Forgotten TV: 'The Outer Limits' Did 'The Host' in 1995?!?

 Let's take a look at another Episode of The Outer Limits curated by someone back in 2005.

As always, the Theme is 'Death & Beyond.'

What happens when your body can be recycled...by Aliens?!?

The year is 1995.

We have made First Contact with an Alien Race.

They appear on TV with an odd request- they want our dead bodies!

As it turns out, these are aliens made out of some sort of energy that can't live very long (about 2 years) without a host body.

With their planet gone, they made a deal with Earth to let them be reborn in our dead bodies.

'Bubba' here doesn't like his job, but hopes to use their technology to eventually deal with death.

He visits with his friends- James and Karen, a married Couple- and they discuss his job.

Nothing bad so far.

Later, he gets a call from James and learns that Karen was killed in a car accident (that he survived).

He begs his friend to get her as a Host body, but he initially resists.

He's guilted into it and now Karen (Rae Dawn Chong) lives...but also not really.

Even though he asked his friend to get her revived, James now can't accept this!

Talk about a bad friend!

'Bubba' suspects that the Aliens are up to something.

This is amplified after James tells him about 'strange stuff' he saw and then later commits suicide.

He tries and fails to keep his friend from the Donor List as he investigates a site.
Who does he see?

Why it is James, of course.

He's now one of the Aliens and shows him the truth: all of the secrecy was about them building a small-scale version of their home planet as a kind of Museum/reminder.

They will soon integrate fully with humanity in the coming generations...and it will all be peaceful.

Aw.
The End.

How nice- we don't get a dark, twist ending here.

To be fair, this Episode is literally the 4th one aired (no idea on actual production order, of course), so maybe they got more reliant upon that.

This is a good Episode that deals with lots of moral quandaries.

Why do we care if our dead or now someone else?
Why do we want them back, but then get upset when they are back?
Is there more to us than just our flesh and blood?

As mentioned in the Title, this one is VERY similar to the Plot of 'The Host' by Stephanie Meyer.
That Book was released in 2008 (The Film in 2013) and features a race of Aliens doing the same thing, but as a plan for conquering us.

Good thing this one had the good Ending, or it would be exactly the same!

If you are thinking about checking this Show out again (or for the first time), this one is super early in the run and quite good.

As for me, I'm just reminded of how much I DO NOT miss Zoom Calls.

Turn down your ring light, Steve!!!

Next up, a different tale about bringing the dead back.  Will this one end as happily?  See you then...