Gettysburg (The Outer Limits)

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"Gettysburg (The Outer Limits)"

"Gettysburg" is an episode of The Outer Limits television series. It first aired on 28 July 2000, during the sixth season. It correctly predicts that in 2013, the first black president of the United States will be in office.

Opening narration

It is said that great conflicts are not settled by words but by iron and blood. But what if we could revisit those decisions? Would we still surrender to violence?


Plot

Two friends, Andy and Vince, take part in an American Civil War re-enactment at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A time traveler disguised as a photographer takes their picture and transports them back to the eve of the real battle.

The time traveller, Nicholas Prentice, has done this because Andy will one day assassinate the President of the United States. In 2013, at a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, Andy will shoot the president to honor the flag of the Confederate States of America. Prentice wants to show him that "there is no glory in this or any other war."

The two are confused about why they were sent back there and demand to be sent home. Prentice tells them that he cannot return them until he has completed his mission, which he keeps a secret from them.

Prentice's camera/time machine is confiscated by the Confederates. Their commander, Col. Angus Devine (played by Meat Loaf) is transported to November 19, 2013 after Vince accidentally turns on the time travelling device while the colonel is in front of it.

Vince drops his book, a novel about historic battles of the Civil War; it is found by one of the civilians, but it has little impact on the episode. The woman returns the book towards the end of the episode.

Andy tries to stop Pickett's Charge and alter history, even after Prentice explains why he has been sent back there. Andy is deemed a coward and shot by a Confederate major.

Meanwhile, Colonel Devine finds himself on November 19, 2013, at a Gettysburg monument, during an official government ceremony to finally and symbolically bury the Confederate flag - and all the hatred that it represents. Devine shoots a man symbolically dressed as Abraham Lincoln, thinking he really is Lincoln. As he is being taken down by the Secret Service, Devine fires 2 more shots from his revolver, hitting the real black president in the chest, possibly killing him.

The episode ends with Prentice shaking his head in despair, as he witnesses the scene.

Trivia

At November 19, 2013, when the then future fictional events of the episode took place, in reality the United States indeed had the first president with black skin color, Barack Obama. However, Obama did not visit Gettysburg but rather stay in Washington, D.C., to discuss the economy with the Wall Street Journal. Instead, the White House published a recording of Obama reciting the Gettysburg Address.

Cast

External links

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