The Twilight Zone : Thoughts on "The Odyssey of Flight 33"

The decision of the captain at the ending is simply foolish. After escaping the Mesozoic, 1939 would be a godsend for everyone aboard. And considering that the plane is low on fuel, it would be a million times more intelligent to stock up on gasoline in a place where gasoline and the necessary apparatus to fill a plane with it actually exists. It's the temporal equivalent of waiting for the needle to point to "E" while traveling through a sparsely-populated area.

Practically speaking, you're probably right. But the simple fact is: they didn't BELONG in 1939. There was the captain and crew, 4 stewardesses, and plane full of passengers, none of whom belonged in 1939. If there was a chance, no matter how remote, of making it back, they were gonna take it.

Practically speaking, you're probably right. But the simple fact is: they didn't BELONG in 1939.

It's not just practical, it's logical.

That "no one on board belonged to 1939" is a rather emotional argument - and, in practice, a very stupid and dangerous one. Sure, none of the crew or passengers were native to 1939, but they were certainly more native to that year more than they would be to the Jurassic or the colonial period. Better to chance it with a short runway than with an era when there are no runways at all.

If they couldn't get back, would their offspring even exist?

Depends. Did they already have their children in the present before traveling into the past?

The grandfather paradox would presumable cancel out any irregularities there - anybody whose birth after 1939 was retroactively canceled would not be anyone's concern, since there would be no memory of those people to begin with.

They would not have been able to find jet fuel in 1939.

Actually, they probably could. Jets were in their infancy at the time, but plane fuel did exist, and it's not like they couldn't experiment with what was available to come up with something that could power the jet. Either way, they'd be a lot more likely to obtain jet fuel in 1939 than any time, say, fifty years before that, along with a large number of relatively modern conveniences.

The "time portal" the plane was using was created by breaking the sound barrier. No race against the clock there (at least not in the usual sense).

It did seem idiotic, especially considering that most of the people on board would have already been alive in 1939. It's not as if they would've had to learn a drastically new way of life, even if they ended up stuck in that time period permanently.

I wonder if it could've been motivated by the desire not to face WWII again? There has to a be a reason the writer chose specifically that ominous year.

Interesting theory. Maybe they know that the grandfather paradox will stop them from preventing the war? Whatever the case, they landed in the United States, where they'd generally be safe from Axis attacks.

One important addition is it's different thinking of 1939 in terms of 2016, as it is 1939 in relation to 1961 when the episode was produced. We're talking 22 years here. If it's a choice of dinosaurs or probable death in some shape or form, or landing in 1994, I'll take 1994.

Probably the easiest go of it would be for someone between 40 and about 65, You could assume your life with a few modifications. You could also become very rich. Stock market, sports gambling, lottery numbers, think about it. Lottery numbers probably a bit of a stretch, as memorizing them isn't something we pay attention to. But a sports fan, and someone with just a passing interest in business and stocks, could do quite well.

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most of the people on board would have already been alive in 1939. It's not as if they would've had to learn a drastically new way of life, even if they ended up stuck in that time period permanently.

I wonder if it could've been motivated by the desire not to face WWII again? There has to a be a reason the writer chose specifically that ominous year.

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Eva_Marrie:

I'm thinking that they may have chosen that year because they had that cool aerial footage of the world's fair.

Not sure what the problem was. They had already worked out how to go forward on time, one quick hop might have been enough to take them to a future point that was closer to the era they knew.

Their first attempt at going forward took them millions of years, missing the right time by only 20 years. Doing it more precisely would be a challenge.

Most of this covered in movie "Final Countdown".

Check out the boards there!

Just finished watching this for the first time and thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite part, though, was Rod Serling's closing monologue about hearing a plane passing overhead that may be lost; that it's Flight 33. WhoaA great, eerie closing from The Twilight Zone.

One of my favorite episodes. It's very underrated IMO.

If they land and coexist with those they shouldn't the damage done could be catastrophic. I see why he made that decision.

Nah. I'd try to give my childhood self a list of winning sports bets.

But you wouldn't get to spend the money. Well you could tell your future self not to board Flight 33, I guess. But how do you know that in interaction with folks the sports won't be altered you are bet on?

Vegas bookmakers are damn good at their job. I would not be at all shocked if they had a contingency for shifting the line due to time travelin touts.

I agree they should have landed in 1939. To try again on low fuel would have been suicide. Lesser of the two evils.

No perfect choice, sadly.

Could the writers have thought landing would be too similar to 'The Last Flight'? Circumstances are different but time travel is involved in both stories.

I agree. If they tried again, they could be sent into the future. I'd rather face a past I already knew than an unknown future.

I imagine that even though they were running extremely low on fuel, the captain figured that they had barely enough to make 1 more attempt at getting back to their own time. After that well, we know they'd have to land, they wouldn't have a choice. Do we assume they go forward again and to what year? Would they come a couple of years short of 1961? Or do they go back in time again, since all they know is that breaking the barrier will transport them through time, but none of them have a clue if they will go forward or backwards.
Now a good twist to the story might be that they end up in the future. Since this is the 1960s Twilight Zone, I'd guess the writers would choose either 1999 or 2000. Or they could also have them arrive 1 day before the ill-fated Flight 33, or the day after. The possibilities are endless.