June 1, 2023- number 7

“The Lonely”

Spoilers

The seventh episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone was called “The Lonely” and it dealt with a sci-fi prison for a man convicted of a crime.

Convicted but innocent, James Corry was stranded on an isolated and deserted asteroid for the duration of his long prison sentence. Supplies would be brought to him every three months, but otherwise, he is completely alone.

Feeling bad for him, Captain Allenby, the pilot of the supply vessel, brought him a special, secret surprise. It was a robot that was in the shape of a woman. The robot’s name was Alicia and she was very feminine. While Corry rejected the robot at first, he became close with her eventually as time passed.

When Corry and Alicia had become a couple, Captain Allenby returned with great news: Corry had received a pardon. Allenby and his crew were collecting other former prisoners and they were there to pick up Corry. They had space only for Corry and a few of his belongings. Corry rejected the idea, insisting that Alicia was more than robot… that she was a real woman and that she had to go with him.

Allenby ended up shooting Alicia in the face, revealing the robotic materials inside her, bringing Corry to his senses.

This was a strange story. It started out interesting as we looked at the relationship that could develop when someone is isolated. There have been plenty of examples in sci-fi of characters falling for machines/robots/androids etc.

However, the story between Corry and Alicia came to such a sudden and dramatic conclusion that it felt like there were some aspects of the tale missing. It needed another 20 minutes or so I think to be effective in telling the story. Otherwise the relationship, which needed to be at the center of this story, rang hollow and empty.

“On a microscopic piece of sand that floats through space is a fragment of a man’s life. Left to rust is the place he lived in and the machines he used. Without use, they will disintegrate from the wind and the sand and the years that act upon them. All of Mr. Corry’s machines, including the one made in his image, kept alive by love, but now obsolete—in The Twilight Zone.“