Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'The New Breed'

 Let's round out the Top 10 Highest Rated Episodes with a Season 1 favorite.

It's a tale of hubris, desperation and reality setting in!

In 'The New Breed,' a Scientist - John Boy from 'The Waltons'- has invented nanites that can remove impurities and cure disease!

The catch- he has to wait for all of that boring testing first.

His fellow Professor is getting married to his Sister.

What great news!

He then finds out that he has Cancer and it is nearly impossible to treat.
What bad news!

He's got so much to live for.

He asks the guy to try out the nanites on him.

No such luck.

Desperately, he sneaks into the lab and injects himself.

The cancer goes away and his body improves, as shown by his increased fitness, no longer needing glasses and being able to hold his breath for a long, long time.

Unfortunately, the nanites don't stop there.

They give him gills, seeing the earlier exercise as a thing to improve on.

They try to deactivate them, but they won't stop working 'until they are done.'

The nanites morph his body, giving him strange coverings that act as protection against further medical intervention.

The duo can't see a way out and he finally asks his Brother-in-Law to kill him.

He does and the research is destroyed (understandably)...but his now-former fiancée seems to have them!

The End.

Body Horror on full display here and I'm all for it.

I both love and loathe Body Horror.  I definitely find what my limits are- usually eye and mouth stuff- but I love it all the same.

This one builds it up nicely, setting up the context in Act 1, building up to the reveal in Act 2 and going hog wild in Act 3.

The man grows eyes in the back of his head!

The actual Story of the Episode is a good one too, as you can completely understand why the guy would take the risk.
You're with him when things are going amazingly.  You empathize when things start to turn.

His poor fiancée has no idea about any of this and now she's got it.  All of the notes and research are destroyed too- whoops!

Sadly, I don't think that there's a follow-up here.

It's easy to see why this one is so highly-rated as it delivers on the promise just enough to freak you out, but also not going so far as to turn him into some sort of 'evolved man of the future' or something.

It's so good that- like most things in the '90s- it was immortalized as a Trading Card!

Next time, I take a different approach to these and cover the original Series for a bit.  Don't worry- there's some overlap to cover in the future.  See you then...

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'The Light Brigade'

 A rare Sequel in this otherwise self-contained Series.

We return to the World of Humans vs. Aliens in this Episode.

In deep space, a human warship is traveling towards the alien home planet when it comes under attack!

There are only a few survivors, specifically Will Wheaton, Robert Parrick and another guy in the Engine Room.

They keep the ship going, as they plan to drop a big-ass bomb on the alien home world!

The group is joined by Graham Greene, who also survived.  

They work towards the front to keep the ship going and arm the bomb.
They lose the wounded guy along the way.

They are dealing with radiation sickness (from the damaged generators), but they must keep going.

Intrigue builds as well, as they talk about the aliens using spies.
Patrick notes that he was freed from a Prison Camp.

As it turns out, Patrick is an alien spy!  He was replaced after the events of Quality of Mercy.
He is trying to arm the bomb, but Wheaton tries to escape with the key.

He manages to kill 'Patrick' and releases the bomb.

Someone cuts open the shaft and Will realizes that he's dropping the bomb on Earth (as Patrick turned the ship around while the others were unconscious).

Whoops.  The End.

An upgraded version of a classic Bottle Episode of the Series.

This one builds upon that concept and raises the stakes.
It's about as bad as of an Ending- at least as far as Earth is concerned.

This one is done with zero aliens (save for a tease of a reveal near the end) in this one.
In their place, we get some nice, CGI shots of the ship and other digital effects.

They aren't mind-blowing, but they are good for their time and not distractingly bad.

The Ending is a point of contention, as some people love the bleak nature of it.
It is clever- no question.
Should Wheaton have figured out that something was off when he dropped the bomb after trying to stop Patrick from dropping it?  Probably.

I think the point is that the blind pursuit of heroism is a bad thing and that's what he does.

No matter how you feel, don't fight about it.

Next time, we get to the final Episode in the Top 10.  A man seeks a cure and it goes horribly wrong.  See you then.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Dead Man's Switch'

 Another trip to the 1990s Sci-Fi/Horror Anthology Show.

In this Episode, we see a tale that might have been the (partial) inspiration for a popular ABC Show made less than a decade later.

In 'Dead Man's Switch,' we first see a Helicopter fly to an Arctic Base.
If your first thought is 'This is probably Stock Footage from John Carpenter's The Thing,' then you are correct!

A guy is left down in a Bunker and told that he must push a button every 24 hours to keep a doomsday weapon from going off.

Aliens are coming and he's a backup to- essentially- avenge the Earth.

He's left alone with just this guy sometimes doing seamless video calls to the Bunker.

...but he's not alone.

Four other Countries- including Russia, South Africa, South Korea and, I think, Australia- have people manning (or woman-ning their respective switches.

Any one push will stop them all, but one must happen!

To keep from getting Lost in desolation, our Hero starts to flirt with and falls for the Russian lady.

They actually tease the idea of nudity here, but nothing comes of it.
Given how superfluous it is throughout the first 6 Seasons, that's odd.

Things get serious between them, as they even have a date night.

Can you imagine romancing someone solely through a screen because you're stuck inside?  True Sci-Fi, right people who lived through 2020-21?!?

As time goes by, news gets sparser and what they get doesn't sound good.

It gets worse when the other people in their Bunkers start to die!

One is by what could be an accident, as is the second.
The third, however, is much more overt!

Will they keep pressing the button?
To find out, stream it now.

A really strong case for how you can make a great Story by omitting so many details.

The best example I can give of this is Pontypool, which constantly does Tell, Don't Show...but is somehow really great for doing so.
Like this Episode, they describe things that would be hard to match how we picture them happening.

This one takes 5 people away from the World and then puts them in charge of its safety.
They never break from the Bunker setting until the ending reveal.

We know what they know and it's so good for doing so.

Our Lead- James LeGros (the new Mike in Phantasm II)- is quite good here in a Role that could easily be under or overplayed.

With all of that said, no amount of TV Shows or Movies can make THIS look anything but unpleasant!

Next time, we get a rare Outer Limits Sequel.  It's also to one of the Episodes in the Top 10 ranked Episodes as we get to #9.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Vanishing Act'

 What if you couldn't stay where you are trying to be?
What if you couldn't stay what TIME you are trying to be in?

That's the question raised in...

In 'Vanishing Act,' a man- John Cryer- goes out to the Store on New Year's Eve 1949.

He sees a flash and his car goes off the road.

He's picked up the next morning and goes home, only to find out that it is New Year's Eve 1959 now.

Huh?!?

A Doctor is now help, as his body shows no signs of aging or trauma.

He doesn't have amnesia and that can't explain 10 years away!

He falls asleep in their home and wakes up, only to find that it is now New Year's Eve 1969!

His Wife remarried a few years earlier (to a damn Hippie!) and he has a son, since the duo *celebrated* his return last time.

To find any help, he finds the Doctor from 1959 at a Vietnam War Rally (it's opposed to it) and he's older now.

Still no luck- see you in 1979!

During his abrupt trips, he sometimes has flashes of what happened.

He remembers falling in a pool and seeing strange creatures.

He gets helps from Hippie Husband and his now Adult Son.

He eventually has to sleep, but they film things this time.

In 1989, things have changed- Hippie Husband is dead and the Wife is now an expert- and they find out the (bizarre) truth.

Weird aliens bonded with his body and every trip back home to report in creates the 10 year jump.  Something something worm holes.

The Wife gets the being to agree to let him go and he's back in 1949 to try again!
The End.

A bad case of the Quantum Leaps!

This is an odd premise and it needs many things to work.

The main thing is really genuine Actors and, most importantly, a strong Lead to anchor it.  Cryer absolutely delivers.

If you only know him from Superman IV or Two and a Half Men, think again.  He can really act and he's really motivated here.

The Special Effects here are minimal and maximized for effect.  You see enough to know that weird stuff is going on, but not so much that the game is given away.

It's nice to see a sweet and happy Ending for a change too.  They're usually bittersweet at best.
Just enjoy it now, because I know one of the more famous Bad Endings is coming up in this Top 10...

Next time, we get a proper Alien Episode and another one about the Military.  Will there be less Body Horror in this one?  See you then...

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits- 'Quality of Mercy'

 A famous Episode of this Revival gets its due.

Time to explore...

In 'Quality of Mercy,' we get the cruelest of all Bottle Episodes.

A Space Soldier (Robert Patrick) is captured and thrown in a cell with a woman Prisoner.

They're both held by some powerful Aliens that are trying to destroy humanity.

He feels for her after he learns that she's being experimented on.
They are trying to turn her into one of them!

He knows that he has to expedite their escape!

He can get into the vents, but getting anywhere else is another matter!

Meanwhile, the poor lady gets more and more deformed by the experiments.

Can he save her?!?

His attempts continue to fail, ending with him getting a wounded leg and losing one of his hands to an alien!

She asks him to kill her, but he can't bring himself to do that.

Instead, he gives her hope- all that he can, at least.

He tells her about an Earth Fleet hiding and preparing to attack the alien home world.  She thanks him for this.

The Guard enters and this time she doesn't fight him.

She reveals that they have been transforming her- turning her BACK into one of them.
He just gave away Earth intel that they needed!

Whoops!

The End.

Wow.  That one was something!

It's a great example of how you can do so much with so little.

We get two people in a Cell.
We get weird little puppet creatures.
We get one big alien in a suit.

That's it.

In spite of that, they milk so much emotion, drama and intrigue out of things.
It's a master class in minimalist execution.

The twist is contentious as some people go 'I figured it out right away.'
If you did, more power to you.  You still got to enjoy the Episode.

It's a must-see for fans of the Show- no question.

Now why did they pose for this?

Next time, we jump to Season 2 and a Time Jump is part of the Plot.  What happens when you're gone?  See you then...

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Patient Zero'

Another Time Travel Episode makes the Top 5 Highest Rated Episodes.

How does this one match up?

Let's find out in...

In the Year 2001, a man (Michael Rooker) kills a Doctor with a poisoning glove and then jumps into a portal (right in front of an oncoming truck).

He jumps back to the Future- 2015!

That world was devastated by a virus and he's trying to stop the Patient Zero from making it happen.

Time is literally running out- or, to be more accurate, resources are running out.

This might be his last trip as they find the *real* Patient Zero and he's dumped into a pile of trash back in 2001.

The arrival goes poorly as he's bit by a car and then meets a woman, who helps him.

She's Patient Zero.
He's there to kill her, but they bond over shared trauma (both lost spouses).

Now he's determined to simply stop her from getting infected and becoming Patient Zero.
He shows her the truth via his very 2015 Smart Phone of exposition.

However, he's created a causality loop.

His arrival causes HIM to be infected by all 3 necessary carriers (his arrival, the Doctor and her).
He lets his companion kill him and seemingly save humanity.

The End.

A low-fi Drama that fits the Show's Themes just enough.

The heart of this Story is Sci-Fi as it involves Time Travel and a vague 'super virus.'
Beyond that, it could be any drama.

We're also in Season 7 (yes, a Season 7 Episode is the #1 worst and the 5th best), so the Budget is a bit lower and there's no tacked-on nudity (these ran on regular TV).

Rooker is the hear of this and he really carries this one well.  He goes from being gruff to understanding to outright nice.  His whole arc- working hard to stop the cause and then tragically becoming it- is a good one.

Tanya Allen as the would be Patient Zero is good here, but she doesn't get as much to do.  She makes you feel for her, which is the key to this whole thing.

The final twist works because it was built up subtly (like the first infection).  This one, as mentioned, is right on the edge of fitting the Show's feel.

Let's not make things awkward as we leave now...

Next time, the 6th highest rated Episode is from Season 1.  It's from the Director of Species 3, so...color me cautious.

Forgotten TV: The Outer Limits - 'Decompression'

 We're still in the Top 5 here with The Outer Limits.

Does this one deliver as well as the last ones?

In 'Decompression,' a man- Bruce Boxleitner- is a Senator who just won his first Presidential Primary.

What could go wrong?

A mysterious woman- CCH Pounder- appears on his plane and tells him that he'll die in less than an hour.

His plane will crash!

The catch: nobody can see her when he calls in help.

She keeps appearing to him, but him talking to her behind closed doors is worrying people.

It gets worse as he doesn't have the panache that Sam on Quantum Leap has with this.

Pounder says that she's a Time Traveler (another one!) who is appearing only to him to keep him alive, in order to save the future.

Also on the Plane is a Reporter, who is quick to jump on what appears to be the Senator having a breakdown in mid-air.

Is he correct?

As the ticking clock winds down, Boxleitner is convinced that the only way to survive is to shoot out the window and take a leap of faith!

He does it, whereupon Pounder reveals that HE was the future Dictator and she was sent back to stop him.
He crashes to his death, surprisingly not looking like what happens when you spill an entire tray of lasagna!

A dark version of Quantum Leap that I'm all on board for.

This is a nice example of how there's still good Episodes buried deep in the run of this Show.  We're in Season 6 and this is really good.

Boxleitner is good as a Politician that seems good...to a point.  With a different Actor, it might not have worked.
He would have seemed either too evil or too good.

CCH Pounder is great too, being menacing and helpful in alternating lines/Scenes.

This is about corrupt Politicians, so it will always be topical (as long as we still have Elections).  This is from 2000, so any similarity to real people now is just a coincidence.

Even so, this was a good Episode and I'm looking forward to seeing how the Top 10 rounds out.

Next time, an Episode about Time Traveling (yes, again), causality loops and...a Pandemic.  I'm really glad that I got back into this Show in 2026 and not 2020!