This is, I suppose, a science fiction episode but I always look at it as a comedy.<\/p>\n
Two state police officers are investigating a flying saucer sighting somewhere in the snow-covered New England countryside.\u00a0 They observe a hole in the ice on a small pond and also footprints coming out of the water.\u00a0 They follow the prints back to a diner where they find that a bus is stopped and its passengers are waiting for a small bridge to be declared safe.\u00a0 The troopers begin interrogating the diner patrons to determine who was on the bus and who entered separately.\u00a0 In addition to the cook, there is a bus driver and seven people who claim to be bus passengers.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the bus driver is absolutely adamant that there were only six passengers.\u00a0 The alleged passengers include a businessman heading for a Boston business meeting, a blonde exotic dancer, a crazy old man played by character actor Jack Elam and two married couples, one older and one younger.<\/p>\n
The Boston businessman and the old coot start accusing each other of being the intruder and even the two couples start looking suspiciously at their mates.\u00a0 The only one who the driver remembers is the good looking blonde for obvious reasons.\u00a0 While the interrogation is stalled out with bickering the juke box mysteriously starts on its own and everyone panics thinking the hidden Martian is messing with them. \u00a0As the businessman continues to complain about missing his meeting the bus driver warns him that he doesn\u2019t trust that bridge and unless the state inspector gives it the all clear the bus won\u2019t be crossing on it.\u00a0 Once again, the juke box flares up and then all the sugar dispensers on the tables explode.\u00a0 Eventually, a call comes in from the inspector certifying that the bridge is safe.\u00a0 The troopers decide to give the bus an escort over the bridge and all the patrons settle their restaurant bills and depart.<\/p>\n
In the next scene, the businessman walks back into the diner and asks the cook for a cup of black coffee.\u00a0 The cook asks the businessman what happened after he left.\u00a0 The businessman says that both the bus and police cruiser were on the bridge when it collapsed and no one got out.\u00a0 The cook said, \u201cno one but you.\u201d\u00a0 But then he notes, \u201cbut you\u2019re not even wet.\u201d\u00a0 The businessman asks, \u201cWhat\u2019s wet.\u201d\u00a0 After they sort that out the businessman explains that his dry appearance is an illusion.\u00a0 And then he makes the juke box start and the phone ring.\u00a0 Now we see that the businessman has three arms and he tells the cook with great satisfaction that he\u2019s the Martian and he\u2019s waiting for his fellow colonists to invade Earth.<\/p>\n
Well, the cook tells the businessman that there are colonists coming but they\u2019re not Martians but Venusians (or Venerians if you like Latin) who had the same idea a few years earlier and have intercepted the businessman\u2019s friends.\u00a0 Then the cook takes off his cap and we see he has a third eye.\u00a0 Now the cook is laughing but the businessman is not.<\/p>\n
I love this episode.\u00a0 Jack Elam is great as a crazy coot and each of the passengers and the cook and the troopers do a great job of providing the atmosphere for this goofy sci-fi tale.\u00a0 I love how Elam analyzes the mystery and declares, \u201cIt\u2019s a regular Ray Bradbury.\u00a0 That\u2019s what it is!\u201d\u00a0 A+<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is, I suppose, a science fiction episode but I always look at it as a comedy. Two state police officers are investigating a flying<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[237,4,244,240,1661],"tags":[38,1355,1194,44,309,265,1691,154,1692,838,1198],"class_list":["post-6483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-tv-reviews","category-tv-reviews","category-twilight-zone","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-rod-serling","tag-sci-fi","tag-sci-fi-tv-review","tag-science-fiction","tag-sff-tv-show-reviews","tag-tv-review","tag-tv-reviews","tag-twilight-zone","tag-will-the-real-martian-please-stand-up"],"yoast_head":"\n