The Outer Limits

10 Best Episodes of The Outer Limits - Season 4

Anthology series of composed of distinct story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end, with occasional recurring story elements that were often tied together during season-finale clip shows.

Written by Sophie and last updated on jan 20, 2023.

PS: The following content contains spoilers!

PPS: I will admit that parts of this page was written with the help of AI - it makes my work so much easier to not start from a blank page!

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The Outer Limits - S4E3

#15 - Hearts and Minds (Season 4 - Episode 3)

The mission for Captain Taverner and his squad of North American Federation (NAF) soldiers is simple: search and destroy invading aliens on a distant planet to prevent them from stealing a mineral which is a vital source of energy for earth, and a vital source of profit for the NAF. To guard against infection from the hideous bug-aliens, the soldiers are forced to inject special genetic drugs; however, the mission becomes complicated when Lieutenant Rosen is wounded in a firefight with the aliens. Rosen begins to hallucinate, experiencing disturbing images of the aliens, and when she discovers that her druginjector has malfunctioned, she begins to suspect that the drugs do more than protect the soldiers from infection. Ultimately, Rosen must take command and risk the lives of her soldiers on the hunch that their mission may have more to do with human politics than alien enemies.

The episode was rated 7.73 from 37 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E22

#14 - The Balance of Nature (Season 4 - Episode 22)

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Dr. Noah Phillips (Maurice Godin) was desperate to save his 30-year-old wife, Meredith (Lisa Maris), from a premature death from cancer. He broke the rules and tried out an experimental treatment he had developed with his partner Dr. Don Kingsly (Andrew Airlee). The Cellular Regressor, designed to reverse the effect of age and disease on cells, restored Meredith's health, but only temporarily. After a few minutes, the cancer returned with a vengeance, killing her instantly. Devastated by Meredith's death and his research funds cut off, Noah retires at age 35 to a small town, where he moves next door to a couple in their 60s, Barbara (Barbara Rush) and Greg Matheson (Harve Presnell). Noah learns that Barbara gave up a promising career as a jazz singer to marry Greg, a short-tempered traveling salesman who now beats her. Noah's feelings for Barbara deepen, despite the fact she's old enough to be his mother. He continues his research on the Cellular Regressor, trying to get it to work.

The episode was rated 7.75 from 28 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E12

#13 - Fear Itself (Season 4 - Episode 12)

For as long as he can remember, Bernard Selden (AYRE GROSS) has been haunted by a paralyzing fear. It started when he was six, when he set a fire that killed his four-year-old sister and today, at 27, the fear clings to him like a blanket. But, Dr. Adam Pike (Jeffrey Demunn) has hope for a cure. He has diagnosed Bernard's condition and believes that if he can isolate the part of the brain responsible for fear, the amyglada, he can cure him. The series of injections and radiation designed to build a layer of calcium around the amyglada produces stunning results; Bernard's fear recedes. He even starts a relationship with his neighbor Lisa (Tanya Allen). But there are side effects. Now, Bernard can use his brain to make others feel the kind of crippling fear he used to feel. He is still a prisoner of the past, haunted by images of Mr. Wilkes (Alex Diakun), the owner of the foster home where Bernard's sister died.

The episode was rated 7.83 from 29 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E6

#12 - Relativity Theory (Season 4 - Episode 6)

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Biologist Teresa Janovitch (MELISSA GILBERT) is a civilian among military men, traveling on the Resource Survey Vehicle Cortez to Tau Ceti Prime in search of minerals for an Earth that has squandered its own. Initial signs indicate that the planet is both uninhabited and rich in mineral resources, which could mean a million dollar payday for both the crew and the company that owns the Cortez. But on the first exploration, the crew is attacked by gigantic and apparently primitive aliens. After the command falls to Janovitch, she is overpowered by her crew: Sgt. Adam Sears (Jeremy Ratchford), a veteran of pacification missions on Earth, who favors annihilation of the new race and an ambiguous Corporal Charles Pendelton (Tim Guinee). Sears leads a patrol that hunts down and kills the aliens, in the process seizing a golden object that appears to be a religious totem. As he celebrates his slaughter, Janovitch examines his victims and makes a shocking discovery.

The episode was rated 7.83 from 41 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E14

#11 - To Tell The Truth (Season 4 - Episode 14)

Dr. Larry Chambers (Gregory Harrison) helped build the colony on the Janus Five. He and fellow scientist Amanda Harper (Kimberly Huffman) run computer simulations that show the planet's star will flash over in a matter of days, emitting waves of deadly radiation, so Dr. Chambers urges evacuation. This is not a popular recommendation, especially among the colony's leaders who include council chairman Franklin Murdock (William Atherton), security head Montgomery Bennett (Alan Scarfe) and Amanda's father, Ian Harper (Ken Pogue). They point out that Chambers has been wrong before - the colony had to be moved at great cost after he warned of deadly volcanic activity - and suggest that his judgment has been clouded by the death of his wife Elise. When that doesn't stop Chambers, Murdock and Bennett discredit him by falsely accusing him of being one of the aliens who originally inhabited the planet.

The episode was rated 7.91 from 34 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E26

#10 - In Our Own Image (Season 4 - Episode 26)

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The Mac 27 (Nicolas Lea) is the Innobotics Corporation's most advanced android. It is incapable of emotions - in order to avoid the murderous failures associated with earlier models. But, the new prototype begins showing some disturbing glitches, and escapes during a debugging session, killing a scientist, a security guard and taking Celia (Nana Visitor) hostage. They drive to a deserted warehouse where Celia becomes a reluctant nurse, patching up Mac's mangled circuitry. Along with instructions for his repairs, Mac transfers visual data on the history of different android projects directly to Celia's optic nerve. As she becomes more comfortable with her captor, she detects some very human qualities in the motivations behind his flight. As Innobotics' security closes in, Celia tries to convince Mac that the act of rebelling against his creators is emotionally based, and that he does, in fact have feelings.

The episode was rated 7.92 from 26 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E7

#9 - Josh (Season 4 - Episode 7)

Tabloid TV reporter Judy Warren (KATE VERNON) knows she's come across a big story when she sees the videotape shot by two tourists in a remote Alaskan park. The tape shows Josh Butler (Alex McArthur), a recluse who lives in a cabin near the park, bringing back to life a young girl who has died after a fall, a feat he accomplishes by generating a mysterious blue glow. But, she only discovers how big a story it is when her pursuit of the strange young man is cut short by a top-secret military unit that is also chasing him. It seems that the blue glow sent out electromagnetic pulses that knocked out two satellites orbiting 20,000 miles above the Earth and the Air Force wants to know what's going on. A battery of tests doesn't produce any answers, leaving the brass, lead by Col. Roger Tennent (Scott Hylands) and Major Samuel Harbeck (Larry Musser) to debate whether Butler is an alien or an angel - someone to be dissected or to be worshipped.

The episode was rated 7.93 from 30 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E24

#8 - Phobos Rising (Season 4 - Episode 24)

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For 30 years there has been a fragile truce between the Free Alliance and the Coalition of Middle-Eastern and Pacific States, both on Earth and on Mars. Both groups mine triradium, a super-powerful radioactive mineral that can be used for both power and illegally for weapons. When a giant explosion appears to consume the Earth and sends a giant shock-wave towards Mars, the soldiers at the Free Alliance base on the Red Planet wonder if the truce has come to an end. Cut off from Earth for 12 hours as Mars rotates, Colonel Samantha Elliot (Barbara Eve Harris) believes someone from the Coalition has been smuggling triradium. With communications temporarily out of order and a Coalition drone approaching the Alliance base, Elliot prepares to launch a preemptive strike. Major James Bowen (Adam Baldwin), who has grown fond of Major Dara Talif (Joan Chen), the Coalition liaison officer at the base, disagrees with Elliot.

The episode was rated 7.96 from 24 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E15

#7 - Mary 25 (Season 4 - Episode 15)

Charlie Bouton's (Tom Butler) last project for the Innobotics Corporation was a sexy female companion robot named Valerie 23. It almost put the company out of business when it went berserk and attacked someone. So, his bosses are skeptical when he and scientist Melburn Ross (Michael Shanks) introduce Mary 25 (Sophia Shinas), a nanny robot adapted from the earlier model. In order to overcome their doubts, Charlie proposes letting the robot take care of his own children - a move that is met by serious resistance from his wife Teryl (Cynthia Geary) and his children Brad and Brook. From the beginning, there are problems. Unlike the human nanny, Carmen, Mary doesn't grasp the subtleties of child care and Melburn must fine tune her. But, Melburn sees that the problems go beyond Mary's programming. Charlie is smitten with his inorganic creation and has begun to abuse Teryl - a woman with whom Melburn was once romantically involved.

The episode was rated 7.97 from 32 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E8

#6 - Rite of Passage (Season 4 - Episode 8)

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The birth of a child is a joyful event, but for Shal and Brav, two young naive humans who live in a small commune in the woods, it is also a mystery and moment tinged with sadness. After Shal gives birth to a son, the first of the commune to do so, she and the baby are taken away by Mother, a wise alien who acts as a parent to the young people. When the aliens send Shal home without her baby, she asks Brav to help her to rescue the child. With the knowledge Shal has gained from her time with Mother, they break through the protective barrier set up by the aliens to discover a new and fascinating world. It is a dangerous trip, with stinging, snake-like crawlers lurking in the shadows. But, it is also a journey of discovery as Shal and Brav find evidence that lead them to believe that their real parents were killed by the aliens. They find their baby, and after a fight with an alien, escape into the forest.

The episode was rated 7.97 from 39 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E10

#5 - Identity Crisis (Season 4 - Episode 10)

Captain Cotter McCoy (Lou Diamond Phillips) is the first of a new breed of soldier. As part of a top secret program overseen by Dr. Greg Olander (Robert Joy), General Langston Chase (Dale Wilson), and Cotter's friend, Colonel Pete Butler (Scott Kraft), the contents of McCoy's brain can be temporarily transferred into an android version of himself. This process creates a virtually indestructible fighting machine with the smarts and experience of a human being. But, one day something goes wrong. During the transfer, the real McCoy's body is blasted with electricity, stopping his heart, inflicting serious brain damage and leaving Cotter's mind trapped in the android body. To make matters worse, the interface between his mind and the android body is flawed. McCoy's motor control is already beginning to break down and the interface will likely collapse within 12 hours.

The episode was rated 8.03 from 31 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E20

#4 - Nightmare (Season 4 - Episode 20)

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The battle cruiser Tango Bravo, under the command of Capt. Roger Kimbro (Maurice Dean Wint), is captured by the enemy Ebonites as it attempts to deploy a mysterious high-powered military device on planet N-1-8-4. Imprisoned inside a large bronze dome, the crew is addressed by The Voice, an unseen Ebonite interrogator, which demands they reveal the secrets of the device. When they resist, The Voice works on them individually in isolation, probing their weaknesses and testing their loyalty to one another. Capt. Kimbro is greeted by an all-to-real replica of a comrade he abandoned to die. Lt. Christopher Valentine (Cameron Graham) is played a fake tape of Kimbro disparaging his ability as a soldier. Dr. Elayna Chomski (Brandy Ledford) doesn't return from her interrogation at all, and when Maj. Ronald Naguchi (Robin Shou) goes for his, he finds her body dead, ripped open and suspended in liquid. Who will be the first to snap? Kimbro? Valentine? Naguchi?

The episode was rated 8.08 from 25 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E16

#3 - Final Exam (Season 4 - Episode 16)

Dr. John Martin (Brett Cullen), a negotiator for the Department of Energy Nuclear Response Team, is called in when a disgruntled grad student takes hostages at a university. The student, Seth Todtman (Peter Stebbings) claims to have invented a cold-fusion bomb and is threatening to detonate it, killing millions, unless the government brings him five people on a list and kills them for him. Martin's colleagues dismiss Todtman as a crank, until a sample device he provides goes off with megaton force, wiping out a DOE team and the top-secret facility where they work. Faced with an impossible choice, Martin meets with Todtman face to face and tries to understand the logic behind his rage at the people he wants killed: cruel foster parents, corrupt professors, a heartless librarian. As the clock ticks, Martin tries to reason with Todtman while the military tries to find a way to disarm the device.

The episode was rated 8.25 from 32 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E21

#2 - Promised Land (Season 4 - Episode 21)

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Dlavan (Rene Auberjonois) and his family are Tsal-Khan, offspring of the handful of aliens who remained on Earth after a bitter war of conquest with the human race. Today they live on a tightly guarded farm where they must grow all their own food, since their forebears poisoned all the plants during the war with mankind. Most of the aliens believe that the human race was wiped out in the war, but there is a group of humans in the woods near the farm. This group, is led by Rebecca (Caroline Goodall), escaped from the alien's robot run camps and includes David (Joseph Kell), Ruth (Jane Sowerby) and the mute, orphaned child Tali (Jessica Harmon). They are desperately hungry and have seen their children die from eating poisoned fruit. So, when they spot Dlavan's grandson Ma'al, wandering in the woods, they follow him home to the farm. After they see the well-fed aliens, Rebecca leads the group to raid the farm for food.

The episode was rated 8.32 from 28 votes.

The Outer Limits - S4E23

#1 - Origin of Species (Season 4 - Episode 23)

In this sequel to Double Helix, Dr. Ira Nodel (RON RIFKIN) has his body altered to communicate with aliens who have seeded Earth with their genetic material. He is joined on an alien spaceship by son Paul (Ryan Reynolds), Paul's girlfriend Hope (Kathleen Duborg), and six students. But, when Dr. Nodel touches a glowing post in the ship's control room, both he and Paul are consumed by a mysterious light. This leads Hope and the students to believe that they've been lead into a trap, a suspicion that is reinforced when the ship captures two of the students and pulls them through the wall. Desperate to find out what's going on, Hope reads Dr. Nodel's journal and risks her life by touching the glowing post. Her body begins the same transformation, and a strange glowing entity speaks in the voices of Dr. Nodel and Paul, trying to communicate with her. The ship, however, continues to snatch the students two by two.

The episode was rated 8.35 from 34 votes.

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