Small Friends (The Outer Limits)

"Small Friends"
The Outer Limits episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 3
Directed by	Neill Fearnley
Written by	Tom Szollosi
Original air date	5 February 1999
Guest appearance(s)
Ralph Waite Richard Yearwood Roddy Piper Ingrid Torrance Andrew Johnston Benz Antoine Marc Baur Bill Croft Tim Progosh Gerry Rousseau Dean Wray Joel Palmer
Episode chronology

"Small Friends" is an episode of The Outer Limits television show. It first aired on 5 February 1999.

Opening narration

“

The longing for redemption can express itself in many forms and sometimes, indeed, the greatest obstacle we face is found within our own conscience.

”

Plot

Brilliant robotics researcher Gene Morton (Ralph Waite) killed a man who stole the credit for his groundbreaking nanobot research. Now in prison his chances at parole have been sabotaged by his own honesty and sense of guilt. Although it's a lonely life, late at night, after lights-out, Gene brings out his small friends, a swarm of microscopic robots (nanobots/nanites) that he made from prison scrap and keeps in a matchbox. The MEMS (short for MicroElectroMechanical Systems) are controlled by a small keypad and can work together to perform an amazing variety of tasks, from sculpting steel to picking locks. The MEMS are Gene's little secret until one night when he takes pity on Lawrence, a fellow inmate who has broken a CD player belonging to Marlon, the prison tough guy. Knowing Marlon might kill Lawrence, Gene sends the MEMS to fix the player. Lawrence is dazzled, but repays the favor by teaming up with Marlon to blackmail Gene. The two cons threaten to kill Gene's daughter Becky and grandson Phillip unless he uses the MEMS to help them break out of prison. When things turn ugly during the jailbreak Marlon takes Gene's family hostage, now wanting to use the robots to commit crimes, but when he accidentally kills Gene while trying to shoot Becky the MEMS take revenge and kill him. The episode ends with the MEMS befriending Phillip and asking what he needs.

Closing narration

“

It is said that our lives are measured by what we leave behind. But for rich man and poor, the most valuable legacy of all... is love.

”

Cast

Ralph Waite as Gene Morton
Richard Yearwood as Lawrence
Roddy Piper as Marlon
Ingrid Torrance as Becky
Andrew Johnston as Warden Taylor
Benz Antoine as Fence Guard
Marc Baur as Board Member
Bill Croft as Gabriel
Tim Progosh as Walter Black
Gerry Rousseau as Jimmy
Dean Wray as Tito
Joel Palmer as Phillip

External links

"Small Friends" at the Internet Movie Database
"Small Friends" at TV.com

The Outer Limits episodes

1963 series
(episodes)

Season 1	"The Galaxy Being" "The Hundred Days of the Dragon" "The Architects of Fear" "The Man with the Power" "The Sixth Finger" "The Man Who Was Never Born" "O.B.I.T." "The Human Factor" "Corpus Earthling" "Nightmare" "It Crawled Out of the Woodwork" "The Borderland" "Tourist Attraction" "The Zanti Misfits" "The Mice" "Controlled Experiment" "Don't Open Till Doomsday" "ZZZZZ" "The Invisibles" "The Bellero Shield" "The Children of Spider County" "Specimen: Unknown" "Second Chance" "Moonstone" "The Mutant" "The Guests" "Fun and Games" "The Special One" "A Feasibility Study" "Production and Decay of Strange Particles" "The Chameleon" "The Forms of Things Unknown"

Season 2	"Soldier" "Cold Hands, Warm Heart" "Behold, Eck!" "Expanding Human" "Demon with a Glass Hand" "Cry of Silence" "The Invisible Enemy" "Wolf 359" "I, Robot" "The Inheritors" "Keeper of the Purple Twilight" "The Duplicate Man" "Counterweight" "The Brain of Colonel Barham" "The Premonition" "The Probe"

1995 series
(episodes)

Season 1	"The Sandkings" "Corner of the Eye" "Under the Bed" "Dark Matters" "The Conversion" "Quality of Mercy" "The New Breed" "The Voyage Home" "Caught in the Act" "The Message" "I, Robot" "If These Walls Could Talk" "Birthright" "The Voice of Reason"

Season 2	"Stitch in Time" "Resurrection" "Unnatural Selection" "I Hear You Calling" "Mind Over Matter" "Beyond the Veil" "First Anniversary" "Straight and Narrow" "Trial by Fire" "Worlds Apart" "The Refuge" "Inconstant Moon" "From Within" "The Heist" "Afterlife" "The Deprogrammers" "Paradise" "The Light Brigade" "Falling Star" "Out of Body" "Vanishing Act" "The Sentence"

Season 3	"Bits of Love" "Second Thoughts" "Re-Generation" "Last Supper" "Stream of Consciousness" "Dark Rain" "The Camp" "Heart's Desire" "Tempests" "Awakening" "New Lease" "Double Helix" "Dead Man's Switch" "Music of the Spheres" "The Revelations of Becka Paulson" "Bodies of Evidence" "Feasibility Study" "A Special Edition"

Season 4	"Criminal Nature" "The Hunt" "Hearts and Minds" "In Another Life" "In the Zone" "Relativity Theory" "Josh" "Rite of Passage" "Glyphic" "Identity Crisis" "The Vaccine" "Fear Itself" "The Joining" "To Tell the Truth" "Mary 25" "Final Exam" "Lithia" "Monster" "Sarcophagus" "Nightmare" "Promised Land" "Balance of Nature" "The Origin of Species" "Phobos Rising" "Black Box" "In Our Own Image"

Season 5	"Alien Radio" "Donor" "Small Friends" "The Grell" "The Other Side" "Joyride" "The Human Operators" "Blank Slate" "What Will The Neighbors Think" "The Shroud" "Ripper" "Tribunal" "Summit" "Descent" "The Haven" "Deja Vu" "The Inheritors" "Essence of Life" "Stranded" "Fathers and Sons" "Star Crossed" "Better Luck Next Time"

Season 6	"Judgment Day" "The Gun" "Skin Deep" "Manifest Destiny" "Breaking Point" "The Beholder" "Seeds of Destruction" "Simon Says" "Stasis" "Down to Earth" "Glitch" "Decompression" "Abaddon" "The Grid" "Gettysburg" "Nest" "Final Appeal"

Season 7	"Family Values" "Patient Zero" "A New Life" "The Surrogate" "The Vessel" "Mona Lisa" "Replica" "Think Like a Dinosaur" "Worlds Within" "In the Blood" "Flower Child" "Abduction" "Lion's Den" "The Tipping Point" "The Human Factor" "Human Trials"

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