episode #54 - The Odyssey of Flight 33
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episode #54 - The Odyssey of Flight 33
Air Date: 2/24/61 written by Rod Serling Directed by Justus Addiss
One of the time travel tales - this one concerns a commercial jet airliner and its crew (passengers are shown very briefly). Most of the episode takes place inside the cockpit, with a few p.o.v. shots of what they see on the ground. It's a standard flight, to NYC; early in the story, the experienced captain (John Anderson) notices a subtle push against the airplane. Suddenly, their air speed begins to increase dramatically. Very soon, the readings are off the charts, as they break the sound barrier. They can't do anything about it and arrive at the New York area. To their shock and dismay, there's no city on Manhattan Island; and then they see a dinosaur. Besides breaking the sound barrier, they've also broken the time barrier. Their plan now is to retrace their steps and go back; they seem to make it... or..?
This is not a top 10 episode but it's one of the better ones, very watchable for the way the story concentrates on the reactions and remarks of the cockpit crew. Besides Anderson as the captain, other crew members are played by Paul Comi and Sandy Kenyon, who were both in other TZ episodes. It's a straightforward story and approach, though set in a fantastic scenario. The ending is very ambiguous - depending on the viewer, it may come across as hopeful or downbeat. We aren't really sure... but the repeating comments about the shortage of fuel does sound grim. Serling might have drawn inspiration from the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
Star Trek TOS actor alert: Paul Comi appeared in Balance of Terror as a navigator;
-------- John Anderson was in a TNG episode much later-The Survivors
TZ Trivia: the dinosaur we see here, a Brontosaurus, is the same one from the film Dinosaurus! (1960); the FX people working on that film filmed this brief shot for this episode at the same time.
One of the time travel tales - this one concerns a commercial jet airliner and its crew (passengers are shown very briefly). Most of the episode takes place inside the cockpit, with a few p.o.v. shots of what they see on the ground. It's a standard flight, to NYC; early in the story, the experienced captain (John Anderson) notices a subtle push against the airplane. Suddenly, their air speed begins to increase dramatically. Very soon, the readings are off the charts, as they break the sound barrier. They can't do anything about it and arrive at the New York area. To their shock and dismay, there's no city on Manhattan Island; and then they see a dinosaur. Besides breaking the sound barrier, they've also broken the time barrier. Their plan now is to retrace their steps and go back; they seem to make it... or..?
This is not a top 10 episode but it's one of the better ones, very watchable for the way the story concentrates on the reactions and remarks of the cockpit crew. Besides Anderson as the captain, other crew members are played by Paul Comi and Sandy Kenyon, who were both in other TZ episodes. It's a straightforward story and approach, though set in a fantastic scenario. The ending is very ambiguous - depending on the viewer, it may come across as hopeful or downbeat. We aren't really sure... but the repeating comments about the shortage of fuel does sound grim. Serling might have drawn inspiration from the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
Star Trek TOS actor alert: Paul Comi appeared in Balance of Terror as a navigator;
-------- John Anderson was in a TNG episode much later-The Survivors
Similar topics
» episode #18 - The Last Flight
» episode #10 - Test Flight
» episode #67 - Flight Into the Future
» episode 03 - Flight Path
» episode #26 - Flight Overdue
» episode #10 - Test Flight
» episode #67 - Flight Into the Future
» episode 03 - Flight Path
» episode #26 - Flight Overdue
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