, so I'm just gonna review one Special Episode- The Special One.

The Special One is about Mr. Xeno, a man from the planet Xenon, who never says what his first name is. He has hypnotic powers so great, he can force people against their will, to jump out of window, to their deaths, 10 stories below. And, he can walk through walls without breaking them. Reminds you of Count Dracula, hypnotizing people, and walking through a spider web without breaking it. Makes you think of David Nelson's Dracula From Space. Mr. Xeno has a climate control machine that releases Xenon gas, and freezes anything he points it at. Yea, this cat Mr. Xeno is a bad mutha- (Shut yo' mouth!)

The Special One might not be the best Outer Limits, but it is a typically simple Fantasy with a slim plot and dazzling special effects. But, it is also a very carefully written, acted and directed, with a serious message. The film deals with government, and parent-child relationships, specifically every parent’s worst nightmare of their kids turning against them, and possibly even killing them. And patents are warned about bad influences on their kids: rock 'n' roll music, honor movies, and evil cults of all kinds. Especially bothersome to parents is the influence of outsider-friends, and role models such as sport heroes, actors and actress and school teachers.

A father goes to Mr. Xeno, and warns him to stay away from his son. Later, Mr. Xeno goes to tutor Kenny Benjamin. He and Kenny spend a lot of time in the bedroom, where Mr. Xeno exposes his body to Kenny. His parents hear noises from the bedroom, and investigate. Soon, Kenny's father is also warning Mr. Xeno to stay away from his son.

If you didn't know Mr. Xeno was an outer space Men, you'd think he was trying to seduce Kenny sexually. But, this is never specifically shown in the film. Mr. Xeno doesn't show Kenny his cock, but only opens the top of his shirt to show that he breaths through gills. "Just like an amphibian!" exclaims Kenny.

Still, the dialog, and the posing of the characters, all make you wonder about Mr. Xeno, who is portrayed (by Richard Ney) as Hollywood's typical, lisping, swishy faggot. After giving up on the first boy, Mr. Xeno telepaths to Xenon he's going to '"recruit" the next subject. Remember Anita Bryant types warning that homosexuals must recruit new members, since their sex doesn't produce kids.

Arriving at Kenny's house, Mr. Xeno telepaths that he will "penetrate" the next subject (Kenny). When Kenny meets Mr. Xeno, a beeping, metal telepathy/hypnosis sound effect is heard, by them only, although the viewers do hear it, to let us know what’s going on. There is a folk belief that homosexuals have mental telepathy. Later, Kenny starts to leave the house, but hears the telephone beep, and stays home, since he knows that Mr. Xeno is coming.

Kenny's Dad says, about his studying under Mr. Xeno, “I wouldn't like you to bite off more than you could chew." Mr. Xeno replies: “We're certain he can handle it,” as the telepathic signal beeps. Kenny and Mr. Xeno go upstairs to Kenny's bedroom, as the music sounds ominous. This Dracula from Space might suck more than blood!

As Mr. Xeno's influence on Kenny increases, his father, Roy, becomes concerned, and discusses it with Aggie, his wife. Mr. Benjamin (played by MacDonald Carey), is a tall, slim man, who drinks beer from a long necked bottle. Aggie (Marion Ross), tells him, ''watch your back, you're no spring chicken." Chicken, of course, is a slang term, known to bath gays and straights, far an underage boy preyed on by an older homosexual.

Roy stands in the kitchen, holding his beer bottle at about crotch level, and he'd better watch his back, because Aggie stands behind him, shaking a long necked salad dressing battle. Wonder if she uses a strap on dildo on her husband? Well, at least the Benjamin’s do have a good martial relationship. Flirting with each other, she tells him to whistle, and he does. There is a folk belief that a homosexual can't whistle, so Roy proves to his wife, and the viewers, that he's no fag.

In the bedroom, Mr. Xeno stands behind Kenny, while the kid operates the climate control machine. Mr. Xeno looks ahead at the targets, as the machine shoots out its phallic like rays. But, he occasionally glances down, gleefully looking at Kenny's rear end, undoubtedly thinking unseemly thoughts.

Another curious thing is the name of the actor playing Kenny, Flip Mark. A mark is a victim of a con man or prostitute, and flip is very definitely a sexual term. "'On the brink of love I flipped her, and obeyed my heart's command," - song by beatnik scat singer, Brother Dave Gardner. And, remember Flippo, the tumbler on TV’s Real People? He was praised for teaching kids tumbling, but later on, a boy on the team accused him of making sexual advances toward him. And, remember Boy George sang about "tumbling," said to be a slang term for (shut yo' mouth!) Yes, Mr. Xeno wants Kenny to Tumble for him. He wants to Flip Kenny, and make him his Mark!

Kenny's dad goes to the Educational Enrichment Program, to complain about Mr. Xeno, and finds out that the agency does not send tutors into the home. Mr. Benjamin tells them, abut Mr. Xeno, '"He comes... and goes... l meant... he comes and goes!'"

Mr. Benjamin has a showdown with Mr. Xeno, telling him he knows he is an imposter. The buzzing, hypnotic tone starts on the soundtrack, and Mr. Benjamin finds himself being farced against his will, to open a window, and jump to his death, as Kenny stands by, supposedly under the alien's spell.

But, at the last second, Kenny adjusts the climate control machine, Mr. Xeno gasps for breath, and the spell on Kenny's dad is broken. "I'm withdrawing your Xenon," Kenny tells Mr. Xeno. Kenny and his house have been penetrated by Mr. Xeno and the Xenon gas, but now the penetration is withdrawn.

Mr. Xeno tells Kenny that if he had aided the alien invasion, "we'd have made you a god." Conceding defeat he dissolves himself into a bolt of lightning, and passes through a window without breaking it. This Dracula has gone back to Space.

Kenny tells his parents, the climate control machine will have to be fixed to repel a whole army of Xeno men. "Cut off their Xenon supplies." Makes you think of those who advocate castration for sex offenders, doesn't it?

In the past, mainstream women's magazines carried articles, warning mothers how homosexual schoolteachers were a threat to their sons. As late as 1964, when The Special One was first shown, this might have still been possible. But by 1978, when Anita Bryant tried to warn of the danger of gay school teachers, the Gay Rights movement had reached the point where such warnings would not be tolerated in mainstream media.

In a sense, The Special One, could almost be a propaganda film for an Anita Bryant type of crusade. However, the film doesn't totally accept all warnings about homosexuality. Far instance: psychologists have warned that giving your son too much love, and being too close to him, might turn him gay. The Special One clearly refutes this nation.

Kenny is a real golden boy, and his doting parents are clearly gagga over their Special Son. The message of the film seems to be that you can’t love your kids too much. If Kenny’s parents didn't love him like they do, he might very well accept the evil, perverted love offered by someone like Mr. Xeno, or a cult, and turn against them. Even though the Benjamin's love of and pride in their son might seem a little excessive, it is moll a good thing.

Another warning comes from Roy's friend, Joe (played by Bert Freed). He's somewhat shorter and fatter than Roy, and possibly stronger, so he carries a fat brandy bottle, brandy being a stronger drink than the beer the tall, thin Roy drinks from his tall, thin bottles.

Joe tells Roy that the special education program might be bad for Kenny, isolating him from kids his own age, and turning him into a loner. Experts often warn that such social isolation can turn a boy into a homosexual. But, Roy has confidence in his son. "Kenny is well rounded. He can handle it," he tells Joe.

Another important and serious theme of the film is Government: Don't trust it! But, it seems like his parents, and Kenny himself trusts government, without question. There are repeated references from the characters, to "The government," as if anything government does is right. What government? City? County? State? Federal? Probably state and/or federal in this film.

When Mr. Xeno arrives in the Benjamin house, he tells them, "we were... concerned," because the Benjamin's "were... exposed to minor radiation." Roy replies, "The government checked us... for ten years, and we showed absolutely no ill effects." Remember all the reports of "minor" radiation released from atomic plants, and "the government's" assurance to the U.S. public, that the radiation is too little to be harmful?

Mr. Xeno is a pervert, but here he is most perverted! He replies, "It turned out you produced in Kenneth a Mutation Plus ... a product of superior quality in athletics and scholarship..." Mr. Xeno is saying that the radiation did affect Kenny's parents, and caused their son to be a mutant. +hat's the first time h e ever heard of radiation causing a good mutation. Every mutation I've ever heard of from radiation is bad! How perverted can Mr. Xeno get?

When Joe question's Kenny's being in the special education program, Roy replies, "the government behind it," as if it can't be bad if it's from government. When Roy warns the Educational Enrichment Program about Mr. Xeno, he says, "He’ll destroy my son, maybe the government, maybe the whole world!" Again, the government is a good part of life, to Mr. Benjamin. Roy comes home, and tells Mr. Benjamin, "Mr. Xeno is no government representative." I suppose if he were, Roy would think he was OK.

After Mr. Xeno is defeated, Kenny says they will have to turn the climate control machine over to the government. Yes, trust the government to protect you from the aliens. You trusted Mr. Xeno from the beginning, 'cause you believed he was from "the government." After your encounter with Mr. Xeno, who government didn't protect you from in the first place, wouldn't you begin to have a little distrust of "the government*" Viewers with some sense, might view things differently.

The Special One is a slow paced film, but the slow pacing helps to get across its message. Long, moody shots of Mr. Benjamin, spying on Mr. Xeno, then following him to the elevator, then running downstairs to find the elevator empty, then silently riding it back upstairs, help to create a spooky mood. As Mr. Benjamin looks up to a vent on the ceiling of the elevator, you wonder if Mr. Xeno could still be around, but used his magickal vampire powers to become invisible?

And, the shots of Mr. Benjamin, at the bottom of the stairs, seriously studying the situation, as f9e camera slowly zooms upstairs to the bedroom, to where Kenny and Mr. Xeno are, excellently convey the mood of suspicion.

The film's real fault is that it doesn’t have enough story to fill its running time, even with the well done slow pacing. The prologue, with a father confronting Mr. Xeno was added for more running time, but it does help to begin the story and establish the theme. However, the final act, where Mr. Xeno is defeated, is done in slow motion, and this obvious time filling device, causes the film to drag to its conclusion.

Despite this flaw, The Special One is a very well written film, which, along with its fantastic story and special effects, presents some serious themes, and does so very well.