I Shot an Arrow Into the Air

Description: Season 1, Episode 15

Air Date: January 15, 1960

Plot Summary: After crashing on an unknown asteroid, astronauts struggle against treachery and thirst in an effort to survive.

Review: This episode definitely falls into the underrated category as I rarely see it get any kind of acknowledgement or reruns. In fact, I could barely remember seeing the episode until the ending. Speaking of which, the ending is more of that harsh irony that we've come to know and love about TZ. Perhaps this awesome twist is the reason it has been overlooked since it is very much the same idea as the more popular ending to the original "Planet of the Apes" which Mr. Serling also created. Regardless of the reason, this episode has a few unusual aspects in that it is one of only a handful to have narration during the episode and was the one time they paid an outside writer for their work, though, the ending appears to be the effort of Mr. Serling himself.

Dealing with a common TZ theme, an experimental rocket has just launched in an effort to explore space but has disappeared from any kind of monitoring device; the implication is that it crashed in a location they could not keep track of. We then cut to four surviving astronauts of the rocket with one barely alive. The men have no idea where they are, and with limited water, they try and search for anything that may help them. The leader of the group is Donlin and there is a medic named Pierson who are both level-headed. The problem, however, is that the third guy is a huge douchebag, named Corey, who can only think about his own survival. Eventually the fourth guy does die which is the main way the episode conveys the asshole behavior of Corey. At one point Donlin stays at a base camp they've established while Pierson and Corey search for anything useful. When Corey returns alone claiming he and Pierson split up, Donlin rightfully suspects fowl play especially when Corey has more water now than when he initially left. Believing Corey killed Pierson for his water, Donlin forces Corey, at gunpoint, to show him the body since Corey claims Pierson was already dead when he stole his water. When the two find Pierson he is clinging to life and tries to draw something in the sand while motioning over a cliff before finally dying. Donlin runs off to see what Pierson saw, but Corey uses this opportunity to take Donlin's gun and shoots him--claiming one man with the water would have the best chance of survival. When Corey finally manages to get to the top of the cliff, to see what Pierson saw, he comes to the startling revelation that Pierson was trying to draw a telephone pole in the sand. In reality, the rocket never crashed on an asteroid but has actually been on Earth all along. Damn you all to hell! I guess they're in the Mojave Desert, and the reason they couldn't be tracked was due to the instruments being calibrated to space travel.

I think the parallel to "Planent of the Apes" is self-explanatory, but it is still a cool twist and this came first anyway. At the same time, this episode tackles a different theme involving human nature and the ease to which they turn on each other. Personally, I imagine most people reacting like Corey with a small minority willing to keep pressing forward until the bitter end like Donlin planned. In retrospect, considering the typical TZ hallmarks are all present, I'm surprised this episode isn't one of the classics. Oh well, I guess certain things resonate differently with the audience back then versus nowaday.