Description: Season 3, Episode 10
Air Date: November 17, 1961
Plot Summary: A woman must come to terms with inevitable doom after the Earth's orbit has been altered--moving the planet ever closer to the sun.
Review: This is another classic episode and for good reason; the plot line is quite original as far as end of the world scenarios go. With that said, the story lacks adequate direction and felt hollow somehow. It's as if they came up with this great idea but were unable to work with it or the scope had to be downsized. I'm not saying the episode is bad--far from it--I simply wanted a greater conflict or internal reflection to balance things out. All that happens is a woman, named Norma, and her landlady hang out at their apartment building as the world slinks into despair. With the city becoming abandoned, the two women take solace in one another's company as their inevitable demise approaches. There are shots of great imagery as the two become slowly unhinged by the heat; most famously would be the melting painting Norma was working on. One thing that was interesting is that Norma somewhat questions reality in regards to dreaming of another world.
The struggle to fill the allotted running time is most noticeable when a random looter stops by. This could have been used to enhance the tale, but it's mostly a waste. Shortly after the looter leaves, the landlady dies after scratching at the window. Norma too succumbs to the heat as her thermometer bursts and her paintings liquify. We then switch to a much colder environment as Norma awakens from her dream. It would appear that in reality the Earth is moving further away from the sun as the world grows ever colder. This was a genuinely nice touch as we see the two opposing catastrophic scenarios of hot and cold. I do wonder, however, which world was truly meant to be the dream and which is the truth. After all, is it not plausible that Norma would dream of an opposite reality in her delirium? Couple that with her own vague recollection to another world. Though, it is just as feasible to accept the story at face value. Overall, there are a lot of interesting ideas and themes being presented. I simply had hoped for more insight on the despair the people were feeling. It just felt like they struggled to fill the half hour after coming up with the core concept of the Earth heading toward the sun.
I never thought of that, but yes, the ending of the episode with Norma waking up in the world of frozen, perpetual darkness moving away from the sun could have been Norma's delirium while she was on the floor dying from the extreme heat with her no longer being able to remain conscious to what was happening around her. It can also work though with what I'd been thinking, that the cold world was real with her fever producing the nightmare of being trapped in the hot world. Rod Sterling never specifies which world is real and I like that how he's left ideas up to the viewer in the same way in numerous TZ episodes.
ReplyDelete