Twilight Zone - Purple Testament/Elegy/Mirror Image (Long Haul series)

 The Purple Testament

William Reynolds as the haunted Fitz has one of the understated performances I personally take for granted until I revisit this episode and realize how good he really is. His reactions, again incredibly understated, when he looks at the faces of those destined to die, not bursting into histrionics, shows this "taken aback" shock and then this "no, no, this can't be happening..." follow up response. I admit to forgetting about this episode which is a shame because when I happen to return to it, the power of "The Purple Testament" feels so personal, as if Serling's trauma, of war and how his own experience stuck with him, reaches out and into our hearts, into our guts, and squeezes. We feel what Fitzgerald does, understand the devastating impact of returning to camp from each offensive more bothered and worn down. I think "A Quality of Mercy" is a damn good follow up to this episode, a companion piece that is also quite personal to Rod. I think the war episodes often fly under the radar, but there is just something about each one of them that really has this message to them that resonates: war leaves behind baggage these poor soldiers carry for the rest of their lives. Now for that brief time Fitz has to endure this curse of seeing the bright light emanate on the faces of the soldiers bound to die, it is traumatic on top of what he's already been through. There is even a soldier begging to know if he's one of those whose face tells Fitz he will be dead soon. There is a scene of dialogue early in the episode that hits me harder than almost everything else: Captain Riker (Dick York) wants to know why Fitz is shaken by the latest offensive that left four young men under the age of 21 dead. Riker asks this because they have lost men on other missions and Fitz didn't react as shaken. I was like, "How can any mission where lives are lost just be normalized? How can those who didn't die, including the men who lead and command these fallen heroes, just shake it off and continue to keep a clear head?" Riker seemed capable of doing that, but I am glad Serling made sure to use his own experience in war as creative fuel to talk about it in a science fiction format, to put a face on its horror, being a voice for those men whose didn't return back to their families. I think "The Purple Testament" makes sure to speak for them.

My grandfather was a WWII veteran, returning home an eventual alcoholic, such a heavy smoker he would later die of emphysema. Mother told me about his alcoholism, its effects, and how he was not a pleasant drunk. I asked her if he was doing that to combat the horrors of war. She seemed to think that was the case. Sterling did have an outlet to talk about it. I wish my grandfather had some way to talk about his in a better way.

Elegy

Watching the episode on Hulu, there is a brief moment cut from SYFY where Captain James Webber walks in on a card game at a table where one of the corpses sent to the "asteroid graveyard" has been doing quite well, with a big smile on his frozen face and a stack of coins quite high. Robot caretaker Wickwire made sure those sent to his asteroid got to be what they always desired in life: in death, corpses "dressed up" in whatever costume, disguise, occupation, historical recreation, or event based on whatever they so wanted before their life's end. Too bad, Wickwire finds three astronauts a threat, even though they were not. Landing on the asteroid meant for the "dearly departed", these astronauts traverse the recreations meant for the dead, "dreams come true after they stop dreaming". The music, for the most part, remains rather cheery, even when the astronauts "join those 'gone on'" and Wickwire dusts them in their spaceship. I believe this is the first episode that has those alive walking among people who are "stuck" and not moving. It required a bunch of extras and their having to hold still. This isn't an episode I see mentioned a lot by fans of the show. So I can only assume it doesn't really have any real lasting impact. Though because Kellaway looks so non-threatening, the astronauts let their guard down...and, as a result, pay an ultimate price. And Wickwire goes back to his post, shutting down until he's needed again. I think I like this episode if just because we get to see the three men walk about these big sets with all these people we later learn are either corpses or dummies used as fakes dressing up each recreation.

Mirror Image

There are an abundance of old crones during the tenure of The Twilight Zone with a smart mouth, always barking or getting ornery with lovely young women that are featured as the lead in particular episodes. Inger Stevens had a similar experience with a terrible gas station attendant who couldn't be so kind as to get her some gas in "The Hitch-Hiker" after being told she feared for her safety. And in "Mirror Image", Vera Miles has a bus station clerk (Joseph Hamilton) snapping at her for baggage issues and wanting to know when the bus would arrive. I guess Serling enjoys populating episodes with these grumps with very little patience for women needing help. Miles doesn't ever provoke the nastiness he throws at her. Anyway, the doppelganger plot and how Miles sees her double, terrified of what she might do, contemplating her existence, later betrayed by Martin Milner's traveler passing through when she brings this up to him...Miles had some big parts in her early career, between this episode and two for Hitchcock. Damn good actress. I smiled when Milner mentioned Binghamton, NY...Serling's hometown. I hope they do build that statue dedicated to him...I do believe the gofundme will be successful. I imagined Milner's Paul was quite puzzled by Miles' Millicent Barnes story about the double. Even more worried about her when Millicent freaks out after seeing her double on the bus. When Millicent begins to speak of how a doppelganger might exist, that possibility, Paul can no longer shake her out of this "delusional state", her face showing how her mind has seemingly drifted away. How the episode is able to use visual tricks with the double sitting where Millicent should be on a bench and in the bus, I can imagine how this must have freaked the audience out of the time. Poor Millicent. Paul will learn too late of how right she was. I remember watching this not too long ago and the use of rain, that early in the morning feeling, and the empty station sure sets this creepy tone. Maybe Millicent will "get better" and find some job in Buffalo. That is unless the *other* Millicent hadn't beat her to it!