My Top Ten Favorite Outer Limits (1995) TV Episodes

There were two editions of the Outer Limits TV series. The first series ran two seasons from 1963 to 1965. The second series ran seven seasons, from 1995 to 2002, with 152 episodes.

I have mixed feelings about the 1995 series. The episodes range from very good to very poor. But mostly, almost all of the episodes have a plot twist ending, but one that is incredibly depressing. A typical episode ends with something like, ” . . and it turns out the aliens have been one step ahead and Earth is destroyed.”

That said, about a dozen of the episodes have a happy ending, or at least not a terribly depressing ending. Here are my top ten favorites, listed by the order in which they appeared.

Note: See https://jamesmccaffreyblog.com/2016/08/01/3781/ for my top ten favorite episodes of the original 1963 Outer Limits series.

1. “The Message” (season 1, episode 17). A deaf woman has a surgical operation and gains hearing. But she hears strange voices that nobody else can hear. It turns out the messages are coming from aliens whose spaceship is out of control and headed to the Sun. Earth builds a device according to the aliens’ instructions and the aliens are saved. Grade = B.

2. “Resurrection” (season 2, episode 2). All humanity is gone and only a handful of military robots, and a few science robots remain. The science robots want to repopulate the Earth with humans, using DNA cloning. The military robots don’t want humans. The science robots succeed. Grade = B+.

3. “I Hear You Calling” (season 2, episode 4). A news reporter woman overhears a plot to “remove” certain terminally ill people. Aliens with purple eyes are behind the plot and they vaporize several people. But it turns out the aliens are good and the vaporization actually transports the sick humans to another planet where they can be cured. Grade = B.

4. “From Within” (season 2, episode 13). Miners accidentally uncover ancient worm-like parasites. The parasites quickly take over the nearby town, controlling their human hosts. Only one mildly retarded man is immune. He determines that the parasites must hide from sunlight during the day in the mine. He blows up the mine entrance and the parasites all leave their hosts and die. The town is saved. Grade = B.

5. “Falling Star” (season 2, episode 19). A pop singer whose career is fading decides she will commit suicide. A girl from the future stops her. In the future, music has been effectively outlawed. Future police show up to force the singer to commit suicide so that the future isn’t changed. But the singer avoids this by weirdly taking over the body of her dead friend, and the future is changed for the better. Grade = B.

6. “Awakening” (season 3, episode 10). A woman who cannot experience emotions has an experimental chip implanted, and now she can feel emotions. But aliens kidnap her. She discovers the aliens are all fake, in an elaborate scheme by a rival company to drive her insane and discredit the experimental chip. Grade = B.

7. “Double Helix” (season 3, episode 12). A biochemist experiments on himself with a new drug. It mysteriously causes him to seek out students who meet high mental and physical standards. The group is directed to an alien spacecraft in a remote location. They all decide to enter the ship and travel to an exciting, optimistic future. Grade = B+.

8. “Music of the Spheres” (season 3, episode 14). A mysterious sound becomes insanely addictive to anyone who hears it. But listening causes terrible skin changes. It turns out the sound was sent by aliens. The skin changes eventually create a protective shell on people to protect them from an upcoming massive change to the Sun’s radiation. Humanity is saved. Grade = A-.

9. “Rite of Passage” (season 4, episode 8). In the future, very few people are left, and they coexist with mysterious aliens. A young couple has a baby but an alien named Mother wants the child. It turns out that humanity caused itself to go extinct, and the aliens are good — they created humans by cloning DNA and are helping to repopulate the planet. Grade = B.

10. “Replica” (season 7, episode 7). A scientist clones his terminally ill wife. But the ill wife miraculously recovers. The clone wife looks like she may try to kill the real wife. But the scientist clones himself and the two couples live happily ever after. Grade = B.

Honorable Mentions

11. “Valerie 23” (season 1, episode 2). Valerie 23 is an android/robot that is being developed by the Innobotics Corporation. She is designed to be attractive, helpful (really, really helpful), and a perfect companion for Frank, a disabled man. Valerie 23 does not appreciate Frank’s relationship with his human physiotherapist Rachel. Valerie 23 tries to kill Rachel, but she does not succeed. Grade = B-.

12. “The Choice” (season 1, episode 6). A young girl has telekinetic powers. Her parents hire a nanny who also has powers. Government agents are hunting all the mutants to perform experiments. The young girl, the nanny, and the parents all escape to a secret sanctuary for mutants. Grade = B-.

13. “Stream of Consciousness” (season 3, episode 5). In the future, all humanity has a neural implant that was intended to do good. But the AI controlling the system has enslaved everyone. Only one man, who has a brain injury, is not part of The Stream. He manages to destroy the AI and humanity is freed. Grade = C+.

14. “Abduction” (season 7, episode 16). An alien kidnaps five high school students, and tells them that one of them must die — and they must pick the one (otherwise the alien will kill all five of them). The five students refuse to cooperate, but then one guy student breaks ranks and points to a very religious girl. The alien kills her. But it turns out the alien was good. He knew that the one guy student was planning a mass shooting, and this was a lesson about the value of life. The girl is restored to life, and the guy student turns his gun over to the police. Grade = C+.