A Hundred Yards Over the Rim

A well told story, the scifi was kept simple and the characters were well developed. The storyline flowed easily and felt authentic.

This is a beautiful story, both rugged and gentle at one and the same time. Mr. Christian Horn suddenly emerges from his minimalist wagon train tended by a handful of hardy but weary and increasingly doubting companions. With women and children in tow, the troupe trudged toward the pre-Gold Rush California of 1847, en route from Ohio for the better part of a year, but still stifled by the vastness of the plains and deserts of the United States' western territories as they stood at the time. Also, burdened by hunger, his boy's critical pneumonia-like illness, and with water resources in remission, Mr. Horn, brilliantly portrayed by the highly studious Cliff Robertson who thoroughly researched his character's essence before the shoot, advises that he'll check out the sandy rim nearby for whatever glimpse of hope it may yield on the other side.

An early spot by the great John Astin (soon to become famous as Gomez Addams from "The Addams Family"), playing Charlie, one of Mr. Horn's compatriots, briefly reveals Astin's abilities as a serious character actor as he expresses reserved support for Mr. Horn's dogged persistence. As suggested by this episode's title, upon reaching the other side of the rim, Mr. Horn immediately, but unknowingly enters The Twilight Zone. With wits and courage backed by a quiet, wary intelligence, he begins to understand that which cannot often be grasped through one's ordinary perceptive mechanisms.

In another twist of characterizations, Ed Platt, best remembered for his rare (but long-running) comedic role as Maxwell Smart's (Don Adams) beleaguered, beloved Chief in "Get Smart" beginning four years later, plays his more typical character role here. He portrays the local doc who tries to assist a friendly café owner and his nurturing wife with the unexpected handful of a tattered man who arrives unceremoniously, and bewildered, on their doorstep. How that happened and what follows is unexpected, heartening, and ultimately fascinating in ways that typify "The Twilight Zone" at its best.

And it would be an error of omission not mention the power of the musical score, sometimes subtle, but pounding dramatically toward the climax, just before shifting musical gears once again, precisely on cue. The compositional phrasing provides an effective musical conduit through which the story-line best evokes its emotive content before transitioning back to a perfectly executed return to the introductory setting--except for it having now been duly altered by the Zone of zones.

This classic episode is among those that reveal Rod Serling's singular capacity to employ visionary dimension to his stories from either side of time's turbulent tunnel.

I feel bad for not liking this as much as most people. I just felt that it should have had more of a twist. Now, I actually do find this a good episode because it actually ends up being pretty hopeful in the end. Most of these episodes end on a downer of some kind or at least bittersweet but this was actually quite positive. It did seem like it wasn't as good. The story's pretty basic with a guy from the 1800's time traveling a hundred years into the future to get medicine for his ill son.

The main character is pretty likable in this story. It does seem kind of odd for an episode of "The Twilight Zone". It ends by saying that we should acknowledge how much we've advanced with technology and how our forefathers truly worked hard in their day. That is a pretty positive and unique moral. It does seem like they could have just done more with this plot. Well, the pacing isn't bad. I just personally didn't love it as much as most people. ***

Written by Rod Serling, directed by Buzz Kulik, starring Cliff Robertson, John Crawford, Evans Evans and Ed Platt.

Set in 1847 in New Mexico territory, story finds a party travelling West from Ohio to hopefully prosper. The leader is Christian Horn (Robertson), whose son is very sick. It seems hopeless and the party are close to the end of their tethers. Christian decides to trek over the rim in the distance to see if he can find supplies, once over there he of course enters The Twilight Zone.

It's one of Serling's tales that pitches a protagonist into a completely different period of time, a fish out of water scenario, but this one is not played for laughs and it's a very strong episode. Robertson is excellent as the stovepipe wearing leader and fretting father who has to try and comprehend the situation he finds himself in. Nicely filmed out at Lone Pine in California, and with supporting performances and direction backing Robertson up, this is one of the better episodes from Season 2. 7.5/10

A family traveling west in hopes of striking it rich in a mysterious paradise that they've heard about called California suffers more and more every day, until they can think of nothing but the heat and thirst and sickness that they deal with on a daily basis. Serling gives us a pretty obvious story where he imagines what would have happened if one of those people traveling west all those years ago were to have been able to experience modern convenience for just one afternoon during that torturous journey.

It's not the wildest stretch of the imagination as far as a story idea, but the entertainment is high and the performances are some of the best I've seen so far in the series. The couple in the diner hit the nail right on the head with their subdued reactions to the strange stranger's story, not sure to react with shock or to hide their surprise from someone who must be a little crazy.

There's a cute twist at the end and an interesting paradox that calls your attention of the episode thus far into question, the time travel is not presented as anything more than simply walking over a sand bank, and the 100-years-in-the-future theme is done again the following week, but this is an excellent example of how good the twilight zone can be.