Third From the Sun

Description: Season 1, Episode 14

Air Date: January 8, 1960

Plot Summary: Fearing the end of the world, a man attempts to flee the planet with his family and friends.

Review: I sometimes see this episode ranked amongst the classics, but I must humbly disagree and quite adamantly I might add. This episode is loaded with shenanigans coming out the ass, and the twist is only unpredictable because it makes no sense and is virtually impossible. This isn't to say it's all terrible, but, simply, it lacks many of the hallmarks of the true icons while having outstandingly giant flaws. I mean, the story is basic in nature, mostly toying with the audience's expectations in regard to Cold War fears. All that happens is a man believes that the planet will be destroyed in a nuclear war anytime in the next 48 hours. The man's friend has been working on an experimental spacecraft that they intend to steal and use to flee the planet with their families. The only obstacle in this scheme is a little bitch-boy that has magically overheard their plan and wants to stop them for no specified reason. Well, they go to the base where the spacecraft is kept and sure enough bitch-boy is waiting for them. They easily overpower him, since there were five of them, and escape in the spacecraft which works perfectly for a prototype. Then the big reveal is that they're not fleeing from Earth but are actually heading toward it...dun dun dun!!! Yeah, I think I'm calling bullshit on that one and they really should have known better even back then.

Obviously the most glaring issue is the fact that these are aliens (to us) who come from a planet conveniently similar to 1960 USA. And I'm not talking surface level shit like that they look exactly like humans--I'm talking every facet of life is no different than humans. You're telling me aliens would also have lemonade, rotary phones, and the same cars (or cars at all)?! That's just a few specific examples, but if you look at the episode as a whole it cannot be distinguished from our world except the whole spaceship aspect. They mention that Earth is 11 million miles from their world but...uhh...that would put them where exactly? Mars and Venus are both farther from Earth than that. Okay, maybe they're from a planet that disintegrated itself, due to that war, and somehow we never knew of its existence. Nope, that doesn't work either since they mention they were interpreting radio signals from Earth. That means it's the same time period and that their planet was coincidentally paralleling our world almost like a mirror image. They never say that it's a different dimension or anything that could feasibly explain this. It's also not worth bothering with the ridiculous plot line that this spacecraft is experimental yet can go all the way to Earth without so much as a bump in the road.

I know it may sound like I'm being nitpicky, but it's impossible to take the episode seriously when the plot goes beyond any reasonable suspension of disbelief even for the era. I'm also being extra hard on it, because this episode does get featured and aired often alongside superior ones as if it's their equal. I understand the real point of the episode is meant to highlight the Cold War fears and emphasize mutual annihilation, but there are better ways to express those sentiments without an outlandish setup. Wouldn't it have been better if the aliens were actually our ancestors, escaping a doomed world, only for modern humanity to foolishly follow in their footsteps of annihilation? Oh wait, that's exactly what they did do in the episode "Probe 7, Over and Out!" Well at least they learned their lesson, right? I'd definitely recommend watching that episode instead to see these themes pulled off coherently.