The Outer Limits (TV Series) The Refuge (1996) User Reviews

A Bad Place to Stop

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 9 April 2014]

A young man runs through a snowstorm. He is disoriented and can't remember how he got there. At some point, he runs into what appears to be a force field. He awakens in the care of a group of disparate people. Among them are a doctor, a young attractive nurse, a hotheaded young guy, a vampish, middle aged woman, a young religious zealot, and, finally, an older man, played by M. Emmett Walsh, the famous character actor. He is an overbearing control freak who controls those in the house with an iron fist. It becomes obvious that no one leaves this house and most have no control over their lives. The young intruder finds himself battered back and forth by the personalities present. He aligns himself with the pretty young woman and plans to escape, but since he has no memories, he can't enlist a plan. After one escape attempt, he is back in his bed and among the same people, but their roles have changed. The vampish woman is now the kind woman and so on. What happens next is what makes this a truly memorable episode. It is one of the more imaginative efforts of the Outer Limits.

OWNER OF THE DREAMS OF OTHERS

[asalerno10 · 8/10 · 20 June 2022]

A boy who is lost in the snow is rescued by the inhabitants of a house who give him shelter. Once recovered, he becomes friends with a young doctor who seems to be the only one who has a normal behavior since the rest are aggressive, cynical and insensitive people who seem to be coopted by one of the members of the group who handles all situations at will with absolute tyranny. The visitor confronts him by not supporting his nefarious behavior and at that precise moment he suffers a strange shock that vanishes him but when he wakes up he observes with astonishment that all the members of that house have exchanged their personalities among themselves except for the sinister character that seems to continue dominating it all. A rather disturbing story with a logical but unexpected explanation and a happy ending.

By far the best episode

[brandonlewislaw · 10/10 · 11 March 2012]

Love the blizzard scenery and mind puzzling plot. Not at all what you're expecting, as the twist catches you completely off guard. Deals with a man stuck in a blizzard wandering into a refuge as an outsider, with some very strange activity from the seemingly normal guests. Let me say this is not a bunch of aliens or anything weird like that. These are normal people dealing with very abnormal circumstances, circumstances they are completely unaware of. You will like this episode if you are less into the sci fi alien sort of episode dealing with space travel and spaceships or war. Much better. If you haven't seen this, please do check it out. This episode and "The Havem" (very similar titles, completely unrelated stories however) are the two best episodes there are.

one of my favorite episodes

[thelizardkingnc · 10/10 · 17 January 2007]

the first time i saw this episode, i had no idea what i was watching, as I had missed the opening (the voice of control) The first thirty or forty minutes were so bizarre and intriguing I couldn't stop watching. The way the various characters went from one role to another was just mind blowing to me. When the originals were run I worked night shift and never saw them so this was a brand new show to me, so I still catch the sci fi marathons whenever I can. It hooked me on the "NEW outer limits" and I am still trying to catch up on the episodes I have missed. I will not do the "spoiler" thing here but the whole story completely blew me away and has made me a fan of the show.

This was a shorter, less expensive version

[ramairthree-55082 · 6/10 · 21 June 2019]

Of Vanilla Sky before there was a Vanilla Sky or even the Spanish film it was based on.