The Twilight Zone: Season 1 - Episode 5: 'Walking Distance' (1959) - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_322" align="alignright" width="258"] Official Score = 1 1/2 Devils[/caption]

Well... So far so good... So far the original, 'Twilight Zone' series is proving itself to be a pretty fun series, with some mostly good episodes... As a matter of fact, I think I am beginning to see a common theme to this series (well at least to season 1 so far anyway...)

What I mean by that, is that there does seem to be a general common theme among a lot of these earlier episodes... And I know that this theme is carried out through out the franchise... That theme being that a man or woman, left with a bizarre situation that goes against everything, will not only make the best of it, but will end up finding out something about themselves in the process.

A great example of this is when in the previous episode, the woman ends up finding out where she can finally be at peace and ends up abandoning everything she ever knew to get it... And a similar theme is found out in the episode, 'Walking Distance' (1959)!

Written by: Rod Serling (Planet Of The Apes) & Directed by: Robert Stevens (Change Of Mind). Starring: Gig Young (Air Force), Frank Overton (Star Trek), Irene Tedrow (Foul Play), Michael Montgomery (Last Dance) & Ron Howard (Apollo 13).

This episode tells the story of Martin Sloan (Gig Young), you see Martin Sloan has been having some problems as of recent and has been on a road trip, when one day he has car trouble and stops in at a gas station to resolve the trouble...

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="455"] Martin Sloan is at his last stop, before... The Twilight Zone![/caption]

Well he finds a sign that mentions that his home town is about a mile and a half away from the service station and decides to take a walk down memory lane... And boy does he!

What I mean by this is that Martin ends up not only taking a walk down memory lane as he heads in to his home town, but ends up walking back through time to when his home town was still the same town that he lived in as a boy!

And as Martin finds out what he is doing there, he will find out something that he had been missing since the last time he was in his home town!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Older, 'Martin' getting meet young, 'Marty' (A younger version of himself...)[/caption]

In the end, this episode is a decent enough one, the only real problem that I had with it, is the fact that this episode has a useless monologue that seemed to be added in to fill in some time... There is some useless camera shots in there as well, that does make it a little annoying... Never-the-less, if you haven't seen this episode, give it a try, it isn't horrible, and if you get a chance, you may find that you like this episode well enough!

http://youtu.be/QUn2BNydxIY

The Twilight Zone (The Original Series): Season 1 - Episode 1: 'Where Is Everybody' - TV Episode Review

[caption id="attachment_390" align="alignright" width="178"] Official Score = 1 Devil[/caption]

The Twilight Zone... What can I say about this franchise? I mean, 'The Twilight Zone' is to Science Fiction & Horror TV/Movies, what Star Trek is to Science Fiction TV & Movies, or even what, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' is to horror movies!

I mean most of the times these episodes, (especially from what I understand of of it, 'the original series') is both scary, thrilling, and in some cases quite thought provoking, this show has made Rod Serling (Planet Of The Apes) and the narration that he did at the beginning and ending of each episode a household name... I mean if you were born in the last 50 years you almost certainly will remember that straightforward way that Rod Serling had of explaining some of the strangest stuff!

Unfortunately though, it would appear to have started off from in auspicious beginnings...

What I mean by this is that the first episode called, 'Where Is Everybody', an episode that had been written by Rod Serling, and directed by: Robert Stevens (Suspense) and starring: Earl Holliman (Forbidden Planet) told the story of an Air Force Officer who some how wound up in a small town out in the middle of no where, that seemed to have no one in it at all...

And as he is slowly going more and more insane from the absolute loneliness, he starts to realize that the town is not all it's cracked up to be!

[caption id="attachment_1699" align="aligncenter" width="627"] This poor Officer doesn't know who he is, and has walked in to a town where there is no one around who can tell him![/caption]

In the end though, this episode had a great premise, and a cool message, but the writing was showing it's age... It was quite dated and the lines that were given to Earl Holliman were reduculously out of date, and frankly the fact that no one was around, and that the episode itself proved itself to be completely outdated, just made the whole thing really dull!

In the end, this episode may not be the best, but if you like the basic concepts that this series and shows like this series bring to the table, then I would say, 'keep this one in mind'... This episode may not be the greatest, but there are other episodes coming up that are worth it!

http://youtu.be/3wRgfXPG-DI