Ep 23. Second Chance

The Outer Limits season 1 episode 23, titled "Second Chance," tells the story of a brilliant scientist named Dr. Roger Tilman who is conducting a top-secret experiment involving time travel. After successfully sending a lab rat one minute back in time, Tilman decides to test the machine on himself and travels back one day.

However, something goes wrong during the experiment and Tilman wakes up in a parallel reality where he is now a successful author instead of a scientist. In this new reality, he is married to the woman he always loved but never had the courage to ask out in his previous life. He also discovers that his brother is alive and well, contrary to what he had believed in his previous reality.

Tilman initially embraces his new life, but he begins to experience strange flashes of his previous reality. He realizes that he must have created a paradox by going back in time and changing things in his previous reality, leading to the formation of this new reality. Tilman decides to use the time machine to travel back to his previous reality and set things right.

However, when he returns to his previous reality, he finds that his wife is now married to his brother, and his entire life has changed. Frustrated and unable to cope with his new reality, Tilman decides to travel back in time again to fix things. This time, he is sent back to the moment before his initial time travel experiment, where he decides to abandon the idea altogether.

The episode explores the concept of cause and effect and the consequences of changing the past. It also highlights the idea that sometimes, even if we are unhappy with our current situation, it is better to accept it and move forward rather than try to change the past and risk creating even more problems.

Overall, "Second Chance" is a thought-provoking episode that will leave viewers questioning the possibilities and consequences of time travel and the power of choice.