The Outer Limits backdrop
Sci-Fi & Fantasy

The Best Episodes of The Outer Limits

Every episode of The Outer Limits ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Outer Limits!

Binge this in 1d 18h•Peaking at 8.6/10

The Outer Limits is an anthology tv series of self-contained sci-fi-horror stories, sometimes with a plot twist at the end.

Airs on
ABC
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons2

All12

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 5 - Demon with a Glass Hand
    8.6/10(1274 votes)

    #1 - Demon with a Glass Hand

    S2:E5

    Continuance of the human race against alien invaders depends on a man with a glass hand and no memory of his past.

    Director:Byron Haskin
    Writer:Harlan Ellison

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 11 - The Inheritors Part II
    8.4/10(730 votes)

    #2 - The Inheritors Part II

    S2:E11

    An investigation reveals a desperate plan involving the construction of a spaceship and a group of special children.

    Director:James Goldstone
    Writers:Seeleg Lester, Ed Adamson, Sam Neuman

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 10 - The Inheritors Part I
    8.3/10(770 votes)

    #3 - The Inheritors Part I

    S2:E10

    After being shot in the head, a soldier gains a genius IQ and begins working fervently toward a mysterious goal.

    Director:James Goldstone
    Writers:Seeleg Lester, Sam Neuman

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 5 - The Sixth Finger
    8.0/10(1178 votes)

    #4 - The Sixth Finger

    S1:E5

    A scientist discovers a way to speed up evolution and tries out the process on a simple miner.

    Director:James Goldstone
    Writer:Ellis St. Joseph

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 6 - The Man Who Was Never Born
    8.0/10(1136 votes)

    #5 - The Man Who Was Never Born

    S1:E6

    An astronaut travels to the 23rd Century, where he finds the Earth a blasted wasteland inhabited by monsters.

    Director:Leonard Horn
    Writer:Anthony Lawrence

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 20 - The Bellero Shield
    8.0/10(802 votes)

    #6 - The Bellero Shield

    S1:E20

    A scientist captures an alien that can protect itself with an unbreakable shield.

    Director:John Brahm
    Writers:Joseph Stefano, Lou Morheim

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Outer Limits

    READ
  7. The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 9 - I, Robot
    8.0/10(690 votes)

    #7 - I, Robot

    S2:E9

    A robot is put on trial for the murder of his creator.

    Director:Leon Benson
    Writers:Robert C. Dennis, Otto Binder

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 14 - The Zanti Misfits
    7.8/10(1038 votes)

    #8 - The Zanti Misfits

    S1:E14

    Exiles from the planet Zanti arrive on Earth, and a startling truth is uncovered when two human renegades invade their privacy.

    Director:Leonard Horn
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 29 - A Feasibility Study
    7.8/10(712 votes)

    #9 - A Feasibility Study

    S1:E29

    The people of Earth surprise their alien captors when an entire neighborhood is transported to another planet as part of a plan to enslave the human race.

    Director:Byron Haskin
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 1 - Soldier
    7.8/10(855 votes)

    #10 - Soldier

    S2:E1

    Two soldiers from the future are thrust back through time to the present day.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Harlan Ellison

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 10 - Nightmare
    7.6/10(901 votes)

    #11 - Nightmare

    S1:E10

    In a war action with the planet Ebon, some soldiers are captured, interrogated and tortured.

    Director:John Erman
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 31 - The Chameleon
    7.6/10(588 votes)

    #12 - The Chameleon

    S1:E31

    A government agent faces a crisis of conscience when he infiltrates a band of aliens marooned aboard the wreckage of a flying saucer.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writers:Joseph Stefano, Lou Morheim, Robert Towne

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 1 - The Galaxy Being
    7.5/10(1560 votes)

    #13 - The Galaxy Being

    S1:E1

    A radio station engineer named Allan Maxwell establishes contact with an alien being. But when the station's power is turned up, the alien is teleported to Earth where its radioactive nature causes havoc.

    Director:Leslie Stevens
    Writer:Leslie Stevens

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 3 - The Architects of Fear
    7.5/10(1199 votes)

    #14 - The Architects of Fear

    S1:E3

    A noble scheme goes horribly awry when a group of scientists plan an elaborate hoax designed to frighten and ultimately unite humankind.

    Director:Byron Haskin
    Writer:Meyer Dolinsky

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 32 - The Forms of Things Unknown
    7.5/10(718 votes)

    #15 - The Forms of Things Unknown

    S1:E32

    Two women with a body in their car trunk come upon a house by chance wherein a crazed inventor has a machine that can bring back the dead.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The Outer Limits Season 2 Episode 16 - The Premonition
    7.4/10(584 votes)

    #16 - The Premonition

    S2:E16

    An out-of-control test flight traps a pilot and his wife in a slow-moving time warp, and they're not alone.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writers:Ib Melchior, Samuel Roeca

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 7 - O.B.I.T.
    7.3/10(878 votes)

    #17 - O.B.I.T.

    S1:E7

    A new invention allows spying on anyone, anywhere.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Meyer Dolinsky

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 19 - The Invisibles
    7.3/10(678 votes)

    #18 - The Invisibles

    S1:E19

    A government agent infiltrates a secret criminal organization that uses alien parasites to control its members.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 26 - The Guests
    7.3/10(656 votes)

    #19 - The Guests

    S1:E26

    After discovering an elderly man dying by the side of the road, a young man finds a strange house where some people are kept prisoner and ageless by an alien intelligence.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writer:Donald S. Sanford

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 2 - The Hundred Days of the Dragon
    7.2/10(1155 votes)

    #20 - The Hundred Days of the Dragon

    S1:E2

    A sinister foreign power replaces the President of the United States with its own agent via the use of a powerful drug allowing the skin to be temporarily molded into any likeness.

    Director:Byron Haskin
    Writers:Robert Mintz, Allan Balter

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 4 - The Man with the Power
    7.2/10(954 votes)

    #21 - The Man with the Power

    S1:E4

    A radical experiment gives a college professor incredible power, which his subconcious mind uses to destroy his enemies.

    Director:László Benedek
    Writer:Jerome Ross

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 11 - It Crawled Out of the Woodwork
    7.2/10(817 votes)

    #22 - It Crawled Out of the Woodwork

    S1:E11

    An incredible being made of pure energy imperils the staff of a research lab and hides a deadly secret.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 23 - Second Chance
    7.2/10(648 votes)

    #23 - Second Chance

    S1:E23

    A group of people board an amusement park ride. Then they (and their surprised "captain") find that they're really going on a space jaunt.

    Director:Paul Stanley
    Writers:Lin Dane, Lou Morheim, Sonya Roberts

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 27 - Fun and Games
    7.2/10(613 votes)

    #24 - Fun and Games

    S1:E27

    Two Earth people are transported to an alien planet, along with two aliens. The are told by their abductors that they will fight each other to the death. The stakes are high: the homeworld of the losers will be destroyed slowly, for the further amusement of their captors.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writers:Robert Specht, Joseph Stefano

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 16 - Controlled Experiment
    7.1/10(770 votes)

    #25 - Controlled Experiment

    S1:E16

    Two Martian investigators probe our custom of homicide.

    Director:Leslie Stevens
    Writer:Leslie Stevens

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Demon with a Glass Hand" is the best rated episode of "The Outer Limits". It scored 8.6/10 based on 1274 votes. Directed by Byron Haskin and written by Harlan Ellison, it aired on 10/17/1964. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Inheritors Part II".