On Thursday We Leave for Home

Episode aired May 2, 1963
TV-14TV-14
51min

8.3/10

S4.E16

The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.The first human space colony is about to be rescued from the forsaken planet they've been on for three decades. But their leader's having a hard time accepting that change will happen when they get back to Earth.

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

James Broderick, Mercedes Shirley, and James Whitmore in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Tim O'Connor and James Whitmore in The Twilight Zone (1959)

Tim O'Connor in The Twilight Zone (1959)

The colonists of Pilgrim I, Earth's first space colony, have spent 30 years on their new home. It's a lonely, barren place more akin to hell then Eden. Now, they're awaiting the arrival of a ship to take them to Earth. Some colonists are at their wits' end; another - the 9th in 6 months - commits suicide. Their leader, William Benteen, a tough drill sergeant-type, who they call Captain, does his best to keep them together. When the ship arrives, they're given 3 days to prepare to leave. As the day of departure approaches, Benteen's assumption that the community will stay together on Earth, is wrong; most will go their own way once on earth. Hearing this, Benteen decides they should stay. When the group decides otherwise, Benteen's left with only one option. —garykmcd

six word episode title day in episode title planet spaceship megalomaniac 8 more

Trivia
When the rescue ship from Earth arrives, several colonists ask about various places on Earth during a meeting between the ship's crew and the colonists. One of the questions is about the Finger Lake District of New York. This area had a special significance to script writer Rod Serling. It is located close to his home town of Binghamton, he and his family vacationed there frequently, and Serling named his company that produced "The Twilight Zone," Cayuga Productions, after one of the lakes. He later taught at Ithaca College for the last five years before his death.

Goofs
The colony is said to be on a planet in a binary star system a billion miles from Earth. However, a billion miles away would still place them well within our solar system, somewhere between the orbits of Saturn (746 million miles away) and Uranus (1.2 billion miles away).

Quotes
Captain Benteen: Now listen to me. I want to tell you some things about the Earth that you haven't heard before. Things that are ugly. Things that are wrong. Things - that cannot be lived with. There is violence on Earth. There are hatreds! And jealousy! Now listen to me, listen to me and listen carefully. The Earth is a place we do not know. The Earth is a place we have never lived in. It is a society we do not belong in. If we leave here, we will die. We will *die*! We'll be committing suicide, if we go back to Earth. We will die of a misery we have never experienced before. Loneliness. Loneliness like animals in a zoo. We do not belong there.
[points to Col. Sloane]
Captain Benteen: We do not belong to his kind. We do not belong *there*. We do not belong *there*.
Col. Sloane: Captain Benteen! Why don't you let your "children" vote on it?
Captain Benteen: Only if they know what's waiting for them! Only if they know that the Earth is not a garden. Never was a garden! And it never will be a garden!
Col. Sloane: [Stepping forward] Fair enough! Fair enough! Then I'll tell you what Earth is. It's a race of men - struggling for survival. Just as you have survived. And Captain Benteen is quite right when he tells you it isn't a place of all beauty. We may yet have wars. And there still remains prejudice. And I suppose as long as men walk, there'll be angry men, jealous men, unforgiving men. But it has one thing that you don't have. One thing. It lets every man be his own master. There won't be any Captain Benteens down there for you. There won't be anybody to tell you when to eat, and when to sleep, and when to meet. There won't be anyone to tell you when to dance or what to sing or how to play. And instead of the thirst, you may feel hunger. Instead of heat, you may feel cold! But you'll be men and women. You won't be sheep. You won't be a kindergarten. And when you pray to God, his name won't be "Benteen"!

Connections
Edited from Forbidden Planet (1956)

Soundtracks
Twilight Zone Theme
(theme song)
Composed by Marius Constant
(seasons 2-5)

Top review

7/10

Not easy to abdicate being God

James Whitmore leader of a group of space colonizers from earth has led a group out in space for thirty years and truth be told he's done a job. Through his own indomitable will he's kept the people together on a hard planet which orbits two suns and is like Mercury with no spinning on its axis. The group lives underground, it's the only way they can live.

But rescue in the form of a ship from earth commanded by Tim O'Connor has arrived and they want to take them back to earth which according to O'Connor hasn't had any cataclysmic wars or other kinds of events. Just about the same as those who remember of the colonists do.

At first Whitmore is as excited as the rest of them and then it hits him, he's really no longer needed. He's used to being God like in his authority and its not easy to abdicate being God.

This is not really a true Twilight Zone type story, no paranormal events, no unearthly beings. Still it's well acted and constructed and Whitmore and O'Connor make a fine pair of adversaries. A great lesson in the use of power and when you have to surrender it.

helpful•13