Stasis (The Outer Limits)
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| "Stasis" | |
|---|---|
| The Outer Limits episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 6 Episode 9 |
| Directed by | Brian Giddens |
| Written by | Lawrence Myers |
| Original air date | 14 April 2000 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Sean Patrick Flanery Kristin Lehman Kavan Smith | |
"Stasis" is an episode from the sixth season of The Outer Limits. It originally aired on 14 April 2000.
Synopsis
In a future world of scarce resources the world government regulates the population into two working classes (Alphas and Betas) in order to maximize conservation. These two classes rotate in and out of suspended animation for 72-hour periods. But what happens when an Alpha and a Beta fall in love with each other and never see each other face to face except for shift changes?
Opening narration
''To sleep perchance to dream. But what happens when the dream is to never sleep again?
Plot
More than half a century in the future the forefathers of the Earth government designed the "Stasis Initiative". It was to be a temporary measure to save humankind from dwindling resources by cutting the consumption of said resources in half by dividing the population and rotating the two shifts in and out of suspended animation every 72 hours with a group of "Elite" managers as overseers of the process. Though not ideal, the system works. However civil unrest is becoming rampant. "Stasis Jumpers", workers that refuse to report to their stasis shifts are becoming a problem. A dissatisfaction with the government and the Stasis Initiative is running high and the new initiative to relocate the Alpha workers to a countryside perimeter has provided ample fodder for a growing underground resistance movement that could tear their way of life apart. Behind the daily routine of the Stasis shifts, two workers, Eric and Larissa, have fallen in love. Simple enough but for the fact that Eric is a Beta and Larissa is an Alpha. Their destiny is separated by stretches of time in and out of a stasis pod with the moment that they switch places as the only time they physically ever see each other. As they work their respective shifts, they communicate their love to each other with holographic messages, computer games, and secret messages. Dominic, a former shift worker now an Elite manager, is allowed to forgo the stasis that has constrained many in his society. He is eager to see that the workers have a better future but at the same time he believes in the Stasis Initiative. Even more, it seems he now has an attraction to Larissa. The rule of the Elites is also becoming strained under the stress of ending the Stasis Initiative and the Resistance rebellion. Elites that challenge the rule of authority they currently hold find themselves in contempt and jailed and the underclass of the Alphas and Betas seems destined to serve only as a slave class, to the elite managers, in and out of stasis. With the new initiative to "relocate" the Alpha workers looming on the horizon, Eric makes a startling discovery that could spell disaster not only for his beloved Larissa, but for millions of Alphas. Eric will find his love for one becoming a fight for many.
Closing narration
Unless humankind awakens to the need to preserve its future, it may find itself asleep...for eternity.
Cast
- Sean Patrick Flanery as Eric Waters a Beta worker
- Kristin Lehman as Larissa Whitestone an Alpha worker
- Kavan Smith as Dominic Langton an Elite
- Matthew Walker as Winston the Bookshop owner
- Maureen Thomas as Elizabeth
- Robert Lewis as Miguel
- Brenda Critchlow as Kayla Powers an Elite
Trivia
- To reflect the culture of the Stasis Initiative the saying "You only live half a life" was used as a hook in the dialogue of the episode.