The Camp (The Outer Limits)
"The Camp" | |
---|---|
The Outer Limits episode | |
Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 7 |
Directed by | Jonathan Glassner |
Written by | Brad Wright |
Production code | 51 |
Original air date | 21 February 1997 |
Guest actors | |
Harley Jane Kozak as Prisoner 98843 | |
"The Camp" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 21 February 1997, during the third season.
Introduction
For the last twelve generations, mankind has been enslaved by an alien race and imprisoned in concentration camps overseen by androids. It is a prequel to a later episode, Promised Land.
Opening narration
“ | Our history is filled with grim reminders of our inhumanity. Armies are crushed, populations ravaged, enemies imprisoned behind walls of stone. But the human spirit is not so easily confined. | ” |
Plot
One woman, Prisoner 98843, dares to challenge the authority of the Commandant. Her desire to be free is pitted against the seemingly invincible alien New Masters. All the prisoners believe the world outside the Camp is uninhabitable by humans. Prisoner 98843 (played by Harley Jane Kozak) discovers that the Commandant and the guards are androids who have received no maintenance for decades and are in desperate need of repair. She mends them from spare parts gleaned from other guards that have ceased to function, and finally forces the Commandant to reveal that the rocket fuel made in the camp is no longer in use by the alien fleet, which has moved beyond Earth.
He has received no communication from his superiors for decades, and has maintained the camp regimen simply because those were his orders. She leads a revolt that overpowers the guards and beheads the commandant. The episode ends with the inmates looking through the open gates at a virgin Earth.
Closing narration
“ | Of all the needs which drive us: hunger, thirst, desire... perhaps the most powerful is the simple need to be free. | ” |
See also
- "Promised Land" episode is a sequel for this film.