The Twilight Zone S03 E28 The Little People

Well, how did you do?

It's repairable.

But i won't be able to touch
any of those gimbal bearings

until they cool off.

It's like a furnace
in there now.

And that grand moment
will come when?

Maybe tomorrow night...

the following morning.

That's a swig
from the old bottle, isn't it?

Oh, you sure picked a nice place
to set down, fletcher-

the floor of a canyon.

I took you to the first mass
of land that loomed up.

And just for the record,
mr. Craig,

i didn't pepper the nose of
that vehicle with meteor holes.

I also didn't foul up
those rocket boosters.

That's something
you can chalk up to nature.

All right, all right.

It just strikes me as kind of
a deadhead place to set down-

on the floor of a canyon.

"Food concentrate, comma,
able-1-6-3, comma-

modified dinner plan."

Whoever invented this stuff

must have had stomach trouble.

A very bitter character

with no compassion
for his fellow men

or their stomachs.

Oh, there may come a moment in time

when i'll enjoy this.

There may come a moment
when you'll lick a rock

as if it were
a thanksgiving turkey,

but for the time being, buddy,

you'll eat
what is prescribed to eat!

If you've got
any set of complaints,

you put them down in a ledger;

don't spray them all over me!

It's a waste of effort.

It's also dull,
and it's tough to live with.

You read me, craig?

Loud and clear.

Then dwell on it!

And while
you're dwelling on it

you might count a few blessings.

We don't have much food or water,
that's a fact.

but we landed in a place
where there's oxygen

and we can survive.

We walked away from it

without a single bone
out of place.

The standing order is as follows:

You got tears to shed,
save them for night

and weep them into your pillow.

Don't bother me with them!

Now how do you read me?

Still loud and clear, commander.

But there are times

when a man gets sick to death

of being led around by the nose.

That's a big thing with
you, isn't it, craig?

What is?

Taking orders,

being on the receiving
end of a command.

It's hard for you to
live with, isn't it?

If i had my druthers

i might stick in a few changes.

Hmm, like what?

Say again?

I mean, beyond us
getting out of here.

Let's say this is
the end of the line.

Now, how would you
sweeten the pot?

A sirloin steak, a blonde, what?

How about mumblety-peg, fletcher?

Or maybe 20 questions?

Look, try me after dinner...

i may feel up to charades.

Point of interest is all.

I'm just interested
in what makes you tick.

Or maybe it's what makes
you tick so loudly.

What do you hunger for most, craig?

Try this one, fletch...

i'd like a whole lot
of people at my elbow:

The more the merrier,

the louder the better,

and i'd like yankee stadium
right alongside.

But i'd like them on my terms.

That's what i'm getting at.

What are your terms?

I'd like to be
the number one straw boss.

I'dlike to give the orders.

Uh-huh...

i'll bet you would.

What's the matter?

What's the matter with you?

Did you hear that?

Hear what?

That sound.

What sound?

Fletch, i heard something...

i... i heard a sound...

a sound like... like...

a sound like what?

Voices.

People.

The time is the space age.

The place is a barren landscape
of a rock-walled canyon

that lies millions of miles
from the planet earth.

The cast of characters?
You've met them-

william fletcher,
commander of the spaceship;

his copilot, peter craig.

The other characters who inhabit
this place you may never see,

but they're there,

as these two gentlemen
will soon find out.

Because they're about to partake
in a little exploration

into that gray, shaded area
in space and time

that's known as the twilight zone.

Well, where has
my wandering boy been

most of the day?

You take a lot
of walks, buddy.

Something better to do?

Yeah, there is.

Like, uh,
checking over a radio,

like looking over
a hydraulic system,

a propulsion system,
an ejection system,

a thrust chamber.

Yeah, there are a few things.

Where are you spending most
of your time these days?

Still hearing your voices?

Maybe.

You know, i think it would be
an exceptionally good idea

if you'd get to work
on those charts again.

It's hot, isn't it?

Passable.

You some kind of a camel, craig?

What do you mean?

I haven't seen you
take any water.

Well, uh...

i'm a whiskey man myself,
or hadn't you noticed?

You're going to have
to do better than that.

Why, what gives,
craig?

Say again?

Your ears don't lap.

Your water hasn't been
touched in 24 hours.

Now, you couldn't have discovered

any mountain stream up there

and kept it all for your lonesome?

Why don't you talk sense...

why don't you?!

For the last two days

you've been taking off on safari

every morning when
that double sun comes up.

Where do you go, craig,

and what do you find
wherever it is you do go?

I'll tell you what...

let's you and me make
that trek together, huh?

Thanks, but no thanks.

I'm tired.

Look, craig...

where'd you find this?

Uh, i... i... i told you-

i've been looking around.

It's wet.

You found water, didn't you?

Where?

About a mile ahead...

it's just a crummy little stream...

but enough for you
to drink out of!

Aw, come on, fletch,

i was going to show it to you.

As a matter of fact,
i've been testing it.

I just found out it was
pure a little bit ago.

You know,
i underrated you, mister.

I knew you were
a grousing malcontent,

but i didn't know
you were a cheat!

It's just a variety of lichen...

you don't mind if i look at it
through the magnifier, do you?

Or have you done that already?

Trees.

Yes, that's what they are...
trees.

I might as well go
the whole route now.

They were alongside
of a stream...

it runs about 100 feet.

It's about 2 and half inches wide.

If you think that's something...

look at this.

Look at it!

Then...

the voices?

You want to see more, fletch?

Yeah... yeah, i sure do.

Come on.

It's fantastic.

To us, that stream is just a stream.

That clump of little green weeds
is so much moss.

But they are trees,
and that stream is a river,

and if you look closely-

i mean, really close-

you'll see a couple of other items
that aren't par for the course.

It's incredible.

It's a whole race of people
no bigger than ants.

Yeah, a whole race of people.

And while you were
preoccupying yourself

with gluing together an engine

i was making contact.

In their language?

I don't know it yet,
and they don't know ours,

but they do know mathematics.

That's the language i've used-

symbols, equations,
number progressions.

And they're bright,
they learn fast.

And cooperative, fletch!

You wouldn't believe
how cooperative they are!

I've told them all my wants.

They've shown me where
the edible plants are.

Last night,
i ate up one of their forests.

What else did you tell them?

Oh, basic stuff:

Where we're from,
how we got here,

what's it's like on earth,
how advanced we are.

But i've only scratched
the surface, fletcher.

I've only just begun.

Begun what?

What do you think?

All my life i've wanted to sit

in front of the wagon
and hold the reins.

Well, what do you think
i've got here now?

A whole race of little people

who look up to me like
a giant out of the sky.

They're scared, fletch, petrified.

And so they do what they're told.

Because this giant...

is like some avenging
angel to them.

I've graduated, fletcher,
from a slob with a slide rule

to... to...

to a god.

Craig, they're people.

They're flesh and blood.

They're no different than us!

Sure they are.

Because they've been created
in my image.

Stop it!

You're no god, craig.

That's not what you are at all!

The only trouble is that...

by now you've probably
gotten them

to believe in the devil.

I'm sorry.

I'm truly sorry.

Please forgive us.

Forgive us, please.

Craig!

Craig!

Craig!

Top of the morning,
commander.

Hear what i said?

Top of the morning,
commander.

Even gods have to observe
some of the amenities.

Good likeness, huh?

The little people did that.

They did it overnight.

Ah, you should have seen them.

A very impressive sight,
commander.

A thousand of them
working from the ground up

like the egyptian slaves
on the pyramids,

like the lilliputians
with gulliver.

A very impressive sight,
commander.

What do you give them
in return, craig?

My smiling beneficence.

I won't tramp my feet down
on their town.

They picked themselves
a corker of a deity.

It's too bad they don't know

who they're breaking
their backs for.

Meaning what?

They're worshipping
a heartless slob

whose insides are the
same as that statue's!

Yeah, it's a good likeness, craig.

And an hour from now
they can sell it for junk!

Now, let's get back to the ship,

we're taking off.

What do you mean?

The ship's repaired.

We are ready to go
We'll start the countdown

in 15 minutes.

The orbital position
here is perfect.

You fixed the ship?

Yeah, i did, ineed.

And a hundred years from now,

when your little friends
realize how they got taken,

and that i'm the guy

that removed you
from their lives,

who knows...

...maybe they'll
build a statue to me.

Now it's a pity

they can't capture
that look, craig,

that clinical look.

Sick, scared little man,
full of delusions of grandeur.

Let's go, buddy,
we haven't a...

this one you'll have to navigate
on your own.

Put the gun away, craig.

After i see you climb
aboard that ship and take off.

Throw your gun away

Sick, sure, but just how sick
i didn't realize.

You've only got
about 12 minutes, commander.

You can waste them
psychoanalyzing me

or you can play it smart,

get aboard that ship

and head for home.

I'm staying behind.

Why, craig?

Reason this one out, will you?

Will you reason this one out?

You'll play make-believe
for another 48 hours,

then you're going
to crack wide open.

Yeah, you'll have
a million little microbes

honoring you
with torchlight parades,

but you're going to die
of loneliness, buddy.

Come on...

put the gun away
and come with me, huh?

Did you hear what i said?

You're down to eight minutes,
commander.

If you're still here
eight minutes from now,

i'm going to have to kill you.

This is a monotheistic
society here-

just room for one god.

Take off!

Craig, i feel sorry for you, buddy.

I really do.

All right, my little friends,

comes now the new age.

The age of...

the age of peter craig.

Oh, my little friends,

we've got
a lot of plans to make.

A lot of projects to work out.

Much work.

A whole lot of work.

That's a reminder,
little friends,

there must be discipline here.

Discipline above all.

There'll be periodic moments

where i must remind you
that you must not anger me.

That's important now.

You must not anger me.

Let us begin
to build the statue again.

Let us to commence to begin.

It's just a ship,
that's all it is.

Now, if you keep quiet,
they'll go away, understand?

If you just keep quiet,
it'll go away.

See, i told you
it would go away.

Go away!

You can't stay here!

Go away!

Don't you understand?!

I'm the god!

I'm the god,
don't you understand?!

I'm the god!

What have you got?

A man.

A tiny little man.

Why, you've crushed
him to death.

I didn't mean to.

Say, do you suppose

there are more
of them down there?

I don't know. What's
the difference?

We're not
here exploring.

We're here
making repairs.

Come on, come on,
let's get out of here.

The case
of navigator peter craig-

a victim of a delusion.

In this case, the dream dies
a little harder than the man.

A small exercise
in space psychology

that you can try on for size
in the twilight zone.