The Last Flight

Cowardly World War I pilot Lt. William Terrance Decker (Kenneth Haigh) is lost, not only in terms of maps and miles, but also in time. Having fled from a dogfight, leaving his friend Alexander 'Leadbottom' Mackaye seriously outnumbered, Decker loses his way in a strange white cloud, after which he lands his biplane—in Lafayette Air Base, 1959.

After a few rather weaker episodes, The Twilight Zone is back on form with a really great Richard Matheson story, a neat time-twister of a tale that not only smartly handles the paradoxical issues that go with the territory, but which also deals with the classic theme of redemption, Decker given a second chance to prove his worth and save the life of a pal.

Performances are strong, with a particularly fine turn from Haigh, and the pacing is superb, with not a dull moment despite this being quite a talky episode. All in all, a well-told story with a satisfying conclusion that ranks among the best of them.

"The Last Flight" is Rod Serling at his very best, with an episode of "The Twilight Zone" that all millions of fans are guaranteed to list among their favorites or at least generously reward with a high score! It's a fantastic half hour of mysterious entertainment, with a compelling plot (from the pen of genius writer Richard Matheson), honest and identifiable characters and a denouement that – for once – isn't bleak and depressing, but comforting and hopeful. The story opens with the British World War I pilot William T. Decker searching for his base camp through a dense and cloudy sky after having narrowly escaped an air-attack of the German enemy. He lands at an American military airport in France but immediately notices that all the air crafts here look very futuristic. To everyone's amazement, Decker's but also the military staff at the camp; he discovers that the year is now 1959 and that he landed 42 years in the future. Whilst being held in custody, because obviously nobody believes his story, Lt. Decker reveals that he was a cowardly pilot and abandoned his partner right before the Germans ambushed them back in 1917. When he learns that his former partner is now an inspector on his way to the French camp, Decker realizes that he's been granted a unique opportunity to return back and correct his past mistakes. Matheson's terrific script deals with complex themes, like time loops and paradoxes, but serves them in the most straightforward way, so that the focus lies on the main character and his inner struggles. The episode is very talkative but never boring and brought to an even higher level thanks to Kenneth Haigh intense and sincere performance. William Claxton's direction is solid as well. He mainly did TV-work throughout his career, but also directed the offbeat creature-feature guilty pleasure "Night of the Lepus".

I've always enjoyed "Twilight Zone". I've seen only a couple of episodes that I didn't think were winners, most were excellent, and probably all are watchable to this day. I would venture to guess that I've seen 40 different episodes in my lifetime, and at least 20 in the last 4 months. But, I wanted to write this, my first IMDb comment ever, to let as many people know that this is the most enjoyable "Twilight Zone" episode I've ever seen. I am kind of a military history buff, but in a very minor way, so I believe the episode would rank high on anyone's list. It may not have as much "horror" to it as some episodes, but I was farther out on the edge of my seat than I've been on any other. I simply wanted to recommend it, so here you go. I'm giving it a "9" only because I haven't seen every episode. I do doubt that any "Twilight Zone" episode will top this one for me, but I'm saving the "10" rating, just in case. Enjoy!

--P.S., the episode sequence number for this episode (1.18) has somewhat of a "Twilight Zone" twist: I searched for this episode by episode name on IMDb. Only one other television series had an episode with the exact same title "The Last Flight". "Twilight Zone's" episode numbered 1.18 had this name, and guess which season & episode of "Armchair Theatre" had the identical name three years prior? That show's episode number 1.18 was also called "The Last Flight". (que the TZ drama track...)

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes was this one involving a rift in time. Some similar type plots were used to great effect in Star Trek and in Star Trek - The Next Generation.

A World War I pilot from the British Royal Flying Corps lands at his base after a sortie with some Germans. Kenneth Haigh pilots his ancient biplane for a landing and gets quite the surprise. It's 42 years later and what was his airfield is now an American NATO base with all kinds of airplanes with advances that his mind could barely conceive.

Of course the folks in charge of the base have a lot of trouble swallowing his story. And they've got a big VIP visiting the base shortly, a British Vice Air Marshal played by Robert Warwick who was a hero of World War II and who was learning his trade during the first World War who Haigh knew back in the day.

I can't say more, but a trip to The Twilight Zone has given Haigh a chance to fulfill his intended destiny. This episode was well written and acted and not a moment of film frame was spared in bringing a most engrossing story.

Granted, this episode was only the 18th in the first year of the Twilight Zone; but it is a classic in more ways than one, and one of the best Twilight Zone episodes I have ever seen, in terms of imagination and messages about human failings, human fears, and confronting those failings and fears, even when death is the obvious end result awaiting one.

Time travel has always made for a compelling, no-possibilities-barred sci- fi subject; the way it was handled in this episode was masterful and exceptionally thought provoking. My only regret about the episode is that it had to end at the point that it did.