The Big Tall Wish

Description: Season 1, Episode 27

Air Date: April 8, 1960

Plot Summary: A little boy's wish for an aging boxer to win a fight magically comes true.

Review: Despite this episode having a lot of interesting themes, the overall experience is a mess. It's like they tried to tackle too many topics all in one story. Individually, many of the plot points present here are fleshed out in other episodes that give more focus to that particular theme alone. I mean, you have the whole boxer passing his prime angle, a boy with magic powers, altering reality, and a sort of coming of age message. That's a lot to squeeze in with just 25 minutes or so. It would appear season one really was a kind of stomping ground to work out the show's kinks. Now, don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad episode--it just tries to be more than it could be.

The story follows a boxer, named Bolie, preparing for another fight, but it's definitely clear he's on his last leg as far as his career is concerned. At his apartment building, Bolie is friends with a little boy who's like his biggest fan. The little boy, Henry, is implied to have supernatural powers as told to us by his milfy mom. She claims that when Henry thinks real hard, making, what he refers to as, "the big tall wish," that whatever he thinks miraculously comes true. Okay, well she tells it in a whimsical way only half believing it, but we, as the audience, know it's real. Of course Bolie is thinking these people are fucking nuts, and he heads to his match. When Bolie realizes that his manager is betting against him, he tries to punch the guy in a fit of rage but ends up breaking his knuckles on a wall. Realizing he's all but lost the fight already, Bolie pushes forward into the match and is completely obliterated. As Henry watches the fight on live TV, he wishes for Bolie to win the fight. Somehow the universe freezes and reality warps to make Bolie the winner, and the guy kicking his ass is the one that goes down for the count. The trouble is that Bolie remembers the fight accurately but thinks it's a hallucination or something. When Bolie goes home and talks to Henry about the match, he starts to realize the truth. Henry and Bolie discuss that magic can only work as long as the person believes in it, but Bolie says he can't believe and tries to tell Henry to grow up. This disbelief eventually resets the changes Henry had made and Bolie goes back to losing the fight. However, realizing that he was wrong about magic, and the power of children's imagination, he tells Henry that maybe magic is real and that he should go on believing in it. The episode tries to be sentimental, but I don't know.

This episode could have been a classic if it simply employed true focus. Maybe drop the evil manager shit, and a few other plot points, and that would leave the room to touch on the whole Bolie/Henry relationship in greater detail. They wanted to emphasize the burnt out nature of Bolie and his life being in stark contrast to Henry's life, but this doesn't fully come to fruition. I like Bolie explaining how you can wish and wish but eventually you will realize it's all for nothing all the while Henry is saying it's all a matter of true belief. This kind of philosophical clash works to convey the themes better. Oh well. We will come back to all the themes introduced here in various other episodes that take the time to explore their true potential.

Execution

Description: Season 1, Episode 26

Air Date: April 1, 1960

Plot Summary: A criminal, about to be hung, is inexplicably transported 80 years into the future.

Review: Eh...this is another meh episode for the most part. The approach is just all wrong, and there doesn't really appear to be a message or twist to give the story that much needed oomph. Actually, the main highlight is that one of the main characters is played by Russell Johnson who you may better remember as the Professor on "Gilligan's Island." And guess what role he's playing here? Yup, a professor! Of course this episode was made long before that show was created, but it's amusing nonetheless.

The story simply involves a little bitch being executed in the old west by hanging. We don't get a lot of details on the guy except that he's murdered a bunch of people and isn't remorseful in the least. Right when the guy is dangling from the rope, to be hung, he suddenly disappears. And this is where the story completely falls apart. The guy is transported to--where else--1960s USA. It would appear a professor was experimenting with a time machine and pulled the criminal from the past by accident. For whatever strange reason, the professor wants to learn about the past firsthand, but he doesn't trust our little criminal friend. It doesn't take long for the criminal to go apeshit and kill the professor. Then the criminal runs around the city wreaking havoc all before magically finding his way back to the professor's apartment. I don't get the choice to show us the guy running around in shock of technology. I mean, this culture-shock plot device only works if you're showing the audience something they too are unfamiliar with. For example, if the criminal were taken from 1960s USA and brought to 2040...that would be interesting to see. Anyway, the criminal is then confronted by another criminal who planned to rob the professor or something. I have no clue...this was so stupid. In fact, why does the professor have a laboratory and time machine built in a random apartment? And an apartment so shitty it has seedy characters just waiting to rob you?! Come the fuck on! This dumbass thief ends up killing our criminal friend before idiotically trapping himself in the time machine. The episode ends with the thief being transported back in time to the hanging and takes the place on the rope. Uhh...poetic...I guess.

This story would have been a million times better if it were a present day person taken to the future that way the audience experiences something new. If you can't afford that route, then try to make the tale ironic. Like, maybe the criminal kills the professor, tries to escape from the police, and ends up going into the future where he takes the place of another person about to be executed. Or, tell the tale in a whole different perspective. Perhaps make the criminal disappear and the story goes over the executioners wondering what happened to him. We could get more detail on his crime and a mystery as to what happened to him. Then make the final twist be that he was transported to a time even worse. Or, the criminal is brought into a utopia-like future where he thinks he has gotten away with murder only to discover that the future needs him for some nefarious reason; using the guy for food or something. I guess my problem is I feel they were trying to tell a tale regarding justice and that was not portrayed. I'm just pulling ideas out of my ass, but I think this tale had a lot more potential than what was presented. Well, like I've said before, they can't all be gold.

People Are Alike All Over

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: