Tribunal (The Outer Limits)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Outer Limits episode | |
|---|---|
| “Tribunal” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 12 |
| Guest star(s) | Saul Rubinek as Aaron Zgierski, Alex Zahara as Karl Rademacher, Jan Rubes as Older Karl Rademacher/Robert Greene, Roman Danylo as Leon Zgierski, Peter Boretski as Older Leon Zgierski, Alex Diakun as Nicholas Prentice |
| Writer(s) | Sam Egan |
| Director | Mario Azzopardi |
| Production no. | 100 |
| Original airdate | 14 May 1999 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| “Ripper” | “Summit” |
"Tribunal" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 14 May 1999, during the fifth season.
Contents |
[edit] Introduction
Leon Zgierski, an inmate of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1944, is forced to watch as his wife is shot and killed by S.S. First Lieutenant Karl Rademacher – and two SS guards drag away his daughter to what he believes are the gas chambers. The murder is witnessed by a mysterious man who writes in a notebook, holds up an antique watch and vanishes in a flash of light.
Many years later, Aaron – Leon Zgierski's son by a second marriage – becomes obsessed with tracking down Rademacher and bringing him to justice.
[edit] Plot synopsis
Aaron is sure he has finally found Rademacher in the United States, living under the name Robert Greene – but he is unable to find enough evidence to convince the authorities to prosecute him. Aaron confronts Greene and angrily denounces him as a war criminal with little success. Greene insists that he is not Rademacher, but realising that he has been found he makes plans to leave for Argentina to avoid any possible prosecution.
Nicholas Prentice, the mysterious man with the antique watch, appears and gives Aaron some artefacts from the camp: a jacket and a notebook of names and details. Aaron continues to build his case, but the authorities are reluctant to get involved even with the evidence provided by Prentice.
Determined to find out more about Nicholas Prentice, Aaron breaks into his hotel room. After searching the room he finds an antique watch with high-technology innards. He accidentally activates the device, drops it, and finds himself back in the 1944 concentration camp with his father and First Lieutenant Rademacher – with no way to return home. The watch is actually a time travel device, and Prentice is from the late 21st Century. Fortunately for Aaron, Prentice returns to his hotel room and finds the dropped watch. He realises what must have happened and follows Aaron back to 1944 and returns him to his own time.
Having seen the camp conditions and Rademacher's crimes for himself, Aaron becomes even more determined to bring the war criminal to justice. Things look slightly hopeful when the artifacts given to Aaron create sufficient grounds for a deportation hearing; unfortunately, Prentice visits with bad news: future history records that as the evidence mounted, "Robert Green" bought a one-way ticket to Argentina and was never heard from again. Livid, Aaron goes to Greene's/Rademacher's house with a gun and demands a confession. Prentice follows him, and explains that he is actually Aaron's great-grandson. If Aaron kills Greene and goes to prison, Prentice will cease to exist. Aaron agrees not to shoot Greene, realizing that it would only cause more harm to his family. Prentice gives Aaron a bag with two S.S. camp guard uniforms and camp inmate clothing. They force Greene to put on the inmate clothing, and the three of them travel back to 1944.
Greene sees his younger self and tries to explain who he is, but young Rademacher shoots him believing him to be just another Jewish prisoner. Aaron then sees his half-sister Hannah. He and Prentice, in their disguise as SS guards, drag Hannah away and order Leon to be sent to a labor camp (because history recorded that everyone who did not report to the labor camp would later be executed by the SS), thus fulfilling the flow of history - earlier, young Leon had seen his daughter taken away by the SS, not realizing that the guards were actually Aaron and Prentice in disguise.
Back in the present day, Aaron visits his father, the elderly Leon Zgierski, and introduces him to Hannah, identified by the camp number still tattooed on her arm.
[edit] Closing narration
- "The wounds of war run deep, cutting across generations. But there is always hope for healing, so long as there are souls among us whose hearts are more full of love than hate."
[edit] Trivia
- At the end of the episode is a note from the writer, Sam Egan: "Dedicated to my father who survived Auschwitz... and to his wife and daughter who did not."
- The Nicholas Prentice character appears in at least two other episodes of The Outer Limits: "Gettysburg" and "Time to Time".
- This is the 100th episode of the series.
