The Beacon
"They say every road goes somewhere. But that isn't so. Roads are just there. It is we who do the moving. They stop where we stop, not caring whether we follow them to our chosen destination — or into the Twilight Zone."
When he experiences car trouble, Dr. Dennis Barrows seeks for help in a town isolated from the rest of the world. This town, Mellweather, is inhabited by a deeply superstitious and fearful people who worship the Beacon, a lighthouse they believe is inhabited by the spirit of their town's founder and demands a human sacrifice each year for protecting the townsfolk. This year's sacrifice appears to be a sick young girl named Katie, so Dr. Barrows tries to cure her before she's sacrificed.
Tropes
- Bittersweet Ending: Although Katie will be spared (this year), the Beacon still gets its sacrifice, shutting off after the people of Mellweather kill Dr. Barrows.
- Cargo Cult: The people of Mellweather have worshipped a lighthouse called the Beacon for 200 years. They believe that it is controlled by the spirit of their progenitor, Seth James, and demands a human sacrifice every year in exchange for protecting them.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Dr. Barrows can't bear to leave a sick little girl to die, so he manages to cure Katie before the townsfolk come to sacrifice her. In doing this, Mellweather's populace promptly makes him the new sacrifice.
- Deadly Closing Credits: Dr. Barrows is swarmed and killed by the people of Mellweather, making him the Human Sacrifice that the Beacon demands.
- For Want Of A Nail: Had Dr. Barrows not had an engine problem in the first place, the whole plot could've been avoided. Though that also meant leaving Katie to die.
- Human Sacrifice: The people of Mellweather believe that the Beacon, a lighthouse supposedly inhabited by the spirit of the town's founder and progenitor, chooses one of them to be sacrificed every year so it can keep protecting them. If the chosen one does not die, an accident is arranged to ensure that a sacrifice is given.
- Inbred and Evil: The inhabitants of Mellweather are all descended from one prominent 18th century citizen named Seth James. They believe that James' spirit guides the Beacon, a lighthouse that seemingly chooses a Human Sacrifice every year, and that they must keep their bloodlines strong in order to serve the spirit so it can continue protecting them. After Dr. Barrows saves the intended victim, a little girl named Katie, he is killed by the townspeople in order to placate the Beacon. Dr. Barrows even lampshades that their inbreeding has driven them mad, but they pay him no mind.
- Lighthouse Point: The titular Beacon, which may or may not be home to a spirit that demands human sacrifices for protecting the people of its town.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's never made clear whether the Beacon truly is controlled by Seth's spirit, as the people of Mellweather believe, or if it's just an old lighthouse with a faulty mechanism, as suggested by Dr. Barrows. The fact that it actively shuts off after Barrows is killed raises further questions.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Dr. Barrows' death has him being surrounded by Mellweather's citizens while screaming. When the deed is done, they just back away while the body is left unshown, prompting all sorts of questions as to how it could've been done.
- Town with a Dark Secret: Mellweather. When Dr. Barrows stumbles into the town, he learns that its citizens are all inbred fanatics that worship an enigmatic lighthouse they insist is possessed by the spirit of their progenitor, which demands a Human Sacrifice for its services as the town's protector.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Mellweather's populace firmly believes that sacrificing one of their own to the Beacon is meant to keep them safe, noting that the last time a sacrifice wasn't given, a horrible storm almost destroyed the town.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The episode features some strong similarities to The Wicker Man (1973), as it focuses on a man who wanders into a town populated by highly superstitious people, tries to come to the aid of a little girl, and ends up being sacrificed by the townsfolk in the girl's place so as to placate the spirtual entity they worship.
One Life, Furnished in Early Poverty
"He had to go back. It was that simple. Back to the place where his anger had first taken root. Back to find the turning point which had set him on the road to success... and loneliness. Because here, in a small Ohio town, lived the shadows of the boy he used to be, and the man he could have become. Gus Rosenthal is returning home — to the Twilight Zone."
Gus Rosenthal, a depressed and bitter writer, instinctively returns to his childhood home and unearths a toy soldier he buried in the yard. In doing this, Gus finds himself transported back to the 1940s, where he meets with his childhood self. After protecting his younger self from a gang of bullies, little Gus takes a strong interest in his older self. Taking on the psuedonym "Harry Rosenthal", Gus proceeds to act as a mentor and father figure to his child self, who loves having a friendly male authority figure in his life. When Gus learns that his time in the past is slowly making him ill, he tells the younger Gus that he has to leave, which doesn't exactly bode well for the boy.
Tropes
- Abusive Parents: Lou and Sarita. The former would whip Gus with his belt when he stole something or got into a fight, though he clearly didn't want to harm his son, while the latter insists that the abuse is the only way for Gus to go straight.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Gus had a difficult relationship with his father growing up, and regretted never telling him that he loved him before he died. In the short story by Harlan Ellison, Gus' relationship with both of his parents was even more difficult. He was sent to military school at seven years old because of his poor behavior, and ran away from home when he was thirteen.
- Adaptation Expansion: The episode places greater emphasis on Gus' poor relationship with his father Lou than the short story by Harlan Ellison. Present day Gus meets his dad twice after he is sent back in time. On the second occasion, he reveals that he always regretted never telling his father how much he loved him. For his part, Lou confesses that he was never able to get through to Gus, even though he loves him very much. In the short story, the older Gus and his father never come face to face and nothing is revealed of their relationship other than it the fact it was difficult.
- Age Lift: The younger Gus is ten or eleven when he meets his future self. In the short story, he is seven years old.
- Amoral Attorney: Gus screams to someone over the phone that they'd like meeting his attorney when he sees them in court, noting that said attorney "eats human flesh".
- Artifact of Doom: The old toy soldier Gus digs up from his childhood backyard, which apparently is what sends him back in time.
- Author Avatar: Gus is directly based on Harlan Ellison, who wrote the original story, so much so that Ellison actually wept while watching the filming of a scene.
- Both Sides Have a Point: At one point, Lou confronts the older Gus and tells him that while he's thankful for helping younger Gus when he was being pummeled by bullies, the act doesn't give him, a grown man and total stranger, the right to interfere with the day-to-day life of his kid. At the same time, Gus rants about how his younger self just needed to talk to someone who understood him so he can be straightened out, noting that his presence has ensured the boy's stealing and fighting have stopped. When asked why he never understood his own son, Lou concedes that he's repeatedly tried to understand, but his son was always too angry for him to reach. He concedes to the older Gus that he lashed out because of his jealousy regarding the friendship both versions of Gus have.
- Canon Foreigner: Gus sleeps with a fan of his who he meets after he delivers a lecture on writing. She does not appear in the short story.
- Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off!: Gus' father whips him with his belt to punish him for shoplifting a comic book, which he has done several times before. Lou, however, hates himself for having to do it and breaks down as soon as Gus leaves the room. His wife tries to console him by saying that the abuse is the only way Gus will learn to behave.
- Five-Finger Discount: As a child, Gus often stole comic books and toy soldiers, leading his father Lou to hit him with his belt to teach him a lesson. Even so, he was about to steal another toy soldier the next day, but stopped when he noticed his older self looking at him.
- Gang of Bullies: Preteen Gus is chased by a gang of bullies led by Jack Wheeldon, but he literally runs into his future self. When the bullies catch up to little Gus, they immediately leave when they think older Gus is a G-man. Later, the bullies attack the young Gus when he is on the swings and begin to beat him up until the present day Gus intervenes.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When he witnesses both versions of his son playing together in the backyard, Lou confronts the older Gus and tells him that while he's thankful for helping younger Gus when he was being pummeled by the bullies, the act doesn't give him, a grown man and total stranger, the right to interfere with the day-to-day life of his kid.
- My Future Self and Me: Gus is transported back in time to the 1940s, where befriends his child self. The younger Gus never finds out that "Harry Rosenthal", a writer from Los Angeles conducting research for a new story, is himself from the future, but he comes to view him as a surrogate father who, unlike his actual father, plays with him and reads him stories. Gus is very upset when "Harry" tells him that he has to leave, making him feel abandoned. He shouts to his future self that he will be successful one day, and will spit in his face before beating him up. When the boy runs away, the older Gus remembers that he made his vow to become successful after "Mr. Rosenthal" left and never came back.
- Named by the Adaptation: Gus' parents' are named Lou and Sarita. In the short story, their first names are not revealed.
- Parting-Words Regret: Gus visits his old hometown and finds himself in the past. During that time, he meets his father. Not telling him who he is, he says that his father was always angry at him for something, and he never got the chance to tell him that he loved him.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The scene where Gus spies his childhood self being raked over the coals by his folks for stealing a comic book, then being whipped with his father's belt, are set to cheery jazz music.
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Spiritual Successor: To the original series episode "Walking Distance", which also features a man returning to his childhood and seeing it through different eyes. - Stable Time Loop: Gus is sent back in time to his childhood, where he acts as a mentor and surrogate father to his younger self, who had a difficult relationship with his own father. Eventually, the older Gus realizes that he must return to his own time as his presence in the past is slowly killing him. When the younger Gus finds out that he's leaving, he angrily tells his future self that he will be a "big something" when he gets older and will beat "Mr. Rosenthal" up if he ever sees him again. The older Gus then remembers meeting "Mr. Rosenthal" as a child and vowing to become successful because he was hurt at his departure.
- Temporal Sickness: Gus begins feeling weaker after he is transported back in time to the 1940s. After several days, he realizes that he has to return to his own time or he'll eventually die.
- Time-Shifted Actor: Gus is played by Peter Riegert as an adult, and Chris Hebert as a child.
- Jack Wheeldon is played by Biff Yeager as an adult and Gary Karp as a child.
- Time Travel Episode: Gus, a bitter and depressed writer, goes back to the 1940s and becomes a mentor to his younger self, hoping to change his life for the better.
- Tuckerization: Jack Wheeldon is named after a boy who bullied Harlan Ellison while he was growing up.
"It's rather bittersweet how we spend so much time trying to justify ourselves to the shadows of those who are long gone. And even if they were alive, would they remember? Would they recall what they had said or done that made you spend the rest of your life proving yourself? And if you could go back, wouldn't you learn that you were always the master of your fate?" (...) "And if you learned that great truth, wouldn't it free you of a useless burden? Dead cargo — from the Twilight Zone?"
