History Recap / TheTwilightZone1959S1E16TheHitchHiker

!!The Trope Hiker:

Nan Adams (Inger Stevens) on a cross-country road trip from UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, recently suffered a blowout on one of her tires. A mechanic puts a spare on her car and directs her to the nearest town to have it fixed properly. Just before she leaves, Nan notices a strange-looking man (Leonard Strong) hitchhiking on the side of the road. Unnerved, she quickly drives away. As she continues her trip, Nan sees the same hitchhiker thumbing for a ride at several other points on her journey. She becomes increasingly frightened of him the more he shows up, and when she is stuck on a railroad crossing and nearly hit by a passing train, she becomes convinced that the hitchhiker is trying to kill her. She continues to drive, stopping only when necessary; but every time she does, the hitchhiker is there.

When she ends up stranded in New Mexico, she meets a sailor on his way back to San Diego from his leave. Eager for protection from the hitchhiker, she offers to drive the sailor to San Diego herself. However, she is still paranoid about the hitchhiker, and when she sees him on the road, she tries to run him over. The sailor, who can't see the hitchhiker, begins to fear for her sanity and leaves. In Arizona, Nan stops to call her mother. The woman who answers the phone, Mrs. Whitney, says that Mrs. Adams is in the hospital, having had a nervous breakdown after finding out that her daughter was killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania six days ago, when her car blew a tire and overturned. At this point, Nan realizes the truth: the hitchhiker is not a man who wants her to die, but is actually the personification of death, patiently and persistently waiting for Nan to realize that she has been dead all along.

-->"Well, it's all taken place since the death of her daughter".

-->'''Tow-Truck Driver''': Lady, you're on the side of the angels! Somebody shouldn't have called for a tow truck! They should've called for a ''hearse''1

\\\

The story begins with Nan Adams (Inger Stevens), whose vehicle gets a flat tire on a cross-country road trip from UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity to UsefulNotes/LosAngeles. A mechanic puts a spare tire on her car and directs her to the nearest town to fix it properly. Just before she leaves, Nan notices a strange-looking man (Leonard Strong) hitchhiking. Unnerved, she drives away quickly. As she continues her trip, Nan sees the same hitchhiker thumbing for a ride at several other points on her journey. She becomes increasingly frightened of him and when she is stuck on a railroad crossing and nearly hit by a train, she becomes convinced that the hitchhiker is trying to kill her. She continues to drive, becoming more and more afraid, stopping only when necessary; but every time she does, the same hitchhiker is there.

When she ends up stranded in New Mexico, she meets a sailor on his way back to San Diego from leave. Eager for protection from the hitchhiker she's been seeing, she offers to drive the sailor to San Diego herself. However, she is still paranoid about the hitchhiker and when she sees him on the road, she tries to run him over. The sailor, who can't see him, begins to fear for her sanity and leaves her. In Arizona, Nan stops to call her mother. The woman who answers the phone, Mrs. Whitney, says that Mrs. Adams is in the hospital; she had a nervous breakdown after finding out that her daughter, Nan, was killed in a car accident in Pennsylvania six days ago, when the car she was driving blew a tire and overturned. At this point, Nan realizes the truth: the hitchhiker is not a man who wants her to die, but is rather the personification of death, patiently and persistently waiting for her to realize that she has been dead all along.

Nan returns to the car and sees [[TheGrimReaper the hitchhiker]] sitting in the back seat through the reflection of the vanity mirror on the visor. "I believe you're going...my way?" he inquires, almost friendly. As Nan accepts her fate, Rod Serling's narration indicates that Nan never made it to Los Angeles.

->'''Rod Serling''': Nan Adams, age twenty-seven. She was driving to California; to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour... through the Twilight Zone.

!!The Trope Hikers:
* BewareOfHitchhikingGhosts: Subverted in the fact that the Hitchhiker wasn't evil or dangerous at all.
* BittersweetEnding: Nan discovers that she was DeadAllAlong, killed in the car crash that started the episode (and her mother ended up having a nervous breakdown after getting the news). But on the bright side, we learn that the hitchhiker isn't malevolent at all, and Nan eventually accepts her fate and moves on.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: At one point the hitchhiker appears directly in front of the camera and looks right at it.
* TheCatCameBack: PlayedForHorror. Nan finds the hitchhiker creepy from the start, but her panic builds as she notices him every time she stops, even when she's driven long distances.
* CarFu: Nan tries to hit her mysterious stalker with her car.
* DangerTakesABackSeat: At the climax of the episode, just after Nan realizes she's dead, the hitchhiker suddenly appears in her back seat.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The hitchhiker himself. He is shabby and creepy-looking, but he isn't a bad guy at all. Bonus points if you consider the strong implication that the hitchhiker is the avatar of Death, who is just attempting to help guide Nan's wayward soul to the afterlife.
* DeadAllAlong: Nan Adams. As probably, the sailor she picked up hitching.
* DownerBeginning: The TwistEnding turns the beginning sad. The car accident in the beginning of the episode? Turns out it killed Nan and she wasn't supposed to walk away from it.

-->'''Tow-Truck Driver''': Lady, you're on the side of the angels! Somebody shouldn't have called for a tow truck! They should've called for a ''hearse''.

** In the radio version, Ronald Adams picks up a woman and briefly gives her a lift but she leaves after he tries to run over the hitch-hiker. In the television version, Nan Adams gives a lift to a male sailor, who leaves for the same reason.
* TheGrimReaper: Although never explicitly referred to as such, the hitchhiker is strongly implied to be the avatar of Death attempting to guide Nan Adams' wayward soul to the afterlife, particularly with his words to her after she makes the discovery that she's dead.

* HostileHitchhiker: Subverted. Nan is creeped out by the hitchhiker on sight, and after she nearly gets hit by a train, she concludes he's trying to kill her. Actually, he's [[DontFearTheReaper a relatively friendly version of the Grim Reaper]], trying to help her cross over after the car accident that took her life.
* InnerMonologue: Nan Adams' inner monologue, in which she tries to make sense of the hitchhiker's repeated appearances, is heard throughout the episode.

* NotEvilJustMisunderstood: Nan initially believed the hitchhiker to be an evil being stalking her, and while he is kind of creepy-looking, all he was trying to do was remind her that she was DeadAllAlong. Again, bonus points considering the implication the hitchhiker is Death himself; he had no intention to frighten or scare her, he was just doing his duty attempting to guide Nan's spirit to the afterlife after her sudden, traumatic death.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The sailor Nan picked up decides to leave and (in his own words) put some distance between him and the car after Nan says she swerved to try run over and kill the hitchhiker.

* VehicleVanish: The hitchhiker disappears as a train passes. Of course, since he's obviously supernatural this isn't a surprise.

----

Air date: Jan. 22, 1960

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Nan Adams, age twenty-seven. She was driving to California; to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour...through The Twilight Zone.

* NiceHat: The hitchhiker wears one.

When she ends up stranded in New Mexico, she meets a sailor on his way back to San Diego from leave. Eager for protection from the hitchhiker she's been seeing, she offers to drive the sailor to San Diego herself. However, she is still paranoid about the hitchhiker and when she sees him on the road, she tries to run him over. The sailor, who can't see him, begins to fear for her sanity and leaves her. In Arizona, Nan stops to call her mother. The woman who answers the phone, Mrs. Whitney, says that Mrs. Adams is in the hospital; she had a nervous breakdown after finding out that her daughter, Nan, was killed in an= car accident in Pennsylvania six days ago, when the car she was driving blew a tire and overturned. At this point, Nan realizes the truth: the hitchhiker is not a man who wants her to die, but is rather the personification of death, patiently and persistently waiting for her to realize that she has been dead all along.

When she ends up stranded in New Mexico, she meets a sailor on his way back to San Diego from leave. Eager for protection from the hitchhiker she's been seeing, she offers to drive the sailor to San Diego herself. However, she is still paranoid about the hitchhiker and when she sees him on the road, she tries to run him over. The sailor, who can't see him, begins to fear for her sanity and leaves her. In Arizona, Nan stops to call her mother. The woman who answers the phone, Mrs. Whitney, says that Mrs. Adams is in the hospital; she had a nervous breakdown after finding out that her daughter, Nan, was killed in an car accident in Pennsylvania six days ago, when the car she was driving blew a tire and overturned. At this point, Nan realizes the truth: the hitchhiker is not a man who wants her to die, but is rather the personification of death, patiently and persistently waiting for her to realize that she has been dead all along.

* DownerBeginning: The car accident in the beginning of the episode? Turns out it killed Nan and she wasn't supposed to walk away from it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The tow-truck driver delivers an ominous one.

* BreakingTheFourthWall: At one point the shabby man appears directly in front of the camera and looks right at it.

** In the radio play the episode is based on, the driver was a man named Ronald Adams.

* DownerEnding: Nan discovers that she was DeadAllAlong, and her mother has a catastrophic nervous breakdown.

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Her name is Nan Adams. She's 27 years old. Her occupation: buyer at a New York department store. At present: on vacation, driving cross-country to Los Angeles, California from Manhattan. Minor incident on Highway 11 in Pennsylvania. Perhaps, to be filed away under "accidents you walk away from." But from this moment on, Nan Adams' companion on a trip to California will be terror. Her route: fear. Her destination: quite unknown.

----
->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Nan Adams, age 27. She was driving to California; to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour...through The Twilight Zone.

** In the radio play the episode is based on, the driver was a man named Ronald Adams. [[CreatorBacklash This didn't please Lucille Fletcher, author of said play.]]

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Nan Adams, age 27. She was driving to California; to Los Angeles. She didn't make it. There was a detour...through The Twilight Zone.

----

!!Tropes: