| "The Bellero Shield" | |||
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| The Outer Limits episode | |||
"In all the universes, in all the unities beyond the universes, all who have eyes have eyes that speak and all speak the same language." |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 20 |
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| Directed by | John Brahm | ||
| Written by | Joseph Stefano (teleplay & story) Lou Morheim (story) Based on a story by Arthur Leo Zagat |
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| Cinematography by | Conrad Hall | ||
| Production code | 23 | ||
| Original air date | February 10, 1964 | ||
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of The Outer Limits episodes | |||
"The Bellero Shield" is an episode of the original The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 10 February 1964, during the first season.
There are several similarities in the story's theme, plot, and structure to Shakespeare's Macbeth, and many critics agree it was the series' take on that play.[1]
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"There is a passion in the human heart that is called aspiration. It flares with the noble flame, and by its light Man has traveled from the caves of darkness to the darkness of outer space. But when this passion becomes lust, when its flame is fanned by greed and private hunger, then aspiration becomes ambition-by which sin the angels fell."
A scientist (Landau) builds a powerful laser device. One night a peaceful Extraterrestrial from a world which "hovers just above the ceiling of your universe" rides the laser down to earth. The scientist's wife (Kellerman) tries to shoot him with a laser gun but he raises a powerful shield. The scientist and the alien share knowledge with one another. When the scientist leaves, the wife shoots the alien in order to get his shield technology. During a demonstration she raises the shield but is unable to take it down, thus remaining trapped. The alien, believed dead, is revived and is asked, "Can you help?" The alien replies, "Can I not?" Then the alien comes to her rescue and lowers the shield before dying by using its own blood to open it. The woman, left insane, believes herself to still be trapped within the shield as the episode ends.
"When this passion called aspiration becomes lust, then aspiration degenerates, becomes vulgar ambition, by which sin the angels fell."