History Recap / TheTwilightZoneS4E118OnThursdayWeLeaveForHome

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[[caption-width-right:340: Benteen and followers taking shelter.]]

->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' This is William Benteen, who officiates on a disintegrating outpost in space. The people are a remnant society who left Earth looking for a Millennium, a place without war, without jeopardy, without fear -- and what they have found is a lonely barren place whose only industry was survival. And that is what they have done for three decades: survive; until the memory of the Earth they came from has become an indistinct and shadowed recollection of another time and another place. One month ago a signal from Earth announced that a ship would be coming to pick them up and take them home. In just a moment we'll hear more of that ship, more of that home, and what it takes out of mind and body to reach it. This is the Twilight Zone.

Thirty years ago, Earth sent ''Pilgrim I'', a spaceship housing a colony of 113 interstellar explorers, to V9-Gamma, a planet surrounded by endless desert, kept at smoldering temperatures by the light and heat of two suns. The expedition was unfortunately stranded, and the survivors had no choice but to begin a ramshankle settlement. Their survival has been maintained by William Benteen (James Whitmore), a charismatic leader who believes that his strict discipline prevents them from giving up hope in the harsh, unyielding environment. When a rescue mission from Earth finally arrives, Benteen is initially as jubilant as the others, but he soon sees his power and influence diminishing. When he realizes that the colonists don't want to stay in a group upon their return to Earth, he tries to persuade them to stay. Everyone else chooses to return home, but Benteen announces that he will remain behind on the planet, all alone, if he must.

When Thursday comes around, the colonists board the ship. As they come aboard, the head of the rescue mission, Colonel Sloane, and one of the colonists, Al Baines, search for Benteen to give him one last chance to change his mind and come with them to Earth, but he is nowhere to be found. After they give up and leave, Benteen emerges from atop the cave that sheltered his people. As the ship prepares for takeoff, Benteen talks to his followers as if they're still there. Suddenly remembering the beauty of Earth, Benteen realizes that he wants to go home. He rushes out to the ship, screaming for it to come back, but the ship takes off. Just as he promised, Benteen has been left stranded on V9-Gamma for the rest of his life, having only the lifeless desert for company.

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!!On Thursday, We Leave For Tropes:
* AccentuateTheNegative: Benteen tries to convince the other colonists not to go to Earth by playing up the planet's negative qualities, portraying it as a complete hellhole. In the end, the only person he's able to convince is himself.
* TheAloner: Benteen ends up stranded on an endless desert with no company, his punishment for his insatiable craving for leadership and control.
* BinarySuns: V9-Gamma's star system has two suns. As a result, the planet experiences EndlessDaytime. One of the youngest colonists, a boy named Jo-Jo, actually has no concept of what "night" is.
* BittersweetEnding: The colonists escape and return to Earth, but Benteen is left alone, pleading to go back to Earth with them.
* CommanderContrarian: Al is this for Benteen at first. Years of living on V9-Gamma have made him pessimistic and frustrated with Benteen's optimism, while the latter kept trying to keep everyone's spirits up and act as the voice of reason. Ironically, when Benteen became more and more unhinged, it's Al who tries to be the voice of reason in the end.
* {{Commune}}: In order to keep controlling "his" people once they return to Earth, Benteen intends to obtain a land grant from the US government so they can set up their own community, isolated from the outside world. He takes the fact that the other survivors will follow him unquestionably for granted, but when Colonel Sloane advises him to discuss the matter with them, Benteen discovers that they all intend to go their separate ways and settle in different states, devestating him.
* ControlFreak: Benteen became this sometime after his spaceship crashed, and refuses to let his people return to Earth as a means of continuing being their leader.
* DeathFromAbove: The survivors are forced to take shelter from a meteor storm in a cavern, soon after the funeral of a woman who committed suicide. The rescue ship ''Galaxy 6'' arrives as soon as the storm is over.
* DesperatePleaForHome: When he can't convince his former followers to stay, Benteen decides to remain behind on V9-Gamma by himself, only to remember the stories he would tell the others about the beauty of Earth, and realize that he wants to go home too. [[CruelTwistEnding He's too late]], as the ship has already taken off, and he is left futilely pleading for them to come back and not leave him stranded.
--> '''Benteen''': Don't leave me here! Don't leave me ''here''! Please... I... I want to go home.
* DrivenToSuicide: Nine of the colonists are shown to have committed suicide in the last six months as a desperate means to escape the hellish conditions of V9-Gamma.
* FatalFlaw: Benteen's stubbornness and need for control, which ends up leaving him stuck on the world he survived on for months.
* AGodAmI: Sloane sees Benteen as believing that he's the god of his fellow colonists.
* HeroAntagonist: Colonel Sloane is the leader of the rescue crew meant to take the colonists back home. He's merely just following his mission objectives, but Benteen's increasing incooperation and stubborness gradually forces his hand.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Benteen, whose stubbornness and desire for control is his downfall.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When asked about the Earth, Benteen mentions it being a place of color. The original series was shot in black and white.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: An Earth colony is stranded on V9-Gamma, a hellish desert world orbiting two suns, which means it's in another solar system. The planet is described as being either ten billion miles from Earth (in the previous episode's teaser) or one billion (repeatedly, in the episode itself). In either case, it's much closer to the sun than another star (or stars).
* SanitySlippage: Benteen starts losing his marbles after it becomes clear he's lost control over the colonists. He first tries wrecking the ship by attacking it with a pipe. After everyone else goes to leave, he hides himself away in the caves and talks to his now-absent former followers. He snaps out of it towards the end and realizes that he doesn't actually want to stay behind, but by that point, it's too late.
* SingleBiomePlanet: V9-Gamma is a desert planet because its two suns [[EndlessDaytime shine perpetually]].
* SurvivalMantra: Benteen instructs "his" people to chant "There's a ship coming!" in order to maintain their hope after Al raises doubt in their minds.
* TragicHero: Benteen, whose stubbornness kept himself and the colonists alive, then marooned him on the planet.
* {{Tuckerization}}: William Benteen is named after Captain Frederick William Benteen, who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn. The real Benteen is mentioned several times in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E130The7thIsMadeUpOfPhantoms The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms]]".
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: Earth ship ''Pilgrim I'', containing 113 people, landed on V9-Gamma in August 1991. A rescue ship, ''Galaxy 6'', arrives to bring the impoverished survivors back to Earth in 2021.
* WastelandElder: Benteen has done all he can to keep the colonists together and their hopes for rescue alive, but it's subverted when Sloane provides an escape from the desert wasteland. Benteen is less than willing to give up his role as a leader, willing to keep his "followers" on a desert planet, barely scraping out an existence while forever looking to him for guidance, than go back to Earth, where they won't need him anymore.
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->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' William Benteen, who had prerogatives: he could lead, dictate, judge, legislate. It became a habit, then a pattern and finally a necessity. William Benteen, once a god -- now a population of one.

* HilariousInHindsight: This wasn't the last time James Whitmore would play [[Film/TheShawshankRedemption a man trapped in a confined situation, looked up to by those trapped with him, who is afraid of the world waiting outside his confinement.]] And the way his character ends up is just as tragic, in a different way.

* HilariousInHindsight: This wasn't the last time James Whitmore would play [[Film/TheShawshank Redemption a man trapped in a confined situation, looked up to by those trapped with him, who is afraid of the world waiting outside his confinement.]] And the way his character ends up is just as tragic, in a different way.

For thirty years, an expedition to the hellish desert planet V9-Gamma was stranded, and the people had no choice but to begin their own small settlement there. The colony's survival was maintained by William Benteen (James Whitmore), a charismatic leader who believes that this strict discipline prevents them from giving up hope in the harsh, unyielding environment. When a rescue mission from Earth finally arrives, Benteen is at first as jubilant as the others, but then he sees his power and influence begin to diminish. When he realizes that the colonists do not want to stay in a group on their return to Earth, he tries to persuade them to stay. Everyone else chooses to return home, but Benteen announces that he will remain behind alone if he must.

On Thursday, the people board the ship, the rescue mission's Colonel Sloane and the colonist Al Baines, search for Benteen to give him one last chance to change his mind, but he is nowhere to be found. After they give up and leave, Benteen emerges from the top of the cave that had sheltered his people. As the ship prepares for takeoff, Benteen talks to his people as if they are still there. Then, remembering the beauty of Earth, he realizes that he is alone and wants to go home. He rushes out screaming for the ship to come back, but it is too late. He is now stranded on V9-Gamma for the rest of his life, completely alone in the barren, lifeless deserts.

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* AccentuateTheNegative: Benteen tries to convince the other colonists not to leave by playing up Earth's negative qualities, portraying it as a complete hellhole. In the end, the only person he's able to convince is himself.
* TheAloner: How Benteen ends up.
* BinarySuns: V9-Gamma's star system has two suns. As a result, the planet experiences EndlessDaytime. A young boy named Jo-Jo has no concept of what night is.
* BittersweetEnding: The colonists escape, but Benteen is left all alone, pleading to go back to Earth.
* CommanderContrarian: Al Baines is this in the beginning for Benteen. Years of living on the planet made him pessimistic and frustrated with Benteen's optimism while the latter kept trying to keep everyone's spirits up and be the voice of reason. Ironically, when Benteen became more unhinged, it was Baines himself who tried to be the voice of reason in the end.
* {{Commune}}: In order to keep control over "his" people once they return to Earth, Benteen intends to obtain a land grant from the US government so they can set up their own community isolated from the outside world. He takes it for granted that the other survivors will follow him unquestionably. However, when Colonel Sloane advises him to discuss the matter with them, Benteen discovers that they all intend to go their separate way and settle in different states. Benteen is devastated.
* ControlFreak: Benteen became this sometime during the survival.
* DeathFromAbove: The survivors are forced to take shelter from a meteor storm in a large cavern after the funeral of the woman who committed suicide. The rescue ship ''Galaxy 6'' arrives as soon as the storm is over.
* DesperatePleaForHome: When he can't convince the others to stay, Benteen decides to remain behind... only to remember the stories he would tell the others about the beauty of Earth, and realize that he is alone and wants to go home. [[CruelTwistEnding But he's too late]] -- the ship has already taken off, and he is left futilely pleading for them to come back and not leave him stranded on the desert planet.

* DrivenToSuicide: Nine people have committed suicide in the last six months in order to escape the hellish conditions of V9-Gamma.
* FatalFlaw: Benteen's stubbornness and need for control.
* AGodAmI: Sloane sees Benteen as believing this.
* HeroAntagonist: Colonel Sloane is the leader of the ship crew meant to take the Colonists home. He initially is just doing his mission, but Benteen's increasing incooperation and stubborness forces his hand.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Benteen. His stubbornness and desire for control is his downfall.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: When asked about the Earth, Captain Benteen mentions it being a place of color. The episode, like the rest of the original series, was shot in black and white,
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: an Earth colony is stranded on a hellish asteroid orbiting two suns, which means it's in another solar system. The asteroid is described as being either ten billion miles from Earth (in the previous episode's teaser) or one billion (repeatedly, in the episode itself). In either case, it's much closer to the sun than another star (or stars).
* SanitySlippage: Benteen starts to lose it after it becomes clear that he's lost control over the colonists. First, he tries to wreck the ship by attacking it with a pipe. Then after everyone else goes to leave, he hides himself away in the caves and talks to the now-absent colonists. He snaps out of it towards the end and realizes that he doesn't actually want to stay behind, but by that point, it was too late.

* SurvivalMantra: Benteen instructs "his" people to chant "There's a ship coming!" in order to maintain a spirit of hope after Al Baines raises doubts in their minds.
* TragicHero: Benteen. His stubbornness kept himself and the colonists alive, and then it marooned him on the planet.
* {{Tuckerization}}: Captain William Benteen is named after Captain Frederick William Benteen, who fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn. The real Benteen is mentioned several times in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E130The7thIsMadeUpOfPhantoms The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms]]".
* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: The Earth ship ''Pilgrim I'' containing 113 people landed on the planet V9-Gamma in August 1991. A rescue ship, the ''Galaxy 6'', arrives to bring the impoverished survivors back to Earth in 2021.
* WastelandElder: Benteen has done all he can to keep the colonists together and keep their hope for rescue alive, but it's {{Subverted}} when Sloane arrives and provides an escape from the wasteland and Benteen is less than willing to give up his role as a leader. He'd rather keep them on the desert planet, barely scraping out an existence and forever looking to him for guidance, than go back to Earth where they won't need him.
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[[caption-width-right:340: Benteen and followers taking shelter]]

* HeroAntagonist: Colonel Sloane.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: an Earth colony is stranded on a hellish asteroid orbiting two suns, which means it's in another solar system. The planet is described as being either ten billion miles from Earth (in the previous episode's teaser) or one billion (repeatedly, in the episode itself). In either case, it's much closer to the sun than another star (or stars).

->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' William Benteen, who had prerogatives: he could lead, dictate, judge, legislate. It became a habit, then a pattern and finally a necessity. William Benteen, once a god -- now a population of one.

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* CommanderContrarian: Al Baines is this in the beginning for Benteen. Years of living on the planet made him pessimistic and frustrated with Benteen's optimism while the latter kept trying to keep everyone's spirits up and be the voice of reason. Ironically, when Benteen became more unhinged, it was Baines himself who tried to be the voice of reason in the end.

* Commander Contrarian: Al Baines is this in the beginning for Benteen. Years of living on the planet made him pessimistic and frustrated with Benteen's optimism while the latter kept trying to keep everyone's spirits up and be the voice of reason. Ironically, when Benteen became more unhinged, it was Baines himself who tried to be the voice of reason in the end.