Mary 25

"Mary 25"
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 15
Directed by	James Head
Written by	Jonathan Glassner
Production code	77
Original air date	29 May 1998
Guest stars
Sofia Shinas as Mary 25 Michael Shanks as Melburn Ross Britt McKillip as Brook Bouton Tom Butler as Charlie Bouton Ian Robison as Grant Kildale Cynthia Geary as Teryl Bouton Matthew Prior as Brandon Bouton
Episode chronology
← Previous "To Tell the Truth" Next → "Final Exam"
List of The Outer Limits episodes

"Mary 25" is an episode of The Outer Limits television series. It first aired on 29 May 1998, during the fourth season.

Introduction

Charlie Bouton's last robot design for the Innobotics Corporation — Valerie 23 — went berserk and attacked its owners. It almost put the company out of business. Now he and his colleague, Melburn Ross, have a new idea: Mary 25 the nanny robot. Naturally enough his bosses are skeptical, that is until Charlie suggests testing the new robot with his own family.

Opening narration

“

Our children need protecting from much more than physical harm. Just as threatening to the fragile child are the dangers of the mind... and the dangers of the heart.

”

Plot

Mary 25 replaces the household's current nanny. She is designed not to allow anyone to harm the children — including the children themselves. When they start fighting amongst themselves, Mary places them in separate rooms. Teryl, the mother and Charlie's wife, wants Mary out of the house but Charlie says no since he has started using Mary as a sex toy when the others are asleep. It becomes clear that Charlie has been abusing Teryl when the children ask Mary "why does daddy hurt mommy?"

It is then revealed that Teryl and Melburn had a relationship once and Melburn still has feelings for Teryl by trying to protect her from Charlie. When he performs Mary's scheduled maintenance, he re-programs Mary so that she now considers that by hurting the mother, Charlie is hurting the children. One night when Charlie is beating Teryl, Mary comes in, strangles Charlie, and breaks his neck.

In the aftermath, the human Nanny has been rehired and the spark is rekindled between Teryl and Melburn. In the episode's twist ending, Teryl's dark secret is discovered: The real Teryl that Melburn loved had been killed by Charlie during one of his violent beatings and so to cover up the murder she was replaced by Valerie 24, a successor to the defunct Valerie 23. She had used Mary to get rid of Charlie because she believed Melburn would love her. It also explains why Teryl did not remember her history with Melburn. The final scene shows the android grinning.

Closing narration

“

Let us hope that no technology will ever exist that can replace human warmth and compassion. For when such a technology does exist, will we cease to be human?

”

Trivia

• Mary 25 is named after Mary Poppins.
• "Mary 25" is a semi-sequel to "Valerie 23", and is the second in the 'Innobotics arc' (several episodes dealing with androids created by the Innobotics Corporation).

External links

• "Mary 25" at The Outer Limits official website
• "Mary 25" at Sci Fi
• "Mary 25" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Mary 25" at TV.com

Season 4 of The Outer Limits (1995-2002)
Criminal Nature • The Hunt • Hearts and Minds • In Another Life • In The Zone • Relativity Theory • Josh • Rite of Passage • Glyphic • Identity Crisis • The Vaccine • Fear Itself • The Joining • To Tell the Truth • Mary 25 • Final Exam • Lithia • Monster • Sarcophagus • Nightmare • Promised Land • Balance of Nature • Origin of Species • Phobos Rising • Black Box • In Our Own Image
List of The Outer Limits episodes: Original Series (1963-1965) • The New Series (1995-2002)