The Arrival - Twilight-Tober Zone

Does this airplane based mystery match the quality of other stories of similar subject matter or was it simply flying blind? Join Walter in The Twilight Zone as he discusses "The Arrival".
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"The Arrival" is the second episode of the third season and 67th overall episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
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[@ChannelAwesome]

What did everyone think of The Arrival? Watch Twilight-Tober Zone 2021 Compilation - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKOoaoWYpdd5h9E Follow Walter on Twitter - twitter.com/Awesome_Walter Follow us on Twitch - www.twitch.tv/channelawesome

[@trinaq]

It was decent, though not one of the more memorable installments.

[@dravenjorden2421]

Hey Doug, Can You Do a Dark Toons Episode on Felix The Cat: Bold King Cole? Cause it has Some Dark Scenes in it, Like There's One Scene Where The Ghosts Capture Bold King Cole and Put it in The Seat

[@ThePkmnYPerson]

I didn't think it was anywhere near as bad as you made it sound. I actually enjoyed it more than most other airplane episodes.

[@jbearclowater]

Personally I liked it, but feel like it's a re-write away from being one of the best. There's elements I love of the twist, but feel like it could be tightened up into a better narrative.

[@kimjames6028]

What!? The first half is the best part! The realization that for all that cockiness of Shecklee at the beginning… he is just a haunted man.. haunted by a Failure!!

[@trinaq]

I liked how this episode was more of a psychological thriller. I never would have guessed that Sheckley had conjured all of the other characters, based on his previous regret. Though, given that he had never met Malloy, the PR man, in real life, it seems strange that he was able to perfectly hallucinate him, and know what he looked like.

[@marga8732]

Well, he did enter the Twilight Zone, and I’m thinking that probably fed into his delusions…

[@dynomar11]

Honestly, need more things like this on the channel, you can tell Walter is passionate about the twilight zone. Some of the NC's have come across as "gotta do another one so I guess it'll be this movie". And like, if you're not into it, your audience sure won't be.

[@RoninDave]

I think they were trying to hide the twist so much by having the main character appear after the strange flight landed but by doing so it made the ending all wonky unless the whole thing was so much in Sheckley's head that the entire episode was in his head and he's really at home on the floor rambling over a newspaper about Flight 107.

[@57highland]

I thought the same: I thought the episode had to open with at least a brief introduction to Scheckley and only then have the ghost plane landing.

[@justanotherchannelonyoutub126]

I only saw this episode once, but it stuck with me long after I watched it. Life is full of unanswered questions that we’ll probably never find the answers to, at least not in our lifetime. Sometimes it’s best not to obsess over it and accept that that’s the way things are

[@justanotherchannelonyoutub126]

@@Nasser851000 I just copy and paste. Also I know what time these videos get uploaded too

[@trinaq]

Peach, we don't always know the answers, and not everything has a concrete resolution.

[@22espec]

I thought it was a waste that they didn't use 'Flight 33' for this episode.

[@richewilson6394]

This episode always makes me think of the stories of missing planes reappearing with skeletons in the planes. Like having the Bermuda Triangle only it comes to you. Any ghost planes.

[@Ytcinema18]

One thing that I thought was weird is Why is he risking his own hand, why not use a stick or something else? 😂

[@ritacal557]

I have always said this myself 😂😂😂

[@Unownshipper]

Assumedly because the point of his theory is perception; it's all in the eye. If he stuck a plank of wood or something else in the hangar into the propellers, then he and the "others" would simply imagine the item being cut up. They would envision it just as you or I could imagine how it'd be chopped up. He used his hand because that's a different sensation: touch. We don't know what it'd be like to have a fingertip, a digit, or even a full hand cut off at speed, so it breaks the illusion. That's my guess anyways.

[@SalvationDiscipleshipAreNotThe]

Good point.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

For those curious about entertainment connections, older TV fans might actually recognize the name of that director. Boris Sagal is the father of Katie Sagal. Yes, THAT Katie Sagal! Love and marriage....

[@HurQlez]

I actually love this episode. I do wish we didn’t actually see the other guys disappear and just saw a sweeping shot of Schekly seeing nobody around him. Schekly probably had his theory be the reason the old flight 107 disappeared. I downloaded this episode instead of the odyssey one.

[@57highland]

Yes, they could have had Scheckley just suddenly turn around (to where the others are standing) and find no one there.

[@22espec]

It would have been more interesting if the Flight 33 was the plane in this episode, it would have been made a much memorable episode

[@victorvelez6062]

That's brilliant. It would have enhanced the mystery of the flight 33 episode 10x.

[@wstine79]

This scenario reminds of this 1989 sci-fi movie Millennium. On that one, the crew and passengers were transported to the future before it crashed.

[@johnhaladay5541]

This seems like one of those "it's an interesting idea, but it's not really going to work" type episodes. The idea of a airplane landing without passengers and a crew sounds intriguing, but Serling didn't seem to know what else to do with it. Whenever he hit that wall, Serling often relied on too much exposition - as we saw in this episode.

[@theredknight1757]

I loved the premise, and was hooked partway in. But that ending really, really popped the balloon.

[@57highland]

The episode should have started with the investigator (Scheckley) solving a case, an especially tough one, and someone then praising him as having "Never been stumped on a case." Only Scheckley remembers that he HAS been stumped and hearing those words of praise cause it to start to eat at him again. Suddenly, he THINKS he knows what happened to the plane that disappeared 17 years prior and he's so sure of it that he rushes to the airport where that plane was supposed to have landed. He tells the other guys in the episode that he has reopened a "cold case" on a missing plane. They look at him strangely but go along with it. (Here is where his delusion begins.) Then the plane lands, and the landing crew finds it to be empty. When Scheckley goes into the plane to confirm what they've told him, he in fact finds that the plane is empty. Everyone is really spooked. Let's say that one of the landing crew went onto the plane with him. When they come down the stairs, the guys who were standing with them in the hangar are gone. When Scheckley turns around to ask the guy who came down the stairs behind him where the others have gone, he too has disappeared. Scheckley runs into the office. The guys are all there but no one knows what he's rambling about. When he leads them out into the hangar to show them the ghost plane, it too has disappeared. Scheckley is dumbfounded. They tell him to sit down and calm down. Then they have the full conversation about the missing plane 17 years before, and only then is it revealed that Scheckley was the lead investigator in that case. They ask him if he wants a doctor. He refuses, saying he's OK, but he starts to hear the "never been cracked on a case" comment play over and over again in his head. The other guys go back to their duties and Scheckley is alone with only the head guy. The other guy leaves the room for just a minute. When he comes back, Scheckley is gone. Then you see him out on the runway, shouting at the missing plane. Yes, that sequence would have worked better, IMHO.

[@claytonrios1]

I believe that Madagascar 2 referenced another plane episode from this show. One of the more obscure references from that movie.

[@marga8732]

Nightmare at 20,000 feet

[@octo-generaljones8691]

Today is the first day of the nostalgia-ween reviews of 2022. I’m so excited to see what Doug reviews this year!!!!

[@kurtwagner350]

One of my very favorites

[@jabbarmuhammad8804]

It was kinda a weird episode but a good episode one of my favorites

[@brianbannon6746]

A metaphysical mindbender.

[@entertainmentlife430]

I always thought of this episode as a follow up to odyssey of flight 33 coz that was the flight that went missing that he could never figure out.

[@metl6929]

*X-Files theme plays*

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

That actually isn't a bad theory. The missing flight could have actually been Flight 33.

[@entertainmentlife430]

@@elder-woodsilverstein7716 thanks

[@elder-woodsilverstein7716]

@@entertainmentlife430 Anything for a fellow Zoner.

[@melissacooper8724]

That makes sense. The ending of Flight 33 left us up in the air so to speak.

[@JohnnyPaisan]

I guess him hearing news of a flight 107 to buffalo caused his mind to stress out and replay an old event in his head that's haunted him for years. To the point where he goes there hoping to solve this mystery and hallucinate all those events.

[@oldschoolsinger]

My favorite episode. As a kid, I remembered them talking about the different colors of the seats and the plane being empty, then the guys disappearing in the hangar. I never forgot that and when I saw it years later, I was hooked on the entire episode.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

I'm kinda curious what you think of the Alfred Hitchcock Hour compared to this. One is poignant and full of allegory, the other is morbid and sometimes troll-ish.

[@wstine79]

This time, that thing on the wing got the entire crew.

[@miroslavtomic7038]

This episode has the best ending revelation EVER, in my notion.

[@PerfectCell9]

Love that this series is back… one of the best thing you guys have ever done !! Thank you

[@SnowdropHill]

Oh dear. The fact that I didn't remember this episode existed, or even recognize it by its title says it all, really.

[@Rat2rrj]

One of my childhood favorites!

[@armoniqfields8016]

If done right, with today's technology, The This Show would be a hit series.

[@daveroche6522]

Premise: the Airbus/Boeing lands and all the passengers disembark, after the aircraft had 'vanished' for 23 hours. They all have different recollections - some being X-Filey (suspended at altitude, alien intervention etc.), some time travel (witnessing Jurassic Park stuff), some stoned out of their face ("Janeway was great in Voyager, Man"), some having injected/swallowed bleach (after following the em, "advice" of a certain genius ex-president) and so on. Turns out they'd all nodded off while sitting in the Departures Lounge (23 hours?) of [insert airport name here], October 05, 2022. Give Cameron $175,000,000 and I'm sure he'll find a way to completely cock it up. Just thinkin' (but trying not to).

[@osterro]

It's such a dark irony that Boris Sagal himself was killed by helicopter's rotor blades

[@kimjames6028]

Finally my favorite one!!!!! Yaaay!! Thank you for these reviews! Okay not quite my favorite - Ring a Ding Girl and the one with the devil being locked up ate my favorites… I do agree that this could have been better but the first half I loved so much!

[@KingRandor82]

I hate to say it....that concluding explanation almost feels like Rod Serling was grasping at straws, trying to meet a deadline. It almost reminds me of the climax to Jigsaw, which was confusing and out of character for for the movie series, but it was just to get another movie into theaters. I'm not saying such an idea is bad, I just think--at least the way Walter explains it--it kinda comes out of nowhere, really.

[@AntonioDragon88]

This is one of my top five episodes of The Twilight Zone ever🔥

[@mrsbluesky8415]

This episode haunted me for years after. It’s spooky and creepy in a weird way.

[@JoshuaAndres]

Rod had an affinity for planes it seems

[@ThePkmnYPerson]

5:10 If that's the case, they could've had the actors play multiple character like in The Wizard of Oz.

[@motherworks1279]

This is an amazing series!!! I watched every episode and go back to watch it when it’s all put altogether in one video…they bring me joy 😁☺️

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

I hope that somewhere down the road, Night Gallery will be explored.

[@christophertheriault3308]

I'm absolutely looking forward to that although it would be years away. It was very surprising when discussing Eye of the Beholder that it wasn't mentioned how Serling reused that script for the NG episode The Different Ones, just with things reversed

[@FlipWarBucks]

I loved this one. It’s great

[@shainewhite2781]

This episode is more like a psychological thriller rather than a Sci Fi thriller.

[@trinaq]

Agreed, I liked how they changed up the formula somewhat.

[@Deadlift4chips]

Haven’t seen this one in ages. Might go back and do a rewatch.

[@steakcrust558]

This is one of my favorites

[@stillaboveground2470]

Dubov say, "Phooey on people!"

[@RinSyuveil]

The start of this episode made it sound like this would be the Langaleres or something

[@Angelique24118]

I can’t help thinking about the Langoliers

[@jamesdrynan]

I have three categories for episodes from the Zone. Column A for excellent, ( Walking Distance, etc., ) Column B for OK and Column C, where this one belongs.

[@daveroche6522]

I reckon the different coloured seats is a really good application of psychology - his subconsciousness doing its thing - the ONE crash he couldn't solve has become that perpetual itch he can never scratch, with memory fragments. Imagine you now being asked (today being October 05, 2022) "What colour were the seats in the car you were in October 05 2004 or 2005?" Of course the standard answer is "I DON'T KNOW" (unless there was a really traumatic event at the time. Think JFK or a family tragedy) - we tend not to remember irrelevant 'stuff'. That how good (police) detectives twig when someone's telling a porky - can YOU remember exactly what you were doing 05 October 2021? One year ago? No? Thought not. If I'm correct, this was some excellent writing by Rod. Thank you Sir - full marks, R.I.P.

[@desiv1170]

Watching these is great because I love The Twilight Zone and it is interesting to hear other perspectives... That said, I'm really glad I am not a critic. They either generally don't like things that most people really do, or they feel they have to not like them sometimes... Either way, that's kind of sad... From those of us that can watch these episodes and just enjoy them, I wish that for you too...

[@AsheReads]

I know it would take a long while to get to, since Walter does this every October, but I'd love to hear his thoughts on the Jorden Peele's reboot of The Twilight Zone. Hell, maybe even the reboot from the 80's.

[@misspriss2482]

The reboot from the 80's was amazing. I'd love to see them tackle that one.

[@VidWatcher01]

For a second thought it was that flight that went missing after going that wierd time warp in the previous season😮

[@Arkylie]

This is just making me want to watch *The Langoliers* again.

[@CaptainCJ97]

Loving this series glad y'all started this

[@jasondowns940]

Bing Russel is Kurt Russels dad. Just an FYI

[@clintbrew]

Boris sagal (the director of the episode) was katey sagal's father, i cant remember if it was mention in an earlier video i think it was, btw katey sagal starred in married with children and the voice of leela from futurama which ironically does a parody of the twilight zone with the scary door

[@jasondowns940]

@@clintbrew I love that futurama parody!!!!

[@recordgalaxy]

What? This is my favorite episode

[@shainewhite2781]

Thanks for the video!! See you later!! Stay safe.😊

[@SpaceGeek2161]

I think maybe a better twist would've been just the plane disappearing with a real guy inside. Where did he go? How could he have disappeared in a plane that was never there? Does that mean that, in some way, the plane WAS there because they believed it was there and only disappeared when they stopped believing? Is reality just what you believe is true and haven't yet disproven? That feels a bit more Twilight Zone-y to me.

[@Wolfwood2057]

I never really understand why people don't like this episode. I thought the twist was good, I thought the thing it was trying to tell was good (a person who can't get past their past failures)

[@DrRiverWho]

Thank you for making this.

[@Ryu_D]

Thank you for the video.

[@HarvestStore]

Great video.

[@MrDARKJAK]

Good old Twilight tober zone, love to see it

[@bruceeng3376]

Director Boris Sagal died from walking into a helicopter rotor...

[@precious_muse]

When I tried to watch this episode, I feel asleep in the middle of it.

[@ErzengelDesLichtes]

In a couple decades a plane landing with no pilot or passangers just might be an everyday occurance. If you just need to move the plane around, why do you need a pilot when the autopilot can do it all?

[@soren3569]

This episode didn't make me think of the other airplane episodes. Instead, my brain compares it to A World of Difference and Nightmare As A Child--both episodes featuring a person having a kind of mental breakdown and surreal experiences arising from that. And I think it is the weakest of those three. Maybe this was part of the reason, as you mentioned earlier, that Serling started worrying about scraping the bottom of the well, creating his own cliches.

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

I actually prefer this episode over the silence. The silence probably benefited from stronger plotting because it's an adaptation, and it's one that's been adapted many times so I'm not really sure where the Twilight Zone episode stands in that lineage But this episode? It's an excellent analysis of what happens when somebody pushes themselves over the edge. There is no Supernatural or science fiction twist to the story. Nobody has been harmed. He's not in an alternate reality. What we watched was just what happens when a person's broken psyche is still struggling to solve the one thing they couldn't. It might be flawed but that very human tragedy makes it a little bit different for the Twilight Zone

[@cthulhupthagn5771]

I always assume that the reason why the other people were hallucinations were because he has worked with them many times over his career. So for the hallucination to work, he had to reenact how a normal event would occur. The reason why they all disagreed was because it wasn't actually them and none of it was real. I get your point, but I think you might be a little harsher on this one

[@gregorytyson995]

I thought The Silence was more inspired by The Bet not an official adaption of it.

[@XM394-xxx]

Weird. I was just watching this episode of few hours ago and now this popped up in my recommended feed

[@milestrombley1466]

Maybe it would make sense if the guy was in a coma, and touching the plane wakes him up. 🤔

[@MasterMario548]

I'm not sure if you'll reply to this as this is Doug's channel but do you plan on reviewing the 80s Twilight Zone after you complete the original? I think the 80s version is underrated.

[@kuitaranheatmorus9932]

Lovely

[@Nazo-kage]

There’s also a bit of a plot hole that I think really hurts this episode. It Hass to do with the plot twist. Spoilers: If the plane and the people investigating we’re nothing more than an delusion from this investigator. Then why wasn’t he front and center throughout the whole episode? By making it five minutes before he shows up you add more weight to those people actually existing before hand. Now if they were the ones who showed up five minutes into the episode while he’s investigating the plane, then that would’ve been fine. But by not including him into the narrative right away it makes no sense for it then to be a delusion.

[@57highland]

Yes, that's what I thought. The episode should have opened with Scheckley in his normal every-day existence, if only briefly. Then, elsewhere, you see the ghost plane landing. Then, "Hey, there's no one on this plane!" Then, Scheckley, sitting at his desk, all alone, in silence, apparently brooding about something .... and the phone rings. Another commenter here said that by doing it the way they did it (i.e., arranging the sequence), the writers were trying to put more "twist" into the ending. But you're right. Whose delusion was it? His alone? Or everyone's?

[@aidanhever3369]

I think this could have been better as a story that solved the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart.

[@acimagination7982]

if anything this episode has a twilight zone tone. the things that happen. plays with your mind as you see the plot plays with the characters minds. a phantom playing with the character mind is neat is twilight zone. a little slow the episode I think it was as well. i may still have the episode in my collection.

[@sarysa]

Maybe it was more suited to its time. The mid 20th century was rife with overly speculative psychological themes as the science wasn't quite there at the time and gave writers creative license that seems ridiculous today.

[@nataliegray8019]

All I can say is "There's... something... on the wing."

[@Nasser851000]

Handmaids tale belongs in the twilight zone O.O

[@MajorSleeve]

I really like this one, always found it very creepy and suspenseful. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for the disappearance without a trace episodes, like Where is Everybody? + And When the Sky was Opened. Also Odyssey of Flight 33 is one of the worst episodes in the entire series bro

[@alexgrant2602]

Well done walter great for the Halloween season 🎃 I did a movie parody of rocky horror posting tomorrow

[@jlev1028]

Why would the color of the plane seats matter in an episode that was only shown in black-in-white?

[@paarahful]

yeah wasn't a big fan of the ending either, just didn't sync up with the rest of the episode

[@blakemeads9225]

I suppose I’m in the minority on this episode. I love it, and really love the ending.

[@RockySamson]

I consider this the inferior version of “King Nine Will Not Return”.

[@christophertheriault3308]

Not a surprise, in last week's discussion it was mentioned Serling knew he was getting tapped out of ideas.

[@TheNotverysocial]

But that one was also another poor one.

[@jinchuriki7022]

Mind screwed the whole time

[@debbieanne7962]

I love Harold J Stone but he couldn't save this episode for me. I found it a little slow going

[@Wolf_Dominic]

I gotta say I honestly kinda disagree on this one, it’s not really a favorite, but it is one that stuck with me.

[@SalvationDiscipleshipAreNotThe]

I understand your point, it could've been a better episode, but it wasn't that bad.

[@TheGreatDevlin]

I don't think I've seen this one

[@DSan-kl2yc]

I think it's good... But does it make sense... Why would the other guys see different numbers if it's all one guy.

[@TheCreepypro]

not bad

[@fooman65]

Is this the episode where flight 370 and the passenger numbers are on the underside of the plane?

[@julieporter7805]

Not a great episode but I like the twis ans the possibility of shared hallucination.

[@brendakrieger7000]

👻

[@CrossJeniel]

Well

[@ArchiesMom518]

Why did the other 2 dissappear? What did that have to do with anything?

[@melissacooper8724]

They were all a part of Sheckley's delusion.

[@qxillanote9952]

Yo

[@Unownshipper]

While watching this, I was struck by the cinematic quality of the episode. Not that the dialogue, the acting, or the premise is any more spectacular than any of the preceding episodes in the series, in some ways it's more subdued, but that this episode, perhaps more than many of the preceding ones, reminds me of the kind of films made in 1961. Specifically, the cinematography strikes me as VERY similar to the type used by directors of the New Hollywood/American New Wave movement like Sidney Lumet or Mike Nichols and I felt very impressed by the Boris Sagal and George T. Clemens' efforts. I paused and thought this at about the halfway point. Then comes the latter half which I consider a rather severe disappointment. Sheckly's test to break the illusion is inventive and tensely executed, but then as all the components blink out of existence, the rest of the episode comes crashing down like a plane that's run out of gas. Mass Suggestion is a weighty theme for a TZ episode to take on; one that hasn't been explored before and, as a concept, is pretty abstract for most audience's to understand. But the episode seems to abandon it entirely for something easier. Forget the plane motif completely, the "King Nine Will Not Return" comparison is most apt because it deals with a protagonist who can't let go of his past and is transported back to it. It's been done, move on, explore this Mass Suggestion notion better! It was thoroughly frustrating that they had this cool idea to work with and then jettisoned it because... what? They couldn't think of a good ending? I disagree with Walter that the first part is dull. A slow-burn to be sure, but it absolutely needed to be. This is a mystery that needs to set all the pieces in place and dismiss the preliminary answers (parachutes, a deception, etc.) first so that the more theoretical one could be reached by process of elimination. The final shots of Sheckly wandering about the airport were dramatically lit and further underscore the technical sophistication that went into this episode... it's just a shame that the plot didn't live up to the same mark. Sheckly muttering to himself as a man undergoing a nervous breakdown is frankly lame. I get it's supposed to be at odds with the confident, determined investigator he was at the start, but the crux of this episode felt like it centered around finding a solution to the flight, not examining a man's ego. The episode is uneven to be sure, but the split comes right after the moment of the climax, not throughout the episode as has been suggested. There's still artistry to enjoy, but it's so hard to look past this massive fumble. I might place this as the epitome of an episode not living up to it's potential. It's hard to decide whether that places it as a worse episode than more boring/inert ones like "Dust," "The Purple Testament," or "A Thing About Machines," but regardless, this definitely ranks towards the bottom.

[@PhoutianPhill]

Super March Static September June League July League Unlimited

[@MsBackstager]

Too deep.

[@Nasser851000]

Is Airplane the parody version of this story?

[@cesarmanilla8066]

Can You Do Have The Doug Reviews Of The Wolfman (2010) In Nostalgiaween Please Channel Awesome Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss OK

[@MISFITaddict]

Harry Stone like from Night Court,? lol jk