The big 3-0... which makes me realize that I neglected to write about the first 15 or so episodes... someday, friends, someday.
This episode focuses on a certain Ad Exec, Mr. Williams... his first name is Gart (not important). After a terrible day at the office, with being beaten down and yelled at, he gets upset.
He gets on a train heading home and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the nice town of Willoughby. It's a nice sunny town with kids going fishing, a band playing in a pavillion and an overall friendly place. Before he can get off of the train, it starts moving again and Gart is snapped back into reality; turns out it was a dream.
Gart makes it back home to his stupid, naggy wife. He explains to her how he's not cut out for the lifestyle she wants for him. Instead of a fast paced life of glamour, he dreams to lead the simple life.
The next morning on his way to work, he falls asleep again. He wakes to find the train stopped at Willoughby again... again he admires the town but doesn't get off. Again he finds himself in reality.
That day at work, Gart gets bombarded by phone calls, his boss, his secretary and he has enough. He calls his Nag wife and asks her to help him, he's going to quit... she just hangs up. He decides that next time he's going to get off at Willoughby.
True to his word, he falls asleep on the train and wakes up at Willoughby. He gets off of the train and interacts with the townsfolk who know him by name. What a friendly place!
So, having this be the first time I've seen the episode, I was honestly shocked by the ending.
SPOILER ALERT
After it fades away from Gart, the scene shifts to underneath a bridge in the snow. The Conductor is explaining to the Coroner that Mr. Williams just calmly stood up, walked off the train and fell to his death.
After the coroner puts the body in the hearse, they close the door to reveal "Willoughby and Sons Mortuary".
END SPOILER I GUESS?
I might mention this in a later post... but twist endings can be pretty effective sometimes. It's Twilight Zone, so we're expecting some kind of twist, but that threw me off. I was happily surprised by it, as I was expecting a "he gets off the train and lives in this happy little community", similar to the theme behind "A World of Difference".
Haha, I dig this episode now. In essence, Garts life sucked, and he was contemplating ending it all... Willoughby was essentially his acceptance of suicide. It was as though Willoughby was the thought of suicide; all his stops there were thoughts of killing himself. Once he quit his job and saw that his wife was going to leave him, he figured there was nothing else but the serenity of death.
"Next time I'm going to get off at Willoughby"
Good episode. I give it 4 out of 5.
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