The prologue starts with a long pan shot over the hill and fade over to a gate of a research center (an artificial studio set) named Beekman Hall Electronics Research Division. Scientifical Head Franklin Karlin submits himself to an ID and code check at the gate with two spotlights pointed at him. Perhaps, Charles Haas' rendition to Norco's gate? It's supposed to take place in the desert, according to the cactus? As Plummer, Ikar has a terrible opinion about Earthlings: "The human beings are all-alike, disorganised, indiscipled, wasteful of time and energy, disorderly, illogical." Ikar's assignement is to study human beings' emotions (love, hate, fear, anger, frustration)—very close to Phobos One (see "Controlled Experiment")—for an invasion and to avoid a probable contact in the near future owing to space exploration. Ikar is in love with Plummer's girlfriend and is disoriented to inherit feelings. Without his full psyche, Plummer turns out to be greedy and fanatical and take advantage of a third party's knowledge and alters his relations with his girlfriend that he almost beats—Ikar heals Plummer's bloody wound caused by Janet's self-defense reaction; above all, he is the endoctrinated ally of a foreign power: the useful idiot. Among the two heads, American Cassandra Franklin Karlin is against the device of Plummer for ethical reason—whose mind is taken by the soldiers—unlike financier Mr. Hunt—actor Edward C. Platt plays the same type of stubborn and cynical character as in "The Man With The Power"—who disregards the interest of others (for instance, Janet Lane) and only cares about keeping "the budget down". The key scene remain the typical middle-class picnic between Ikar, in human form (worker uniform and Clarks' British desert boots), and Janet Lane where we learn all about a communist regime from outer space. This hyper-rationalistic and collectivist society "where intelligent beings do not deviate from perfection" is divided in three classes—Ikar paradoxally uses the word "individual" as a synonym for "accomplishment classification": the scientist, the labourer and the soldier; its very structure is based on the brain and the cells. When Ikar shows its real appearance to Janet, she faints because shes witnesses the hideous face of historical and biological materialism. For the anecdote, Ikar doesn't know the meaning of "joking". As in Don Siegel's "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", affection is what differentiates humanity. There's no more question of big labs or fancy power plants during Ben Brady's cut-back season: just watch the cheap installation. Perhaps the best monsters of that season with their fish faces and hyper-evolved skulls a la "Sixth Finger/Chameleon" which wear velvet outfits. Another runaway alien from a totalitarian planet—notice the shot when Ikar (in human form) shamefully smashes an anthill which reminds its own homeland (see "The Children of the Spider County" with the insect slaves society). Ikar sums up its political type of regime like this: "In an orderly society, Mr. Plummer, women have the one function, to produce children." or even frightening: "Those who do not fulfill their function are eliminated!" The well-known idea of exchanging emotions for the intellect—this one retakes the season 1's thesis (from "The Man With The Power/The Sixth Finger") that emotions drive Man unproductive and sink all his attempts to advance—is swiftly developped by the two leads like this: - Ikar: "That's the second time you use that word, what does it mean?... love." - Dr. Plummer: "You don't know?" - Ikar: "It's a new word to me." - Dr. Plummer: "It's the opposite of hate!" - Ikar: "That is also a new word." - Dr. Plummer: "These are the two most profound emotions of all Mankind." - Ikar: "Emotions?" - Dr. Plummer: "Don't tell me you don't know that! What heaven's name, what do you live for?" - Ikar: "Accomplishment!" - Dr. Plummer: "Without satisfaction?" - Ikar: "Knowledge!" - Dr. Plummer: "Without pleasure?" - Ikar: "Conquest!" - Dr. Plummer: "Without hate?" - Ikar: "Energy" - Dr. Plummer: "For what?" - Ikar: "For control." As in "The Special One", a weapon is given to a superior mind (aka a scientist) by an alien—here it is more the knowledge that allows to build a weapon. The writer gives a haircut to Gœthe's Romantic novel via Dr. Plummer, a modern-day Faust who sells his emotions (soul) to an alien scientist (the devil). What can explain the reason why Ikar desires so much to own human emotions is already in "The Children of the Spider County": the dream machine calls it "soul". Ikar displays the behavior pattern of a child that is afraid of his own impulses and the three soldiers can be interpretated as the father figure. There's something strange about Ikar, just look at his behavior when it wanders into the night as a lonely soul and stares at Dr. Plummer's girlfriend. The sybillin title refers to an undertaker's catch-phrase but in the context of Ikar, it "may" explain its determinism: a keeper is a guardian, the contradictory words "purple twilight" are the almighty logos: knowledge that can lead to catastrophies in the wrong hands. Notice the typical 1950's piece of Alexander Calder's artefact hanged in Plummer's lab. Robert Webber's character name makes reference to the Greek mythology and the famous Icarus' Flight. A metaphor that explains the alien character perfectly, in short, Ikar tries to feel at its own risks like Icarus tries to fly. The episode is salvaged by the three cast (Stevens, Webber and Kobe) and the monsters but the story is slow and cliché all the way. Actor Warren Stevens stars in the 1956 "Forbidden Planet". Notes: Stuntman Mike Lane wears Ikar's suit and Hugh Langtry is the Alien soldier #1.