Outer Limits #115: "The New Breed" - Episode Info and Discussion Thread

[Mr. A]

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The New Breed





PLOT - A scientist makes a technological and medical breakthrough when he creates tiny nanobots, which could be capable of curing any disease or imperfections in the human body. His best friend, upon discovering that he has an inoperable cancer and only one year to live, sneaks into the lab in desperation and injects himself with the nanobot prototypes.

WRITER - Grant Rosenberg
DIRECTOR - Mario Azzopardi
CAST - Richard Thomas, Peter Outerbridge, Tammy Isbell.


(MGM hasn't posted the episode on YouTube, but it's on Hulu and other places)





*** Major spoilers beyond this point ***

 

[Mr. A]

If I remember correctly, this was the first episode of the new Outer Limits series I watched. I had no idea what I was watching - man that was some scary stuff!

The one SGA episode where a scientist abducts McKay's sister to solve a problem created by nanites was obviously based on this one!
It's no coincidence that you'll recognize a lot from SGA and ST:Voy (Borg or 7of9 episodes) in this one. It was inspired by ST and in turn inspired some of McKay's and Beckett's ideas. Notice that Brad Wright was a writing producer of OL...

 

[Red Mage]

I love this episode. A chilling tale of a man attempting to cheat death only to have his wish fufilled and realize his desires turn out to be a curse rather than a blessing. A warning about the dangers of biotechnology could propose. I would probably put this episode in my top 10 OL of the episodes I've seen so far. You're probably right about this episode inspiring Mr. Brad Wright for some story ideas with SGA.

The ending is just chilling:

Spoiler: ending

The scientist not only loses his best friend to his own creation but it implied in the final scene that his sister is now also infected by the nanobots and will also suffer the same fate