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Recap / The Outer Limits 1995 S 5 E 8 Blank Slate

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The Control Voice: Do our memories define our identity? If we are merely the sum of our experiences, what do we become if those experiences are lost?

An amnesiac man is pursued for a box that holds his memories.

The Control Voice: The same qualities that make each of us unique can also prevent us from changing who we are, even if it might be... a change for the better.

Blank Tropes:

  • Abusive Parents: Hope Wilson and her sister Joanne were abused by their father.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: An amnesiac is being helped by a woman he met while they are being chased by unknown people. Every so often, he gets an injection of liquid that appears to hold his memories, remembering more and more each time. In the end, he is revealed to be the evil boss of the people chasing them and uses the same procedure to erase the woman's memories.
  • Cruel Twist Ending: A man with amnesia is pursued by mysterious agents for the device he's carrying. A woman is caught up in the events and teams up with the man. While on the run, they slowly fall in love. Unfortunately, when his memories come back, it turns out that he was working with the bad guys before. Reverting to his original evil personality, he betrays the woman and returns the device.
  • Oops! I Forgot I Was Married: Tom Cooper had his memory erased so he understandably did not remember that he had a wife, Paula, when he had sex with Hope Wilson. However, he later learns that he is a widower as Paula was raped and murdered several years earlier.
  • Quest for Identity: Tom Cooper is being chased by some people. He encounters a woman, Hope Wilson, who agrees to help him. He can't remember who he is but has a strange case with him that periodically dispenses a shot of a blue liquid. With every shot, he regains some of his memories and remembers his name. In the end, he takes the last shot and remembers that those people chasing them are working for him. He is a Mad Scientist who created this method of erasing, storing, and restoring memories. The end of the episode shows Tom about to do this to Hope.
  • Strapped to an Operating Table: In the final scene, Hope Wilson is strapped to an operating table about to have her memory erased by Dr. Tom Cooper, with whom she had a brief relationship when his memories were erased.
  • Transferable Memory: Tom Cooper's memories are contained in several crystal vials in a small box. He is gradually able to restore his memory by injecting himself with the crystals in sequence. He cannot take them all at once as the interjector works on a timer, only releasing one crystal at a time.

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