Judgement Night

Description: Season 1, Episode 10

Air Date: December 4, 1959

Plot Summary: A man with a hazy memory finds himself aboard a ship seemingly doomed to calamity.

Review: This episode marks the first appearance of two plot aspects that will pop up frequently throughout TZ's run: nazis and an existential look at reality. The nazi element is easy to expect, because the show was made only 15 years after the end of WWII; the world was still reeling from its effects as well as it being fresh in the mind of TZ's audience. As far as the existentialism, I always liked it when they would explore perception and its many accompanying themes. Although a few episodes prior have kind of explored these concepts, this episode goes the extra step.

The story revolves around a mysterious man aboard a ship, in 1942, who is acting like a weirdo. He has a feeling of familiarity with the situation yet can't remember how he came to be where he is or what is going on. At the same time, there is a sense of unease as he knows the ship is in imminent danger. Details as to what is actually going on come back to the guy sporadically with fleeting memories. The man then remembers that the ship will be attacked by a German submarine at a specific time, of which, the the prediction comes true. Although the hints were there, the man is still shocked to realize he is the one captaining the submarine that is attacking. Everyone on the ship is killed which is surprising from TZ since the kids also die, and the man sees the ghosts of those poor souls. As the submarine disappears back into the depths of the ocean, we cut to the man's true self on board the sub discussing the situation with an officer. The officer is bothered by their unprovoked attack and the fact that they were innocent victims. The man doesn't care and is quite satisfied with their actions. The officer does get preachy and overly simplifies the meaning of the episode, but it is still cool unto itself. As it turns out, the man is forever stuck in a hellish loop reappearing aboard the ship he sunk and sharing the same deadly fate of those he killed for eternity. The episode ends as it began with the man once again finding himself aboard the ship with a hazy recollection of how he got there. By now you can understand why they called the episode "Judgement Night" as this was the moment his fate was decided.

I think it's safe to say the main influence here was "No Exit," but I liked the way they worked with the idea and it's not as though it was a copy by any means. In fact, I think this episode would resonate more with the audience by including the WWII plot line. I wish that that officer didn't have to spoon-feed the audience, but I suppose that's the '50s era speaking. Overall, a mostly underrated episode, but it does have its flaws.