Father & Son Game
"Don't be deceived by the youthful appearance of our subject, Darius Stephens. He abused his body for seventy-nine years. Now he's walking on his own bought-and-paid-for two feet, down a path he hopes will lead him to a new life."
Darius Stephens (Ed Marinaro), the elderly owner of a multi-million dollar corporation in the near-future, has recently succumbed to brain death. However, with his wife Anita's (Patricia Phillips) consent, Darius has the digitized data of his mind placed into a robotic body that allows him to cheat death and continue running the company. Contesting this decsision is Darius' son Michael (Eugene Robert Glazer), who has been waiting for his father to kick the bucket so he can inherit his company. He further rebukes his now-robotic father for his decision to cheat death by insisting that a being with mechanical parts and artificial organs isn't classified as human, and takes out a lawsuit to get his father's company for himself. Wanting to stop him, Darius and Anita go to war against Michael to keep the company from falling into his hands.
Tropes
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The episode takes place at some point after the early 1990s, where there are interactive touch screens, speaking computers, and a procedure where a person's consciousness can be placed in a cyborg body.
- Antagonistic Offspring: Darius becomes embroiled in a major legal battle with his son Michael when his consciousness is transferred into a cyborg body. Michael's lawyer, Larry, argues that Darius is classified as dead, and thus ownership of his company falls to his son. Darius' lawyer, Dave, tells him that since Darius is the first person to undergo the procedure, there has never before been a legal precedent of this nature. Darius' new body soon begins to malfunction and he dies again, meaning that Michael has won without going to court. However, it turns out that Darius copied his memories onto a micro disc, allowing him to cheat death again as a computer program. With Anita's help, he intends to restart the legal battle with Michael.
- Brain Uploading: Darius' consciousness is placed on a series of micro discs, where the information is digitized and transferred to an artificial brain inside of a mechanical body. Darius is the first human test subject of this process, but it has previously been performed successfully on monkeys. His son Michael, who wants full control of his company, considers him legally dead and starts proceedings to have his father declared thusly. Although his new cyborg body shuts down after several weeks, Darius' wife Anita discovers that he placed a copy of his consciousness in his computer and intends to continue the fight.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Michael shows all the signs that he'll be one of these if and when he inherits his father's company.
- Cyborg: Over half of Darius' new body consists of machinery, and almost all of his major organs, including his brain, are artificial. This creates problems for Darius, as there's no legal precedent for a person with an artificial brain to be considered alive. Michael tries to use this to his advantage by having his father declared dead and taking over his company.
- Electronic Speech Impediment: The first sign that Darius' new body is failing is when he begins to repeat his words, and the problem grows worse over the next two weeks.
- Here We Go Again!: At the end of the episode, Anita finds that Darius copied his memories into his computer, allowing him to cheat death twice. Under his direction, he and Anita are planning to restart their legal battle against Michael.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Though he's implied to have not treated his body the best when he was alive, Darius owned and operated his company both efficiently and benevolently. He engages in a lengthy legal battle with Michael to keep the company from falling into his more villainous hands.
- Parent with New Paramour: Michael absolutely hates Anita, his father's wife of six years. This is mostly because she's Darius' strongest supporter, and her efforts are preventing him from having his father declared dead after his consciousness is transferred to a cyborg body.
- "Ray of Hope" Ending: When it seems as though Michael has won, Anita discovers that Darius copied his memories onto a microdisc, allowing him to live on through his computer. He tells Anita that he's not stopping until Michael is forbidden from getting his mitts on his company.
- Shout-Out: Michael compares his father, whose mind now inhabits a cyborg body, to the Tin Man or Frankenstein's Monster, while Darius assures him that he isn't either of them.
- Supernaturally Young Parent: The 79-year-old Darius has his consciousness placed in a mechanical body resembling a man in his late 30s. As such, he looks decades younger than his 50-year-old son Michael.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Michael rebukes his cyborg father as being largely artificial, and the law doesn't know where to turn in their legal battle, as a person with an artificial brain is uncharted territory in their eyes.
"Darius Stephens, the product of a new generation of medical miracles that began with false teeth, expanded into prosthetic limbs, and reached near-godhood in plastic surgery and mechanical hearts. As we continue to second-guess and improve upon nature, we are reminded that there is more to being alive than mere flesh and blood — in the Twilight Zone."
