The Camp (The Outer Limits)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Camp
Series = The Outer Limits


Caption =
Season = 3
Episode = 7
Airdate = 21 February, 1997
Production = 51
Writer = Brad Wright
Director = Jonathan Glassner
Photographer =
Guests = Harley Jane Kozak as Prisoner 98843, David Hemblen as Commandant, Bill Cobbs as Second Elder, John Tench as Scarred Slace, Robert K. Weiss as Overseer #1, Mark Gibbon as Overseer #2
Episode list = List of "The Outer Limits" episodes
Prev = Dark Rain
Next = Heart's Desire

"The Camp" is an episode of "The Outer Limits" television show. It first aired on 21 February, 1997, during the third season.

Introduction

For the last twelve generations, mankind has been enslaved by an alien race and imprisoned in concentration camps overseen by androids.

Opening narration

"Our history is filled with grim reminders of our inhumanity. Armies are crushed, populations ravaged, enemies imprisoned behind walls of stone. But the human spirit is not so easily confined."

Plot

One woman, Prisoner 98843, dares to challenge the authority of the Commandant. Her desire to be free is pitted against the seemingly invincible alien New Masters. All the prisoners believe the world outside the camp is uninhabitable by humans. Prisoner 98843 discovers that the Commandant and the guards are androids who have received no maintenance for decades and are in desperate need of repair. She mends them from spare parts gleaned from other guards that have ceased to function, and finally forces the Commandant to reveal that the rocket fuel made in the camp is no longer in use by the alien fleet, which has moved beyond earth. He has received no communication from his superiors for decades, and has maintained the camp regimen simply because those were his orders. She leads a revolt that overpowers the guards and beheads the commandant. The episode ends with the inmates looking through the open gates at a virgin earth.

Closing narration

"Of all the needs which drive us: hunger, thirst, desire... perhaps the most powerful is the simple need to be free."

External links

*
* [http://www.scifi.com/outerlimits/episodes/season3/307camp.html "The Camp (The Outer Limits)"] at Sci Fi