The Meek Shall Inherit
In Portland, Oregon, the aliens have a trial run of their latest plot which is to disrupt Earth's communication systems. The aliens succesfully knock out phone systems on the west coast. The Advocacy discuss the importance of disrupting human communication. They conclude that humans on the large scale- are social animals and rely on their ability to communicate with others. By disrupting their communication, the humans will be vulnerable to the aliens invasion force. The alien saboteurs are ready with their equipment and just need the required power source to complete their mission. The Advocacy tell them to be patient and their soldiers are moving into position to steal the power source they require. Molly Stone- a homeless woman in Portland- witnesses one of her friends, Polito, walking away with two other homeless men. The two men turn out to be aliens and another alien throttles Polito and takes over his body. Stunned, Molly is frozen in fear but quickly realizes to run away. Molly enters Whitewood Sanitarium and Sylvia quickly befriends Molly by defending her against a domineering nurse. In Northern California, a masked intruder clad in black, breaks into the Cottage. Suddenly, Ironhorse kicks the intruder. Ironhorse and the intruder battle furiously until Ironhorse disarms the intruder and pulls off their mask. It turns out the intruder is Sgt. Coleman- a member of Ironhorse's Omega Squad. The two are training and Ironhorse tells her what she could have done better including how she snuck into the Cottage. Harrison is pacing back and forth and asks Norton get an open line to the Pentagon. An annoyed Norton tells him that he's trying but he's going to have to wait because all the phone lines in the West Coast are temporarily knocked out. Ironhorse tells Suzanne that he is displeased with Suzanne's candidates for the Omega Squad. He asks her if she modeled the psychological profile after Rambo. Suzanne smiles and tells him no. She modeled after Ironhorse. At the Portland Truck and Trailer Terminal, the three aliens arrive but are chased away by the guard named Bull. The trio plan to return at night and hijack the truck for the vital power source. And nothig must stand in their way. Back at Whitewood, Sylvia has a major "attack" and pleads for the staff to contact Harrison because she can feel the aliens presence. And she can feel that something is going to happen. They ignore her pleas and sedate her heavily. Molly sees this and sneaks into Sylvia's room and tells her that she believes her. At the Terminal, the aliens return, and avoid Bull- who is walking around the area. Coleman introduces Ironhorse to Cpl. Alexander Stavrakos. Ironhorse reads some facts about Stavrakos' background about how he is 29 and reduced in rank 3 times in the past eleven years. He also discovers that Stavrakos is a believer in life in other planets. Stavrakos tells Ironhorse that this is our planet and he would have a gun to defend it against any extraterrestrial invaders. Norton finds out that the disruption was because of saboteurs unknown. Norton speculates that this is rather suspicious and hints that perhaps they should delve into it to see if it's the aliens. Molly enters Sylvia's room again, and tells her to leave with her. She says that if they leave they can get proof. Sylvia agrees to leave and Molly gets Sylvia out of her straightjacket. Another soldier named Derriman is talking with Ironhorse. The two have been friends since Vietnam and Ironhorse tells him he's handpicking the members of his own Omega Squad and he wants volunteers. After Derriman proves his mettle by throwing Ironhorse- the Colonel tells him that he needs to get rid of the spare tire and to follow Sgt. Coleman's orders. Sylvia and Molly hitch a ride from a trucker and a baker offers Sylvia and Molly some bread. Ironhorse and his squad begin to relentlessly train outside of the Cottage. Harrison gets a call from Whitewood that Sylvia is missing. He is livid at the Whitewood staff and is frantic to find her. Norton agrees to devote all time now to find her. Harrison figures the place to find Sylvia would be Portland since that's where she has been spotted at hitching a ride. Molly shows Sylvia where Polito was possessed. Sylvia recognizes its the aliens and tells Molly to leave because it's a bad place. Harrison and Suzanne realize that Sylvia is frightened to the aliens but it is also drawn to them like a magnet. The two unsuccessfully look for Sylvia. Meanwhile, Sylvia confides to Molly that there are aliens and she can feel them. Molly says if that's what Sylvia thinks it is, then it has to be the truth. Bull enters the dispatcher shack to get the three aliens he warned away earlier. He lifts one up but the alien apparently kills him. His comrades ask him why didn't he possess Bull's body but the alien says Bull's heart just gave out. The truck with the power source will arrive within seven hours. Sylvia and Molly enter the truckyard the aliens are at too. They hide in a giant truck and decide to stay there. Sylvia has told Molly a great deal about Harrison and Molly notices Sylvia is shivering. She assures Sylvia it won't be cold long. "It's not the cold, it's something else," Sylvia trembles. The aliens seek the counsel of the Advocacy and say the bodies they have selected may be unwanted and anonymous but are also unhealthy. The Advocates inform them that their success with retrieving the power source is vital to their mission. Without communications, humanity will collapse internally. The Omega Squad wonder what kind of special operations the Colonel is training them for. Ironhorse- looking at transmissions given by Norton- discovers the alien transmissions originated in Portland. Harrison asks a hooker where a down and out person could go for a meal. She tells them the truckyard where the truckers give free handouts although the guards don't like it. Molly tells Sylvia it's time to go. Sylvia refuses to leave the truck and begs Molly not to leave because she can feel the aliens. Molly leaves and goes to get food, but is confronted by the three aliens. Sylvia witnesses the aliens grabbing Molly and possessing her body. Molly tells the other two aliens that Sylvia and Harrison know about them. They chase Sylvia but she runs away. The aliens decide to get the power source, then Sylvia and then Harrison. Sylvia runs and meets up with an arriving Harrison and Suzanne. The truck arrives and the aliens are ready to hijack it. Norton tells Harrison that Ironhorse is on his way and told them to stay put. Sylvia informs Harrison and Suzanne that she has told Molly all about him. The aliens follow the truck and an apparent homeles person follows them. Trying to save the man, Harrison leaps on him- but the man turns out to be Ironhorse. The aliens are moving to the dispatcher shack. They realize the driver took the keys in with him and they attend to smoke him out. However, they are ambushed by the Omega Squad. One of the aliens is chased by Ironhorse, and he watches as the alien is run over by a truck. On top of a truck, Molly swears that this is the end of Harrison intefering in their plans. Before she can pounce on him, Ironhorse warns Harrison and Coleman shoots a falling Molly. The Omega Squad, Ironhorse, Harrison, Suzanne and Sylvia all are shocked and stare at Molly's remains. With nothing to say, they simply are speechless. COMMENTS: Well-known Star Trek scribe, DC Fontana, penned this episode and the writing is very crisp and William Fruet's direction is among the best of the season. Fontana's script allows the chance for Ann Robinson to shine as Sylvia Van Buren. The friendship Sylvia had with Molly was also touching. Diana Reis was quite effective and it makes Molly's demise all the more tragic. Fontana gives us a chance to show a positive outlook on humanity with the baker being kind-hearted and giving free food to Sylvia and the homeless Molly. It also shows how people disrespect and show no responsibility for the poverty-stricken. Also, this episode had another plus in the introduction of Coleman, Stavrakos and Derriman- the Omega Squad soldiers who all had unique and strong personalities. Richard Chaves had a lot to work with in this episode and we got to see more of his interaction with his soldiers. I also wonder if the line early in the episode with the teenager talking about a nerd named Herbert was a practical joke on Fontana's part directed at WOTW writer/producer, Herbert Wright?
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Harrison and Suzanne protect Sylvia
Norton tells Harrison what's going on
Ironhorse gets his soldiers in place
