MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > Which character least deserved their TZ ...

Which character least deserved their TZ fate?

posted 3 years ago by strntz (11277)
19 replies | jump to latest

This occurred to me while watching Willoughby. I always thought and continue to think that Gart Williams had a happy ending by escaping to a bucolic paradise perfect for his dreams. Others think he simply died in an ironic TZ twist.

Two things happened when thinking about Willoughby. I honestly considered the sad scenario as argued by others and can see their point, or at least understand now why they think it's sad. It's not clear cut so I won't argue the point, and that's the reason for this post.

Second, because if the sad ending is what the writer had in mind, it got me to thinking that this must the character that least deserved getting royally screwed over by fate. Normally, it's the evil, greedy, perverted, etc. characters that get their just desserts, not good people.

So, is there a character that really got hosed in the TZ and didn't deserve their fate?

[–] Colorado_Kid (213) 3 years ago

I don't think Gart Williams ending was a TZ twist of fate. At the end of the episode the conducter said something along the lines that he walked off the train like he didn't realize he was that high off the ground. It came across as Gart commiting suicide then an accident.

[–] strntz (11277) 3 years ago

It's unclear to be sure, but Gart stepped off the steam train and then spent several minutes walking in the town and interacting with the townspeople (talking to the kids about fishing, etc.) and the old time conductor watching him walking along the street. If Gart's "dream" of Willoughby ended when he he finally stepped off the train, it would seem he did die and not make the trip to Willoughby. Since he stepped off and continued to exist, my theory is that he made it to his own personal heaven even as his body died.