The Outer Limits television show has always been ahead of its time.   It is my favorite science fiction show of all time.  It is done so intelligently and articulately bar none.   In descending order, OL is my number one, then Twilight Zone, Ray Bradbury Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Thriller, etc.   My favorite science fiction movie producers are too many to name.

Yesterday, I saw an episode of the Outer Limits tv show on the Comet channel entitled “The Vaccine”, season 4, episode 11, originally broadcast on April 3, 1998.   Before the episode began, a man’s voice made a disclaimer warning the viewer that the subject of the episode may be stressful to some because of the pandemic we are in.  

It was summarized in the scheduling as “A dozen survivors of a fatal plague must decide who will get the only 3 vaccines available”.  IMDb describes the plot as “After a doomsday cult releases a genetically engineered virus, a nurse named Marie must decide which patients under quarantine get a vaccine that may cure the plague.” 

Maria Conchita Alonso plays the nurse who wants to follow their CDC guidelines but it would involve not giving the vaccine to a child, an elderly person, or a dying person.   She passes out from exhaustion trying to carry this responsibility for her patients because she has to do everything including feeding them and monitoring them for contagion.   Her character Marie has been the only one with medical experience for months.  The science community suggests that only those of child-bearing age receive the vaccine.  

The usual suspects are among the group:  the enforcer (Biski Gugushe as James), the bystander (Laurie Murdoch as Lawrence), the misinformed (Jason Gaffney as Kirk), the bullies (Brent David Fraser as Graham and Megan Leitch as Barb), the elderly (Joy Coghill as Jean), the man dying from cancer (Jay Brazeau as Bernard Katz), the diseased soldier who delivers the vaccine on his way to his home to die with his family (Michael Buie), a male child (Lane Gates as Harry), etc.  You can easily identify with the characters.  

There is even a love interest for Marie in the form of Major Ford (played by Eric Keenley). He leaves in uniform to get more supplies and never comes back.   After all of Marie’s heartache, the episode ends with a twist which is the Outer Limits signature.   It is one of their best episodes ever and directed by Neill Fearnley.

Written by Rosa L. Griffin