Revisiting The Twilight Zone: S4 E10: No Time Like the Past

Revisiting The Twilight Zone: S4 E10: No Time Like the Past

This episode which centres around the basic tenements of time travel, and the consequences built in, starts off fast and strong, and draws you in, but eventually ends with a whimper, yet another victim of trying to stretch an idea too far in the context of an episode.

I think the first fifteen minutes of the episode is as good as it gets on the Twilight Zone. A man goes back in time, trying to change the course of history in order to save those who died unnecessarily – firstly at Hiroshima, secondly in Nazi Germany, and thirdly on the Lusitania. On each occasion he is thwarted, and on his return to his own time it is the theory that ‘history cannot be changed’ that is sprouted. All well and good, and practical. He then goes back to 1881, to live his life out in a simpler time. Of course, the pall of history hangs over him even here, and he is forced to decide whether he must just allow events to take their course, or whether he is going to try and change them here as well.

These are all ideas I can get on board with – I like a good time travel science fiction story – but it peters out towards the end, which is disappointing. Still worth a watch though.

Rating: Just shoot Hitler already!! 4/5