A man is looking for a gun and is offered one by a man that does not question his motives. When the gun is first used, it fuses itself with its owner.
Opening narration
| "From muskets to six-guns to assault weapons, the pages of our history run red with blood. But which came first, the violent impulse or the weapon which answers its call?" |
Plot
Getting out of prison after serving years for spousal abuse, Matthew Logan first stops at a gun show and buys a strange handgun from a mysterious stranger named Donald Finley.
Matthew uses the gun to kill his wife, Sandra. But when he pulls the trigger, the weapon instantly and painfully attaches itself to his arm, transforming his body into a killing machine. Sandra's father, Cord, armed with one of the guns, and Matthew have a showdown. Cord wins, seriously wounding Matthew, but when his daughter and grandson arrive, he can't bring himself to finish Matthew off and the mutation he's experiencing reverses and he is able to drop the gun. Unwilling to go back to prison, Matthew shoots himself through the heart, killing himself. As Finley takes the guns and leaves, Cord chases him down, demanding an explanation.
Finley reveals that he is an alien who is looking for soldiers for a war his species is fighting. Some species have their natural revulsion against killing override the mutation, but Matthew was perfect for him. While Cord was a failure, he's sure there are more people out there like Matthew for him to use, and he teleports away.
Finley is later seen offering a gun to another person.
Closing narration
| "The path to our own destruction may lie less in the weapons we conceive, than the violence in our hearts." |
Notes
- The concept of a flesh gun which melds with the hand of a person was also explored in the movies Videodrome (1983) and eXistenZ (1999), both directed by David Cronenberg.
- This episode is included on The Outer Limits: Mutation & Transformation Collection DVD set.
Cast
- Stacy Keach as Cord van Owen (as Stacey Keach)
- Nancy Sorel as Dana van Owen
- Christian Bocher as Matthew Logan
- Eric Schneider as Dr. Stanley Miller
- Devin Douglas Drewitz as Ty Logan
- Stephen Dimopoulos as Horace Vaughn
- John de Lancie as Donald Finley
- Bob Dawson as Sheriff Clay
- Linnea Sharples as Sandra Logan
- Brock Johnson as Nate Jackson
- Greg Anderson as Dealer
- Christina Jastrzembska as Karen Miller
- Nels Lennarson as Deputy
- Marcel Maillard as Pastor Wickham
- Ken Jones as Gun Seller (uncredited)
- Kevin Conway as the Control Voice (voice)