The Outer Limits (1995–2002): Season 6, Episode 21 - Final Appeal - full transcript

(KEYS JANGLING)

(GATE OPENING)

Just got word from the clerk.
We got a writ of cert.

Cert?

Writ of certiorari.

It means the Supreme Court's
gonna listen to our appeal.

Really?

Might show a little
more enthusiasm.

You don't understand the
procedural hoops we had
to go through to get this.

I've been, uh, sentenced
to hang, Nicki.

Forgive me if I don't
feel like standing
up and cheering.



Sorry.

I know they think I'm crazy.

You should see the way
they look at me.

You should get ready,
they are gonna move you

to another holding facility
right next to the court.

Be honest,
what are my chances?

It's hard to say,
there has never been
a case like this.

You remember, Cassandra?
Greek mythology.

She had the gift of prophesy.

More like a curse.

Apollo gave her the ability
to see the future in exchange
for her favors,

when she spurned him,
he punished her.

Didn't matter what she...

Foresaw.



It fell on deaf ears.

I feel like...

I'm being punished
by the Gods.

(DOOR OPENING)

Come on.

I've been pulling court
watches, they feel were on the
brink of a sea change.

This isn't about
a sea change.

This is about waking up
and realizing that we're
on a collision course

with extinction.

I've seen the future.
I've been there.

I know you have.

When the outlawed technology,
they paved the way to the
final apocalypse.

NICOLE: Keep the faith,
all right? We're gonna
get through this.

It's not about me. I could
give a damn at this point.

But if I go down,

so does the whole world.

-(CARRIAGE DRIVER URGING)
-(HORSE WHINNYING)

CONTROL VOICE:
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.

Please stand by.

What will become of a world
that outlaws the very tools

it has always looked
to for solutions.

Oh, Earl.

Come on, you know
better than that.

Chief Justice sees you
eating in here again,
there'll be hell to pay.

I've been reading
briefs all morning.

If I don't get some food
in me, I'll be gnawing
on his gabble.

Where's Haden?

Supposed to be
in session in 20 minutes.
Oh, boy.

That BLT looks good,
you mind if I...

Damn right, I mind,
get your own grub.
Come on, away with you.

Elise, could you check the
Chief's shelly bean stash?

Not without
an executive order.

Can't believe they forgot
the pickle spear.

Sorry I'm late, everyone.

My fool of a horse
threw a shoe.

Hope for the days
when the horse threw a rod.

Getting nostalgic
for pollution, are we?

I assume everyone's up to
speed on
U.S. v. Givens.

Ah, tell me something, Haden,

do you really believe
that this woman

has time traveled here
from the past?

Well, you read our
science advisor's brief.

(CHUCKLES) It's just that
our science advisors
understand technology

the way an archeologist
understands the how the
pyramids were built.

Which is to say,
not at all.

Oh, come on, Oli,

we have totally
authenticated evidence that
this woman was born in 1954.

And is she's 122,

I want her beauty secrets.

(GIGGLES)

I'll tell you what I think.

This time traveler or whatever
you want to call her...

Her arrival here
is like a gift from the Gods,

gives us a chance to
steer the ship of state
off its disaster course.

Oh, just what I expected
from a bleeding heart.

We overturn the
appellant court's decision,

we open the door for
the demons of science
and technology

to descend on us
all over again.

And this time they won't be
content to wipe out 80%
of the earth's population.

There's not going to be
anything left to render
an opinion, but...

Cockroaches and
tumble weeds.

One thing is certain.

The American people
will be watching us.

The world will be
watching us.

I only hope God gives us
the wisdom to

get it right.

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

Wallace Gannon,
Solicitor General.

Top gun in the
government's arsenal.

Waiting for a landmark case
like this ever since
his appointment.

There are only five chairs,
I thought there
were nine Justices.

Not since 2062,
Congress picks its number.

It's changed seven times
since the first court.

(WHISPERS) Here they come.

BAILIFF: All rise

for the justices of
the United States
Supreme Court.

Please be seated.

I don't have to remind
anyone in this hallowed
court room,

that the case we take up today
has ramifications far beyond
the fate of the appellant,

Dr. Givens.

As we sit here today,

the future of the
two-decade-old
anti-technology codes,

operative not only
in this country,

but by international agreement
throughout the world,

hangs in the balance.

Whether we maintain our ban
on technology or we start
that mighty engine,

they will be determined,
by our actions today.

We'll begin by hearing
from the respondent,
the Solicitor General.

Mr. Gannon.

I think that we can
all agree that there is
nothing commonplace

about the state's case
against Dr. Theresa Givens.

But to say that it
is without precedent,

is to ask me to surrender
the numerous sidings
of case law,

which we've detailed
in our brief.

The defense stipulates
that Dr. Givens invented
a time travel device,

in the last decade
of the 20th century.

And she used that invention
to convey herself
to our time.

Along with a veritable arsenal
of electronic devices.

Now, why?

In her own words,
before the Ninth
Circuit Court, quote,

"I wanted to begin a new
Industrial Revolution.

"I wanted to
re-kindle the flame of
scientific innovation."

And that's exactly
what she tried to do.

She was arrested
attempting to deliver
blueprints and prototypes

to anti-code realms.

But you're not saying "why".

-(GAVEL BANGING)
-Please sit down,
Dr. Givens.

You'll have your
opportunity to respond.

Not only has appellant's
counsel stipulated to her
smuggling being...

Objection, prejudicial.
We never use the term
"smuggling".

Fine, transporting these
items into our time
into our country.

Defense also acknowledges that
Dr. Givens had already used

the time travel
machine, repeatedly,
for a darker purpose.

Beck?

How did you get in here?

Are you Robert Beck?

Who wants to know?

Are you Robert Beck?

Yeah. Yeah, I'm Beck.

On September 13th, 1994...

-What is this?
-...you were executed

for the willful murder
of eight women.

I am here to carry out
that just and legal sentence.

I don't understand.

Only one of us has to.

Just wait a minute, wait.

(BEEPS)

WALLACE: The reality is that
she employed the device

to convey herself,
to the past.

Where, by her own
written account,

she murdered,
in cold blood,

no less than 17 victims.

NICOLE:
I'm obliged to remind
the honorable Mr. Gannon

that my client was never
charged with murder,

and for good reason.
If you recall

the Theresa Givens who
committed those acts
in another time stream,

saved untold lives by
stopping their killers
before they acted.

Your Honors, she paid
dearly for what she did.

(GIRL SHRIEKING)

MAN: Shh. Come here.

Look, stay still,
I'm warning you, okay?

(SCREAMS)

GIRL: Let me go!

Let's see what you got. Shh.

Okay, you be a good girl now
or I'm going to get mad!

-Stop. Leave her alone.
-(GIRL CRYING)

What is this?

I dreamed about you
for 15 years.

I thought you
were 10 feet tall
with horns and fangs.

I don't know what game
you're playing,

but you're screwing with
the wrong guy, lady.

Do you have any idea,
what you did to me?

You stole my life!

No, wait.

Now, everyone,
just calm down.

I don't wanna hurt
the little girl.

She and I just gonna
go for a little walk.

I'll keep her company for
a little while,
then I'll let her go.

You are so right.
Nothing matters,
nothing I ever did helped.

Drugs, therapy, killing
monsters like you.

I mean it!

Anything would be better
than this pain.

All I want is
for it to be over.

You get down...

(GIRL SCREAMING)

So, you're saying,
Theresa Givens,

the woman who
committed these murders,

actually died
in that confrontation?

That's right.

And, uh, the young woman
who was rescued...

She went on to create
her own time travel device.

She's the Theresa Givens
you see here today
before you.

JUSTICE HARBISON:
Uh, Mr. Gannon.

-Yes.
-Please, let's just clarify.

You're not alleging that the
appellant here committed
any of these murders?

If we accept a wrong
definition of times dreams

and the possibilities they
allow, then yes.

One incarnation
of Dr. Givens did in fact
engage in a murder spree.

In any event,

no one can contest
the violence-riddled
repercussions

of her time travel device.

Now, with the
court's permission,

and in accord with rule 32
for the submissions
of exhibits,

I'd like to present
that device

along with the very scientific
touchstones of the
pre-apocalyptic era.

The possession and
use of which

were the foundation
of the state's case.

Objection.

Parading the evidence
in the court room

is just grandstanding and
the respondent knows that.

I'm going to allow it.
Proceed, Mr. Gannon.

Thank you.

(AUDIENCE MURMURING)

What you see before you,
Your Honors,

are nothing less than
the detonators of the next,

and most certainly final,
technological holocaust.

Mr. Gannon,

please, a knife can be used
as an instrument of homicide,
but we don't outlaw cutlery.

(SCOFFS) Your view that these
inventions themselves
constitute a palpable threat

is a matter of some debate.

My good friend, Justice Woods,
comments are duly noted
for the record.

Go on, Mr. Gannon.

Thank you.

The petitioner's brief
contends that the
anti-technological codes

are in violation of both
the spirit and the letter
of the constitution.

Now, I draw your attention
to a phrase from
the preamble

to that venerable document,

which describes its
all embracing purpose

to promote
the general welfare.

These laws in question
were designed
to protect, to nurture,

to shelter the flickering
candle of civilization
from the howling winds of war.

And members of the court,
these laws are proven worthy,
and affective.

Our society has flourished
since their implementation.

They have rescued us
from spiraling into
an unspeakable abyss.

Now, I'll reserve the rest of
my time for a response
to the petitioner's counsel.

Thank you, Mr. Gannon.

We will now hear
from appellant counsel.

Mr. Gannon has just quoted
from the stirring language

of the constitution
and if I might...

I'd like to quote from that
self-same well-spring
of democracy.

Article 1, section 8,
clause 8,

which grants rights
to inventors, quote,

"To promote the
progress of science and
the useful arts," unquote.

Even in 1789,
nearly three centuries ago,

the founder saw the promise
in science and technology.

Is there any aspect
of our lives that was
not enhanced

by Industrial Revolution
or the spirit of discovery?

From agriculture
to manufacturing
to communications.

What about the advances
in medical technology,

that not only dramatically
extended our lifespans,

but improved the quality
of those lives as well.

Advances in technology that
allow diseased organs to
be replaced by donor organs,

culminating in the first
full body transplant.

WOMAN: We're moving
the head of the donor.

You'll see that we've left
8 cm scale of exposed
final column

with brain stem
still attached,

from the donor's
medulla oblongata,
to the pons.

Ready for transfer.

NICOLE:
Advances in artificial
intelligence and robotics

relieved us of tedious
and burdensome tasks.

We produce more goods,
we work less hours.

They gave us more time to
enjoy the fruits of our labor.

To spend time
with our families.

Our children were healthier,
smarter, happier.

It hardly seems necessary
to count these as blessings.

But blessings they were.

Uh, uh. I hate to intrude
on your speechifying,

but there were some
conspicuous examples
of scientific innovation

you omitted.

You skipped right over
the atomic bomb,

fusion technology,
genetic tampering,
just to name a few.

I understand,
Justice Harbison,

that science and technology
would be held responsible

for what happened to
our world 20 years ago.

But talk about an abyss?

We have become so fearful,
so phobic about change,

that we are plunging headlong
into a new dark age.

And God only knows
when we're going
to emerge.

If I may, I'd like
to bring my client up
to the podium.

The truth is,
what she has to say
is far more important

than anything I could argue
in her defense.

I've always been
a very curious person.

I grew up wondering...

Why is the sky blue?

Why do we dream?

What is artificial
intelligence?

And because I had
such a natural curiosity,

I gravitated towards science.

The term of choice

in those days was "nerd".

I don't know what you
call them now.

Maybe, (CLEARS THROAT)
you've outlawed nerds too?

When I was a teenager,
I...

I came very close to dying.

I was abducted
by a psychopath.

He tried to rape me
and he certainly would
have killed me.

The woman who stopped
the assault

was none other than me.

It was me grown up.

It was the woman who first
invented time travel.

It was the woman

I would become.

And she did much more
than save my life.

She changed it forever.

I wound up falling in love

with the idea

of harnessing time streams,
like...

Well, much like a poet
falls in love with words,

a musician falls in love
with his instrument.

Science

was my expression.

A way to loose myself.

A way to find myself.

What exactly did you
see as your mission,
Dr. Givens?

THERESA: I didn't know.

That's just it,
I didn't know.

Maybe you could see me
as some kind of a...

An explorer of sorts.

I'd venture into the future.

A few days
at a time at first.

Then some months.

Eventually, I wound up here

and my heart broke.

How so?

At first I thought it was
something to do with
the settings on my computer.

This couldn't possibly
be the 2076.

I thought

there are no cars,

no telephones,

no computers,

no CAT scans.

No sign of an electronic age

and precious few signs
of anything more advanced

than the light bulb.

When I returned back
to my own time,

I began to think

what would happen to
a world that turned
its back on science.

So you traveled deeper
into the future?

Yes, I did.

Thirty more years.

2105.

Can you tell us
what you saw, Dr. Givens?

It was horrible.

A virus slipped
over this planet.

No part of this world

was left untouched.

And there were no
scientific tools
to combat it,

except small amounts of serum

that the renegade
researchers created.

And they weren't enough
to stem the tide of death.

You need to get us
more supplies.

-We need more supplies...
-MAN: No, ma'am, not me.

We're running
out of fresh water.

We don't have
any more food. We...

I can't help you, ma'am.

Listen, uh...

There's another dozen or so
in the town
down the interstate.

I gave them the same
as I gave you.

Now, maybe you can hook
up with them.

So there are others?

Not many,
a lot more dead.

That

is what your laws are
taking us to.

The end of humanity.

This is the real Armageddon,
Mr. Chief Justice.

Your so-called new holocaust
or thermo nuclear war.

That was only a prelude.

Dr. Givens, I'm sure you
appreciate how difficult it is

for us to understand the very
notion of your venturing back
and forth through time.

THERESA: Yeah, of course.

The very fact
that the Dr. Givens
who went back in time

to rescue you as a teenager,

the Dr. Givens who was
the avenging angel...

The very fact that she
changed history

proves that history
can be altered.

That's my whole point.

We can intervene,

there's still time.

But how do we know that
this plague is the result of
the course we're on now.

Keeping a ban on technology,

or whether, it's
a direct result of changing
our course in this appeal.

I can only say,
Justice Harbison,

that the world I saw
was devoid of technology...

Was devoid of the medical help
that would've prevented

this virus from sweeping over
the planet.

Are you familiar with
the medical research of
Dr. Ledbetter?

Yes, he pioneered work
in Nanotechnology.

That's exactly right.

Time machine,
invisible to the naked eye.

Touted as the panacea
in the scientific journals
of the day.

It seemed nothing short
of a miracle.

Until something went
horribly wrong.

What are you doing here?
It's Saturday.

Your nanobots don't stop
working on weekends.

That's incredible.

What the hell are they?

They look a bit like gills.

The nanobots must have
interpreted you inability

to breathe underwater
as a physical deficiency.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

-Who is it?
-DR. LEDBETTER:
It's me, let me in.

I've been working on it
all night.

I know how to
deactivate them.

We have to use electricity
and short them out.

-(GROANS)
-What is it? Have there been
more changes?

I'm not sure.

I have this intense pain
in the back of my head.

-It's kept me up all night.
-Let me look.

See anything?

Just two small bumps.

-Ah! Damn it, that hurts.
-Sorry.

They appear to be filled with
some kind of fluid.

-What is it?
-They're moving.

What is it?

Oh, my God!

They're...eyes.

JUSTICE HARBISON:
Problem, Dr. Givens,

is that the example
Justice Parkhurst has raised,
this is just one of many.

You're aware, I'm sure,
of the researcher,
Dr. Simon Kress...

Who carried a sample
of Martian soil back to
his home laboratory

and, unwittingly,

let loose a biologic menace

that took the better part
of a decade to eradicate.

JUSTICE HARBISON:
Dr. Kress' decent into hell

is symptomatic of what
happened over and over again
in this century...

Scientists attempting
to play God.

There is a difference
between playing God

and aspiring

to fulfill the potential
for greatness

that God gave us.

Is that a veiled application
for sainthood?

(CHUCKLES)
I am no saint.

Nor are any of the pioneers
that you mentioned.

Mistakes were made.

The very nature of science,
is trial and error.

This... This is how
people learn.

This is how people grow.

Unless, of course,
it's the last mistake we make.

What you may or may not know,
Dr. Givens,

is that society radically
changed after
the New Holocaust.

Oh, you mean,
besides the fact that

technology was used
as a scapegoat for
all of society's ills?

That was a big part of it,
yes, but there were other
profound changes.

A kind of

involuntary anesthetizing
of the human spirit.

(SIGHS) Our esteemed
political leaders

were convinced that not only
did we have to dismantle
the electronic age,

but we had to change
our inner landscape as well.

There was a strong social
and political movement

to try to put the past
behind us,

even before the fallout
had claimed its last victim.

The anti-grieving laws
were instituted.

It actually became a crime
to mourn the death
of a loved one.

The anti-grieving laws
have since been rescinded,

but I think it's instructive
to see that

it's not only scientists
who went awry

when they undertook
to redesign our species.

Governments, politicians,

demonstrated the same hubris

when they tried to
fundamentally alter
who we are.

When they tried to...

Reconstruct the human soul,

to shackle the human heart.

You talk about
the arrogance of science,
Justice Harbison,

what about the arrogance
of those who would try to
remake us in their image?

Before we pass judgment
on the petitioner,

I ask that we reconsider
where the greatest evil lies.

In making
a God of technology

or in making Gods
of ourselves?

JUSTICE HARBISON:
Those of us
who survived the war of 2059
will never forget it.

The loss of my own two sons.

My daughter lying ill
for six months.

Before her insides rotted out
from radiation poisoning.

Couldn't even give them
a proper burial.

Had to be sealed
in lead and concrete

along with the other
detritus of war.

The fact is,

those laws were created

so that we could go on

with the business of living
and survive.

What made you so certain
that climbing back into
the darkness was the answer?

Darkness? Dr. Givens,
is that how you see it?

I'm inclined to
see the light,

the light in the eyes
of children who climb trees

and count the stars

unobscured by clouds
and toxic pollution.

Have we lost something,
by giving up our machines,
Doctor?

No doubt, we have.

But look what we've gained.

Families sit around
the hearth at night.

They don't stare blankly
at jittering
electronic images.

They talk to one another.

Human interaction is
no longer obsolete.

Life is less complicated.
We've gone back to

simpler pleasures,
simpler times.

Justice Harbison is right
about one thing.

None of us will ever forget
what happened in June of '59.

I lost a daughter too

along with my
only grandchildren.
The youngest was four.

Smart as they make them.

He dreamed of being
an astronaut.

Of course, even if
he had survived,

that wouldn't have
been possible. There were
no more astronauts.

No more space program.

No more computers.

No more scientists.

No more dreamers, like you.

You play with fire,
you might get burnt.

You eliminate fire

and you might never feel
its warmth.

And you might never revel
in its illumination.

If you would take your seat,
Dr. Givens,

opposing counsels will now
have a chance to sum up.

Chief Justice,
associate justices,

history teaches

that no invention is
immune to subversion.

The missiles

that rocketed man to Mars
also sent ballistic warheads
against the cities.

The Internet that promised us
dissemination of information

was ultimately used

to strip governments of
their secrets and make
them vulnerable to attack.

Now, my, uh,
distinguished colleague

invokes the spirit
of invention

as if it were some Holy Grail,
some self-appointed deity,

that demands that we
prostrate ourselves before it,

but aren't we wiser than that?

Forgive me for sounding
old-fashioned,

but what about
rearing our children in
the peaceful world?

What about a quiet prayer

at the altar of common sense?

I ponder these
highly touted advances
of the century.

The genome was deciphered and

the secrets of the human brain
were revealed,

but what became
of those discoveries?

And I refer you to
the cruel realities
of entrepreneurs

who robbed the elderly
of their knowledge
and their skills

and then sold them

like so many dried goods.

What's that for?

WOMAN: Time to make you sleep.

And to make you forget.

Oh, my...

Why would I want to...

Forget.

(SCREAMING)

WALLACE:
The most vulnerable
in our society stripped of
their humanity,

their brains drained of
a lifetime of acquired gifts,

downloaded and cataloged and
left like empty husks,

warehoused and forgotten.

Is this your idea
of a scientific miracle?

If this court overturns
Dr. Givens' conviction,

it will send a message
around the world.

And the genie will bellow
and thunder.

He'll thrash in his bottle

and once more,
threaten to emerge.

I'm certain, in fact, that we
will be driving the last nail

into the coffin of God's
greatest experiment.

It will ordain the end
of humankind.

I, for one, will not be party
to that surrender.

I will fight it with
my last breath.

And I implore you
to do no less.

(CLEARS THROAT)
With the court's permission,

I'd like to give
my remaining minutes to
the woman who will live

or die by your decision.

When my namesake invented
a temporal transporter,

she used it to save lives.

And when I followed in
her footsteps,

I knew that, like her, that I
would have to dedicate
this incredible invention

to a humanitarian purpose.

Maybe ultimately, make
the same sacrifice she did.

I've been given

a special knowledge because of

the unique circumstances of
my journey.

Not to act would have
been the same

as turning my back
on the citizens of the future.

Those countless children
who depend on me now.

And I guess, they, uh,
depend on you now.

Thank you.

We'll take 15-minute recess,
then render our decision.

NICOLE: You okay?

THERESA: I'm scared, Nicki.

All that stuff about
me not caring, about
what they'd do to me,

it's a lie.

Stupid lie.

NICOLE: It's okay
to be afraid, Theresa.

If they let the verdict stand,

what will happen
to all of this?

I won't lie to you.

They'll destroy it.

All those years.

All those minds.

Mmm...

We haven't lost yet.

-There's still hope.
-(WHIMPERING)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Yes, yes...

Of course.

Somebody will find an answer.

There's still plenty of time.

There's 30 years.

They could build
another transporter.

They could find a cure.
They know that the
plague is coming.

There's a way, they'll find
a way. There has to be.

You will tell them, won't you?
That I wasn't crazy...

Of course I will.

Well, I don't
about the rest of you,

but nothing I heard in
that chamber did anything

but validate the opinion
I had going in.

You know, that's what I love
about you, Oli,

you're predictable
as a loaded dice.

I'm just being true to
my sense of ethics,
Madam Justice.

And those ethics make it easy
for you to send a woman
to her death,

for doing her damndest
to save the human race.

Oh, let's stop the posturing,
for God's sake.

There's nobody here
but four walls and five
cantankerous old fools.

JUSTICE HARBISON:
Nobody's posturing, Gretchen.

As Haden says, this decision
will reverberate from now
till doom's day.

Which, if the appellant
is right,

is about 35 years, tops.

(GAVEL BANGING)

JUSTICE HADEN: This court
is now in session.

Before I pull the members of
the court, I have a few words
for the appellant.

Dr. Givens.

I'm impressed with the way
you've conducted yourself in
this proceeding, Doctor.

I admire you intelligence,
your courage under fire.

Before this court
makes its ruling,
I wanted you to know that.

Thank you, sir, Chief Justice.

That being said, I'll explain
the procedure we'll follow

once every justice
has been pulled.

EZEKIEL: Excuse me,
Your Honor.

I think there's one more voice
that you really should
hear from

before you can make
an intelligent verdict.

I'm afraid that's entirely
out of order.

I'm sorry, sir, but I'm going
to have to ask you to leave
the court.

Oh, I'm afraid I can't
do that.

Who the hell are you?

I am your conscience,
Justice Harbison,

but you can call me Ezekiel.

Bailiff, stand down.

It's a bomb.

No, no. No. Technically
it's not a bomb,

it's a cold fusion device.

And I strongly advise
you to listen to what I have
to say, otherwise,

otherwise I may just
have to set it off.

And then you can say goodbye
to this courtroom,

this city and, uh, what,

maybe half the
eastern seaboard.