Review of Third from the Sun

'Third from the Sun' is one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes because it epitomizes everything we loved about that great old series: spookiness, a sense of impending doom as well as wonder, paranoia, and of course the surprise ending. Though the formula for each episode wasn't written in stone... there could be, and were, variations... there was very definitely a formula in place. Typically, a show began with the situation being set up, an odd set of circumstances either revealed or hinted at, then this was played out through the course of the episode, and at the end, things don't turn out QUITE the way we imagined they would. Rod Serling and his small band of writers had this formula nailed, and it is amazing how fresh they made it seem time and again over a span of six years and about 150 shows. 'Third from the Sun' certainly has all these elements. Two workers at a defense plant sometime in the future (?) have a brief discussion after work. They both seem aware that a nuclear war is inevitable within the next couple of days. It is an open secret, one that people either know or are vaguely aware of, but one that isn't openly discussed. One of them, Sturka, has a wife and daughter and is planning their escape in a prototype spacecraft; a neighborhood couple is to join them. The other worker, Carling, is a 'company man,' a nosey busybody and more than that, an almost Gestapo-like figure who apparently keeps tabs on defense employees and turns in any whose loyalty seems questionable. A lot of the fun in this episode is the unbearable waiting game that goes on before the five people can leave. Sturka and the others must act as though everything is normal so as not to tip their hand to Carling (or anyone else) even though they're all extremely nervous. There is a tension-laced game of cards played at Sturka's home the night they are to leave, and of course Carling shows up. Does he know or doesn't he? There are a few little tricks here and there which most people will take to indicate this is all set in an American society not too far in the future. The phone is different, as is the car, and there is a spacey kind of 'music' that the people listen to, though in every other respect, the people could be straight out of 'Father Knows Best' or 'The Donna Reed Show.' Only at the end do we realize they are on another planet and are trying to escape here, to earth. A really fine episode, well directed and acted; one of Twilight Zone's best.