One of my favourite opening narration from season 1 ("Throughout history compassionate minds have pondered this dark and disturbing question: what is society to do with those members who are a threat to society, those malcontents and misfits whose behavior undermine and destroy the fundations of civilisation...") but once again, a good story—about the death penalty question—badly translated to the screen. The female lead played by Olive Deering—Alfred Ryder's sister—is a major flaw because she doesn't fit the role ("Open the window, Ben, you smell bad when you lie...") and seems out of her field. Another classic one that is sabotaged by a dull direction. A morbid leaning is implicit due to certain evidences: a Western film ghost town called Morgue (California) right in the middle of Vasquez Creek, and a scientist named Grave—who notices that fact. By pushing an ant out of a house's beam, Grave unconsciously deflowers the ending to the audience; during Act IV, he will flatten a Zanti out with a stone to save the scary woman. This is the first red line episode (also see "The Chameleon"). The Zantis produce cats' cries when they are gunned down by the militaries. At the end of the massacre, General Hart concludes: "We let loose the dogs of war." The moral of the story is rather too simplistic: Earthmen are natural-born executioners or if you like the Zanti Commander's version: "You are practice executioners, we thank you." In this Joseph Stefano's ethnocentric script, the Earth means the U.S.A. which allows him to denounce and editorialize, as for the case of "Nightmare". Only the runaways loosers characters which are equivalent to the Zanti misfits—special mention for Bruce Dern (an ex-regular one from "Stoney Burke")—redeems the piece (two hand-held camera shots sum them up: the fence's breaking out and the frightening female's escape). Some music comes from "Stoney Burke's Point of Honor". This is the first episode where you can hear an original alien language ("Lanz trinsini lobe zan a mang lis lanz ob") that is translated by a computer a la "Galaxy Being", and, the first one where alien inhabitants come from mutated insect origin: ants with human faces to show a sign of intelligence—in three other episodes, there are superior animal forms of life: "ZZZZZ" (bee origin), "The Children of the Spider County" (spider origin) and "Second Chance" (bird origin). One car shot of the odd couple is recycled in "Production and Decay of Strange Particles" but with a contrast filter to create a day for night aka an artificial night. Recommended only for stop-animation fans and insectophiles. Notes: This is the first real part given to Bill Hart after "Hero's Island" and "Stoney Burke". Robert Johnson is the voice of the Radio Newscaster, the Zanti Regent and the Zanti Commander and Vic Perrin is the voice of the Zanti prisoner.