The Twilight Zone (1959) -- Season 1 Episode 26 (Execution)

There seem to be two motivations for using a time machine.  In Back to the Future, Doc Brown builds a time machine with the intent of furthering our knowledge of history and humanity.  He can see how we’ll progress.  Biff Tannen, on the other hand, has no problem using the modified DMC-12 for his own use.  He steals Marty’s idea and makes himself rich and powerful.

Execution starts with the execution of Joe Caswell way back in 1880.  Just before Caswell can be hanged, he’s pulled to 1960 by Professor Manion.  By all accounts, Professor Manion is more like Doc than Biff.  He built the time machine to study people.  Caswell is his first attempt.  The problem is that Manion has no idea what Caswell is like.  He could be a saint or the devil.  Given that he’s admitted his guilt and lack of remorse to his would-be executioners lets us know that Manion is more like Biff than Doc.

One thing I’ll say about The Twilight Zone is that it seemed to have mastered brevity early on.  It did this by finding good writers.  Either Rod Serling adapted a short story or he let another writer pen the episode directly.  David Orrick McDearmon seems to have made a decent career directing for television.  This would be the first of three Twilight Zone episodes he’d direct.  IMDb also lists credits for Bonanza, Gilligan's Island and Bewitched.

Like other Twilight Zone offerings, this one doesn’t deal much with the mechanics of time travel.  We see the time machine, but the professor doesn’t mention how it works.  He’s more interested in questioning Caswell.  It takes Manion a few minutes to realize that he may have made a mistake.

What strikes me as odd is that Manion was smart enough to build a working time machine, but didn’t see fit to hire security or build some sort holding cell.  It’s one of those minor details that are forgivable.  Without it, we wouldn’t have a story and it believable that someone focused on the science wouldn’t consider the risks until it was too late.  If someone did invent a time machine, I would think that they’d be more prudent about it, though.

My big concern is that Manion doesn’t seem to have any control over who he brings forward.  It was lucky that he found someone on the verge of being killed.  Even though there were three people who noticed that he vanished, Caswell would likely be little more than a footnote in some county courthouse.  There would be little risk of influencing history.

This was the beauty of The Twilight Zone.  Many of the important details were there, even if they were subtle.  I’d recommend watching this episode if you can get it streaming.

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The Twilight Zone (1959) -- Season 1 Episode 16 (The Hitch-Hiker)

An antagonist is generally defined as someone who stands in opposition to the protagonist.  You have someone who’s trying to accomplish something and someone that’s actively trying to thwart them.   Nan Adams definitely fit’s the profile of a protagonist.  She’s on vacation, driving from New York to Los Angeles.  It’s fairly simple, except that one of her tires blows out.  The mechanic tells her that it should have killed her.  She’s lucky that she got out of it so easily.

She seems to have drawn the attention of a hitchhiker.  Nan doesn’t know how, but he keeps getting ahead of her.  She’s driving, but he has no apparent means of going faster than her.  She doesn’t know why, but the Hitchhiker makes her increasingly afraid.  Every time she sees him, she feels more compelled to get away from him.

This is where the label of antagonist seems inappropriate, as he hasn’t done anything overtly threatening.  He hasn’t approached the car or yelled at her.  He‘s not a particularly intimidating person, yet she’s overcome with emotion at each encounter.  She can’t explain why.  It’s not until she calls her mother that everything becomes clear.

The episode is unusual in that the main character also narrates in addition to Rod Serling.  The may be because the episode was based on a radio play by Louise Fletcher.  It’s not at all distracting.  I just found it a little odd.  I don’t recall many other Twilight Zone episodes doing this.

I could see a writing class using this episode as an example of good writing.  As I said, the Hitchhiker doesn’t present as much of a threat.  Antagonists don’t necessarily have to be menacing to be effective.  In fact, the Hitchhiker doesn’t even say that much.

I’m curious how much has changed culturally over the last 50 years.  It’s understandable in today’s context to understand why a woman driving alone would be afraid of someone like the Hitchhiker.  However, she’s trusting enough to pick up a sailor who helped her out.  Certain things may have been lost on me.

I’d say that it’s generally safe for teenagers and above.  The only thing I’d consider is talking to them about talking to strangers.  As I said, Nan exhibits two extreme reactions to dealing with people she doesn’t know.  She trusts one person without question, yet fears another without much reason.  As for younger children, Nan does show a good deal of fear, which could be scary.  (IMDb shows a rating of TV-PG.)

If you have Netflix and they still have this streaming, I’d say watch it.  It’s definitely one of those episodes that will leave you wondering what really happened.


IMDb page