Description: Season 1, Episode 25
Air Date: March 25, 1960
Plot Summary: Two astronauts crash land on Mars only to discover the planet is inhabited by human-looking aliens.
Review: This is another one of the episodes that captures that harsh irony TZ is famous for. I also prefer the changes made between the episode and story whereby the aliens were actually made to look human due to financial reasons; surprisingly, that made the tale more poetic really and emphasized the themes. The story begins by showing us two astronauts right before they're launching a mission to Mars. The main guy, Conrad, played by one of my favorite actors, Roddy McDowall, is fearful of what they may find out there in space. On the other hand, the pilot, Marcusson, is hopeful about what lies out there; he believes that surely the goodness of humanity would be present in other aliens should they encounter them.
When the two finally embark on their mission, they appear to crash on Mars leaving Marcusson at the brink of death. While Conrad tries to help Marcusson, he is troubled by a knocking noise coming from outside of the ship. Eventually Marcusson succumbs to his injuries and the spaceship's door opens. Conrad is surprised to discover human-looking aliens who dress kind of like ancient Greeks or Romans. This was a nice touch since they added some goddess-looking kitten, named Teenya, played by Susan Oliver (although I hate that name). Conrad tries to communicate with the aliens only to discover they speak English; well, actually, they explain he is speaking their language through technology but his mind doesn't fully grasp this aspect. The aliens appear to be peaceful and considerate--even taking care of Marcusson's body--which comes as a huge relief to the fearful Conrad. As the aliens go about making Conrad feel at home, the audience will detect a skeptical expression from Teenya. The aliens construct a replica of a 1950's home for Conrad to live in before they claim they will show him their culture. Conrad is surprised by the alien's immense hospitality, capabilities, and the speed to which they could replicate an Earth home and its amenities; the aliens are able to read Conrad's thoughts to accomplish all of this. When everything seems fine and dandy, and Conrad believes Marcusson was right about people being alike all over, he discovers the home is mostly superficial and he's trapped to its confines. Growing worried, he then notices the curtains of the home opened to reveal bars and an audience gawking at him. Questioning what is happening, Conrad approaches the bars to see the audience back away in slight fear. He notices Teenya looking on in disapproval, since she must have known this would happen, but he is distracted by a sign near the bars that reads: Earth creature in his native habitat. Our poor Conrad has been placed in a zoo! In a disturbing twist of fate, Conrad realizes the truth and shouts to the heavens about how Marcusson was right once more...people are alike all over. You've got to love the priceless expression on Mr. McDowall's face that captures the "I fucking knew it" look.
There are some obvious flaws to the plot such as the technological superiority of the aliens. I mean, how the hell are they this capable yet are unable to come to Earth? Plus, they sure take the arrival of an alien as a casual occurrence. It's not a big deal though since the message is what's most important. In the original story, Marcusson is simply proven wrong with his optimistic view of the world. To see Conrad's fears alleviated only to realize the cruel irony of the situation makes for a cooler presentation in the episode version. This is a good example of how to properly convey big ideas without having to do much...a gripe I have regarding a lot of episodes. Although this story is implausible, the themes stand the test of time quite readily which is the greatest accomplishment of this franchise. You never know, maybe somewhere in the universe humans really are nothing more than another animal in a zoo. You've just arrived at your destination...in the Twilight Zone.
That Greek goddess-looking chickadee, Susan Oliver:
The faraway planet girl in this episode that plays Teenya, isn't it the same girl who plays distant future girl Weena in H.G.Wells' film "The time traveller"? They sure look the same, have quite similar names, and both play beautiful blondes in some far away world. Here it's another planet, there, it's thousands of years into the future.
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