TWILIGHT ZONE, THE: KING NINE WILL NOT RETURN {SEASON TWO PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
One in this science fiction/fantasy anthology series hosted by Rod Serling. In this episode, a World War II bomber plane called King Nine has crashed in the desert in 1943 on the way from Tunisia to Italy, and the pilot, Captain James Embry, awakens in the sand. He struggles to remember what happened, and wonders what became of his crew. He searches the wreckage, ordering himself to “piece it together,” but finds nothing.
Insisting that there is “logic for everything,” he radios for help, but gets no response. He frets that he is responsible for the crew and worries about their safety, especially when he finds an abandoned canteen. Suddenly, he spies crew member Blake, sitting in the cockpit and smiling at him—but as Embry runs towards him, Blake vanishes. Embry starts to panic, wondering if he is having a hallucination, and continues searching for his men until finding a makeshift grave for another man, Kline.
He mourns the man’s death, but is distracted by four jets flying over him. It takes him a moment to realize that jet aircrafts don't exist in 1943. He wonders frantically how he knew such a thing, and soon collapses in hysterical laughter, speculating that he is dead or in limbo. He sees his whole crew nearby and runs to them, but they disappear again and he breaks down, lamenting that nothing is real and begging to be “let in on it.”
The scene dissolves to Embry lying in a hospital bed and having a fevered dream. The doctors standing nearby discuss how he saw a newspaper headline that morning and panicked, falling into a catatonic state. It is revealed that it is actually 1960, and that the paper reports that Embry’s plane was found intact in the desert. He was scheduled to fly it seventeen years ago but pulled out at the last minute, and has suffered guilt for decades that the plane crashed and the crew died. He awakens and tells the doctors of his dream, saying that he should have been with them.
The doctors tell Embry that he couldn’t have known the plane's fate. He reflects on seeing the jets and says that it truly felt like he went back to the desert that day, but the doctors assure him it was only in his mind. When they leave his room, they are met by a nurse carrying his clothes. When she sets down his shoes, sand pours from one as the physicians look on in shock. Includes commercials.
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Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: September 30, 1960 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:29:13
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: B:20105
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; World War II; Pilots; Time travel
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1959-1964
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Chesterfield King cigarettes
- TV - Commercials - L&M cigarettes
- TV - Commercials - Polaroid Land cameras
- TV - Promos - "Gunsmoke"
CREDITS
- Buck Houghton … Producer
- Del Reisman … Associate Producer
- Buzz Kulik … Director
- Rod Serling … Created by, Writer
- Fred Steiner … Music by
- Rod Serling … Host
- Bob Cummings (See also: Robert Cummings) … Cast, Captain James Embry
- Gene Lyons … Cast, Psychiatrist
- Paul Lambert … Cast, Doctor
- Jenna McMahon … Cast, Nurse