Well the reviews look rather mixed on this, the last episode of The Twilight Zone series. For my part, I think the show ended on a high note, with Rod Serling returning to one of his most cherished themes - the yearning for a carefree youth rid of the pressures of a grown up world which seems to have nothing but problems. In the case of Sport (Mary Badham) and Jeb (Tim Stafford) Sherwood, those pressures include the ugly marriage of their parents that's about to end in divorce. I have to side with the youngsters here; just how many times would you want to hear yourself being referred to by your mother as 'those loudmouth kids'.
I found interesting another viewer's comments about the repeat of the opening scene. This was the only TZ to do it, but any classic Western TV fan will tell you it was a commonplace device, just check out 'Cheyenne' or 'Lawman'. Here the scene wasn't quite repeated in exactly the same way, for example, Whitt (Kim Hector) didn't show up the second time around to entice the Sherwood siblings. In any event, I did find it curious as well.
I guess all kids find solace in a 'secret place'. Mine would have been more easily attainable if it wasn't so far from home. My Dad used to take me small game hunting as a kid, and there was this huge boulder in the woods that seemed to be the perfect spot on which to sit and reflect on the state of one's being. I wonder if Serling had such a place, my suspicion is that he did. My suspicion is that Serling also had a uniquely introspective quality that saw the world through a child's eyes, and questioned why the good times of youth couldn't last forever. Some would refer to a thing called progress, but on that score I have to wonder. For all the advancement in science and technology in the half century since the first Twilight Zone, it takes a lot of Aunt T's to keep the world a sound and safe place for the kids of today.
I found interesting another viewer's comments about the repeat of the opening scene. This was the only TZ to do it, but any classic Western TV fan will tell you it was a commonplace device, just check out 'Cheyenne' or 'Lawman'. Here the scene wasn't quite repeated in exactly the same way, for example, Whitt (Kim Hector) didn't show up the second time around to entice the Sherwood siblings. In any event, I did find it curious as well.
I guess all kids find solace in a 'secret place'. Mine would have been more easily attainable if it wasn't so far from home. My Dad used to take me small game hunting as a kid, and there was this huge boulder in the woods that seemed to be the perfect spot on which to sit and reflect on the state of one's being. I wonder if Serling had such a place, my suspicion is that he did. My suspicion is that Serling also had a uniquely introspective quality that saw the world through a child's eyes, and questioned why the good times of youth couldn't last forever. Some would refer to a thing called progress, but on that score I have to wonder. For all the advancement in science and technology in the half century since the first Twilight Zone, it takes a lot of Aunt T's to keep the world a sound and safe place for the kids of today.