The Twilight Zone - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
It is hard to avoid during any “greatest hits” night of the
TZ holiday marathon holiday “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”. I knew going into today
that this would be one of two episodes I’d review for the 4th of
July marathon. As expected, this was the featured 7:00 episode. It is often
almost exclusively included in the main primetime positioning of the marathon.
William Shatner’s Captain Kirk and Denny Crane are certainly iconic television
characters that define an incredible career that had seen its ups and downs. He
also has two Twilight Zone episodes I think should be included in the
conversation (Nightmare obviously is,
but I think Nick of Time deserves
recognition, too).
Richard Donner’s direction amused me with its emphasis on what could cause those with airplane anxiety dread…the emergency switch, rain outside, turbulence, and gremlin on the wing. Shatner’s performance is just extraordinary to me. It is a lot of bad nerves, dread, fear (repeating what had happened to him a half year ago), fragile hold on sanity, and desperation in just one person believing that there is activity on the airplane’s wing. When his wife (Christine White) looks at him with mortal terror she’s unable to hide behind her eyes, Shatner’s Bob Wilson realizes that he’s on his own. He might as well be shipwrecked on an island not expecting anyone to help him. He’ll have to take matters into his own hands. The gremlin might be considered laughable with its carpet-furry costume and suction-cup-mouth, but what it is doing to the plane is scary as hell. Pulling up a plate on the wing and gradually mangling metal and machinery, this nuisance jeopardizes all lives on the plane and must be stopped. Trying to tell others—like a pilot and stewardess—does him no favors as the gremlin is strategic in its appearances. The gremlin is only visible to Shatner while no one else is able to see it. So Bob Wilson has to plot out a course of action. How can he get that damn gremlin off the wing before it kills everyone? He spots a gun and extends himself from the window to try and shoot it.
The results of this will exonerate Bob but not before he’s carted off back to the loony bin. Serling makes sure to tell us this, too. We will be compensated for enduring this experience with Shatner…and know that he will not be considered just somebody who once again went crazy on the plane. What he saw was legit and even as everyone else thought he had flipped his lid, Bob Wilson saved them from crash. Shatner’s performance is legendary because Bob was already anxious and visibly tightly wound. This boarding of the airplane was the first step in facing the demons of the mind and conquering them. That is all there in his performance. The fragility and looking at those believing he was “slipping”, announcing that’d he’d let the plane crash first before asking them to look out the window again; Shatner shows us the helplessness of his situation. When they try to humor him and his annoyance in their behavior towards him; Shatner’s circumstances are easily felt. His history is Shatner’s worst enemy…there would be no confidence in “seeing gremlins”. Cracking up would appear to be expected and you see that in his wife’s face and demeanor the “oh no, it is happening again.” He does, too, and that is also greatly emphasized by Shatner in his performance.
Often analyzed to death, I realize, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” still never fails to remind me of just why it is so revered and held in such high regard. It deserves it.
Richard Donner’s direction amused me with its emphasis on what could cause those with airplane anxiety dread…the emergency switch, rain outside, turbulence, and gremlin on the wing. Shatner’s performance is just extraordinary to me. It is a lot of bad nerves, dread, fear (repeating what had happened to him a half year ago), fragile hold on sanity, and desperation in just one person believing that there is activity on the airplane’s wing. When his wife (Christine White) looks at him with mortal terror she’s unable to hide behind her eyes, Shatner’s Bob Wilson realizes that he’s on his own. He might as well be shipwrecked on an island not expecting anyone to help him. He’ll have to take matters into his own hands. The gremlin might be considered laughable with its carpet-furry costume and suction-cup-mouth, but what it is doing to the plane is scary as hell. Pulling up a plate on the wing and gradually mangling metal and machinery, this nuisance jeopardizes all lives on the plane and must be stopped. Trying to tell others—like a pilot and stewardess—does him no favors as the gremlin is strategic in its appearances. The gremlin is only visible to Shatner while no one else is able to see it. So Bob Wilson has to plot out a course of action. How can he get that damn gremlin off the wing before it kills everyone? He spots a gun and extends himself from the window to try and shoot it.
The results of this will exonerate Bob but not before he’s carted off back to the loony bin. Serling makes sure to tell us this, too. We will be compensated for enduring this experience with Shatner…and know that he will not be considered just somebody who once again went crazy on the plane. What he saw was legit and even as everyone else thought he had flipped his lid, Bob Wilson saved them from crash. Shatner’s performance is legendary because Bob was already anxious and visibly tightly wound. This boarding of the airplane was the first step in facing the demons of the mind and conquering them. That is all there in his performance. The fragility and looking at those believing he was “slipping”, announcing that’d he’d let the plane crash first before asking them to look out the window again; Shatner shows us the helplessness of his situation. When they try to humor him and his annoyance in their behavior towards him; Shatner’s circumstances are easily felt. His history is Shatner’s worst enemy…there would be no confidence in “seeing gremlins”. Cracking up would appear to be expected and you see that in his wife’s face and demeanor the “oh no, it is happening again.” He does, too, and that is also greatly emphasized by Shatner in his performance.
Often analyzed to death, I realize, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” still never fails to remind me of just why it is so revered and held in such high regard. It deserves it.
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