"We always found the causes. I've never been licked on a case yet."
Director: Boris Sagal
Writer: Rod Serling
Composer: Stock music
This was the first "obscure" Twilight Zone episode to show that episodes that didn't have big flair or fanfare behind them could still be as intriguing as the ones that do. It mostly appears so high up on the list for nostalgic reasons, but upon further rewatch, it does deserve its place. It's an episode with two distinct mysteries that tie into a greater mystery, and it's a very interesting character study on one man's unique condition of PTSD.
The episode is about a flight that arrives in an airport from Buffalo without a pilot or passengers aboard. The airport calls in Grant Sheckly, an inspector with a flawless record for figuring out airport anomalies. He's joined by several administrators from the airport as well as the two crewmen who discovered the flight. And so it is their question to figure out what happened to Flight 107, and the answer may not make them too happy.
Harold Stone places Det. Sheckly and does so masterfully, going from a man with an ego to a man nearly devoid of any sense of reason. The Twilight Zone is a masterclass in showing logical characters how to throw said logic out the window, and almost always does so with a perfect landing. He does steal the show away from the other characters who are putting forth a good showing for their characters, but it's for good reason. It seems at first that the mystery of what happened to Flight 107 is going to be the main thrust, but, as things move on, the focus tightens around Det. Sheckly and his relationship with this particular case.
In a rare move for The Twilight Zone, the twist occurs near the middle of the episode but it works brilliantly for the concept they have on hand and the introduction of the next mystery the one that, personally, seems a lot more interesting, as it allows the audience to dig deeper into the mind of Sheckly as well as for the secondary actors to flex their range a bit more and bite into some different material.
Returning to Stone for a moment, there was some brilliant writing and direction given to the character. There's obviously a lot to unpack with the case of a plane that landed perfectly in the runway with a missing pilot, crew, and set of passengers. As such, Boris Sagal had to be careful not to direct Stone as a man that would not jump to too many assumptions, and in terms of camera work, always had to keep things just at such a distance that the audience feels further way from the investigation team. There's also a particularly intriguing stunt near the middle, near the twist, that's sure to raise a few hairs.
This is arguably one of the most interesting premises that the Twilight Zone has ever conceived. While episodes like "It's a Good Life" and "Midnight Sun" are certainly innovative in their own regards, just the sheer idea of this is enough to get any writer worth their salt in a tizzy. How do you solve an unsolvable mystery? All of the clues point to the plane basically flying on its own.
The assumption they come up with is a bit strange but also showcases the delirium that is to come for some of the characters. Plus, this assumption leads to that hair-raising stunt which, even in subsequent watches, is incredibly tense.
It's difficult to speak on "The Arrival" any further without going into spoilers, but just know that this episode sticks the landing with its premise and makes for one of the more memorable endings to a Twilight Zone episode. Definitely check it out if it's flown under the radar for a while.
***SPOILER SECTION***
When I first saw this episode it was difficult for me to follow what exactly was going on, because they don't specifically tell you what's happened and it's all left for you to interpret until they drop that nugget about the Flight 107 from seventeen years ago. Still, it doesn't make the episode any less brilliant.
Instead, on subsequent watches, it makes it far more interesting to watch Harold Stone really flex out his acting chops and allow Sheckly to sink to the lowest depths until at last he is nothing but a man utterly shattered that he is, in fact, not perfect.
Which is a bit of a silly reason but it's also quite haunting. It's an unsolved case, and for a man whose life is dedicated around the fact that he has solved every case, no matter what, that is devastating.
But as I mentioned earlier, this allows the other actors to play the real versions of their characters. Everyone flips on a dime and gets into the real world, not the one where sticking your hand in a moving propeller is a good idea. There's great contrast between Sheckly and the other men at the airport.
Part of that praise should go toward Sagal's direction. Not only does he direct the scenes on the empty plane with a very eerie atmosphere but also the scenes at the end with Sheckly all alone. He manages to stage things and move the camera around in the second half of the episode where we're all of a sudden much tighter in on Sheckly, as if letting our own sense of anxiety entwine with his own, creating this unease with the viewer as the unease with the character ramps way up.
It just is such a shame that the episode often gets overlooked, and there's actually a good bit of critical response around it, saying that it's unoriginal. If anything, it's not. While the idea of a mysterious object not being there has seen before, that is often the big focus, that would be the big twist. Instead, the crucial focus is on one man's descent, and apparent return, to insanity, and we essentially see what happened the first time happen again. It's incredibly haunting and effective stuff.
Follow me on Twitter!
No comments:
Post a Comment