Gettysburg (The Outer Limits)

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The Outer Limits episode
“Gettysburg”
Episode no. Season 6
Episode 17
Guest star(s) Joshua Leonard as Andy, Jonathan Scarfe as Vince, Alex Diakun as Prentice
Writer(s) Sam Egan
Director Mario Azzopardi
Production no. 127
Original airdate 28 July 2000
Episode chronology
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“Revival” “Something About Harry”

"Gettysburg" is an episode of The Outer Limits television series. It first aired on 28 July 2000, during the sixth season.

Contents

[edit] Introduction

Two friends, Andy and Vince, take part in an American Civil War re-enactment at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A time traveler disguised as a photographer takes their picture and transports them back to the eve of the real battle.

[edit] Plot synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The time traveller, Nicholas Prentice, has done this because Andy will one day assassinate the President of the United States. In 2013 at a ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg, Andy will shoot the president to honor the flag of the Confederate States of America. Prentice wants to show Vince that "there is no glory in this or any other war."

The two are confused about why they were sent back there and demand to be sent home. Prentice tells them that he cannot return them until he has completed his mission, which he keeps a secret from them.

Prentice's camera/time machine is confiscated by the Confederates. Their commander, Col. Angus Devine (played by Meat Loaf) is accidentally transported to the year 2013 after fiddling with the captured time travelling device. Back at Gettysburg, Vince is taken prisoner because he is wearing a Union uniform, and Andy decides to fight for the Confederates in order to make himself feel important.

Vince drops his book, a novel about historic battles of the Civil War; it is found by one of the civilians, but it has little impact on the episode. The woman returns the book towards the end of the episode.

Andy does not learn his lesson and tries to stop Pickett's Charge in order to achieve a Confederate victory, even after Prentice explains why he has been sent back there. Andy is deemed a coward and shot by a Confederate soldier.

Meanwhile, Colonel Devine, after finding himself in 2013, shoots a man dressed as Abraham Lincoln, thinking he really is Lincoln (it was part of a historical monument to honor the battle). He also shoots the President in the process.

The episode ends with Prentice shaking his head in sadness.

[edit] Trivia

  • The character Nicholas Prentice also appears in the episodes "Tribunal" and "Time to Time".

[edit] External links and references