Hearts and Minds (The Outer Limits)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Hearts and Minds
Series = The Outer Limits


Caption =
Season = 4
Episode = 3
Airdate = February 6, 1998
Production = 65
Writer = Naren Shankar
Director = Brad Turner
Photographer =
Guests = Miguel Fernandez as Cpt. Taverner, Christine Elise as Lt. Rosen, Dylan Walsh as Sgt. Eldritch
Episode list = List of "The Outer Limits" episodes
Prev = The Hunt
Next = In Another Life

"Hearts and Minds" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" television show. It was first broadcast on 6 February, 1998, during the fourth season.

Introduction

A squad of soldiers is sent on a search and destroy mission against alien raiders to safeguard a vital source of profit for the North American Federation.

Opening narration

:"In order to survive, a soldier must fight many battles, physical as well as mental. But in the heat of the struggle, reality can sometimes fade, like memory, until only one thing remains certain... the first casualty of war is truth."

Plot

All soldiers of the team have drug injectors to protect them against an "alien virus". After a drug injector malfunction, the soldiers slowly realize that the drug is actually designed to cause hallucinations of disgusting looking aliens. The "aliens" are actually humans as well, but from another federation. The team tries to make contact with the "alien team" to explain the situation and ask for peace. But "their" drug injectors work properly and they kill everyone from the team, believing that "they" are the aliens. The final scene shows the soldiers dead on the floor

Closing narration

"Humans kill for love, for revenge, for survival, and even for ideas. Perhaps the capacity to kill then is a very true part of our nature. But within this behavior, defined by fear, must we also be taught to hate?"

External links

*
* [http://www.scifi.com/outerlimits/episodes/season4/403hearts.html "Hearts and Minds (The Outer Limits)"] at Sci Fi