The Man Who Was Never Born

This episode works pretty well, but one can dismantle in a few seconds with a bit of thought. When that Connecticut Yankee of Mark Twain's went back, Twain ignored the implications of the whole scientific world. Here we must recognize those things. An astronaut finds himself 200 years in the future, encountering an Earth that will likely die soon. Some well-meaning biologist has done something that has caused this horror. Because the astronaut has gone through a time warp, he makes the trip back, accompanied by a hideous future denizen, a man of great moral character and sadness over the results of humanities stupidity. As they find their way back to the present, the astronaut disappears because of time factors. The creature, however, manages to land the ship and sets about trying to kill the person responsible for the great calamity. At the very least, to stop his wife from producing an offspring. He barges in using a convenient form of hypnosis, shielding his ugliness, and tries to destroy the relationship and stop the wedding. The story ends about the only way it could because of the messing with causality. It's a really depressing conclusion. I'm still waiting to see if someone can really produce something satisfying when it comes to time travel.

This episode explores the notion of killing evil before it has a chance to grow into a menace for mankind--sort of like if you could go back through time to kill Hitler. The show begins with an astronaut from 1961 landing in the future only to find that the planet has been decimated and what people are left are hideous creatures. One named Andro explains that all this was caused by a scientist who accidentally created a plague and wiped out most everyone on the planet. So, using the ship, Andro returns to the 1960s to kill the man who would one day destroy mankind. However, because he's so ugly, he's able to use cool psychic powers to make others think he looks just like Martin Landau! And, it turns out, he's arrived just in time to possibly prevent the scientist's parents from ever marrying! Overall, a very intriguing episode that only has one fault--the ending and the bride's reaction to Andro is just too weird and hard to believe. Still, it's a cool episode and one well worth your time. As usual for this series, it's well written and insightful. See this one.

"The Man Who Was Never Born" is a sensitive fantasy about a man named Andro who is caught in a limbo of time and space. In this episode, he traverses through several worlds, searching for a sense of connection, solidity, and resolution, which is frustratingly elusive.

I will not provide more plot details, aside from the fact that the ending is absolutely stunning and unforgettable. Overall, this is one of the greatest Outer Limits episodes. Martin Landau delivers an outstanding performance in the title role with great support by Shirley Knight. Conrad Hall's soft-focus black/white photography and Leonard Horn's incisive direction complement Anthony Lawrence's spare, compact screenplay to create a powerful viewing experience.

It is difficult to imagine that you will not be moved after watching this. 10/10.

An astronaut unwittingly travels to a future Earth, where he encounters a future Earth dweller, a mutation, The astronaut pleads for The Dweller, Andro the return to Earth's present day, and correct the path.

Wow, this was an incredible episode, incredibly imaginative and thought provoking, The man who was never born delivers on every level, it hits hard, delivering a warning to the future, and poses one huge question, could you take someone's life away, knowing they were going to cause untold misery in the future ahead?

Great mix of sci fi and drama, the characters are so well drawn, so well rounded, that the story somehow has a real meaning.

Martin Landau delivers an outstanding performance, Shirley Knight and Conrad Hall are tremendous in support, credit to the makeup team Herr also, they did an impressive job on Landau.

It is very, very well produced, I loved the contrasting filming styles, especially the soft focused shots.

9/10.

When I saw this episode as a teenager, a hundred or so years ago ;) when it originally aired back in the 60s, I knew that Martin Landau was destined for greatness. I was blown away even then!

It took him a few decades but when he won that Oscar for his part in the movie "Ed Wood," I definitely thought of his incredible acting job in this long ago episode of "The Outer Limits." "The Man Who Was Never Born" is just the best... Landau's performance made you want to weep for the tragic character he portrayed with such beauty and depth.

You know it's a strong performance when you as the viewer are made to care so much about the character, even though his extreme ugliness makes him something less than a feast for the eyes!