"The Inheritors, Part II"
 
Production Order #45 and Broadcast Order #43
Shooting Days: 28 September-13 October 1964
First Air Date: November 28, 1964
 
Production Credits:
Teleplay
: Seeleg Lester and Sam Neuman
Story: Sam Neuman, Seeleg Lester
and Ed Adamson
Director: James Goldstone
Assistant Director: Robert H. Justman
Director of Photography: Kenneth Peach
Composer: Harry Lubin
Cast of Characters:
Same cast of State characters from Part I
Kim Hector as Johnny Subiron
Suzanne Cupito as Minerva Gordon
David Brady as Daniel Newton Masters
Jon Cedar as Agent Grainer
Jan Shutan as Mrs. Subiron
Joanne Stewart as Miss Steen
Paulie Clark as the Nurse at Children's Hospital
 
Opening Narration:
"The Earth, tumbling grain of sand in the darkness of unending space, plays host to a strange and awful guest, unsought, uninvited, possessor of fearsome power purveyor of dark deed, a relentless traveler on the road to its mysterious goal..."
 
Plotline:
Returning to his hotel room, the "lieutenant" Minns—the holy leader—faces the Feds and runs. Adam Ballard goes straight to a Wichita County's warehouse where he discovers the goal of the chosen ones: a starship has been built to send a group of six crippled children to an alien planet where the atmosphere heals them in order to repopulate a dying civilisation.
 
Closing Narration:
"The Inheritors are on their way. In a universe of billions of stars, there are places of love and happiness. On this Earth, in this spot, magic settled for a moment. Wonder touched a few lives, and a few odd pieces fell smoothly into the jigsaw of Creation."
 
Quote:
"Do you always believe the worst, Ballard? How can you live in a world without faith? (...) Progress, Ballard."
—Lieutenant Philip Minns (Steve Ihnat)
Comments:
This sentence extracts from the opening narration reminds the end of "The Galaxy Being": "The Earth, tumbling grain of sand in the darkness of unending space, (...)". Oddly enough, man of science Adam Ballard is scared by Minns' dual behavior: "You smile at me and I get a chill. You're smilling with a piece of your mind that doesn't belong to you. You lie that way, you cheat that way, steal that way if you have to..." To flee the Feds which fire six bullets, Minns is protected by a portable and unseen force field. Back at Wichita County's warehouse, witty Renaldo puns when he meets Conover: "Hello Compadre... Brothers under the skin now, or is it freak under the skull?" Renaldo calls his force field by his own name: Renaldo's barrier. The ignorance of the aim makes all players (Feds and the four men included) scared by a possible catastrophy, especially Conover who imagines dreadful atrocities. Unfortunately, the starship looks as naive as a mock-up built for a kids' amusement park. Ballard bumps his head against the invisible wall in a ludicrous way and three Feds vainly fire point blank at the barrier. The crippled children calls civilian Minns, the "lieutenant" (meaning the leader-savior—the last name Minns can be interpreted as the word "means" because he is the financial and managing coordinator), which cries when he brings blind Minerva back to his estate car. The most touching moment remain the meeting between lying in the meadow Danny Master—this character of the deaf and mute is played by producer Ben Brady's son: David—and Minns who sits down, picks and blows on a little daisy. As in "Cold Hands, Warm Heart", one character has a blood disease (leukemia): the lad, Johnny Subiron. The three chosen men threaten and rebel against Minns to know the outcome of the "project". Minns sermonizes as a man of Church when he explains the truth—fortunately, Steve Ihnat plays it sober, sharp, elegant, dignified, noble and unemotional: he is, in fact, kindness itself or even a Saint. Adam Ballard relunctantly lets them leave and due to the budget-cost we never see the actual taking off but instead, a smooth dolly out shot of the warehouse conclude the episode. This preachy redundancy part II and its unexpected soft outcome with too many invading Feds, disabled kids, good intentions and bleeding-hearts stretch too much but still above and superior to the average season 2 ones. Find the last used force field (Cf. "Demon With A Glass Hand") and a cure-all plot with a strong messianic overtones about healing the crippled and the helpless ones. As in "The Chameleon", salvation and the road to heaven are outer. The ending encapsulates the peace message of the story.