Three astronauts return from a space mission, crashing in the Mojave Desert. While Bill Gart (Jim Hutton, "Who's Minding the Mint?") recuperates in a hospital bed, he is visited by his very troubled colleague, Clegg Forbes (Rod Taylor, "The Time Machine"). Clegg relates his recent experiences with the third astronaut, Ed Harrington (Charles Aidman, "Dirty Little Billy"). The men, starting with Harrington, become increasingly distraught because their very existence seems to be in jeopardy - as well as all memory of them.
It's all about the acting in a tale (scripted by Mr. Serling, based on a Richard Matheson short story) that may not come off as terribly surprising to savvy viewers. Taylor, in particular, is a real case study in conveying distress & fear. Aidman delivers a very vivid performance himself, as he phones his parents who think he's pulling a prank, because apparently, they *have* no son. The talented star trio of Taylor, Hutton, and Aidman are well supported by Maxine Cooper ("Kiss Me Deadly") as Forbes' friend Amy and Paul Bryar ("Vertigo") as a cheery bartender.
Director Douglas Heyes, who would go on to helm eight more episodes of the series, does a solid job with the interesting premise. We're drawn more and more into the sense of despair that these men feel. After all, it would be one thing to just die. But the idea that these three men could be completely wiped out of existence, with nothing left to indicate that they ever were here, is even more chilling.
Overall, this is vintage 'Twilight Zone', in which we are fed an utter conundrum that seems to happen for no real reason.
Seven out of 10.
It's all about the acting in a tale (scripted by Mr. Serling, based on a Richard Matheson short story) that may not come off as terribly surprising to savvy viewers. Taylor, in particular, is a real case study in conveying distress & fear. Aidman delivers a very vivid performance himself, as he phones his parents who think he's pulling a prank, because apparently, they *have* no son. The talented star trio of Taylor, Hutton, and Aidman are well supported by Maxine Cooper ("Kiss Me Deadly") as Forbes' friend Amy and Paul Bryar ("Vertigo") as a cheery bartender.
Director Douglas Heyes, who would go on to helm eight more episodes of the series, does a solid job with the interesting premise. We're drawn more and more into the sense of despair that these men feel. After all, it would be one thing to just die. But the idea that these three men could be completely wiped out of existence, with nothing left to indicate that they ever were here, is even more chilling.
Overall, this is vintage 'Twilight Zone', in which we are fed an utter conundrum that seems to happen for no real reason.
Seven out of 10.