History Recap / TheTwilightZone1959S4E6DeathShip

* CuriosityKilledTheCast: There's no information regarding what it was that actually killed the crew, since the loop always starts with someone seeing "something glinting down there".

* RiddleForTheAges: How ''did'' the crew originally die? Every time the loop restarts, they see "something glittered down there" and find the wreck of their own ship, but we never have any indication as to why the crash occured.

* RiddleForTheAges: How ''did'' the crew originally die? Every time the loop restarts, they see "something glinting down there" and find the wreck of their own ship, but we never have any indication as to why the crash occured.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[CuriosityKilledTheCast "Captain, something glittered down there..."]]]]

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Picture of a man who will not see anything he does not choose to see, including his own death. A man of such indomitable will that even the two men beneath his command are not allowed to see the truth. Which truth is: that they are no longer among the living. That the movements they make and the words they speak have all been made and spoken countless times before, and will be made and spoken countless times again, perhaps even unto eternity. Picture of a latter-day Flying Dutchman sailing into the Twilight Zone.

** Well in a scifi setting time travel and psychic aliens are at least equally logical as ghosts.

* AgentScully: Ross absolutely ''refuses'' to believe that he and his crewmates are ghosts, solely because there's no evidence that says so, even opting to believe that it's the work of ''aliens'' before accepting that they're dead. It's tragigcally deconstructed because his reluctance to believe in the unbelievable is what forces the crew, through his unrelenting denial alone, to relive the situation he refuses to accept ''forever''.

* DeadAllAlong: The whole crew,are revealed to be spirits wandering through an alien world after dying in a crash landing.

In 1997, Ross (Creator/JackKlugman), Mason (Creator/RossMartin), and Carter (Frederick Beir), three astronauts aboard the spaceship E-89, detect a light glinting from the surface of a nearby planet. Beliving the light to be evidence of intelligent life, the crew descend to the planet to investigate. When they land, the crew discover the wreckage of a spaceship remarkably and impeccably identical to their own. An investigation of the ship's interior reveals three dead bodies which are similarly identical to the crew. Mason and Carter become convinced that the trio are actually dead and their spirits are left stuck on this planet, but Ross stubbornly refuses to hear superstitious prattling, and tries to work out what the truth behind this phenomenon is, no matter how many times they have to go over the facts.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: It's clear that all three men are dead, but Ross apparently has the ability to trigger a time loop again and again solely by his denial. Either ghosts have time-altering abilities, or Ross something more than a ghost to begin with.
* AndIMustScream: Zigzagged. Ross, Mason, and Carter are doomed to remain trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop of finding their own bodies and realizing that they've died for ''eternity'', but they don't remember each loop as it happens, which does soften the blow to a degree. They may be stuck in this situation for all time, but it will always be new to them, and thus lacks the "aware of fate but unable to do anything about it" factor usually associated with the trope.

* TimeTravel: Discussed. Ross speculates that they may have circumnavigated time and been sent to a probable future where they're dead after attempting a take-off, though he believes it can be prevented.

* AmbigouslyHuman: It's clear that all three men are dead, but Ross apparently has the ability to trigger a time loop again and again solely by his denial. Either ghosts have time-altering abilities, or Ross something more than a ghost to begin with.
* AndIMustScream: Zigzagged. Ross, Mason, and Carter are doomed to remain trapped in a GroundhogDayLoop of finding their own bodies and realizing that they've died for ''eternity'', but they don't remember each loop as it happens, which does soften the blow to a degree. They may be stuck in this situation for all time, but it will always be new to them, and thus lacks the "aware of fate but unable to do anything about it" factor usually associated with the trope.

* TimeTravel: Discussed. Ross speculates that they may have circumnavigated time and been sent to a probable future where they're dead after attempting a take-off, though he believes it can be prevented.

A trio of astronauts - Ross (Creator/JackKlugman), Mason (Creator/RossMartin) and Carter (Frederick Beir) - come across what appears to be evidence of intelligent life on an alien world. Upon investigation, it turns out that the ship they spotted is identical to their own ship, except that it has been destroyed in a crash... and inside it are what appear to be their own dead bodies. Further complications arise and the three men end up struggling, sometimes against each other, to try and figure out what's happening to them.

* AndIMustScream: Zigzagged. Ross, Mason, and Carter are doomed to be trapped in the same GroundhogDayLoop of finding their own bodies and realizing what happened for ''eternity''--but they don't remember each loop as it happens, which softens the blow to a degree. They may be stuck in a situation for all time, but it will always be new to them and thus lacks the "aware of one's fate but unable to do anything about it" factor usually associated with this trope.
* AgentScully: Captain Ross absolutely refuses to believe that they are ghosts, because there is no evidence that says so. He will prefer to believe that it's the work of ''aliens'' before accepting that they are ghosts. Eventually it is deconstructed because his reluctance to believe is what forces the crew, through sheer unrelenting willful denial, to continue to suffer the same situation he refuses to accept ''forever''.
* CanonForeigner: In the television adaptation, Mason sees his wife Ruth and daughter Jeannie [[spoiler:in the afterlife]] while Carter sees Kramer and Mrs. Nolan. None of these characters appear in the short story by Creator/RichardMatheson.
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: There is never information of what killed the crew originally, but the loop always starts with someone seeing "something glinting down there".
* DeadAllAlong: The whole crew of the ship.
* {{Determinator}}: Captain Ross. Unfortunately for his men.
* DetrimentalDetermination: An example PlayedForHorror: Ross' indomitable will is single-handedly responsible [[FlyingDutchman for their ever-lasting torment]].
* DiscoveringYourOwnDeadBody: Ross, Mason and Carter discover their own bodies in a crashed duplicate of their ship but Ross remains in denial throughout the story.
* DownerEnding: When Mason and Carter try to force Ross to accept the unavoidable, he breaks down and screams, ''"We are going to go through it again!"''... and the story loops back to the beginning, with Mason getting a signal on his scanner. Rod Serling's narration confirms that this will go on for all of eternity, three dead men trapped in an inescapable loop by the inability of one man to believe the truth.
* FatalFlaw: Captain Ross' determination to find a rational explanation (well, more rational than the crew being ghosts) even in the face of there being ''no'' other explanation, and his indomitable will... in the face of a HeroicBSOD, Ross instead wills the loop to restart through sheer denial.
* FlyingDutchman: Explicitly invoked by Serling in his closing narration.

* GroundhogDayLoop: And the narration even compares it to the "Flying Dutchman", a never-ending hell.
* HeroicBSOD: Captain Ross at the end, still looking for some rational explanation when Mason and Carter already figured out that they are dead. Unfortunately for the latter two, the result of this breakdown is instead to keep believing that they are alive and the events are some kind of illusion, and that they will keep trying to find an explanation ''however long it takes''... thus triggering the loop.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: Ross and Mason are given the respective first names of Paul and Ted in the television adaptation.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Very much looking alive up to and after the incredible reveal, and suffering a GroundhogDayLoop for ''eternity''.
* PostModernMagik: Not only is spaceship E-89's fate akin to the fate of the ''Flying Dutchman'', it takes place in the near future rather than the present.
* PsychicPowers: Aliens with these are one of Ross' attempts at an explanation of what's going on.
* RiddleForTheAges: ''How'' did the crew originally die, if every time they see "something glinting down there", it's the wreckage of their own crashed ship?
* ScullySyndrome: Ross' attempts at finding a logical explanation for the situation they are enduring include theories about time travel and even aliens with mental powers. [[SarcasmMode Because those are more logical than being ghosts]].
* ThousandYardStare: Carter exhibits one after he, Ross and Mason discover their own bodies in the crashed ship.
* TimeTravel: {{Discussed|Trope}}. Ross speculates that they may have circumnavigated time and been sent to a probable future in which they will die when they try to take-off but he believes that it can be prevented.

* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: In 1997, the E-89 is investigating the feasibility of establishing a colony on the thirteenth planet of Star System 51.
* UndeathAlwaysEnds: Sadly, not the case...

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': Picture of a man who will not see anything he does not choose to see, including his own death - a man of such indomitable will that even the two men beneath his command are not allowed to see the truth. Which truth is: that they are no longer among the living. That the movements they make and the words they speak have all been made and spoken countless times before, and will be made and spoken countless times again, perhaps even unto eternity. Picture of a latter-day Flying Dutchman sailing into the Twilight Zone.