Last Supper (The Outer Limits)
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| "Last Supper (The Outer Limits)" |
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"Last Supper" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 31 January 1997, during the third season.
Introduction
Frank Martin's son Danny brings home a beautiful girl to meet his family. The girl, Jade, looks exactly like a girl Frank once rescued from a top-secret military experiment 20 years before.
Opening narration
Events in our past seem to slip further away with time. But what happens when they circle back and meet us head on... in the present?
Plot
The episode opens with Frank Martin and his wife Carol preparing for a visit from their son, Danny. The two engage in some nervous banter and reveal that Danny is bringing his new girlfriend, Jade, to the dinner. However, shortly after Danny and Jade arrive, Frank has a vivid flashback to an event that took place 20 years prior when he was still an Army MP; he was once the guard of a young woman who was the target of horrifically painful experiments, and she looked identical to Jade.
It is later revealed through flashbacks that since Frank had just returned from a tour in Vietnam as a field medic due to injury, he was unable to turn a blind eye to the experiments going on in his reassignment. Deeply troubled by his experiences, he returned to the United States unable to reconnect with his wife and finding little enjoyment in his job. While being assigned to guard a military lab, he was stationed outside a testing chamber with a young woman strapped in medical stirrups who had piercing green eyes and was often screaming in pain. Upon hearing the young woman beg for help, he entered the lab, freed her from her restraints, and had a brief struggle with the leading scientist, Dr. Sinclair. During this scuffle, Dr. Sinclair warned that the young woman wasn't human, and that billions of lives could be saved if Frank gave up. At the end of their struggle, a series of compressed oxygen tanks broke, and when Dr. Sinclair fired a stray shot at the fleeing pair, the resulting explosion threw Frank and the young woman from the building through a second story window. As the two got up from the explosion, the woman identified herself as "Laura," and the two spent the night together after fleeing the scene. While on the run for the night, they shared both intimate conversation and a physical encounter. Even so, he and Laura parted ways, leaving Frank to later reconnect with his wife and repair his marriage.
Throughout the course of the evening, Frank and Jade slowly connect. Unsure about what to think, he briefly entertains the idea that "Laura" was Jade's mother, or that Jade is actually his illegitimate daughter from that night who's come back for money, but Jade denies all of these conclusions. As the bond of trust builds, and Frank's own frustrating curiosity mounts, Jade finally reveals that she was the young woman in the laboratory 20 years ago — even though she hasn't aged a day. Apparently, she was a teenager during the Black Plague living in the Northern part of Spain. Once the plague wiped out her village, she discovered that not only had she survived, she had somehow mutated; she no longer carried the gene for aging, she was immune to disease, and her body could recover tissue damage at roughly 700% of normal based on Dr. Sinclair's estimates. Frank is skeptical at first, until Jade promises that she wants no trouble, and shows Frank a book from his own shelf that has a portrait with her likeness on it that dates back to the 18th century (Mrs Richard Brinsley Sheridan by Thomas Gainsborough). She then confides in him her most painful secret: though she is immortal and has loved many times, she is still perpetually a young woman who must abandon her lovers before they discover her secret. While she is able to help them achieve greatness, they cannot share the lifestyle that has long-term happiness in it. Hence, her new problem: she's deeply in love with Frank's son and can't bear the thought of going through this cycle again.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sinclair who has survived the original lab explosion, continues to search for Laura/Jade. Though his body is scarred from the blast, his mind is still sharp and ruthless and has tracked Jade down and follows her trail to Frank's house. As he drives to the Martins' home, he reviews his notes taken on the research, listening to his own voice remind himself of the girl's seemingly supernatural regenerative capabilities and comments that she may, in fact, be a living fountain of youth.
At the Martin home, as the family finally splits up to go to bed, Frank pays another visit to Jade. He confides that he almost completely believes her story, and asks if she has a birthmark that he once saw on Laura. As Jade reveals the birthmark, she needs to remove most of her shirt to do so, which creates an awkward situation as Danny walks in. Assuming the worst, he accuses his father of trying to pick up on his girlfriend, and as the argument moves downstairs with Frank desperately trying to explain, Carol awakes to hear her son accuse her husband of the worst. Jade comes down and implores one more time for Carol and Danny to hear out their side of the story, which they only reluctantly agree to. Frank pours his heart out to Carol, which softens her a bit, but otherwise, she remains skeptical.
Dr. Sinclair then finds the house, sneaks in, and ambushes Danny by striking him in the head. Using him as a hostage, he rounds up the rest of the family, firmly binding and gagging Carol and Danny, and then forcing Frank to strap Jade into a chair. At this point, Dr. Sinclair explains that even 20 years ago, he knew about the healing powers hidden in Jade's bloodstream. At the time, he'd injected several lab mice with one drop each, and they were all still alive. He surmised that a larger dose in a human being could keep someone alive indefinitely, and that he had never stopped tracking her with the hopes that he could secure her blood for himself. Drawing on Frank's training, he orders him to draw some blood, which he refuses to do, even with his family being threatened, until Jade herself both consents and assures him that everything will be fine.
Frank draws some blood and all of the hostages watch as Dr. Sinclair injects himself with her blood without hesitation. His transformation is both immediate and violent as he's wracked with convulsions, but also becomes visibly younger. However, the transformation doesn't halt, and he regresses continually until he's little more than some raw cells on the floor. Once Frank unties his family, Danny and Carol have no choice but to believe that Jade is different, though Danny specifically asks if she's even human. Fearing that she's being rejected again, Jade leaves, but misses Frank's sharp rebuke of his own son. He states that no matter what, Jade is still a young woman and that she needs Danny.
As Frank and Carol talk about reconciliation, they ponder whether or not Jade will ever be happy. Suddenly, they see Danny intercept her at the waiting taxi in front of their house, where he stops her with a kiss. The final scene shows Frank and Carol kissing behind the curtain in their home.
Closing narration
Before we allow ourselves to be consumed by our regrets, we should remember the mistakes we make in life are not so important as the lessons we draw from them.