Mary 25
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| The Outer Limits episode | |
|---|---|
| “Mary 25” | |
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 15 |
| Guest star(s) | Sophia Shinas as Mary 25, Michael Shanks as Melburn Ross, Britt McKillip as Brook Bouton, Tom Butler as Charlie Bouton, Ian Robison as Grant Kildale, Cynthia Geary as Teryl Bouton), Matthew Prior as Brandon Bouton |
| Writer(s) | Jonathan Glassner |
| Director | James Head |
| Production no. | 77 |
| Original airdate | 29 May 1998 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| “To Tell the Truth” | “Final Exam” |
"Mary 25" is an episode of The Outer Limits television series. It first aired on 29 May 1998, during the fourth season.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Charlie Bouton's last robot design for Innobotics — Valerie 23 — went berserk and attacked its owners. It almost put the company out of business. Now he and his colleague, Melburn Ross, have a new idea: Mary 25 the nanny robot. Naturally enough his bosses are skeptical, that is until Charlie suggests testing the new robot with his own family.
[edit] Opening narration
- "Our children need protecting from much more than physical harm. Just as threatening to the fragile child are the dangers of the mind... and the dangers of the heart."
[edit] Plot synopsis
Mary 25 replaces the household's current nanny. She is designed not to allow anyone harm the children - including the children themselves. When they start fighting amongst themselves, Mary places them in separate rooms. Teryl, the mother and Charlie's wife, wants Mary out of the house but Charlie says no since he has started using Mary as a sex toy when the others are asleep. It becomes clear that Charlie has been abusing Teryl when the children ask Mary "why does daddy hurt mommy?" It is then revealed that Teryl and Melburn had a relationship once and Melburn still has feelings for Teryl by trying to protect her from Charlie. He then re-programmes Mary so that she now considers that by hurting the mother, Charlie is hurting the children. So one night when Charlie is beating up Teryl, Mary comes in and begins to kill Charlie through strangulation, then breaks his neck.
In the aftermath, the first Nanny has been rehired and the spark is rekindled between Teryl and Melburn until Teryl's dark secret is discovered: the real Teryl that Melburn loved was killed by Charlie and was replaced by Valerie 24, the robot that was made after Valerie 23 but was shelved and she used Melburn to help her get rid of Charlie.
[edit] Trivia
- Mary 25 is named after Mary Poppins.
- Mary 25 is a semi-sequel to "Valerie 23", and is the second in the 'Innobotics arc' (several episodes dealing with androids created by the Innobotics Corporation).
- Sofia Shinas, the actress playing Mary 25 also played Valerie 23.
- The episode features a business presentation prior to the popularity of Microsoft Powerpoint.
- Michael Shanks also plays Daniel Jackson on Stargate SG-1. Tom Butler and him would later be reunited in the SG-1 episodes, Out of Mind (Part 1) and Into the Fire (Part 2)
[edit] Closing narration
- "Let us hope that no technology will ever exist that can replace human warmth and compassion. For when such a technology does exist, will we cease to be human?"
