On Thursday We Leave For Home - Twilight-Tober Zone
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- čas přidán 24. 10. 2023
- Season four isn't devoid of good material, but "On Thursday We Leave for Home" may be the only truly great episode of the bunch. Join Walter for his thoughts on this engaging installment of The Twilight Zone.
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"On Thursday We Leave for Home" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. In this episode, a struggling colony on a distant planet awaits the arrival of a ship that will take them back to Earth. The story centers on the resulting cross-cultural encounter and the enduring ties to one's home planet, chiefly as seen through the eyes of the colony's leader, William Benteen (played by James Whitmore).
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What are your thoughts On Thursday We Leave for Home? Like it? Dislike it?
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This is my favorite episode of Season 4 since I feel it's the 1 where the story makes the most use of the hour long format without feeling stretched/padded to meet the run time. Also, as someone who was a fan of The CW series The 100, I enjoy the parallels between Captain Benteen & Octavia Blake in terms of how they become leaders of their people that don't want to give up their power.
I felt like I was on that dismal planet like the colonists. I was even raising my hand, shouting, "Me! Me! Me!" When Colonel Sloane asked everyone to raise their hands if they want to go home to Earth!
This
is my absolte favorite Episode EVER.
I thought "Oh Captain Benteen get'S a Problem/Challenge with ne New Arrived People" ...but NO Problem IS his Problem, what a great Twist of Expectation.
"Better King of a Hell than Servant in Heaven"
And when people visit that rock, they’ll see somewhere written in the cave, “Benteen was here.”
"But no Red, because Red was smart enough to get on the fucking ship."
Maybe Brooks is an older cousin or relative of Benteen, who knows.
😂
You can't help but feel sorry for Benteen in the end, even if his own stubbornness caused his crew to abandon him. They gave him plenty of chances, but when they finally escape, he's left all alone, hoisted by his own Petard.
Karma at its finest
Colonel Sloane gets a good line about halfway through the episode that sums up Benteen nicely.
"He thinks he's a god. And we're booting him out of his heaven."
Benteen had plenty of time to get ready to go like everyone else. Because of his foolishness, he got left behind because he didn't want to give up his power. They even told him that they will not come back for him if he didn't go with them.
He kind of looks like Kirk Douglas.
He played brooks in shawshank - didn’t want Ti leave his prison there too
It's a little tragically funny that between Shawshank Redemption and this episode, James Whitmore played two characters who are trapped in confined situations, who are looked up to by their peers, and who is afraid of the world outside.
I made note of that and yes, they are oddly similar characters to each other. In their isolated little communities, they're esteemed and respected men. But just as Brooks outside Shawshank is just a "used up ex-con with arthritis in both hands who couldn't even get a library card if he tried", Benteen thinks he's nothing if he's not in charge of his people.
“Get busy living, or get busy dying.”
@@hitmanmonaghan6633 That's damn right.
The Twilight Zone crew really made good use of those Forbidden Planet materials.
Preach, at least they didn't let them go to waste!
One almost expects Robby the Robot to come walking in at any moment during this episode too.
@@jasontoddman7265Sorry, he doesn’t show up until “Brain Center at Whipple’s”. 😛
@@ericjanssen394 I know. I said one almost expects to see him in this episode. I didn't say he actually does. But at least he does show up eventually; even if only in a cameo iirc.
James Whitmore was amazing in this Twilight Zone episode, he was also amazing in “Them”, “Where the Red Fern Grows” and as Brooks in “The Shawshank Redemption”
As Sergeant Kinney in Battleground. "Hey beautiful (to him from another G.I.) have a cigar." Whitmore's character was looking pretty rough after days fighting the freezing cold with little or no supplies. It was amazing that for almost 50 years, James Whitmore always looked like a middle-aged man.
Forget about what Earth is like or how Benteen acts, I'd bail on that planet just to experience night again.
With the twin suns, I'd say it's like Tatooine, but even Tatooine has nights.
In one scene where Colonel Sloane asked the colonists to raise their hands if they wanted to board the ship for Earth, I raised my hand and shouted, "Me! Me! Me!"
It’s a tidally locked planet. If you’re gonna settle on one of those, at least settle on the prime meridian
@@goldenfiberwheat238Don't you mean the Twilight Zone?
@@derekstein6193 exactly lol. Can’t believe rod or anyone else didn’t think of that. Though I guess that would make the plot not feasible because they wouldn’t be living in a barren overheated wasteland
Benteen is one of the best and most complex characters Rod Serling ever created for the show. You admire this guy for his will and skill to keep his people alive all this time, you hate him for his willingness to keep these people trapped in this living hell just so he can keep his power over them and then you pity him for ending up marooned alone because he just couldn't let go of the reigns of leadership. And Whitmore plays all facets of the character perfectly.
Oddly, he's similar to Whitmore's most famous role, at least for modern audiences; Brooks Hatlen from "Shawshank Redemption." Both are people who are so used to their roles in these isolated communities (really, trapped on a planet is kind of like being in prison) that they simply can't function outside of them.
What I like best about the character is that maybe it's not a desire for power per se, it's just that he doesn't know what to do with himself if he doesn't have that role since that's all he knows. And yes, very similar to Shawshank.
@@christophertheriault3308
It must be terrible to find your place in Life... and get robbed of it
I feel for Benteen. He kept them together displaying strength, courage, and sacrifice. He seems less like a tyrant holding onto power than a father who isn't ready to see his children grow up and leave him.
Yes, well said.
The reason the ending is so impactful is that he changes his mind, he goes back....too late.
If they would have had him just be alone in the cave going mad at the end it would have been one thing, but to have him beg for the ship to come back?
It hits home how people's stubbornness is their demise, yet preservation skills are stronger. How people can be blind not until the end, but until it's too late to actually do anything.
Reminds me of "The view from halfway down".
That's an amazing summary
It looks like Benteen has suffered from....SPACE..... MADNESS!
I suddenly had an image of Bentine eating a bar of soap and screaming that he's had it since he was a little child. Thank you😂😂😂
"Oh, my beloved ice cream bar!"
Benteen is played by Brooks, aka James Whitmore from The Shawshank Redemption.
Oh yeah. They had Rocky's coach on a few episodes and Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka. I looked them up and was like, "oh yeah" for each one.
Definitely the best one from season 4 and in my top ten of all time from TZ. I love when Captain Benteen talks about the earth and how beautiful it is. It makes you feel like you're in a special place. I also love stories where the hero turns into a somewhat villain by the end of it. Just an absolutely astonishing episode.
This is the review I have been waiting for. My very favorite twilight zone! This episode is so wonderfully acted. You can clearly see the pain and suffering of the people. Jo Helton saying that “there is a ship coming” while trying to believe it is absolutely magnificent. Benteen’s description of earth is for me the high point of the series. I am so thankful this was a hour episode. Great review!
Much like with "The Midnight Sun", they do a good job of making everybody seem sweaty and miserable 24/7.
Me too!
I highly concur. While Season 4 had its moments, it didn't really have many memorable episodes, yet this one was truly the best of the bunch.
Benteen can pass the time alone on that planet, singing 🎵"I'm getting closer to my home"🎵 more times than Grand Funk Railroad did, if such a thing is possible.
😆I remember that, wondering if they'd ever finish the song.
This was my dad's favourite episode. We had a running joke where we'd reenact Benteen's final scene "I want to go... HOME." We started watch Twilight-Tober Zone in 2020, and he passed in 2021. I hope he enjoyed this episode from the stars!⭐️🥹
Beautiful
I have been waiting for this review so much because I freaking loved this episode. I saw it for the first time in 2021, so the captain's reluctance to return to Earth felt like a parallel to being afraid to go back into the world after quarantine, which is a fear I admittedly had a little bit. And what makes it even better is the episode takes place in 2021.
The second best version of this story is that King of the Hill hurricane episode where Bill becomes leader of the shelter and it goes to his head.
This is my favorite episode of Season 4 since I feel it's the 1 where the story makes the most use of the hour long format without feeling stretched/padded to meet the run time. Also, as someone who was a fan of The CW series The 100, I enjoy the parallels between Captain Benteen & Octavia Blake in terms of how they become leaders of their people that don't want to give up their power.
This is one of the hour long episodes that benefits from the longer run, because it allows for some excellent character development.
Yeah, octavia went mad with power and kept clinging to keep it even when there was a better solution. You can definitely see parallels. Good catch😊
This was one of my personal faves, even as a little kid when I first viewed it, and it always hurt my heart to see Benteen left alone down there as the parting shot pulled away; I’d headcanon that the ship would pull one orbit of the planet, the people would implore the captain to give Benteen one more go in honor of all he’d done for them, and they’d make one more landing where Benteen would come to his senses and board with them 😅🛸
They could also send word to command to send another ship since they finally know there's people there. Maybe after the time alone he'd be more grateful
@@Kahtisemo i never thought of Beneen as ungrateful: He gave everything to help his People... sadly, he has nothing left for a personal life
This is the episode of TZ that got me into the series. I saw it on TV, and it instantly became one of my fave episodes. It still is today.
I'd tune in for a Twilight Zone episode where every day becomes Thursday.
No fancy time loops or anything, just a simple declaration by everyone claiming: "It's Thursday."
Say goodbye to weekends, TGIFs, Garfield's Monday blues, Taco Tuesdays, lazy Sundays, and humpdays.
It's all just Thursday from now on.
The first TZ episode I ever watched back in High School Film Club, the good old days.
I empathize with Bentsen because his strong leadership keeps the people on the colony together, but he also using his leadership to try keep the people from leaving the planet; it’s all Benteen knows how to be: a leader, going back to Earth, Benteen won’t be one anymore, won’t be what he was, won’t be what he’s been all his life and that is why it is difficult for him to let go
He even hoped that he would still be their leader when they got back to Earth. Sort of like Jonestown. Unfortunately, the colonists had other ideas. They wanted to reunite with loved ones they left behind on Earth.
@@melissacooper8724 I thought of that metaphor, too.
This totally reminds me of that DS9 episode called "Paradise" S2E15.
I'm pretty sure this was the first season 4 episode I ever saw. I misremembered it as being the only season four episode I saw, until hearing these reviews made me remember seeing at least two others. Looks like I lucked out that my first hour-long Twilight Zone episode was the best one and it was truly meant to be an hour long story. it wouldn't be the same if it were a half hour.
It occurred to me while listening to this review that this episode is a very good example of the tragic hero trope we learn about in highschool English class. Bentine was in a position of nobility as a the kindhearted leader of a colony that depends on him, but he has a fatal flaw (his dependence on being the leader) which leads to a tragic downfall. You feel bad for him because he started out as a genuinely good person but losing his power corrupted him (kind of the opposite of the power corrupts trope, he was a good leader until loss of control corrupted him). And right up until the end, his nemesis still wants to help him and bring him home to Earth. he waits as long as he can for Bentine to come to his senses. Then Bentine finally comes to his senses and wants to go home but it's too late. the tragedy of him waiting just a few minutes too long to finally realize the error of his ways really hits hard.
This is what people who are earnestly trying to do a good job look like,that huge cast brought their a game
I think that this is the best of the hour long episodes.
I recently came back across an old TV show I forgot about called Monsters that was on SciFi back in the late 80's. If you're a Twilight Zone fan definitely worth checking out or idea as a new October series once youre through all the Twilight Zone episodes
This month has been awesome thanks to you guys🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤❤
This was one the best episodes of the entire series - maybe the best. Everything about it worked, and James Whitmore has to be one of the most underrated actors in history.
I think this could easily be expanded into a feature film. Add in a prologue, get a little bit to know the routine of daily life.
This episode was so sad. The actor who played the leader was so good. Ugh this one was tough to finish cuz you knew what was going to happen
Matthew Broderick was Inspector Gadget..functioning sociopath who always wins: Ferris Beauler..Adult Simba; Disney's lion king..and the nemesis of Godzilla himself..and now i learn his dad chilled on the set of the Twilight Zone in one of its better later episodes.. HOW IS THIS MAN'S LEGACY SO FREAKING EPIC FOR WHO HE IS!!!! THAT feels like the premise of a Twilight Zone episode on its own!if they ever make a Space Quest live action movie, he NEEDS to play Rodger Wilco, cause he has that shict DOWN man!
I love this The Twilight Zone episode!
Captain Benteen was a noble leader who fell victim to his own madness. Given he was tasked for thirty years of keeping people from giving into despair on a desert planet with two suns…hmmm…in a galaxy far far away somewhere? 🤔
A good tale of how absolute power corrupts absolutely.
His downfall and attempt to destroy the the ship with a metal pole is so pathetic.
At that time, he reverts back to being a little kid trying to destroy a toy he can't play with any longer. And it's really a pathetic sight to behold.
And then you get Al Baines (the guy played by Matthew Broderick's dad) begging him to "let loose, Captain, for everyone's sake, let loose!" Meaning, "You don't have to bear this burden any longer, Captain, you can put the leadership aside." But Benteen can't and that dooms him.
For some reason this one really affected me. The guy was in charge for so long and couldn't let go. The last scene where everyone's left and he realises too late that he doesn't want to stay was heartbreaking.
It's like when someone has been in a job for so long that they have no life when it ends and they are lost. I read Arsene Wenger's autobiography and it sounds like his job took over so much that he basically sacrificed his marriage. When he finally left he had nothing to do so he had to go around his friends house for lunch just to have something to do.
Oh wow I actually remember this episode. One of my teachers showed it in class.
Such a magnificent episode. How brilliantly James Whitmore makes us care! A part of me wants to believe Sloan went back for him later.
Maybe he still can, if the radio isn't broken and he can wait many months without going crazy (or crazier).
Man, this episode would do well with a reimagining in the form of a Wall-E sequel. I always imagined it would be about humans struggling with returning to their home and no longer being dependent on their captain or technology, with some having second thoughts and wanting to remain on the ship.
Definitely the best episode of season 4. i remember that the first time I saw it I was terrified that Benteen would sabotage the ship stranding them all there.
I couldn't wait till you got to this episode I really really really really really really love the first time I saw during the Twilight Zone episode marathon I really really really really really really loved it that ending with him screaming out to the sky saying don't leave me here more frightening than any horror movie can you imagine left alone on a hot searing Rock for all of eternity you could have been a hero he could have rode a best-selling book and been a celebrity on Earth I am for years Play the movie about him to remain behind in the Twilight Zone
I love the zoom out shoot at end
Nice review, and I think this is the only episode worthy of a whole hour. To be honest, I think the Twisted moral here is the old saying that it's better to rule in Hell than serve in heaven❤
This is not just my favorite hour-long, but my favorite TZ as well. I think that, beyond the "holding onto power" story, there's a greater moral about people who insist that privation is an inherently good thing, that any kind of joy leads to hedonism. Also, there's one exchange that wasn't quoted, but that I think is particularly appropriate at this time:
Benteen: "The Earth...is it still green?"
Sloan: "It's still green!"
Benteen: "And the cities?"
Sloan: "And the cities still stand!"
Benteen: "And war?"
Sloan: "As always. One flares up here, another dies down there...but through hard work and the grace of God we never had the hydrogen war."
My friend is Buzz Kulik’s great nephew! I’ll ask him to ask his grandmother about Daniel!
Having eternal daytime instead of darkness is such a clever reversal!!! I love that!
Today is Wednesday though XD
welp, tomorrow we leave for home
Finally! The only one hour episode I really liked.
Absolutely gutted that this didn't come out on a thursday.
Very close though
It came out Thursday in Kazakhstan and points east.
Awesome episode!
I actually watched this video on 11/9/23. Thursday
This reminds me of a story in the Weird Science about how TV is making people fade into a new world.
That’s twice my man got left alone on a planet. They did him dirty on “The Lonely” too 😂.
Im here ❤
I think the ship is also the same one from "To Serve Man"!
I remember this one being shorter, but I think tuned in about halfway, not sure.
This was the first episode of the Twilight Zone I ever saw on cable way back in the mid 90s as a little kid.
Could this episode have inspired the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episode “Ensigns of Command” (S3E2) in which Dat tries to convince a group of humans on a hostile planet to leave before the Sheliak Corporate, who have the right to the planet arrive and remove them, i.e. exterminate them, and the leader refuses to let anyone leave.
I've never seen this one. Don't know how I missed it!!
When Joe Joe asks the captain to tell the people about earth, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He stays behind on the asteroid because he can’t bear the fact that he is no longer a messiah to the people who depended on him for everything. It’s a great Twilight Zone episode. 😮
I agree. This is the best S.4 episode.
Loneliness will kill him.
Before we leave for home on Thursday because tomorrow is Thursday our trip with be intriguing
Enjoyed this overview and agree it's season four's best.
man this is pretty good
I didn't realize how much James Whitmore AKA "Brooks" gives me Spencer Tracy vibes.
I’m early just posted 5 minutes ago? 😮😂
Probably some of Serling's best writing.
This is among the spectacular hour long episodes. I wish someone would have mentioned how could Benteen survive on his own long term. November 3rd 2023 2:00 PM Central Time
"And when you pray to god his name wont be benteen"😂❤
My brother and I caught this one on TV years ago. He still talks about how he doesn't like the ending, and how he felt bad for Whitmore's character.
A shame that the order of the episodes didn’t put this episode on a Thursday
Loved this episode. Wanted Benteen to leave that place! Sad episode...😮
Awesome and cool! ^_^
Liked Benteen. Great man that did sacrificed for others. IMO don’t think the character had family to go back to on Earth so I think he felt afraid of being alone without his colony on earth so that’s why he desperately tried to hold on to his colony.
I liked him, too. That's part of what makes the episode sad. He was controlling in some ways but not egregiously so. He was good to them overall.
They could've just tied his crazy self up and brought him with them but he was playing games hiding in that cave at the last minute 😒
Are you gonna do Twilightober for The Twilight Zone 85' show?
This was the best episode!
It really is a great episode
A twist which might have been effective is if it was a lie and Earth was terrible, so it would have been better if everyone stayed on the desert planet
That just validates the colony leader’s god complex
@@Jai137Exactly that. Sloane's speech best sums it up; Earth isn't a complete paradise and there will be problems, but you'll be free to make your own way and won't have a self-appointed god figure bossing you around.
i did the math and the episode set in 2021-ish
This came out on Wednesday for me.
Definitely the strongest episode of season 4. Death ship is my favorite but this episode is on another level.
Since S4 was never syndicated in reruns, the only traces of S4’s existence I saw growing up was when two of the Serling-written hour episodes were repackaged as a syndicated two-hour TV-movie, “Return to the Twilight Zone”: He’s Alive, and this one.
In retrospect, I think that’s all you really CAN say about S4 for the record, although I don’t know if Death Ship and Jess-Belle were ever similarly repackaged.
Some people would rather die than admit they're wrong.
Also, if you can see the boom mic you're watching it in the wrong aspect ratio.
One of these days Walter will appear in an episode and will be stuck there
Did anyone else get the Jonestown type of vibe from this episode? I mean it was before the how massacre. But Benteen did give off a Jim jones feel.
Years later, after the captain’s death, they find carved into a tree…”BROOKS WAS HERE”
I had no idea James Whitmore was in this! He was such a fantastic actor! Don’t believe me? Watch Shawshank Redemption and see for yourself.
He was even good in the movie "Them!" where he sacrifices himself to save those kids from the giant ants.
@@ggrarl Yeah that was a good one too.
I can't look at the Sloane character now without thinking of Spotswood from Team America.
My only issue with this episode is the logic. Why would you settle on a planet with 2 sun's? That's like looking at Pluto and saying "Yeah, no problem's living there".
Think it would have made more sense if they crashed on the planet.
It’s amazing these last three episodes how they go.
First, we start off with this one which is easily one of the best of the season. Then the next episode is a wasted opportunity that feels unfinished.
I’m currently watching the last one and I’m not even five minutes in because I have to keep stopping every five seconds because oh my god this could be the worst of a bunch .
We need to end with this episode for the season finale not with what there doing now
0:37 2 suns? Did they land on tatooine?
Every day is Thursday in the....twilight zone🤣🤣🤣
Benteen is an understandable idiot. Stubborn, Prideful, Stern, Pitiful. This episode is one of the better ones for this season for sure. No spoilers but I think this happens in real life. The colonists are a positive reflection of the episode with the man in the mountain. Benteen is a great contrast to the leader in that episode in my opinion.
I have always sympathy for Benteen: he gave his life, his existence for his People. He had nothing else.
So this is set in the distant future of 2021?
**Looks at calendar**
Calendar: Oct 25, 2023
I remember that Sloan told the colonists that the classrooms have televisions in them. In reality, there were already TVS in the classrooms in the 1990s!
@@melissacooper8724 now classrooms have interactive smartboards
This is one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, but I also am a huge fan of James Whitmore. I compare this to an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine called "Paradise."
And for his crimes, he was sent to Shawshank prison