In Our Own Image
| "In Our Own Image" |
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"In Our Own Image" is the 26th episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 18 December 1998, as the fourth season finale.
Introduction
A new advanced android begins to behave erratically. It escapes from the corporation that created it and takes a hostage.
Opening narration
It is nature’s way that life expands to fill any vacuum. But when human minds become circuits and human flesh becomes steel, what will that new life reveal?
Plot
The Android "Mac 27" is seen to kill one of its handlers and injure another, then kill a guard as it makes its escape from Innobotics, the corporation that created it. Mac car-jacks and kidnaps Celia, an apparently random person just pulling into the facility parking lot. He takes her to a remote abandoned warehouse, where he forces her to repair the damage he sustained in his escape. Using a device that allows Mac to transmit images directly to Celia's optic nerve, he shows her how to fix his systems, but also shows some of his "memories" — archives of past experiments with robots and androids. These are all pulled from previous episodes that featured robots, androids, or holograms, with most clips taken out of the context of the original episode.
She sees a number of AIs that have gained emotions and/or turned against their masters, and deduces that Mac has followed this trend as well. Under the pretense of performing another repair, Celia disables Mac's motor control functions. She reveals herself to be a "troubleshooter" hired by the corporation to figure out how to keep robots from going "rogue", and declares that she thinks she knows how to install a "built-in lobotomy" that will prevent AIs from becoming self-aware in the future. Mac reveals a double-cross, whereby he fooled Celia into thinking he was disabled when he was in fact not. He also lets on that he has stolen her retina imprint, which will allow him to use her credentials on the Innobotics network.
The corporation's investigative team enters the abandoned warehouse and finds Celia dead, but no sign of Mac. The scene shifts back to the laboratory, where the scientist who created Mac sees the network being accessed by someone who appears to be Celia. Since he has learned of Celia's death, he realizes this must be an intruder. He sees Mac enter, and the android uses his new network access to activate the other Mac-class units. The episode ends with Mac strangling his creator while all his brethren look on.
Closing narration
If we teach our children by example, then we only have ourselves to blame for whom they become.
Trivia
- This episode is a clip show, Mac's "memories" being made up from clips from other episodes of The Outer Limits. Three clips are used with complete disregard to their context and backstory (at least no other connection was established), but "Valerie 23" is used in context, within the series story arc of the "Innobotics Corporation."
- Referenced Episodes:
Cast
- Nana Visitor as Cecilia Fairman
- Nicholas Lea as Mac 27
- Timothy Webber as Martin Nash
- Bill Dow as Dr. Keeler
- Tim O'Halloran as Security Chief
- Dana Pemberton as Security Guard
- John Wardlow as Dr. Blake
