The Odyssey of Flight 33

Description: Season 2, Episode 18

Air Date: February 24, 1961

Plot Summary: Passengers on a plane en route to New York find themselves displaced in time.

Review: This is another classic episode and another instance where I disagree with that assessment. As with "The Invaders," the story is a novelty the first time you see it, but it can't stand up to multiple viewings. It's kind of ironic really since the story is about time travel, and this episode is hopelessly dated to the '60s. On top of that, TZ was always working within the confines of a tight budget, and the ideas necessary to tell this tale properly cost too much money; as a result, the effects look terrible or aren't shown at all.

I don't necessarily mind the story for what it is, but the material is spread thin as we are introduced to the flight crew and passengers on the beloved flight 33. While the primary focus deals with the flight crew, and one annoying stewardess, we do get padding in the form of a few passengers bantering and another stewardess. The crew realizes they are suddenly speeding up past mach 1; this probably should have destroyed the plane as one of the crew mentions. This phenomenon appears to have something to do with a magic portal through time and space. Flight 33 does go through this portal, or whatever it is, and realize they're in dinosaur times. Welcome...to Jurassic Park (just picture the voice)! I love the casual nature to seeing dinosaurs as well. See...Mr Hammond, you were wrong about people giving a damn about dinosaurs. The flight crew decides they will magically go through the portal again and end up hearing a voice on their radio afterward. They appear to be back in the present, but they quickly realize they're in 1939 instead. The episode ends, quite abruptly, with the crew saying that the fuel is low, but they will attempt another pass into this godforsaken portal. Wait, what? Just land in 1939! Hell, even if I was stuck time traveling and ended up in 1939 I would stay. You could warn people about everything and probably be hailed as a hero (or institutionalized). Come on...think of the food! All the pizzas you could eat! Don't even pretend I'm the only one who dreams of being a fat ass time traveler?! But, yes, the episode feels shallow and short with little understanding of anything. The lack of a proper conclusion serves as the icing on the cake.