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» » The Outer Limits Patient Zero (1995–2002)

Short summary

Colonel Beckett goes back in time to poison a physician who unintentionally spread a global pandemic. When the traveler returns to the future, nothing has changed. Though haunted by the plague death of his own family, the Colonel is ordered to an earlier time, to assassinate a young woman carrier, plus the physician.

Kyra Azzopardi (Catherine Beckett) is the daughter of the director Mario Azzopardi.

Amy Barrett was born on June 16, 1981. In the original timeline, she died on June 10, 2009.

This episode takes place in 2001 and 2015.

Laurie Murdoch (Quisling) previously played Lawrence in За гранью возможного: The Vaccine (1998), another episode involving a plague which wiped out billions of people worldwide.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: ndup
    Having been disappointed recently with this series, I found the implications of this episode quite captivating. A plague has decimated Earth. A few scientists have developed a method for going back in time. They have concluded that there is a ground zero, an inciting factor, that led to the plague. It is the job of a military man to go back and kill the person who has been identified. She is a lonely, attractive young woman who has harmed no one. She has, in fact, been dealt a hard lot in life. The man, of course, begins to have feelings for her and begins to hate his role. He starts to freelance, trying to find another way to bring about the same result without killing the young woman. The people in the future realize something is wrong. They are bound by a brief time frame and begin to panic. This is tenderly done with some real implications for all of us.
  • comment
    • Author: Ese
    Colonel Beckett comes from the near future, a time where mankind is on the brink of annihilation - the cause is a plague, which scientists have now determined the source of. He is sent back to our present, in order to prevent the outbreak... by killing Patient Zero. This goes into the themes of revenge, and the value of human life. Should a few people die to save millions? This does a great job of establishing the lead(and Rooker gives a really compelling performance, as the determined, tortured soldier on a mission), the stakes and the overall situation swiftly and smoothly, leaving room for development of him, as well as Amy(played charmingly by Allen), the woman he is there to take out. We find ourselves getting to like her, and it becomes difficult to accept that she has to go, even considering the gain. The acting in general is quite good. Characters(the focus is on the duo, though) are well-written, credible and likable. The FX are nicely done and minimally(and effectively) used. This is paced impeccably, it moves very fast(effortlessly is a fitting term for it) without it being confusing. Like the best episodes, it has a point(or perhaps rather an interesting question, up to the individual to answer for themselves) but it doesn't hammer it home. There is a little violence and strong, disturbing content in this. I recommend this to all fans of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone. 8/10
  • comment
    • Author: Anarahuginn
    OK, so the first time I watched it, I really didn't like it, and was surprised that it got such a good rating...all in all, its a fine episode, its just got holes in its premise the size of the moon. I'm a big Sci-fi fan, so I know you have to suspend some disbelief, so I'm not even going to nitpick on the whole time-paradox thing. A) Beckett wouldn't spare Amy...when 5 billion people die, you don't mess around...i'm far from a badarse, but even I would choose to kill one to save 5B. B) Beckett thought that direct contact between him and the Doc and Amy wouldn't have any risk? When you have 3 pieces to the puzzle, and you don't know the third, you don't mess around. C) At the end, Beckett's bud says that Beckett is PZero, and cant come back to the future, they cant risk contamination...but then he brings him into the portal with him. Sorry, but there were too many holes for this to be one of the best tOL eps.
  • comment
    • Author: Malogamand
    I enjoyed this episode almost as much as I enjoyed the Terry Gilliam movie 12 Monkeys. But then I got terribly confused when I watched the special feature on the episode and found no one giving even an homage nod to the "original" idea. I believe it is possible for multiple writers in any genre to come up with the same or similar idea completely independently of each other, so I'm not suggesting Pen Densham "stole" the idea for Patient Zero from 12 Monkeys...I just don't understand why everyone pretends the coincidence doesn't exist. This confusion of mine is now compounded by the fact there is a new movie being released soon which bears the same title and seems to be based on the same plot...and once again, no mention in any of the publicity I've seen so far of either this Outer Limits episode or the Terry Gilliam film.
  • Episode cast overview:
    Michael Rooker Michael Rooker - Colonel Beckett
    Tanya Allen Tanya Allen - Amy Barrett
    Laurie Murdoch Laurie Murdoch - Quisling
    Gillian Barber Gillian Barber - General
    David Cubitt David Cubitt - Colonel Faber
    Patrick McManus Patrick McManus - Dr. Mandel
    Myfanwy Meilen Myfanwy Meilen - Beckett's Wife
    Karina Carreck Karina Carreck - Nurse
    Aaron Joseph Aaron Joseph - Basketball Kid
    Kyra Azzopardi Kyra Azzopardi - Catherine
    Bruce Campbell Bruce Campbell - Coffee Guy
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