Rod Serling: Introducing four experts in the questionable art of crime: Mr. Farwell, expert on noxious gases, former professor, with a doctorate in both chemistry and physics; Mr. Erbie, expert in mechanical engineering; Mr. Brooks, expert in the use of firearms and other weaponry; and Mr. De Cruz, expert in demolition and various forms of destruction. The time is now, and the place is a mountain cave in Death Valley, U.S.A. In just a moment, these four men will utilize the services of a truck placed in cosmoline, loaded with a hot heist cooled off by a century of sleep, and then take a drive into the Twilight Zone.
Air date: April 21, 1961
Farwell (Oscar Beregi), Erbie (John Mitchum), Brooks (Lew Gallo), and De Cruz (Simon Oakland) are a quartet of thieves who have successfully pulled off a massive heist, stealing a million dollars in gold bricks from a train on its way from Fort Knox. Their plan is to hide away in some cryogenic chambers deep inside a desert cave and then place themselves in suspended animation for one hundred years, when the memory of their robbery will be long forgotten and they'll be able to fence the gold without suspicion. Once their chosen time has elapsed, Brooks, De Cruz, and Farwell discover that Erbie's chamber has been damaged by a rock, reducing him to a skeleton. The three remaining thieves are soon done in by their own greed, not trusting one another regarding the gold.
The Rip Van Winkle Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Most of the episode takes place in 2061, though we don't really see anything especially futuristic. At least until Farwell meets a couple in a futuristic car and we find out gold can now be easily manufactured.
- Adaptation Expansion: Later in his life, Serling would write a short story retelling the episode, adding an ending revealing that the police found the bodies of the criminals, but left the now worthless gold where it was.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Farwell pleads with George the motorist that he'll give him all his gold for some water. He dies before George can respond.
- After the End: After they fail to spot any cars on the road, Farwell wonders if the crew Slept Through the Apocalypse and they're the only people left alive. A passing airplane disproves that theory.
- All for Nothing: Gold is revealed to be virtually worthless in 2061, since it can be easily manufactured. Not that any of the criminals lived to know that.
- As You Know: The two civilians at the end explain how gold is now worthless for the benefit of the audience.
- Chemistry Can Do Anything: Farwell's gas allows him and his crew to remain in suspended animation for a century.
- Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Farwell could have simply patented his suspended animation gas, gained world-wide fame, earned the Nobel Prize in medicine, and licensed the gas for millions of dollars, making every penny he would have received completely legal. His participation in the gold robbery is largely unnecessary, since he could've easily avoided any risk from breaking the law.
- Didn't Think This Through
- While running Brooks over, De Cruz accidentally crashes the truck when the brakes fail. They're in the middle of the desert with nobody for miles around, and he destroys his and Farwell's mode of transportation, forcing them to walk.
- In fact, the entire plot could be considered this. While the central idea isn't bad, Farwell doesn't seem to have considered all the variables involved, or that the world they'd wake up in would be radically different in ways they couldn't foresee.
- Downer Ending: All four thieves are dead by the end, done in by their own greed and cruelty. As an added bonus, it turns out their efforts would have been for nothing as gold is now easily manufactured, making their treasure worthless.
- Dwindling Party: Erbie is long dead by 2061, the result of his chamber being cracked by a rock, Brooks is killed when De Cruz runs him down with the getaway truck, and Farwell kills De Cruz with a gold brick before eventually dying of dehydration.
- Even Evil Has Standards: When Erbie is found dead because his container broke, Brooks, Farwell, and De Cruz take the time to bury his body, even though no one would have known he died.
- Evil Genius: Farwell is an expert in chemistry and the inventor of the gas that keeps everyone in suspended animation.
- Evil Will Fail: The criminals are all done in entirely by their own stupidity and greed.
- Gasoline Lasts Forever: The thieves' truck is still able to start, even after sitting in a desert for 100 years.
- Gold Fever: De Cruz, even after he arrives in the future, can only think about how they can profit off their stolen gold. Later, he kills Brooks and extorts Farwell's share of the gold in exchange for water.
- Greed: What does all four men in.
- Hollywood Density: Downplayed. The bags of gold are certainly lighter than they would be in real life, but they are still portrayed as extremely heavy, since the men struggle noticeably with carrying them and need to drink water more often.
- Human Popsicle: Farwell, De Cruz, Brooks, and Erbie place themselves in suspended animation for 100 years so they can evade the authorities and spend the gold when they awaken. It doesn't go according to plan.
- Irony: Farwell wonders what kind of world the year 2061 is set in, but he never thought it would be a world where gold is worthless. According to the motorists, people found a way to manufacture gold about "100 years or so" ago, apparently not that long after the heist.
- Karmic Death: Farwell beats De Cruz to death with a gold brick.
- Laughing Mad: After murdering De Cruz, Farwell starts chuckling, gradually turning to sobbing.
- MockGuffin: The gold. Shortly after the gang enters hibernation, it becomes worthless, but this is not revealed until the end when the old man carelessly tosses it aside.
- No Honor Among Thieves: De Cruz backstabs his partners once they wake up, running over Brooks in the getaway truck and destroying it, then extorting Farwell's gold in exchange for water after Farwell loses his canteen. Farwell ends up murdering him with a brick of gold and takes all the loot for himself.
- The Quiet One: Erbie, especially since he's long dead by the time the other three wake up.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: The quartet were right about the gold they stole no longer being hot by 2061... because a method to manufacture it was found decades prior.
- Rip Van Winkle: Where the episode's title comes from, referenced by De Cruz several times. In his closing narration, Rod Serling refers to the criminals as "four Rip Van Winkles."
- Stripped to the Bone: Erbie is reduced to a skeleton after a rock falls on his chamber during hibernation, causing it to crack and allowing the gases preserving his body to escape. It's also an indicator that the survivors are in the far-off future.
- Villain Ball: The episode is one giant ball, as all the characters take turns grabbing it. De Cruz is among the worst, needlessly complicating and sabotaging the operation for the sake of his own greed.
- Villain Protagonist: All four protagonists are known criminals.
- Villainous Breakdown: Farwell, to the point where he doesn't care about the gold anymore so long as he gets water.
- Worthless Treasure Twist: Gold turns out to be valueless in 2061.
- Zeerust: The car used by the traveling couple in 2061 looks hilariously dated, even by late 20th century standards. It's actually a re-vamped version of the car from Forbidden Planet.
Rod Serling: The last of four Rip Van Winkles, who all died precisely the way they lived, chasing an idol across the sand to wind up bleached dry in the hot sun as so much desert flotsam, worthless as the gold bullion they built a shrine to. Tonight's lesson – in the Twilight Zone.
