Decompression (The Outer Limits)

"Decompression" is the 13th episode of season six of The Outer Limits. It first aired on July 30, 2000.

Opening narration

Synopsis

Senator Wyndom Brody has just won the New Hampshire primary and he's flying to South Carolina to press his campaign for the Presidency. He aims to collect all the private details of America's citizens into databases via computers. Suddenly, a woman appears and foretells his death on the plane. She appears intermittently and reveals she is a traveler from a new golden age 112 years in the future created by the future President Wyndom Brody. She can only project herself to him, no-one else can see her. She tells Brody that another time traveler had visited him before he boarded the plane. This visit changed history because it delayed his take off. She explains that the plane left slightly later and thus was struck by lightning that undetectably damaged it. This damage will manifest during landing when an engine will explode. The plane will crash in a fireball, killing all aboard. A new darker Orwellian future is created by his opponent. She claims that if he jumps from the plane before it lands, she will save him, returning everything to normal. As the clock begins to tick down to landing, Brody becomes increasingly conflicted. Finally, taking direction from the Time Traveler, he takes his bodyguard's gun and shoots open a hatch window. The resulting decompression causes the door to open and he willingly goes through. As he falls, he is suddenly transported to the street below unharmed. The time traveler appears and reveals that he actually created the dark future and her mission was to prevent it from happening. He asks her why did she rescue him; and she remarks, "Rescue you? Who said I rescued you?" Brody returns to freefall: his rescue and final conversation were a forced illusion created by the time traveler.

Brody falls to his death and the undamaged plane lands safely.

Closing narration

Cast

• Bruce Boxleitner as Senator Wyndom Brody
• CCH Pounder as the Time Traveler

External links

• "Decompression" at Hulu.com
• "Decompression" at The Outer Limits official website
• "Decompression" at TV.com
• "Decompression" at the Internet Movie Database