Death Ship (The Twilight Zone)

"Death Ship" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Synopsis

The Space Cruiser E-89 is on a mission to analyze new worlds and discover if they are suitable for colonization by Earth. The three man crew is composed of Captain Paul Ross, Lt. Ted Mason and Lt. Mike Carter. Their mission has thus far been routine but while investigating an uninhabited world, Mason sees a metallic glint in the landscape. He excitedly conjectures that this might be a sign of alien life but the pragmatic Captain Ross disagrees. Nevertheless, the Cruiser prepares to land next to the mysterious object.

After landing, the men are astounded to see that the gleaming comes from the wreck of a ship exactly like their own. Ross urges caution and restraint but the trio head over to the wreck to investigate it. They soon see that it is indeed the same model of ship as the E-89. But making their way into the interior of the craft, the greatest shock is yet to come as they discover their own lifeless bodies in the wreckage. Mason and Carter are numb with shock but Ross furiously struggles for a logical explanation. He finally decides that they have circumnavigated time in such a way as to get a glimpse of the future. All they have to do to avoid their grisly fate is stay on the ground and keep from going back up into space, therefore avoiding the accident. Mason is skeptical and Carter seems disoriented but they agree with Ross' assessment.

Soon, Carter seemingly finds himself transported back to a pleasant country lane on Earth. There he encounters figures from his past who are dead. He runs to the house that he and his wife shared and finds it empty except for a telegram notifying Mary Carter that her husband has died in the line of duty...Carter is wrenched from his vision by Ross, who says he is suffering a delusion. If so, it is a delusion Mason shares. He has just had an emotional reunion with his dead wife and child. When Ross pulls him back to reality, Mason strikes his Captain in rage. Ross, though, now has a new theory of what is going on. He believes the planet is inhabited by telepathic aliens who are using the humans' fear of death to keep them away from their world. Ross says that if they take the E-89 back up to space, that should break the spell.

The men take E-89 back in orbit without a hitch. Mason and Carter grudgingly admit that Ross may have been right about the aliens but are stunned when Ross said they are going to land the craft again to gather foreign samples to bring back to Earth. After all, now that they know what is going on, what is there left to fear?

The crew lands again, only to discover the wreck of their craft is still present. Confused and fearful, Mason and Carter come to the only conclusion... that they must be dead. Ross refuses to accept the truth, his will holding sway over the troubled crew. Suddenly, the episode cuts back to Mason's discovery of the glinting object on the planet. Rod Serling's narration likens the ship to a modern Flying Dutchman, doomed to repeat its grisly discovery for all eternity.

Trivia

The model seen of the hovering and crashed spaceship E-89, is of a version of the saucer-shaped United Planets Cruiser C-57D, seen in MGM's 1956 film Forbidden Planet. Serling's narration has it "cruising . . star system Fifty-One, the year, 1997".

Heavy similarities between this episode and episode 1 of the TV series The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

Twilight Zone Links

External links

Death Ship at IMDb