Customer Reviews

Outer Limits: Duplicate Man [VHS]

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This episode is too ambitious for its own good, but has a lot to recommend it.

Alien anthropologist/zoologist Ron Randell illegally imports an exceptionally xenophobic and paranoid alien creature, the Megasoid, to Earth for study. The highly intelligent and even more lethally aggressive creature escapes, going into hiding to complete its reproductive cycle. Megasoids reproduce in the thousands, and decimate virtually all other species on the planets they inhabit, so it's safe to say Randell is not too happy about this turn of events. He can't go to the authorities, and isn't about to get himself ripped to bits by the nesting murderous mommy cleaning up his own mess.

So, going on the philosophy that, if one crime didn't work out well, surely two will work out even worse, Randell performs another illegal act and calls in some favors. He gets a clone made of himself, programmed to hunt down and kill the savage alien beastie. Clones have been outlawed on Earth for some time, because they have a tendency to want to replace their originals once their predetermined job is accomplished (you've all seen Blade Runner).

So far, so bad. But the fit really hits the shan when the hunted Megasoid informs Randell's clone that he's a clone, and then Randell has two problems for the price of one: the wounded Megasoid is still on the loose, and now his other self is eager to get Randell out of the picture and move in with Mrs. Randell.

This episode falters from excess business. Too many sci-fi elements are thrown at the viewer too fast, making the world of this story hard to identify with. Additionally, Randell is a wooden performer, and the other principals in the story seem to be acting in a completely different melodrama style, which creates some unintentionally funny moments. And Harry Lubin's futuristic electronic score, that worked so well for "Demon With A Glass Hand," in this story only further alienates the audience from this already too alien Earth.

However, the Megasoid is pretty cool. He's overused, making his monkey suit show too much at the seams, looking rather like an eagle-headed gorilla with enormous mole claws. The opening scenes of the Megasoid hiding in plain sight in a museum are wonderful - too bad the rest of the episode isn't quite up to the same caliber.

"The Duplicate Man" is one complex story set in the near future. I'll try to keep this short.

A Megasoid, killer beast from beyond, has escaped from our hero's lab and is hiding in a museum display. Too chicken to kill the beast himself, our now reluctant hero has an illegal duplicate made. Complete with lapel-less suit and cap gun, our duplicate hero meets, shoots, but fails to kill the Megasoid. Meanwhile, our real reluctant hero has trouble with the wife and is forced into a confrontation with the Megasoid and his estwhile duplicate. After a lot of stalking, snoring, and finally shooting, he stumbles back into his living room with his now happy wife. But is he the duplicate or the real thing?

Whew, and that description does not include two sub-plots that really lead nowhere.

Although I admire the ambition shown in the story, it's just way too cluttered to really work. Too many ideas and too much talking de-rail what could've been a classic episode had the writers kept the focus on either the Megasoid or the duplicate.

On the positive side, the Megasoid is an interesting creation and I swear it was used briefly in the Star Trek pilot, "The Cage" (a scene not used in "The Menagerie"). The fact that this beast would hide in plain sight is facinating. There is also a 'twist' ending which is kinda nice, though nothing to write home about.

However, the limited budget shows up in the gun the duplicate uses. It's basically a revolver with two AA batteries taped to it.

All in all, this is not an episode worthy of your collection. But it does have a few nice points to it. Check it out on tv, but don't spend any money on it.

The year is 2025 and humans have expanded across the stars, exterminating all life forms that the explorers have encountered. All that is left are museum exhibits of the creatures and the story opens with a band of teenage students being taken on a tour of the museum. The profit motive still exists, so crime has not been eliminated and Henderson James has smuggled a living Megasoid to Earth. The Megasoids are very dangerous creatures, they are extremely intelligent and their goal is to kill humans. As a consequence of this danger, the act of smuggling a Megasoid is a capital offense, so Henderson must do everything he can to keep the existence of the creature secret.
When the Megasoid escapes, it must be hunted down, but Henderson lacks the courage to do it, so he seeks out a renegade scientist that is willing to create a duplicate of him. The technology exists to create the duplicates, but it is heavily regulated and the law is that the duplicate must be destroyed after only a few hours. Duplicates lack the memory of the original, but over time they become more and more like their original.
After a few initial errors, both Hendersons are hunting down the Megasoid and one of them is killed. The remaining one manages to kill the Megasoid but the remaining Henderson then dies at midnight. For the scientist, unwilling to risk the possibility that the duplicate will live, incorporated a poison into the design that would automatically kill it.
While there is a lot of interesting philosophy in this episode, for example the acts of exterminating other species and creating duplicates for the sole purpose of carrying out the tasks you abhor, it is all poorly done. The Megasoid costume makes it look like a cheap "Chickenman" and its' actions when it attacks a human look more like an energetic back rub. The psychological tension between Henderson's wife and the two versions of Henderson are strained and artificial. This could have been a deeply moving episode; the last member of a species is killed yet there is no mention of remorse or concern. The theme of species death is so much better handled in the episode of the Star Trek original series called "The Man Trap."