The Twilight Zone (TV Series) The Cold Equations (1989) User Reviews

The episode that stayed with me over the years

[Razar_C-1 · 8/10 · 12 August 2010]

Well, without saying too much, or writing an episode synopsis, I'll try to explain why this episode of The New Twilight Zone was the one that will always stay with me.

I was in my early teens when this show started airing in the late 80's. It was on after episodes of some new werewolf show whose name escapes me... I have almost no memory of any New Twilight Zone episodes other than this one, and another one involving shopping store mannequins. This one stayed with me because of how powerfully it evoked such a variety of emotions. Without going into too much detail, I remember instantly being interested in this episode, as the star/ co-star was the Sergeant from Tour of Duty (Terrence Knox). Anyway, before too long, we're introduced to the other star/ co-star, Christianne Hirt. Needless to say, I fell in love with her in a flash.

The episode itself examines the tough choices Terrence Knox faces when he realises that he's not alone in deep space. Christine Hirt plays her character flawlessly, and both of them made a deep and lasting impression on me, as this was the first time I had ever been exposed to a situation where every choice one makes, will turn out to be the wrong choice. Despite that neither character (Knox/ Hirt) is inherently 'in the wrong' and that neither character is a/ the 'bad guy', both characters find themselves in dire straits, where their lives depend on choices that are both already made for them, and yet have to be made by one or the other of the unlikely duo.

The scenes where Knox and Hirt are examining the cold hard facts that beset their ill-fated voyage, were the first of their kind that I had ever seen, and were acted perfectly. They evoked such powerful feelings of isolation and helplessness in me, in a way that no other movie (or such) had done before. It was the first time I'd been moved to tears by a medium other than real life (with the notable exception of David Bowie's song Space Oddity), and though I may have long since forgotten most of the details of this episode, I can still recall with such clarity, the myriad of emotions that this episode woke up inside me. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see the best that the New Twilight Zone had to offer.

Equating the cold hard facts in outer space

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 22 August 2010]

***SPOILERS*** The time is 2060 A.D and Sgt. Thomas Bartin,Terrance Knox,is on his way with an emergency supply of medicine for the American colony on the asteroid Woden. Without that medicine getting there on time the entire colony will be wiped out by an meningitis like disease that ravaging it.

It's then that Sgt.Bartin sees,on his computer panel, that his spacecraft is some 100 pounds top heavy! If that extra, or dead, weight is not jettisoned off the spacecraft he'll never make it to Woden on time to save it American colonists. In fact he'll end up lost in space with him not having enough fuel to get to any American Space Station and end up, when his food supply is exhausted, dead! Checking what's on the ship Sgt. Bartin is surprised to find that the exert weight that's holding the craft from reaching Woden is a young stowaway Marilyn Cross, Christianne Hirt!

Marilyn is desperately trying to see her brother Garry, Bradly Hope, an engineer on Woden whom she hasn't seen in five years. Not realizing the limitations of space travel,in fuel food and water supplies on the spacecraft, Marilyn has now put herself in the situation of being sacrificed, by being jettisoned off the spacecraft into outer space, in order to save the American colonists on Woden including her brother Garry!

***SPOILER*** Faced with the cold hard facts of the circumstances he finds himself in Sgt. Bartin is forced to do what even Marilyn knows to be the right thing. But he'll have to live the rest of his life grieving over what he's done! Even though it was the only option he had on that spacecraft reaching Woden and saving the people, with the medical aid that he was carrying, on time!

The Situation Seems Unnecessary

[Gislef · 7/10 · 5 July 2022]

Why are the EDS designed "lean"? Is fuel that rare in the future? Don't the designer allow for any emergencies? Skip stowaways: what if the EDS hits a meteor storm, or has an engine malfunction? Although the interior of the EDS seems awfully spacious for such a "lean" ship. IF nothing else, you wouldn't think it would be spacious enough for a stowaway.

So I get where the author of the original story, Tom Godwin, is coming from, as well as teleplay writer Alan Brennert. And Hirt and Knox give good performances as people trapped in the title's "cold equations", with no choice except for Knox to considering sacrificing himself. The tension comes from their reactions, and the characters trapped in the inevitability of the (manufactured) situation. It also plays against type to some degree: you expect an unexpected rescue, and it doesn't happen.

It's just that the situation seems unnecessarily contrived. The EDS doesn't have enough fuel to land safely because... they say so. Despite the narrow margin, no one tracks the EDS's weight until it's approaching its destination. Maybe it's the short run time. Maybe it's the low budget: they probably recycled the spacious ship from some other show, like 'The Ray Bradbury Theater'. But it seems like a whole lot of to-do that could have been avoided by the writer with a little more careful writing.

For instance, if weight is so important, why didn't they put the chatty weight-measuring computer on the ground at the point of departure, instead of on the ship. It didn't check the weight until the EDS came close to its destination.

I see that people on Wikipedia note these issues with the original story, and that the constraints are decided by the writers, taking the responsibility away from the people responsible for proper planning to ensure safety.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?

The needs of the many...

[nebmac · 10/10 · 5 January 2020]

This episode of The Twilight Zone is unusual in that it doesn't contain anything supernatural or otherwise inexplicable. Just hard sci-fi and a moral dilemma on par with the best that the Star Trek universe has to offer (think of Spock's warp drive scene in "Wrath of Khan"). The writers, director, and actors all deserve credit for turning a relatively simple story into a television masterpiece.

The Twilight Zone: The Cold Equations

[Scarecrow-88 · 9/10 · 16 August 2011]

This Twilight Zone tale is a real bummer, extremely depressing. "The Cold Equations" is closer in spirit to the Classic Rod Serling science fiction tales of old, but doesn't exactly end the way you would expect. It concerns a young stowaway (Christianne Hirt, perfectly presenting a sweet teenage girl confronting the horrifying ordeal of death in a manner of hours; those tears and that emotional devastation is real and palpable, a testament to her ability to wring as much pathos out of the story as possible) who hides on board a ship carrying medical supplies and treatment to a planet suffering from a Cholera epidemic. The space vessel's operator, Thomas Bartin (Terence Knox, Children of the Corn II), questions his superior officer about getting her on another ship, but is informed that there are no other transports in the area. Bartin, as hard as it pains him, must tell Marilyn Lee Cross (Hirt) that she will have to be jettisoned from the ship so that he can land it on the planet! We watch as the two try to find some way to save her from being sent to her death in space as that nerve-wracking tension mounts as time begins to run out. The ship can only carry so much weight and any difference will cause catastrophic consequences. As the title says, it comes "down to simple, cold mathematics", the ship and what it can carry are measured carefully which is highly expounded upon by the principles who converse about the "no win situation" they find themselves. Bartin cannot sacrifice himself because the ship has to land. Is Cross' life worth 25 diseased people needing the supplies Bartin is transporting? The episode really establishes the nightmare that can be fate, in this story's particular case, if one makes a hasty decision just to see a brother on another planet, not understanding the calamity that will befall her. Knox effectively conveys the turmoil and frustration that torments him, having to send a poor girl into space or else his mission will be for naught and those waiting on the supplies will die. The screenplay doesn't provide easy answers: one scene has Bartin trying to find extra weight on board the ship that would substitute for Cross, hoping he can jettison metal doors/plates and junk that can be sacrificed, but to no avail. Despite a low budget set depicting a space ship that isn't all that impressive, the story and acting are haunting, I imagine this episode will remain with many who watch it as it will me. Sometimes life doesn't hand us an easy way out.

Perhaps the Best Episode of the Series

[chrstphrtully · 10/10 · 21 December 2016]

Based upon Tom Godwin's classic sci-fi story, this episode may very well be the best of the entire 1980s series, rivaling "Paladin of the Lost Hour," "The Road Less Travelled," and "The Toys of Caliban." The captain of a spaceship carrying emergency supplies to a remote outpost discovers he has a stowaway -- a young woman desiring to see her brother on the outpost. The only problem is the ship only has enough fuel to carry the captain and the supplies....

Alan Brennert's screenplay is superb -- economical with its dialogue, with little or no extraneous exposition, spoken by fully-fleshed characters, and skillfully using the narrowing time window to ramp up the suspense. The plot moves crisply and logically, and without pretense, working off the natural human stakes created by the situation. The performances are equal to these stakes: Christianne Hirt is excellent as the stowaway, moving through the various stages of realization of her doomed situation -- her final conversation with her brother is heartbreaking; Terence Knox is equally strong as the steadfast captain, wrestling with the demands of his mission versus the individual life he's loath to take. Martin Lavut's direction effectively uses the claustrophobic atmosphere to enhance the intimacy between the two leads, and avoids the temptation to jazz up the story.

What's left is what the story requires -- an unfortunate situation with no real fault, which has only one workable solution. The definition of tragedy, portrayed realistically and devastatingly.

Classic episode of the new "Zone"

[chuck-reilly · 10/10 · 3 July 2007]

Christianne Hirt plays a stowaway on board a rescue mission space craft heading towards an infected planet. The pilot of the craft, Terrence Knox (of "Tour of Duty" fame), discovers her existence too late to send her back. The crux of the issue at hand is that because of the exact weight of the medical supplies, Ms. Hirt's presence (and extra weight on the space ship) is jeopardizing the entire rescue mission. Knox is faced with a life and death situation. Either he jettisons Hirt off the craft and to certain death, or he turns the craft around and allows the men and women on the infected planet to perish. To add to the dilemma, Hirt's brother is on the imperiled planet. He was the reason she stowed away on the craft to begin with. Knox's agonizing decision is the only way out. But what will he do? The agonizing decision that Knox has to make is very reminiscent of the subject matter of the original series. This episode would make Rod Serling proud and was certainly as good as any of the earlier stories. It is a classic.

This terrible episode should never have made it into the Twilight Zone series

[theonejackdry · 1/10 · 4 May 2020]

I'd be really curious to know how this story made it in to the Twilight Zone. First it's straight science fiction so there is no twilight and there is no zone. Second it ends very badly with no salvation of the good character. And that is an absolute no/no in the series. The Twilight Zone is a morality tales story with a positive spin on life and the universe, and aims to uplift. Even if all episodes do not end well in all aspects, the good are never unnecessarily punished. This story was straight doom and unfair gloom with zero compassion all around. And even as a straight science fiction story it's a very bad one. Jettisonning someone into space because you can't find 120lbs of furniture or useless equipment to get rid of "or else the spacecraft is going to crash" is really lazy scenario. Even the usual trope of "running out of oxygen so someone has to be sacrificed" would have made it a bit more believable. Not to mention the spaceship doesn't have automatic landing capabilities apparently... Mmm maybe that's the spooky element? A ship that crosses light years into space but cannot land by itself? It should never have made it into the series. And that's pretty clear even from the narration where "Twilight Zone" has no place anywhere in the sentence and is just shoved there.

Thank You for Not Bailing

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 3 July 2017]

When a young woman stows away on a unique spaceship which is designed to be nearly 100 percent efficient. By this woman being on board, she throws everything off. After jettisoning her weight in extraneous material, it's still not enough. She can't pilot the ship which is carrying a serum to save a large group of people. The point is that she needs to be thrown off the ship into space. The Zone could have taken the cheap way out with a dream sequence or a test being performed by higher authorities. What the do instead is to play this out, sad as it may be, leaving the pilot to live with what he has done (even though he had not choice). It must have been hard to present this episode. I would imagine there was some reaction to it.

Intriguing but frustrating in the details

[bgaiv · 5/10 · 15 December 2022]

It's certainly an intriguingly horrific scenario. It's a bit hard to buy that this incredibly lean mission could feature a less than slender man, but I can accept it. It just goes at odds with the scenario.

But I can live with that given the theme.

What's harder to live with is that in this nightmare situation, these two aren't pulling out the stops to save it. They go to a great deal of trouble to eject whatever mass they can from the ship, yet the two are still perfectly clothed.

Both of them are wearing outfits that must weigh a few pounds. I don't need to see raw skin to enjoy a story, however, in this situation, these two would have happily (considering) waltzed around nude and tore their hair out.

Science Fiction done right.

[davercrb · 20 June 2022]

I first read Tom Godwin's short story" The Cold Equations" in a High School Lit class.

The fundamental story is that a small spacecraft intended for emergency uses is launched to carry antibiotics to a planet where a small group of explorers have contracted a fatal disease. The spacecraft has very few amenities or resources and is generally only given what it needs to get to it's destination. After launch the pilot discovers a stowaway Regulations are clear and concise- jettison the stowaway and oh yes- no need to bother with a spacesuit. Stowaway objects? Kill him and dump the body overboard anyway. The reason for this drastic option is that the spacecraft margins are small and with the extra weight the spacecraft will never reach it's destination -killing the stowaway, the pilot, and the ten men awaiting the medication. Except- Said stowaway is a young woman just out of school who only wants to see her brother whom she hasn't seen for years. Total stunner for all involved. Pilot tries to buy time and calls the mother ship for help but there is none forthcoming. So he will have to kill her. They delay long enough that she is able to say goodbye to her brother and she voluntary walks into the airlock.

This is really good science fiction. First there are no last minute heroics (except for her voluntarily entering the airlock knowing what is about to happen). The fundamental premise here is that in marginal survival situations there are situations where there is either no solution or all solutions are fatal ones for someone (shall we kill just her or also the pilot and the ten men awaiting the meds?) The pilot was fully prepared to confront a stairway and order him into the airlock or just blaster and dump him. Like any normal human being would be -he is horrified when he discovers who the stowaway is and even more so when he finds out why she stowed away. He knows what is going to have to happen and hates it. I found the pathos and emotions believable when the girl finds out what is going to happen to her. All the interplay between her and the pilot makes us sympathetic to both. We can neither condemn Barton for killing her nor Marilyn for stowing aboard.

The fundamental theme of the original story was the small margins that exist on frontiers leave no room for errors. This episode stayed true to the story itself and the fundamentals of good drama. Even though we all know there is no solution to the dilemma we still find ourselves hoping for a miracle. The story ends with the pilot haunted by what he has had to do and will have nightmares about her for a long time. I have thought up a potentially even more horrible ending which Godwin fortunately either didn't think of or rejected. Knowing what will happen to her once the airlock is opened and she is blown into space -should he have killed her before she goes into the airlock to spare her the 30 sec or so of sheer terror before she loses consciousness? Gave me a nightmare the first time that thought crossed my mind.

Then original story has been criticized for the unrealistic safety protocols (or more accurately lack there-of on a parent starship) or the lack of a pre-flight check by the pilot. While there is some validity to those criticism they miss the point of the story- Frontier life is very unforgiving of errors.

In any case tell me a good yarn and I will willingly "suspend dis-belief". Tell me a bad one and I won't. This was a good one.