Ahead lies a place called Earth, the 3rd planet from the sun. вЂњBehind a tiny ship heading into space is a doomed planet on the verge of suicide. As the twist is revealed, Riden looks over at Bill and replies вЂњItвЂ™s the third planet from the sun, Bill. They wonder if there really is another planet out there populated with humans just like them. After a brief standoff they get into an altercation with Carling and subdue him before running onto the base, overpowering several guards, and commandeering their escape craft.ДЄ short time later we see both families safely fleeing their planet. When he steps forward it is revealed to be none other than Carling. When they arrive at the base, their inside contact is waiting for them -a shadowy man who flashes a light at them.

When Carling finally leaves their home Sturka and Riden decide they must depart that night wit their families. The whole episode is a nervous hand-wringer. There is one particularly memorable scene that is shot from beneath a glass coffee table showing the menвЂ™s escape plan, their nervous faces, and CarlingвЂ™s eyes looming down over them.

Meanwhile their boss Carling appears seemingly out of nowhere, offering ominous veiled warnings. Great beads of sweat drop off the menвЂ™s faces as they mask their plans beneath a facade of politeness. The whole episode beautifully builds tension. вЂњYou ever think, Sturka, there may be people on those stars too?вЂќ He makes it clear that government crackdowns are common for men working in top secret positions. However, just as they attempt to escape their boss their weasel-faced creepy boss, Carling (played by Edward Andrews) keeps checking on them. In an effort to escape certain death, Sturka and his friend Jerry Riden (played by television actor Joe Maross) spend months prepping an spacecraft to bring their families along and escape the planet. They are preparing for imminent nuclear war (note: this episode was released a little over a year before the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion). Will вЂњBillвЂќ Sturka (played by Fritz Weaver) is a scientist who works at a covert military base developing large numbers of atomic bombs. For this is the stillness before the storm.

And underneath it all, behind the eyes of the men, hanging invisible over the summer night, is a horror without words. Time for the quiet rustle of leaf-laden trees that screen over the moon. Clemens on this episode, offering a unique perspective that I found to be quite striking. BareвЂ™s seven episodes he directed, and cinematographer Harry Wild filled in for George T. He once described the summum bonum of his writing philosophy as follows: вЂњthe individual isolated in a threatening world, attempting to survive.вЂќ And this guiding principle holds true for much of his work in The Twilight Zone. Richard MathesonвЂ™s zany and paranoid characters highlight some of the best inner conflicts in The Twilight Zone. Based on Richard MathesonвЂ™s 1950 short story of the same name (which first appeared in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine), Rod Serling adapted the teleplay for вЂњThird From The SunвЂќ to fit The Twilight Zone and he stayed mostly true to the original.

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