Stranded (The Outer Limits)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Stranded
Series = The Outer Limits


Caption =
Season = 5
Episode = 19
Airdate = 30 July, 1999
Writer =
Episode list = List of "The Outer Limits" episodes
Prev = Essence of Life
Next = Fathers and Sons

"Stranded" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" television show. It first aired on 30 July, 1999, during the fifth season.

Introduction

A neglected boy (Adam Hann-Byrd) finds comfort in an alien.

Opening Narration

"The longing for adventure and discovery burns in the heart of every child. But no drive is stronger than a child's need for a parent's love"

Plot

Kevin Buchannon is a high school outcast, he is picked on by jocks and ostracized by the other geeks. One day, while out in the woods with his dog Cody, he finds a space ship crash landed and a mysterious stranger inside. The stranger calls himself Captain Turner, and he instructs Kevin on how to bandage him up and heal the wounds he has suffered in his landing. Turner explains to Kevin that he has been flying a top-secret experimental aircraft. He momentarily loses consciousness, revealing his true form—he is really a shape-shifting alien named Tyr'Nar. Tyr'Nar is an interplanetary bounty hunter who has lost a prisoner he was transporting back to his world. To protect the boy, Tyn'Nar gives him a patch that allows him to fight back against the prisoner if he ever runs near him. The two grow close through the support and understanding the alien gives the boy.

It is ultimately revealed that Tyr'Nar is himself the prisoner, not the bounty hunter. He consumes Kevin's dog, immediately after telling it that it was wise enough to see his true nature. He then eats one of Kevin's friends by luring him inside the spaceship in the guise of an attractive girl from school. Finally, Kevin's father arrives and confronts the alien, which takes the father's form. The two men fight, and the real father is triumphant. However, it is revealed at the end that it was in fact Tyr'Nar who won, and that Kevin's father is dead.

Closing Narration

"It is said that love and truth walk hand in hand. But if the need is great enough, can we learn to love a lie?"