The Outer Limits (1995-2002)
S01 E02
"Valerie 23"
Fatal Attractions Are Never Futile
Ever since some scientist postulated the possibility of Artificial Intelligence, storytellers have been fascinated with the implications for mankind. What shape could it take? Need A.I. be restricted to world-altering and somehow conscious computer systems or is it better housed in robots and androids? And – should we choose to put it within a human companion – what would be its limitations? From James Cameron’s The Terminator to Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg’s A.I., we’ve tinkered with the variables; but rarely have tale-spinners given us something like The Outer Limits’ episode Valerie 23.
The Plot
Frank Hellner (played by genre regular William Sadler) is a wheelchair-bound roboticist pushing the frontiers of dermal exteriors for his employer, Innobotics. Though the purpose behind his latest secret project eludes him, he can’t help but fathom the possibilities. One morning, his supervisor Charlie Rogers (Tom Butler) introduces Frank to a stunning coworker – Valerie (Sofia Shinas) – and he even attempts to encourage the scientist to consider her a dating prospect. Given the feelings of inferiority surrounding his disability, Frank declines … only to shortly find out that Valerie is an automaton, a synthetic lifeform manufactured to potentially serve as a “companion” for the physically challenged. As it turns out, Rogers has selected Frank to test-pilot the new product: if the researcher consents to participate in the top-secret program, then Valerie will become his housemate for a week.
The more time he spends with her, the more captivated with the possibilities Frank grows. As he’s soon to learn, Valerie has been built to do much, much more than cook meals and clean house: she’s fully capable of providing romantic, sexual attention if he chooses. Eventually, he does, and Valerie responds exactly the way he had only previously hoped.
However, a budding relationship with Frank’s physical therapist, Rachel Rose (Nancy Allen), presents a new set of challenges for both the scientist and his robot: can he separate himself from her programmed desires, and how will Valerie’s software respond to Frank’s rejection? What starts out as a scientific experiment suddenly takes a dark turn as the synthetic takes matters into her own super-powered hands as she’s bound and determined to make her man her own, even if it means murder.
The Review
What one basically has at first glance with “Valerie 23” is a TV remake of 1987’s Fatal Attraction only given the added thematic weight of Artificial Intelligence. The capable Sadler takes over the Michael Douglas role, and Shinas steps into the shoes vacated by Glenn Close. Outside of the obvious technological differences between the two stories, Sadler’s Frank is saddled with a physical condition – his paralysis – which gives his character a bit more depth than Douglas’s (a contemporary ‘alpha male’ who wants to have his cake and eat it too). Otherwise, Jonathan Glassner’s script basically hits all of the same narrative ‘beats’ – Frank’s quick attraction and sexual conquest of Valerie; Valerie’s perception of rejection by Frank; and the synthetic’s “need” to re-attach to her spurned suitor once he realizes the jeopardy of their circumstance.
For what it’s worth, Sadler does an affable job handling both the physical and psychological turns required to bring Frank to life: he clearly throws himself into the character’s routine and delivers solid moments as a man struggling (in more ways than one) with his condition. Additionally, Shinas rather ably brings dimension to what could otherwise be considered as a love-struck android: behind her programmed smiles, Valerie is a strong and competent woman destined to fulfill her programming, though one wonders how her manufacturers ‘positronically’ messed up her neural net in such a way as to bastardize the basic laws of robotics. Lastly, Allen’s contributions here are somewhat limited: professionally, she’s covered somewhat similar territory with her role in the Robocop feature franchise, though Detective Alex Murphy never tried to squeeze her head off at the neck (that I recall). Still, she shines in what little she has to do here, and that’s always worth a mention.
Naturally, the fact that Shinas and Allen are so equally attractive makes the episode’s love triangle believable. Frank’s friendship with his therapist – while some might consider an eventual romance a bit formulaic – is handled well enough to make it authentic here: Rachel has struggled romantically by her own admission, going from one abusive boyfriend to the next, and her embrace of a particular ‘suitor’ makes narrative sense as to why she would initially reject her patient’s advances. She’s bright, funny, and vivacious. In contrast, Valerie’s moments are all handled with a subdued, Hollywoodesque romantic grace: she politely dotes over Frank at home, managing to still ooze sexiness in the magically smoldering way. Clearly, Rachel is framed as ‘reality’ here while Val is presented as ‘fantasy.’ As a result, it should be easy for the viewer to see how Frank is caught dead center – torn between two lovers – equally separated from his brain and his paralyzed brawn.
Director Timothy Bond balances all of the right elements here, never pushing the story too far in any single direction: the romantic angle is obviously what compels an audience’s interest, but the scientifically fantastic – man versus machine – is never all that far away. After all, Frank’s life to a degree requires machines of a sort – his wheelchair, his automobile ramp, etc. – so it stands to reason that the staging remind viewers of it. On more than a single occasion, Bond puts that reality on the screen; Frank’s very existence is predicated on the mechanical, and perhaps that’s why the scientist can’t ‘score’ with Rachel until practically every last shred of his humanity has been coopted by the manufactured (Valerie) … for it’s only then that a flesh-and-blood woman might wish to pull him back from the abyss.
The Bottom Line
There’s more here than a Fatal Attraction makeover. Resistance is never as futile as we’re led to believe, and “Valerie 23” delivers the goods with a perfect balance between man, woman, and Artificial Intelligence.
The Plot
Frank Hellner (played by genre regular William Sadler) is a wheelchair-bound roboticist pushing the frontiers of dermal exteriors for his employer, Innobotics. Though the purpose behind his latest secret project eludes him, he can’t help but fathom the possibilities. One morning, his supervisor Charlie Rogers (Tom Butler) introduces Frank to a stunning coworker – Valerie (Sofia Shinas) – and he even attempts to encourage the scientist to consider her a dating prospect. Given the feelings of inferiority surrounding his disability, Frank declines … only to shortly find out that Valerie is an automaton, a synthetic lifeform manufactured to potentially serve as a “companion” for the physically challenged. As it turns out, Rogers has selected Frank to test-pilot the new product: if the researcher consents to participate in the top-secret program, then Valerie will become his housemate for a week.
The more time he spends with her, the more captivated with the possibilities Frank grows. As he’s soon to learn, Valerie has been built to do much, much more than cook meals and clean house: she’s fully capable of providing romantic, sexual attention if he chooses. Eventually, he does, and Valerie responds exactly the way he had only previously hoped.
However, a budding relationship with Frank’s physical therapist, Rachel Rose (Nancy Allen), presents a new set of challenges for both the scientist and his robot: can he separate himself from her programmed desires, and how will Valerie’s software respond to Frank’s rejection? What starts out as a scientific experiment suddenly takes a dark turn as the synthetic takes matters into her own super-powered hands as she’s bound and determined to make her man her own, even if it means murder.
The Review
What one basically has at first glance with “Valerie 23” is a TV remake of 1987’s Fatal Attraction only given the added thematic weight of Artificial Intelligence. The capable Sadler takes over the Michael Douglas role, and Shinas steps into the shoes vacated by Glenn Close. Outside of the obvious technological differences between the two stories, Sadler’s Frank is saddled with a physical condition – his paralysis – which gives his character a bit more depth than Douglas’s (a contemporary ‘alpha male’ who wants to have his cake and eat it too). Otherwise, Jonathan Glassner’s script basically hits all of the same narrative ‘beats’ – Frank’s quick attraction and sexual conquest of Valerie; Valerie’s perception of rejection by Frank; and the synthetic’s “need” to re-attach to her spurned suitor once he realizes the jeopardy of their circumstance.
For what it’s worth, Sadler does an affable job handling both the physical and psychological turns required to bring Frank to life: he clearly throws himself into the character’s routine and delivers solid moments as a man struggling (in more ways than one) with his condition. Additionally, Shinas rather ably brings dimension to what could otherwise be considered as a love-struck android: behind her programmed smiles, Valerie is a strong and competent woman destined to fulfill her programming, though one wonders how her manufacturers ‘positronically’ messed up her neural net in such a way as to bastardize the basic laws of robotics. Lastly, Allen’s contributions here are somewhat limited: professionally, she’s covered somewhat similar territory with her role in the Robocop feature franchise, though Detective Alex Murphy never tried to squeeze her head off at the neck (that I recall). Still, she shines in what little she has to do here, and that’s always worth a mention.
Naturally, the fact that Shinas and Allen are so equally attractive makes the episode’s love triangle believable. Frank’s friendship with his therapist – while some might consider an eventual romance a bit formulaic – is handled well enough to make it authentic here: Rachel has struggled romantically by her own admission, going from one abusive boyfriend to the next, and her embrace of a particular ‘suitor’ makes narrative sense as to why she would initially reject her patient’s advances. She’s bright, funny, and vivacious. In contrast, Valerie’s moments are all handled with a subdued, Hollywoodesque romantic grace: she politely dotes over Frank at home, managing to still ooze sexiness in the magically smoldering way. Clearly, Rachel is framed as ‘reality’ here while Val is presented as ‘fantasy.’ As a result, it should be easy for the viewer to see how Frank is caught dead center – torn between two lovers – equally separated from his brain and his paralyzed brawn.
Director Timothy Bond balances all of the right elements here, never pushing the story too far in any single direction: the romantic angle is obviously what compels an audience’s interest, but the scientifically fantastic – man versus machine – is never all that far away. After all, Frank’s life to a degree requires machines of a sort – his wheelchair, his automobile ramp, etc. – so it stands to reason that the staging remind viewers of it. On more than a single occasion, Bond puts that reality on the screen; Frank’s very existence is predicated on the mechanical, and perhaps that’s why the scientist can’t ‘score’ with Rachel until practically every last shred of his humanity has been coopted by the manufactured (Valerie) … for it’s only then that a flesh-and-blood woman might wish to pull him back from the abyss.
The Bottom Line
There’s more here than a Fatal Attraction makeover. Resistance is never as futile as we’re led to believe, and “Valerie 23” delivers the goods with a perfect balance between man, woman, and Artificial Intelligence.