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Dead Run (The Twilight Zone)
Encyclopedia
"Dead Run" is the second segment of the nineteenth episode from the first season (1985-1986) of the television series The New Twilight Zone
.
s to Hell
via semi-truck. After a blow-up at a truck stop, Johnny learns of disturbances in Hell with the souls of the newly dead, and it's making the truckers nervous.
As the drivers enter Hell to drop off their cargo, Pete and Johnny witness a seeming anarchy, with souls running around loose. Some of the dead see Johnny and try to plead with him to get them out. During the melee, one of the souls comes to Johnny's aid and tells him about the fact that people are being sent to Hell that don't deserve to be. He learns that some kind of odd bureaucracy has taken over the job of deciding who goes to Hell (the 'low road') or Heaven (the 'high road'). Pete and one of the workers find Johnny, but the worker wants him to speak to management. A senior executive discusses with Johnny what he heard and explains how it all works. It turns out that the standards currently being used to determine who is sent to Hell are excessively conservative and biased - people are being damned for minor offenses. The executive reasons that they're simply using time honored Biblical standards, but Johnny still feels like it's unfair; back on the job, he decides to interview the dead that ride with him and thus choose which of the dead should go to Hell and which he should free to find a way to Heaven
.
When a soul he helps asks why he is doing this, Johnny replies that he remembered a story that between the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus went down to Hell to give the souls there another chance. So maybe it's just keeping up an old tradition...
, first published in Omni
(April, 1985).
John de Lancie
and Brent Spiner
, both of whom will go on to appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation
, appear in this episode, but do not share a scene.
The New Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is the first of two revivals of Rod Serling's acclaimed 1950/60s television series of the same name. It ran for two seasons on CBS before producing a final season for syndication.-Series history:...
.
Synopsis
Johnny Davis is a truck driver, unemployed due to his many accidents. In a roadside diner, Johnny asks Pete - a friend of his father's - for help finding a job. Pete is reluctant, saying that with the kind of work he's in, you have to be ready for anything. Johnny agrees and Pete takes him on his next run. The run turns out to be delivering soulSoul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
s to Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
via semi-truck. After a blow-up at a truck stop, Johnny learns of disturbances in Hell with the souls of the newly dead, and it's making the truckers nervous.
As the drivers enter Hell to drop off their cargo, Pete and Johnny witness a seeming anarchy, with souls running around loose. Some of the dead see Johnny and try to plead with him to get them out. During the melee, one of the souls comes to Johnny's aid and tells him about the fact that people are being sent to Hell that don't deserve to be. He learns that some kind of odd bureaucracy has taken over the job of deciding who goes to Hell (the 'low road') or Heaven (the 'high road'). Pete and one of the workers find Johnny, but the worker wants him to speak to management. A senior executive discusses with Johnny what he heard and explains how it all works. It turns out that the standards currently being used to determine who is sent to Hell are excessively conservative and biased - people are being damned for minor offenses. The executive reasons that they're simply using time honored Biblical standards, but Johnny still feels like it's unfair; back on the job, he decides to interview the dead that ride with him and thus choose which of the dead should go to Hell and which he should free to find a way to Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
.
When a soul he helps asks why he is doing this, Johnny replies that he remembered a story that between the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Jesus went down to Hell to give the souls there another chance. So maybe it's just keeping up an old tradition...
Closing narration
Syndication
This episode was stretched into a half-hour run time for syndication, as recently shown on the Chiller TV network.Note
This episode is based on the short story "Dead Run" by Greg BearGreg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
, first published in Omni
Omni (magazine)
OMNI was a science and science fiction magazine published in the US and the UK. It contained articles on science fact and short works of science fiction...
(April, 1985).
John de Lancie
John de Lancie
John de Lancie is an American actor. He has been active in screen and television roles since 1977, though he is best known for his recurring role as Q on the various Star Trek series and as Frank Simmons in Stargate SG-1....
and Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
, both of whom will go on to appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, appear in this episode, but do not share a scene.