From what I remember there were at least two or three episodes I originally felt were creative and innovative. But apparently I've forgotten the duds. This one, for example. Well, let's take it apart and see what's salvageable.
Our two main antagonists had different approaches to self-improvement: evolution vs. bio-engineering. The idea that evolution means "getting things better" for a species is a common misconception that a good scientist wouldn't hold. Evolution doesn't mean improvement, but adapting to the circumstances. In fact, Hammond points that out, but his argument is just presented as one of the sides of the discussion, when I think, in fact, he nailed it there. If all of a sudden your species has to live outside the water, those who "evolve" by developing the ability to breathe air will survive and let the species continue, otherwise, if such a mutation doesn't naturally occur in the first place, they'll go extinct. So, without the environment pressing the species to change in a certain direction, any mutation is potentially useful or pointless.
WTF? Hammond had needles under his fingernails? I didn't expect that. I didn't like how his descent into madness was simplistically described by Barbara as "he's more machine than human" and that he had lost touch with humanity. He was obsessed, but I could see that kind of obsession in a regular human being as well. Nothing in the story indicated that his obsession would be a consequence of the bio-engineering alterations he had, or that it affected his brain. That being said, Hammond wanting to inject the serum in himself just to see what would happen was ridiculous, but I chalk it up more to bad writing than the character losing mental coherence.
Poor Dr. Cloak. In fiction, using oneself as a guinea pig never ends well. Especially if you are a man. I mean, again, in the realm of fiction, women are shielded against gruesome transformations. I think one of the few shows that dared going there was American Horror Story. Otherwise, usually the woman gets lucky.
Once again, the host's part seems disconnected with the story, which makes me think it was written when the writers had only a general idea of what the story was going to be like. The Host ends mentioning "four lives destroyed," let's see. Hammond, dead. Check. Cloak, dead. Check. Barbara: ascended into a superior being of light: I'm not sure that qualifies as destroyed. Helen: got rid of a lousy husband and inherited the company. So, Barbara won the genetic lottery and Helen, the life lottery. In the end, things were not so bad.
One might argue this is another "technology is bad, stay away from it" kind of episode, but then almost all episodes about technology are like that. Except for a few cases, like Star Trek, when technology does improve everybody's lives and it's not a cautionary tale. A more modern show like Black Mirror repeats the same pessimistic message and people involved with advanced tech usually get the short end of the stick, except that it's a newer show so the issues they cover are more relevant to current times.
Finally, it's not a good thing when you watch an episode and you wish you were watching another one, which you think dealt with the subject in a better way. I recommend watching
The Outer Limits (1995) episode
The New Breed, and you'll see how the changes make much more sense, as they happen for a reason and the story is about nanotechnology instead of magical evolutionary transformations.
But don't give up on the show just yet. I have good memories of
Welcome to Paradox because it dared to risk and ring something different.
Curiosity. I already knew the author A. E. Van Vogt and I knew him from
"The War Against the Rull" and yeah, that too has monsters. Typical 1950s sci-fi space opera with alien monsters.
Another curiosity. I can only imagine the satisfaction for the actor playing that random guard who actually gets lines this time! "Guess what, Erick. You actually have a speaking part this week!" And I felt the actor tried to make his brief moment of fame count.
Research Alpha is not as terrible as an Omega, but perhaps it's a Delta or a Gamma. Well, I don't react to sci-fi monsters very well, so I give this one
4 creepy child-size statues.
