Recap
Astronauts Peter Craig and William Fletcher have been forced to land on a planetoid to make repairs. Fletcher, the commander, does all of the work while co-pilot Craig gripes about the rations. Fletcher has enough and tells him to shape up and be thankful they're alive and unharmed. Craig, unimpressed, storms off while Fletcher wonders what he wants. Craig tells him he wants people under his command, on his terms. He hears something, the sound of voices, but Fletcher doesn't hear anything. ..
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Episode Notes
Claude Akins was also in "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street."
Joe Maross is also in "Third From the Sun."
Episode Quotes
Peter Craig: Whoever invented this stuff must have had stomach trouble; a very bitter character with no compassion for his fellow man or their stomachs. Well, there may come a moment in time when I'll enjoy this.
William Fletcher: "There may come a moment in time" when you'll lick a rock as if it were the drumstick of a Thanksgiving turkey! But for the time being, buddy, you'll eat what is prescribed to eat! And if you've got any set of deep-rooted complaints, you put 'em down in a ledger somewhere, don't spray 'em all over me! It's a waste of effort. It's also dull, and it's tough to live with! You read me, Craig?
Peter Craig: (unimpressed) Loud and clear.
William Fletcher: Then dwell on it! And while you're dwelling on it, you might count a few blessings. Now we don't have much food or water, that's a fact. But we landed in a place where there's oxygen, and we can survive. We walked away from it without a single bone out of place. Now, the standing order is as follows: you got tears to shed, save them for night and weep them into your pillow. don't bother me with them! Now how do you read me?
Peter Craig: Still loud and clear, Commander.
Opening Narration
Narrator: The time is the space age, the place is a barren landscape of a rock-walled canyon that lies millions of miles from the planet Earth. The cast of characters? You met them: William Fletcher, commander of the space ship; his co-pilot, Peter Craig. The other characters who inhibit this place you may never see, but they're there, as these two gentlemen will soon find out. Because they're about to partake in a little exploration into that gray, shaded area in space and time that's known as the Twilight Zone.
Fletcher: It occurs to me I haven't seen you take any water.
Craig: Well, I'm a whiskey man myself, or hadn't you noticed.
Fletcher: You're no god, Craig. That's not what you are at all. The only trouble is by now you've probably gotten them to believe in the devil.
Closing Narration
Narrator: The case of navigator Peter Craig, a victim of delusion. In this case, the dream dies a little harder than the man. A small exercise in space psychology that you can try on for size -- in the Twilight Zone.