Sci-Fi & Fantasy1963–1965ABC

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!

Best episode
S2E5 Demon with a Glass Hand
8.51,326 votes
Worst episode
S1E13 Tourist Attraction
6.1718 votes
Top season
Season 1
7.2avg
Binge time
1d 18h
49 episodes
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
    8.5/10(1326 votes)

    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(759 votes)

    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(798 votes)

    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(1258 votes)

    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(1197 votes)

    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(830 votes)

    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(724 votes)

    S2:E9

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

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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 14 - The Zanti Misfits
    7.8/10(1093 votes)

    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 2 Episode 1 - Soldier
    7.8/10(896 votes)

    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

  10. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 29 - A Feasibility Study
    7.8/10(748 votes)

    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

  11. The Outer Limits Season 1 Episode 10 - Nightmare
    7.6/10(951 votes)

    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(622 votes)

    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(1674 votes)

    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(1276 votes)

    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(747 votes)

    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(600 votes)

    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(932 votes)

    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(699 votes)

    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(685 votes)

    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(1237 votes)

    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:Allan Balter, Robert Mintz

    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(1017 votes)

    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(852 votes)

    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(670 votes)

    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:Lou Morheim, Lin Dane, 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(632 votes)

    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 28 - The Special One
    7.1/10(585 votes)

    S1:E28

    Parents of a gifted youngster discover that their son's new tutor is not quite human.

    Director:Gerd Oswald
    Writer:Oliver Crawford

    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 8.5/10 from 1,326 votes. Directed by Byron Haskin and written by Harlan Ellison, it aired on October 17, 1964. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Inheritors Part II".

Keep going

Browse The Outer Limits by season

If you like The Outer Limits