Birthright (The Outer Limits)

Infobox Television episode
Title = Birthright
Series = The Outer Limits


Caption =
Season = 1
Episode = 21
Airdate = 13 August, 1995
Production = 21
Writer = Michael Berlin and Eric Estrin
Director = William Fruet
Photographer =
Guests = Perry King as Richard Adams, Mimi Kuzyk as Dr. McKenna, Scott Swanson as Kyle Haller
Episode list = List of "The Outer Limits" episodes
Prev = If These Walls Could Talk
Next = The Voice of Reason

"Birthright" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" television show. It first aired on 13 August, 1995, during the first season.

Introduction

United States Senator Richard Adams suffers a head injury in a car accident. A brain scan reveals some very unusual features.

Opening narration

"The Roman philosopher Boethius said, "In other living creatures, the ignorance of themselves is nature, but in men it is a vice." Imagine treading into the deep recesses of one's self and finding someone you never knew existed."

Plot

Senator Richard Adams (Perry King) is at the top of his game. But after a press conference extolling the virtues of a new fuel additive BE-85, which is supposed to clean up the atmosphere, he and his aide, Evan Branch are in a serious auto accident. Branch is dead, and Adams has a head injury, but his attending physician, Dr. Leslie McKenna (Mimi Kuzyk), is baffled by his unusual x-rays--four frontal brain lobes and only three major organs. Before Adams can figure out what happened, a large security detail whisks him and his files away to the Sendrax Corporation, the home of BE-85. It turns out that Adams is an alien and his "kind" are trying to keep their presence a secret. And because their body make up is different, BE-85, with long term use, will reconfigure the earth's atmosphere so it is poisonous to humans, and compatible for the aliens. Adams realizes that he is in danger, and escapes to see McKenna, the only person he can trust. Together they unlock the secret of Adams' identity and the horror of the alien master plan, and divulge the secret of BE-85 to Kyle Haller (Scott Swanson), an aggressive young reporter. Before Haller can expose the aliens he is killed and McKenna is framed for the murder. In the end, Adams thinks he has escaped the aliens, but in reality his nightmare has only begun.

Closing narration

"People have long feared invasion by forces from other worlds. If that horror comes to pass our leaders will stand as our first line of defense unless, of course, our leaders themselves... are the invaders."

Trivia

* The alien invasion in this episode is referenced again in the next episode, "The Voice of Reason".

External links

* [http://www.scifi.com/outerlimits/episodes/season1/120birthright.html "Birthright (The Outer Limits)"] at Sci Fi