The Outer Limits (1995–2002): Season 2, Episode 21 - Vanishing Act - full transcript

This is Vaughn Hornsby

wishing you a happy new year

and helping you
say goodbye to 1949,

Da
Ritz,

Trevor,

I didn't hear you come in,

Why the long face?

It's New Year's Eve,

Well, another
year gone by,

and we're stuck
in the same rut,

Hardly justifies
a celebration,



We're doing okay,

Lots of families get by on less,

Aren't you tired
of just getting by?

We can't
even afford

a bottle of champagne
for tonight,

We're still living
in your parents' old house,

So what?
I love it here,

Even if we were rich,

I wouldn't
want to move,

I don't want to argue about it,

Besides,

I've a good feeling
about this year,

I'm glad one of us does,

To hell with our damn budget,



I'm going to the store
to buy some champagne,

My car went
off the road,

Can you take me
to Indian grove?

Hop in,

Trevor McPhee,
I appreciate this,

Ray Carter,
My pleasure,

Just don't sit
on my books,
Sorry,

"Zantarg
the invincible,

master of time and space"?

It's better than you think,

It's based on
scientific concepts

we're only years
from understanding,

It's real
cutting edge stuff,

I see,

Well, thanks for the lift,

Hey, no problem,

Sure you don't want
to borrow
zantarg?

No, thanks,

Theresa?

You home?

My,
my key didn't work,

Where have you been?

I had
a car accident,

I was going
to the store...
I remember,

I've thought about it every day

of every year
you've been gone,

All ten years!

Damn you, Trevor!

There is nothing wrong with
your television,

Do not attempt
to adjust the picture,

We are now controlling
the transmission,

We control the horizontal

and the vertical,

We can deluge you
with a thousand channels

or expand one single image
to crystal clarity

and beyond,

We can shape your vision

to anything our imagination
can conceive,

For the next hour,

we will control all that
you see and hear,

You are about to experience
the awe and mystery

which reaches from
the deepest inner mind

to
The Outer Limits,

Our lives follow a long
and winding path through time,

But what happens
if we're forced off

the course of our own destiny?

Theresa,
come back here!

What is going on?

When did you redecorate?

I don't
understand,

That makes
two of us,

I don't understand
how you have

the nerve
to come back,

Did she leave you?

Is that it?

Theresa, I don't know

what you're
talking about,

I'm not the same naive
teenager you deserted,

I loved you,

and I trusted you,

I swear there is
no other woman,

And whatever's
going on,

I didn't leave you,
Listen to me,

Or what?

You walk out on me again?

No great loss,

I've done well enough alone,

Do you know...

Do you even care that I sat
here all that night... waiting,

I thought,
"He must have

"just run
into the guys,

maybe gone
for a drink,"

But then the next morning
when you didn't come back,

I had to go through
this sheer hell

of wondering
whether you were hurt or dead,

I'm sorry,

but...

1959?

It... lt can't be,

It's just... lt's not possible,

It's not possible
that I could be gone that long

and not remember
any of it,

Are you saying
that

you don't know
where you've been?

No, it's a blank,

A complete blank,

How could that be?

Well, I was driving along
poplar ridge road,

and there was this bright light,

and the car went off
the side of the road,

and then I hit my head,

Look, I can't
explain all this,

but, look,

I'm still
wearing the same clothes,

Then what happened to you?

I don't know,

Maybe the accident
gave me amnesia,

For years, Trevor?

Dr, Golden,

it's very important
that I, well, that we know

whether amnesia
could last that long,

I understand,
Theresa,

I'd say your disappearance
has improved your health,

I'm not sure
it's amnesia,

Why can't
I remember anything?

I'm sorry, Trevor,

but I just don't have
an answer for you,

So... What do I do now?

Go home,

Hopefully familiar surroundings
will help jog your memory,

help you recall
some of the things

that happened
in the intervening years,

Thank you,

So, um...
What now?

It's up to you,

I need to know
that you'll

be here for me,

that this amnesia
isn't just some excuse,

What do I have to do
to convince you?

Ten years have turned me
into a stranger,

You're the only thing
I have left,

the only thing
I can hold,

I love you, Theresa,

You're my wife,

Or you were,

Mr, McPhee,

How are you feeling?

Hey,

I'm, I'm okay,

Thanks for asking,

Ray here

picked me up
on poplar ridge,

brought me
to the house,

He was sure
in a hurry to get home,

I can see why,

Well, I, hope

to see you again,

Yeah... Yeah,

So...

Where do we go from here?

We go home, Trevor,

We go home,

What do you see?

Lights... So many lights,

So many
more people,

God, I've missed so much,

There's
plenty of time

to catch up,

Hello!

Hello?

Hello?

Where the hell am I?

Let me out of here!

Let me out of here!

Let me out of here!

Theresa?

You're back,

Who's he?

It's your father,

How can that be?

I came back yesterday,

We just went to bed last night,

You must
be kidding,

It was a decade ago,

Mark is nine years old now,

Mark,

The last time

we were together,
when I woke up,

you were gone again,

You pulled
another vanishing act,

Where did I go?

Only you know,
But
I don't know,

Hey,

Cool it,
You're scaring mark,

What are you doing here?

I live here now,

Come on, mark,

What are you
saying, Theresa?

Ray and I were married
three years ago,

Married? How? Why?

You have to ask, Trevor?

A single mother, almost 40,

You were nowhere to be found,

Was I supposed
to wait for you?

What did you expect?

I expected you there for me,
We took a vow,

In 20 years, you were here once,

That isn't
a marriage,

It isn't a family,

Mark needed a family,

Ray has been able to provide
what you haven't,

I think you should
leave, McPhee,

This is my house!

That's my wife you're holding!

Not anymore,

Wait,

It is impossible,

Ray, look at this,

He hasn't aged,

I can't... I can't
believe this,

We've got to tell someone
about this,

Your University colleagues
or the paper,

Are you crazy?
They'll laugh us right out of town.

- I'm getting out of here,
- No! Wait! Trevor!

Trevor, where are
you going to go?

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war! End it now!

Dr, Golden?
Dr, Golden?

What do you want?

I must talk to you,

I haven't got time,
My son died over there,

You should join us,

You recognize me?

No, Should I?

I'm Trevor McPhee,

That's impossible,

McPhee's
middle-aged by now,

He's been gone
for years,

I swear,
it's who I am,

Remember
new year's day 1960?

My wife and I
saw you,

I'd been
in an accident,

I thought I had amnesia,
It happened again,

I know
it's not amnesia,

Something is responsible
for these blackouts,

Every time
I have one,

I bounce ahead
in time,

Moving back and forth
in time, are we?

What are you on, son?

LSD? Mescaline?
Peyote?

No, I'm not on anything,

My advice to you
is to get off drugs,

You'll live longer,

No... Please,

End it now!

Stop the war!

No more war!

Stop the war! End it now!

Stop the war!

- What you want, man?
- Whiskey, straight,

You look like you got orders
to ship off to nam,

What?

Nam,

Vietnam,

A little southeast Asian country

that our government has decided
to turn into a graveyard,

Couldn't even
begin to tell you why,

What do you want?

Just want to talk,

Look... I know
you're pissed at us,

Maybe I'd feel the same
if I were in your shoes,

We want
to help you,

I don't want your help,

What will you do?

Aside from
Theresa and me,

there's nobody who'd believe
that you are who you say,

You stole my wife and child,

Take your condescending attitude
somewhere else,

Break it up,

I didn't steal anybody, McPhee,

I fell in love with Theresa,

How lonely did she have to be?

You think
about mark,

I treat that kid
like he's my own,

But you're his father,

You should
start acting like one,

You think about that,

Wait,

What can you do?

For starters, I can find out
what's causing your blackouts,

I'm a psychologist now,

This isn't all in my mind,

I know that,

Your not aging
could be a manifestation

of what's going on in your mind,

The mind is a wild place,

It can do anything,

It can project itself
through time and space,

You get that
from a comic?

It's the fringes of science,

I'm your best bet
for help,

Let me
check you out,

Let me inside your head,

What is it?

I don't know,

It was my stomach,

I'm going
to be sick,

Hey, man, was that you
I heard yelling there?

Yelling?

What was I saying?

You were in another world,

like you had
a head full of snow, man,

Must be some
rough stuff?

You know what I mean?

Dad!

Dad, it's me, mark,

We've been waiting
for your return,

What year
is this?

1980,

Mom's here too...
Somewhere,

Let me help you,

Stay away from me,

No one can help,

No one, You understand?

Because none of this
and none of you are real,

This is
not happening!

Hey, buddy,

spare some change
for a hungry guy,

Mark found me
as soon as he saw you,

We've been waiting, you know,

Every ten years,

like clockwork
you come home,

I don't have a home,

Yes, you do,

That's why
we're here,

No,

Everything I had is long gone,

I don't even know
who I am anymore,

Whatever's taken
control of my mind

has taken everything
that I ever cared about,

I'm still here,

And mark,

Ray still
wants to help,

We're 30 years out of sync,

That doesn't make a difference,

Come back with me,
with us,

Come back to your family,

For how long?

Whenever I fall asleep
or wander off by myself,

I could be gone again,

That's just a chance
we'll have to take,

Looks like it's just you and me,

We're all that stayed the same,

Dad?

Mom thought you'd like
something to read,

Help you catch up,

So, um...

Your mother
tells me

that you're going
to college,

Yeah, second year, sciences,

Well, that's good,

That's good, that's really good,

Um, you like sports?

You play any ball?

Yeah, a little, first base,

Me, too,

Yeah, I was a big Yankees fan,

Yeah, well,
they took the pennant in '78,

No kidding?

Yeah, my dad took me
to see 'em in '41,

Just before he died,

It was a World Series game,

and DiMaggio was on a streak
like you wouldn't believe,

Yeah, we had a great time,

Just me and him,

I wish that I'd been around
for you, mark,

Watched you grow up,

Well, it's okay, dad,

It's not your fault,

All the same, I miss it,

Yeah, they beat
the Dodgers in five,

The Brooklyn Dodgers?

Do you know
another team by that name?

Well,
you know, dad,

this might come
as a shock,

but they
moved to L, A,

Los Angeles?

Yeah,
and the giants,

they went
to San Francisco,

And Hank Aaron,
he beat

Babe Ruth's
home run record,

Hank Aaron?

Beat Babe Ruth?
Get out of here,

Yeah, it's true,

You look like
hell, Trevor,

But one day later,
and I'm still here,

My expertise is
astral projection,

mind over
matter stuff,

The best
I can tell,

sleep deprivation aside,

you're as fit as you were
in 1949,

Physiologically,
you're still 25,

How can that be?

Theoretically, the only way

is if time for you
has slowed down

relative
to everyone else,

causing you
to age slower,

That's crazy,

Not unless
you went through a wormhole,

A what?

A wormhole,

A passage through
the space-time continuum,

allowing a person
to cross

vast distances
in space,

Therefore they'd age slower
than the world they left behind,

Has anybody ever found
one of these things?

No, but we must keep
an open mind,

It's the unknown,

So there's nothing
physically wrong?

No, your vitals are fine,

X- rays show
an extra rib

you've probably
had since birth,

Neurological came back clean,

What about these dreams
I've been having?

What about the hallucination
I had in the bathroom?

Possibly,
your subconscious mind

is trying to tell us something,

A cavern could represent
a passage out

for inner turmoil
suppressed by your mind,

We need to examine
your transition phase

between your waking state
and your blackout state,

You want me to go to sleep,

It's the only way,

I can go on longer,

You're running
on fear and drugs,

You can't keep this up,

I have to!
I know
it's difficult,

Difficult!

Another ten years could go by!

Do you know what it's like
being out of touch,

to be unable
to connect with anybody?

I'm finally
coming to grips with this,

I'm getting to know my son,

Until we find an answer,
it's only a temporary reprieve,

Is this
really necessary?

It is if we want
to find the solution,

Whatever it is that flicks
this switch in his brain,

it'll leave fingerprints,

What if I walk out

while your backs
are turned?

We'll be keeping
a close eye on you,

Just in case we fall asleep
on the job, I've got backup,

I'll be filming this
all on super-8,

Anything your body does
will be captured right here,

We're all set,

I'm going
to get some coffee,

Theresa will keep you company,

Thanks,

Why is he doing this for me?

He isn't,

He's doing it for himself,

He actually
believes

that you're the living proof
of his way-out theories,

He read too many comics
as a kid,

As a kid?

He still
reads them,

Half of his research
is based on

zantarg
the invincible,

And why are you helping me?

30 years
separates us,

Why do you still care?

Do you remember
what you said to me

last time you were here
about our vows?

Something
I couldn't hold you to,

considering the circumstances,

I know, but it did
remind me of the fact

that we had
some very good years together,

And we loved
each other,

And...

We had a son,

I could never
completely abandon you,

I'm lucky,

Yeah, well,

you should just
get some sleep,

It's time to relax,

There's
still time to...

Trevor,

Trevor!
Trevor, wake up!

Wake up!

It didn't happen,

It didn't happen! Ha, ha!

Yes, it did,

It's January 1990,

But this time
we've got it on film,

Where's Ray?

I'm... Sorry

to tell you,
Trevor,

but Ray
passed away,

Lung cancer,

A couple
of years ago,

I'm sorry,

So am I,

He was a good husband,

I miss him,

But, um, he left you something,

Come on.
Get dressed.

Dad...

Glad you're back,

So am I,

Maybe I'll stay

a little longer
this time,

You'd better sit down, Trevor,

Because you are
not going to believe

what I saw ten years ago,

Hello, Trevor,

You have made me
a very happy man,

You have proven
all my crazy theories,

I believe

you are
a master of time and space,

After seeing that,
I almost believe him,

Listen to him,
So where
do you go?

What wondrous things
have you seen?

That's
the missing piece

of the puzzle,

Unfortunately,

it's unlikely that I will
be here when you return,

So I leave it
to Theresa

to help you
remember it,

And it only
seemed fitting

that it end where it began,

Just you and her,

What was
he proposing?

That I access
your subconscious,

How?

Through hypnosis,
I can speak

to your sleeping mind,

You know how to do that?

Mom went back to school,

She's already
working

on her doctorate
in psychology,

What do you think
is going to happen?

Well,
I have no idea,

But I hope
you'll tell us

where you've
been going

and perhaps,
more importantly, why,

I don't know about this,

What if you can't bring me back?

Trevor, I'm 60 years old,

Next time you return,
I may not be here,

You've got
to trust me,

It's New Year's Eve
1949, Trevor,

You're driving down
poplar ridge road,

Do you remember?

A light,

A brilliant
white light,

It's coming at me,
I can't see!

What happened next?

He...,

Was brought to us,

Who are you?

A visitor,

From where?

Far away,

A world of

machinery
that searches

the cosmos for
other forms of life

and transports it
using wormholes,

Wormholes?

Ray talked
about wormholes,

They distort time,

We use them

to bring hosts to our world

to join with,

We can
only experience

other worlds

through the sense organs
of a host,

We enter a being

and then travel back
to its world,

returning
to our own

at intervals

to share our discoveries,

You're a parasite,

A symbiote,

Why haven't you made
your presence known before this?

We are a psychic race,

able to communicate
only through our host's

subconscious mind,

So you're physically
inside of him now?

I am the extra rib

your husband
found,

You must know that
you're destroying his sanity,

You're hurting him,

How?

Every time you transport him
to your world,

he gets further
out of sync with our time,

For every day he's gone,
ten years pass here,

I don't understand,

Does your species
have a history?

History?
Yes, a progression
through time

where everything
that comes before

is joined to what comes after,

I don't understand
before or after,

Our species

has only being and non-being,

That's the difference,

Can't you see that?

History is built on
everything each one of us does

in our lives...
To be removed

from that process
is damaging to us,

I understand

your perception
of time

is different,

The injury was unintentional,

So you'll separate from him now?

Yes,

No!

No... Not again!

Not like this,

Trevor,
I was worried sick!

My God,

You're... You're young again,

What?
Where have you been?

They must have used a wormhole
to send me back,

You've been drinking,

No!

No, not a drop,

I just realized you were right,

It's going to be a good year,

Life is, at best,
an uncertain path,

Perhaps we should be grateful
with what we have,

for even these riches
may disappear along the way.