The Last Flight (The Twilight Zone)

"The Last Flight" is episode 18 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. Part of the production was filmed on location at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, California. The vintage 1918 Nieuport 28 biplane was both owned and flown by Frank Gifford Tallman, and had previously appeared in many World War I motion pictures.

Plot

Flight Lieutenant Terry Decker of 56 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, lands his World War I-era Nieuport biplane on an American airbase in France, after flying through a strange cloud. He is immediately taken into custody and questioned by the American base commander General Harper and his provost marshal, Major Wilson. The two men ask Decker if he was trying to make a film or was part of an air show. Decker is bewildered by these questions. Decker identifies himself and his squadron and claims that the date is March 5, 1917. He is then informed that the date is actually March 5, 1959 and, to his astonishment, realizes that he has traveled 42 years into the future.

Decker tells the officers that he and his comrade Alexander Mackaye were fighting seven German aircraft and that Mackaye died. He refuses to believe the Americans when they tell him that Mackaye is alive and is an Air Vice Marshal in the Royal Air Force. Mackaye had been a hero during the Second World War, saving thousands of lives by shooting down German bombers over London. The Americans also ask Decker if he knew that Mackaye was actually coming to inspect the base that day. Major Wilson tries to help Decker remember what happened. Decker does eventually recall, confessing that throughout his service, he had acted as a coward, only pretending to do his duty and managing to go off on his own during patrols. Only now that he and Mackaye were confronted by a large number of German aircraft, Decker had chosen to escape rather than support Mackaye. He refuses to believe that Mackaye somehow escaped with his life.

An off-hand suggestion made by Wilson (that perhaps someone else helped him) makes Decker realize that he has been given a second chance. He tells the American officer that there was no one within fifty miles who could have come to help Mackaye, so if Mackaye survived, it had to be because he went back himself. Decker pleads with Wilson to release him from custody. When Wilson refuses, Decker escapes after assaulting Wilson and a guard. Decker manages to locate and start his plane, but is approached by a mechanic whilst climbing aboard; Decker manages to punch him to the ground. He is about to take-off when Wilson catches up and puts a gun to his head. Decker tells him to let him go, as saving Mackaye would also mean saving thousands of lives that Mackaye had saved during the Second World War. Decker also tells Wilson to shoot if he wants to but this was an opportunity for him to redeem himself from his previous cowardice. Wilson allows him to escape and Decker flies his plane into the white clouds.

Major Wilson is harshly rebuked by General Harper for allowing Decker to escape but when Air Vice Marshal Mackaye arrives, Wilson immediately asks Mackaye if he has ever known a man named William Terrence Decker. Mackaye, surprised, says Decker had saved his life by helping him fight the German planes that day. Although initially he feared Decker had deserted him, disappearing in a cloud, Mackaye says Decker suddenly returned "from out of nowhere" to shoot down three German planes, before he was shot down himself. General Harper shows Mackaye the badge and personal effects of Decker which had been confiscated, upon which Mackaye informed them that these had never been returned by the Germans. When Mackaye demands to know what is going on, Major Wilson suggests that he sit down, calling him "Old Leadbottom" which was Decker's nickname for his old friend. "What did you call me?", Mackaye asks incredulously (no one outside their squadron knew of that nickname), as we see the clouds outside the General's window.

Episode notes

This was the first episode of The Twilight Zone scripted by Richard Matheson. Rod Serling had previously adapted the episode "And When the Sky Was Opened" from a short story of Matheson's.

Inaccuracies

The United States Air Force major general repeatedly refers to Mackaye as "sir", and suggests that he is a superior officer inspecting the air base. However, Mackaye is ranked as an air vice marshal, which is a Royal Air Force rank equivalent to major general, thereby making the two officers equals – unless, perhaps, the American general was chronologically junior in rank (a la Colonel Hogan and Colonel Crittenden on Hogan's Heroes). The Royal Flying Corps never flew the Nieuport 28, which also did not enter service until 1918. The death of Georges Guynemer is mentioned by Decker but Guynemer died in September 1917, six months after Decker's last flight. Finally, 56 Squadron was not deployed until April 1917, at which point it flew the S.E.5 aircraft. The rank of flight lieutenant existed in the Royal Naval Air Service and later in the RAF but it never was used in the Royal Flying Corps. However, the only reference to "flight lieutenant" is during Mr. Serling's introduction; during the episode itself, Decker refers to himself as "Second Lieutenant", which is the correct rank for the RFC.

Further reading

• DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
• Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0

External links

• "The Last Flight" at the Internet Movie Database