"The Camp" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 21 February 1997, during the third season.
Contents
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Opening narration
- 3 Plot
- 4 Closing narration
- 5 See also
Introduction
For the last twelve generations (if literally true, approximately 324 years), mankind has been enslaved by an alien race and imprisoned in concentration camps by androids, who use their human captives to manufacture spaceship fuel. The later episode, Promised Land, is a sequel to this episode.
Opening narration
| “ | Our history is filled with grim reminders of our inhumanity. Armies are crushed, populations ravaged, enemies imprisoned behind walls of stone. But the human spirit is not so easily confined. | ” |
Plot
One woman, Prisoner 98843 (played by Harley Jane Kozak), is a maintenance worker who dares to challenge the authority of the Commandant, who oversees the administration of the prison camp. Her desire to be free is pitted against the seemingly invincible alien New Masters. All of the prisoners believe the world outside the Camp is uninhabitable by humans.
During the course of the story, Prisoner 98843 discovers that the Commandant and the guards are androids who have received no maintenance for decades and are in desperate need of repair. She mends them from spare parts gleaned from other guards that have ceased to function, and finally forces the Commandant to reveal that the rocket fuel made in the camp is no longer used by the alien fleet, which has moved beyond Earth.
He also reveals that he has received no communication from the New Masters for decades and has maintained the camp regimen simply because those were his orders. She leads a revolt that overpowers the guards and beheads the Commandant. In the process the new Elder (Bill Cobbs), who replaced Prisoner 98843's father the previous Elder, is killed.
The episode ends with the inmates looking through the open gates at a virgin Earth.
Closing narration
| “ | Of all the needs which drive us: hunger, thirst, desire... perhaps the most powerful is the simple need to be free. | ” |
See also
- "Promised Land" - is a sequel for this episode.