Original subtitles

[birds chirping]

With all due respect, Bringing Meredith home may have been premature.

It's over, Don.

You know it, I know it, Oncology knows it.

She hasn't responded to treatment in weeks.

The melanoma is way too advanced.

Her lymph system is riddled.

Her whole body is under attack.

[Don] You're not thinking of... intervening.

[husband] She's my wife.

She deserves whatever dignity I can give her.

Thanks for all your support, Don.

You know, if only the regressor were further along,

Meredith might have been the first to benefit from it.

Of course, we both know the price to pay

for stepping outside the regs.

Noah, Davenport would have your head on a platter.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to be alone with my wife.

[monitor beeps]

I'd be lost without you, kid.

I got no choice.

I got to do this.

[sniffles]

If I'm right,

This machine is going to save your life.

[machine beeping]

If I'm wrong...

God forgive me.

[machine beeping]

Initialize cellular analysis.

[computer] Scanning and initializing.

Warning.

"Probability of successful regression at 72%."

[computer beeps]

"Exceeds risk parameters."

Yeah, well, I'll take those odds.

Override initialized.

[computer] Overriding.

And...

Execute.

[electronic whirring]

[computer] Regression sequence commencing.

Regression target, 17 months.

Please...

let her live.

[computer beeping]

Lesions are shrinking.

Multiple indications of hypo-remission.

[computer beeps]

[computer] Cellular regression successful.

Disengage regression sequence.

[monitor beeping]

Noah?

[bed whirring]

Hey, how are you feeling?

Fine.

[sighing]

I'm so groggy.

Did I oversleep?

It's amazing. Look at you.

What are you talking about?

What's all this equipment?

It's the, uh...

The prototype of the regressor. I brought it home.

Regressor?

Have I ever told you how much I loved you?

[computer beeping]

[computer] Warning, warning.

Subject destabilizing

-What's going on? -Oh, Damn it, it's reversing.

We're getting cellular breakdown.

God, let it be transient.

Noah, you're scaring me. Stop it.

Initialize regression sequence.

[computer beeping]

[gasps, shivers]

[Meredith gasps]

Oh, my skin!

What did you do to me?

Hang on, Mer! You're going to be all right.

-[computer beeping] -Initialize the damn regression sequence!

[Meredith] Help me.

[breathing heavily]

[gasps]

Meredith?

[monitor flatlining]

No! [sobs]

[high-pitched tone playing]

[Control Voice] There is nothing wrong with your television.

Do not attempt to adjust the picture.

We are now controlling the transmission.

We control the horizontal and the vertical.

We can deluge you with a thousand channels

or expand one single image to crystal clarity

and beyond.

We can shape your vision

to anything our imagination can conceive.

For the next hour,

we will control all that you see and hear.

You are about to experience the awe and mystery

which reaches from the deepest inner mind

to The Outer Limits.

[Control Voice] It is perhaps the central paradox of our existence.

To be alive is to be aware of our mortality.

Life is by definition a terminal disease.

-You never thought to hire professional movers? -[laughs]

[Noah] Why should I when I have friends like you?

[exhales]

You know, not that I haven't thought

about getting out of the city myself,

but did you have to come this far?

Take a look around.

Clean air, zero crime.

What is it exactly you think I'll be missing?

[Don] Well, poker games won't be the same without you.

Who else folds aces up?

Well, it's not exactly like I had a choice.

The hospital cut off all funding to my research.

The review board is still threatening to pull my license.

Hell, if the DA hadn't backed off on those manslaughter charges,

I might have been whiling my time away in prison.

Look, you did what any of us would have done

under the circumstances

Yeah.

[grunting]

Noah...

Meredith was dying long before your experiments ever began.

It was the cancer that killed her,

not you, not the regressor.

Thanks for the absolution.

You missed your calling, buddy. You'd have made a great priest.

Look, all I'm saying is that just because the regressor's been moth-balled

doesn't mean that you can't apply that knowledge to other research.

And the truth is I'm worried about you.

I'd hate to see you

sink any deeper into that hole you've been in.

It's been almost a year.

You can't go on torturing yourself.

It's time to move on.

I have moved on. I'm here, aren't I?

To do what?

Oh, I'm sure they could use a GP.

Maybe I could make house calls.

You're 50 miles outside the city,

not 50 years back in time.

[chuckles]

Oh, and speaking of time, look, I got to be getting back.

Listen, you need anything,

you give me a shout.

Hey, just look for the smoke signals.

[door opens and closes]

[grunts]

[lid clatters]

This is for you, Meredith.

This is for you.

Hello there.

Hello back.

Noah Phillips.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

I'm Barbara Matheson.

It's great to be here.

[exhales] Rumor is you're a doctor.

Ah, guilty as charged.

I wish I had a little warning you were coming,

We would have called out the welcome wagon.

[chuckles] Nearest thing we had to that in the city

is your car doesn't get broken into in the first month.

[laughs] Hardcore urbanite, huh?

Not anymore.

Made the big leap to the country.

I need some peace and quiet.

You won't get much of that around here,

not with all the alien abductions.

Oh.

-[laughing] Oh! -[chuckles]

That's very good, uh, I haven't had

-a decent abduction in a long time. -[laughs]

Is it just you, or do you have a family?

-No, no, it's just me. -Oh.

We'll have to give you a little party,

you can meet some of the neighbors.

You know, I'm not really the party type.

That's all right.

I'm not much good at giving them.

I like your sales pitch. [chuckles]

If you don't want a party, how about I surprise you?

With what?

[laughing] Well, if I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise.

-[door opens] -[Greg] Hey, Barb, what are you up to?

Oh, come on out here, meet our new neighbor.

-Ah. -Dr. Phillips, this is my husband Greg.

-Hi. -Hi.

[Greg] Don't believe anything she tells you.

They don't roll up the sidewalks around here until at least 9:00.

That's good to know.

Hey, I thought you were gonna help me pack, huh?

Oh, of course, I'll get some things together.

-Excuse me, Doctor. -Yeah, sure thing.

Life of a traveling salesman.

No sooner lay your butt in the sack

than somebody starts blowing Reveille. [chuckles nervously]

-[door closes] -I guess that's the price of being numero uno, eh?

I can imagine.

-See ya. -Yeah.

[door opens]

[door closes]

-Well, the new neighbor seems like such a nice young man. -[Greg sighs]

Tell you what, old Hanley,

a lot of this consolidation strategy I put together

is going to change his tune big-time!

-I certainly hope so. -Heh.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Well, I just know how anxious you've been about the new man they brought in.

Eh, he's a snot-nosed kid.

-Ah, I don't know what I'm worried about. -[folder thuds]

You don't build a company as big as Hanley's

without having great respect for experience.

-[glasses clatter] -Besides...

[exhales]

No pimple-faced jerk's going to do me out of my promotion.

[chuckles, inhales]

[exhales]

He'll be singing in a higher key when I get through with him.

Ah, the coffee's cold.

Oh, here, let me get you a fresh cup.

[groans softly]

[sighs]

Yes, siree, I tell you that's good.

I don't care what anybody says.

[video camera whirs]

By documenting these experiments with the modified regressor,

I hope to prove to the world

that its dream of discovering a fountain of youth

can transcend myth, and become a reality.

Of course, I may also be providing the authorities

with the evidence they need to prosecute me

For walking away with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth

of hospital equipment, but... what the hell. [chuckles]

Okay, guys...

Let's make history.

[machine beeping and whirring]

Run self-diagnostic.

[computer] System calibrating.

[computer beeping]

Initialize regression sequence.

[computer] Initializing.

And...

execute.

Regression sequence commencing.

[electronic whirring]

[beeping]

Cellular regression successful.

Yes.

[knocking]

[door opens]

"Welcome to the neighborhood. Hope you like homemade pie."

[Greg] Can't do anything right! Jeez!

You call this shirt ironed? Look at that! Look at that!

I bust my butt for you. 50 hours a week for you.

Least you could do is fix me a decent shirt!

Before you worry about the goddamn neighbor!

[knocking]

Barbara, are you all right?

Oh, I'm fine.

Are you sure everything is okay?

But of course. [stammers] Why wouldn't it be?

Well, it's just...

Just, um, I just came over to thank you for the pie.

Oh, did you get a chance to try a piece?

No, I'll... I'll try some when I get back.

Anyway, um... Thanks.

Oh, it's my pleasure.

Who were you talking to?

The new neighbor.

[sighing]

I catch you whining to him, there's gonna be hell to pay.

You understand me?

-I didn't say anything. -I don't believe ya!

[sobbing] Stop this, please.

I'll give you something to whine about, you little...

-[slapping] -[Barbara screams, groans]

Now... Now you see what you made me do?

Are you happy? Are you happy?

[birds chirping]

[machine beeping]

Damn.

[video camera bleeping]

The specimen's regressed cells have entirely reversed.

Results...

devastatingly lethal.

[computer beeps]

Morning.

Morning.

How was your first night in the new house?

Must be the country air.

Slept like a baby.

How about you? Everything all right?

Fine. Just fighting the never-ending battle of the weeds.

[sighs]

Are you sure you don't need some help?

Oh... No, thanks.

I'm...

done gardening for today.

No, wait, wait, Barbara, wait.

Listen, I haven't had a chance to buy food since I moved in.

I was gonna go into town today.

You wouldn't wanna come with me, would you?

Oh, actually, I've let

quite a few chores build up.

It'd be awfully nice having someone show me around.

Sure you wouldn't want to get away from here for a couple of hours?

Come on, what do you say?

What does a girl from rural Florida end up doing in New York?

-[chuckles] -[gulls screeching]

Singing jazz in cabarets.

[laughs] Get out of town.

-That's exactly what I did. -[chuckles]

By popular demand.

[chuckles]

-[effort grunts] -A jazz singer in New York.

That is very cool.

Well, if you can fake it there, you can fake it anywhere.

Oh, I bet you were the real thing.

Oh. Here.

My stage name was Barbara Dumont.

I keep that picture to remind myself of the power of self-deception.

Wow.

So what happened?

Well, my career wasn't exactly lighting up the Great White Way.

Then I met Greg.

[Noah] Mmm.

He sent flowers to my dressing room

five nights in a row before he introduced himself.

[Barbara laughing]

He was charming,

And I was eager to start a family.

So did you start a family?

No. Unfortunately Greg wasn't able to have children.

Then his job took him out west.

So I gave up the music to be with him.

You miss it?

Well, I try not to wallow in self-pity,

tempting as that might be.

-[chuckles] -Oh, don't get me wrong.

When it comes to making the most of all I have left,

I say damn the torpedoes.

Do you want to talk about it?

-The bruise on your face. -[gasps]

Oh, I just happen to be [laughing nervously]

the world's clumsiest person.

Clumsiest liar maybe.

[sighs]

Things have been very frustrating for my husband lately.

He's afraid of losing a promotion to a much younger man.

Barbara, you can't make excuses for him.

I've seen how these patterns escalate.

Greg is all I have in this world.

Most of the time, he still cares very much.

I just wanna be honest with you.

If this happens again, I'm not gonna sit on my hands.

What would you do?

I don't know. I'd talk to him or report him, I don't know.

I'm sorry.

I don't mean to be presumptuous.

No, that's okay. That's okay.

Can I ask you something?

Sure.

Why are you so unhappy?

What? Do I look that unhappy to you?

When you get to be my age,

you can look into a person's eyes

and see right through to their soul.

Um...

Oh, God.

Less than a year ago, I lost someone that I loved very much.

Your wife?

Yeah.

Meredith contracted skin cancer.

It all happened so fast.

I was doing some research at the time I was convinced would help her.

So I tried an experimental treatment.

Unfortunately it didn't work.

In fact...

It killed her.

Oh, no.

Oh, that must have been terrible for you.

If I hadn't been so wrapped in my own work,

I would have noticed the illness sooner.

I could have made all the difference.

You... You can't blame yourself.

Being a doctor doesn't make you all-powerful.

Are you still doing cancer research?

No, it's not cancer per se. Uh...

At one point, I was sure that I was onto the very mechanism

which makes us age.

[laughing] You put that in a bottle.

I'll order some of that myself.

-[both chuckle] -Oh!

[gasps]

Photographs, five bucks.

I don't see why.

You look like you're in great health.

-[chuckles] -Very beautiful woman.

[scoffs, laughing] Oh, Doctor Phillips, please.

Noah. Noah.

Hey, how about a photo?

Oh, no, no, no. No, thank you.

Aw, come on. You and me together.

Damn the torpedoes.

Okay. Okay!

All right.

Thanks.

Okay, right over here.

[camera shutter clicks]

[engine turns off]

Oh.

Where you been? You had me worried.

Oh, we were just doing some shopping.

I'm sorry, Greg, it was my fault.

I asked Barbara to show me around town.

Hungry, yeah, think you could put something on the table?

Of course. Excuse me, Doctor.

Maybe I could take the both of you out to dinner.

Make up for my presumptuous behavior.

-[door opens] -Oh, no, no.

One thing you need to know about me and Barb though.

We, uh... [clears throat] We kind of like to keep to ourselves, huh?

[chuckles]

[door closes]

[dog barking outside]

[computer] System calibrating.

[computer bleeping]

Barbara?

What are you doing?

[Barbara] The door was open.

Is this the machine that makes people young?

Oh, Barbara, that's very dangerous.

Please step away.

-[device powering up] -I've got nothing to lose, Noah.

Nothing at all.

No, wait!

[whirring]

[computer] Regression sequence commencing.

-[keyboard clacking] -Disengage! Disengage!

[computer] Access denied.

[bleeping]

Regression in progress.

Cellular regression successful.

-[device powering down] -[Noah] Barbara.

Did it work?

Come here, come here.

[machine whirring]

[gasps] Oh! My God!

Is that really me?

[Noah] That's really you.

Noah... my youth.

You've given it back to me.

[both laughing]

Oh!

I'm sorry, I have no right.

You have every right.

[bones crunching]

[computer] Warning.

-[rapid beeping] -Subject destabilizing.

What is it? Noah.

What's happening?

The cells are breaking down.

-[Barbara yelps] -Barbara.

No, don't you look at me.

Barbara, it's all right.

What did you do to me?

[screaming]

[gasps, shudders]

Oh, God Almighty.

Oh, man.

[computer bleeping]

[door closes]

[clears throat]

[video camera whirs]

In an effort to prolong the cellular rejuvenation,

I've decided to increase exposure

by running two emitters in tandem.

And I'm hoping that the, uh, stronger dose

will give the cells the stability they need to remain young.

Run diagnostic for emitter A.

[computer] System calibrating.

[computer bleeping]

[knocking]

[knocking]

[door squeaks open]

[door closes]

[keyboard clacking]

[Barbara] Noah?

Barbara, I didn't hear you come in.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm interrupting your work.

No, no, no, no, no, no, come on down.

I... I brought you something.

-[laughs] -Yeah, what's that?

[sighs]

It's... my scrapbook

from when I was singing in cabarets.

I thought you might enjoy it. [chuckles]

-Yeah. [laughing] Oh, I love it. -[Barbara giggling]

-That's a concert we did in a college. -[Noah] Okay.

[Barbara] Oh, is this

the research you were talking about?

Yeah. Phillips' Folly.

Look it up in the mad scientist almanac.

What does it do?

In theory,

you could take a malignant growth

and take it back to the point where it was benign

or even non-existent.

So you haven't given up on it?

I tried.

Something kept nagging at me.

I don't think I'm ever gonna be able to reconcile myself

with what happened to Meredith until I can get this damn thing to work.

Noah...

Maybe I shouldn't say this. I know it's not my place.

But I think

you have to face the truth in your life

much as I have had to in mine.

What you did for Meredith, you did out of love.

-You can't fault yourself for that. -Why not?

I had her life in my hands.

If only we could have traded places.

That's crazy!

Oh, think of the hope you could provide other people.

Oh, Noah, you have so much to live for.

You're very sweet, you know that?

[Barbara laughing]

-Barbara, Barbara-- -No, no, just, just no.

No.

Barbara.

Barbara, wait!

I'm 30 years older than you, Noah.

More.

That makes no difference to me.

Even if I weren't married, it wouldn't be right.

I'm on the downward slope of my life.

Oh, Noah, you are so young.

All that kiss did was remind me of all of that.

Listen to me. He doesn't deserve you.

I need you, Barbara, more than you know.

There are some things that just weren't meant to be.

There is...

There's a balance of nature, Noah.

You can't turn back the clock just by wishing for it.

No one can.

[door closes]

[vehicle approaching]

Greg, what are you doing home?

What's the matter? You disappointed?

Well, of course not. I... I just didn't expect to see you until tonight.

Well, you'd better get used to it, because you're gonna be seeing

a hell of a lot more of me now.

Did something happen at work?

[clears throat] Damn right something happened.

You didn't get the promotion.

"Promotion"? [scoffs]

That bastard Hanley fired me.

Jeez, all those years on the road down the drain.

You know what he said to me?

"Man your age ought to be playing golf,

watching his grandkids grow up."

[grunts]

He doesn't have a clue!

Ah, what the hell am I going to do?

Oh, Greg, I am so sorry.

Ah, don't give me that crap!

You'll find something else.

No one knows the buyers like you do.

Don't patronize me!

You always thought I was a loser right from the beginning.

-I can see it in your face. -That's not true!

Why are you saying that?

You think I can go out and get another job, huh?

I'm 66 years old. It's over! I'm dead!

Might as well throw dirt on me!

Now, where the hell are you going?

I was just gonna get you something to eat.

Don't you ever turn your back on me.

And where the hell were you right now?

Your car was in the driveway.

I was just next door.

I was talking to Dr. Phillips.

-I told you to stay away from him! -[glass shatters]

-Oh, Greg, did you hurt yourself? -[groans]

We were talking, Greg, we were just talking.

Don't you lie to me!

I told you to stay away from him!

-[Barbara groans] -[shatters]

I know what you're doing!

You're trying to charm a guy half your age!

You think I'm a joke? You're the freaking joke!

You don't understand.

Oh, you don't understand.

And by God, you will! By God, you will!

[electronic whirring]

[video camera whirs]

The balance of nature.

I'm using oppositely charged beams from the twin emitters

to simultaneously irradiate an adult frog and a tadpole.

I'm trying to create a living equilibrium,

that balance of nature that Barbara was talking about.

If my theory is right,

the frog should regress, and the tadpole should age,

with a cross-over effect that should stabilize the changes in both animals.

[chuckles] Here goes nothing.

Initialize transference sequence.

[computer] Initializing.

[beeping]

And... execute.

[beams whirring]

[computer] Bi-polar regression sequence commencing.

[computer bleeping]

Cellular regression successful.

Disengage transference sequence.

[computer] Parameters stable.

Recalibrating for polarity reversal.

One unexpected anomaly. That polarity of the beams apparently switched.

Uh, donor station has turned into the receiving station and vice versa.

They must go back and forth with every transference.

But the most important thing

is that cellular regression and progression

seems to have worked.

Diagnostics indicate the most stable readings to date.

I may actually have pulled this thing off.

[grunts]

[engine starts]

[tires screeching]

Barbara, it's me! Noah.

Barbara!

[device whirring]

Run diagnostic on subject A.

[computer] Scanning.

[beams whirring]

Barbara, listen to me, you've got to do this.

Your vital signs are right on the threshold.

You're bleeding internally. I've got no time to get you to a hospital.

I'm gonna try and reverse the hemorrhaging.

Hey, Barb, you...

What the...

Barbara?

Barbara?

[glass breaking]

Barbara? Barbara?

[sighs]

[Noah] Initialize transference sequence.

[computer] Initializing.

-[device powering up] -And execute.

[bleeping]

[computer] Bi-polar regression sequence commencing.

Cellular regression successful.

Parameters stable.

Recalibrating for polarity reversal.

[beams whirring]

That's me.

[Barbara sighing]

Barbara?

Where am I?

Who are you?

My name is Dr. Noah Phillips.

Now you've just survived a very traumatic event.

I'm going to help you, but I have to ask you a few questions.

First, tell me your name, your first and your last name.

Barbara Spencer.

What year is it?

It's 1957.

Oh, my.

[Barbara] Do I have amnesia?

What happened to me? Tell me!

It'd be easier just to show you.

Come here.

Oh.

[Noah exhales]

[video camera whirring, beeps]

[gasps] Some kind of trick.

It has to be.

No, Barbara, it's not.

It's not 1957 anymore.

It's 1998.

You're 65 years old,

and you've been married to Greg for almost 40 years.

Oh, no, this is crazy.

Look, I don't know where I am, or who you are,

but I want you to stay away. Do you hear me?

Wait, wait, Barbara, wait, wait.

You must know that Greg has a temper.

When I found you... he'd beaten you so bad,

you were almost dead.

He would never hurt me.

-I know him. -Look.

This is a picture of you and I.

It was taken a couple of days ago.

-[Barbara] That's me? -Yes.

-Is that what you're saying? -Yes.

Yes, it's your scrapbook.

Here...

You think that you and Greg aren't married yet?

Well, then, how do you explain this?

Even if I believed it, how could this be you?

You said this machine was supposed to make you younger.

Listen, I first used this machine,

oh, it was almost a year ago, on my wife.

She was dying of cancer.

The first version didn't work,

and she died almost instantly.

Is that what's going to happen to me?

Oh, no, no. No, I realized,

by striking a balance, I could keep the cells young.

You gave up your youth to give me back mine?

It seemed only right.

After all, you were the inspiration

that led me to the answer.

How do I know this isn't

some kind of horrible brainwashing?

Like Korea?

Oh, I wouldn't do that to you, Barbara.

[exhales] You mean too much to me.

You have to believe that.

[breathes heavily]

Noah, if... what you're saying is true,

then I've robbed you of half your life.

It's not right.

Please...

put me back the way I was.

What?

Why?

So you can go back to being a battered woman?

[grunts]

I'm giving you a second chance here.

A chance to live your life again, the right way this time.

What you're telling me is that I have lived my life.

I can't take that away from someone else.

Please.

Put me back the way I was.

Put yourself back the way you were.

It's my decision to make. It's not yours.

[stairs creaking]

Initiate transference sequence.

Are you sure you want to go through with this?

Oh, for God's sake, just hurry up before I change my mind.

Ah! Hold it!

-[cocking gun] -[Noah] Greg!

Greg, my God, is that you?

Yeah.

Ah, you didn't look so good when you were my age either, you know.

Greg, put away the gun.

What are you gonna do?

He's dumb enough to give you 40 years of his life.

I'm just gonna take what's left.

No! That could kill him. Use me instead.

You're still my wife. That hasn't changed!

[sighs] But he said you'd nearly killed me.

If I ever hurt you,

I only did it because I was afraid of losing you.

That's all.

All right, Doc, get into the machine.

Take your chances, or I end it right here, right now!

Oh, Greg, please just leave him alone!

Get out of the way.

Barbara, we better do what he says. It's all right.

It's all right.

I'll be all right, I promise.

All right, Greg.

Sit in that chair.

All right.

All right... All right.

[device beeps, whirring]

Wait a minute. You must think I'm an idiot.

What are you trying to do, kill me?

She was sitting in that chair when she got young!

The polarity of the beams switches with every transference.

Shut up, Doc! Sit down!

Now get that thing started.

You don't want to do this.

Start the machine, Doc, now!

Initiate transference sequence.

It doesn't recognize my voice.

You'd better find another way, Doc.

Do it right now!

-Go on! -[Noah] Right.

Barbara, hit the green button,

The one that's next to the function keys.

[computer] Initializing.

[computer bleeping]

[device powering up]

[beams whirring]

Something's happening. I can feel it.

[computer] Bi-polar regression sequence commencing.

Wait!

What's happening?

No!

No!

[Noah] Barbara, hit the red power button! Keep on tapping.

You knew this was going to happen!

You're trying to kill me!

[yelping]

[groaning]

-[Greg groaning] -[glass shatters]

[electricity crackling]

[Barbara] Noah!

Noah.

Are you okay?

Where am I?

Who are you?

You don't recognize me?

No.

My name is Barbara.

I feel so strange.

You don't remember anything?

Remember? Remember what?

Regressor...

Oh. I just killed Meredith.

Oh, God.

Noah...

You've survived a terrible experience.

What I'm about to tell you is going to sound unbelievable,

but you're going to have to trust me.

Meredith died almost a year ago.

[Control Voice] Philosophers and poets concur on one fundamental truth.

Love will find a way.

It's just a matter of time.