Joshua Hayward and his daughter Sarah wake one morning to find a four-block section of their suburban neighbourhood surrounded by a mysterious energy barrier.
Opening narration
| "In a world where change is the rule, we rely on the unyielding constants in life for comfort and security, that the sun will rise, that the earth will turn, but what if we could no longer be certain of anything... To what then would we cling?" |
Plot
After running away from home, Sarah finds a badly disfigured alien, Adrielo, who tells her that her neighborhood has been grabbed and moved by another race of aliens. He shows her a way through the energy barrier to his own captured realm and begs her to help him save his people, as humans are more advanced. Meanwhile, her father Joshua also finds a way through the barrier and comes face-to-face with their captors, the Triunes, a slothful race who feel physical activity is beneath them.
After experimenting on Joshua, they explain to him that he, his daughter and the rest of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood have been taken as part of a feasibility study into the suitability of humans for slavery. If they are found able to survive the aliens' native environment, the rest of Earth's population will also be taken and enslaved.
Meanwhile, Sarah finds the rest of Adrielo's people. They are dying from a disease that is turning them to stone and she accidentally becomes infected. Joshua eventually finds her and she pleads with him not to touch her lest he also became infected. They both slip back through the energy barrier and return to their own neighborhood, where everyone has gathered at the church to discuss their predicament. Joshua explains the purpose of the energy barrier to the other residents and they wonder what choice they have other than to serve the Triunes when the time comes and they run out of supplies, as there is no way to return to Earth or call for help.
Joshua explains the disease his daughter has been infected with, and suggests they deliberately infect themselves to save Earth from enslavement by the Triunes. After discussing it, Joshua convinces everyone to join hands in the church to sacrifice themselves and prove that humans are unsuitable as slaves. A flash-forward shows all the residents turned to stone statues. The giant pit on Earth from their neighborhood being removed is shown as the closing narration is made.
Closing narration
| "For centuries, philosophers and theologians have debated what it means to be human. Perhaps the answer has eluded us because it is so simple...To be human is to choose." |
Notes
- This episode is a remake of "A Feasibility Study" (1964), an episode of the original series. Like the original episode, it is written by Joseph Stefano. Of the revival series' four remake episodes, it is the only one to be written by the same person as the original episode. This is the only episode of the revival series that he wrote.
- This is the first episode to feature more than one intelligent alien species.
- David McCallum previously appeared in two episodes of the original series: as Gwyllm Griffiths in "The Sixth Finger" and as Tone Hobart in "The Forms of Things Unknown".
Cast
- David McCallum as Joshua Hayward
- Laura Harris as Sarah Hayward
- Malcolm Stewart as Daniel Tenzer
- Don MacKay as Pat Dooley
- Peter Hanlon as Peter Kanan
- Chilton Crane as Elaine Tenzer
- Peter Bryant as Mike
- Jesse Moss as Sean Tenzer
- Zachary Ansley as Adrielo
- Tobias Mehler as Nicky Reeves
- French Tickner as Father Puglia
- Christina Jastrzembska as Sonja
- Eric Schneider as The Triune
- Kevin Conway as the Control Voice (voice)