Air date: June 1, 1962
Ellis Fowler (Donald Pleasence) has spent the last 51 years as an educator in English literature at the Rock Spring Prep School for Boys. Ellis is held in high regard among his students, as he's a highly intelligent teacher who often sprinkles a bit of fun and humor in his lessons. Soon after class ends for the day, the school's staff inform Ellis that he's being sent to mandatory retirement. Even though he has a generous pension to support himself with, Ellis starts questioning what he's done with his life, as well as the legacy that he'll leave behind. Fearing that he's accomplished nothing other than being a teacher, Ellis prepares to shoot himself in front of the school's statue of the great educator Horace Mann. But before he can do this, he hears a school bell ring, and the investigative Ellis discovers a classroom filled with the ghosts of some of his former students, who have come to remind Ellis that, even if he was only a simple teacher, he left a mark on them that inspired them to perform various feats of heroism.
The Changing of the Tropes:
- Age-Appropriate Angst: Ellis is in his seventies when we meet him, and he fears that since he's only ever been a teacher, he has no legacy to leave behind and has done nothing with his life.
- All for Nothing: Ellis feels his entire life has been this. However, after learning about the many of students he inspired in life, he learns it has been quite the opposite.
- Christmas Episode: Ellis is forced to retire at Christmas time, and he plans to commit suicide when he believes that his life has been a failure. At the end, his students sing Christmas carols at his house to cheer him up.
- Chromosome Casting: Nearly every character with a speaking role is male, as the episode is set in and around a boys' prep school. The only exception is Ellis' housekeeper Mrs. Landers.
- Cool Teacher: Ellis is a well-respected and excellent teacher. Although he is a bit sarcastic in his lessons, he means it all in good fun. His students often call him "Old Weirdbeard", and he knows about it, brandishing the nickname as a term of endearment.
- Driven to Suicide: After being forced to retire by the school board, Ellis becomes convinced that he hasn't accomplished anything in his long life and plans to shoot himself. However, he meets the ghosts of some of his former students, who assure him that his teachings genuinely made a difference in their lives, as they all died in the pursuit of saving others.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: With some desperately-needed reassurance from the ghosts of his long-dead students, Ellis realizes that he did leave behind a legacy after all. Content in the knowledge that he's done something noble with his life, he settles down to enjoy retirement. As the cherry on top, his current pupils drop by his home and sing Christmas carols to cheer him up, as they saw he was crying when he was told of his retirement.
- Heroic Sacrifice: The ghosts of Ellis' students died in different ways of this trope. Beechcroft was killed at Iwo Jima, Bartlett contracted leukemia while helping study X-ray treatment for cancer research, and Weiss gave his life saving a dozen men during the bombing of the USS Arizona. They may have died, but they gave their lives so others could live theirs, and they're all eternally grateful for how Ellis inspired them.
- Hollywood Old: A 40-year-old Donald Pleasence plays Ellis, albeit in heavy makeup.
- One-Gender School: Professor Fowler teaches at Rock Spring School, which is a prepatory school for boys.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The ghosts of seven of Ellis' former students, Artie Beechcroft, Bartlett, Dickie Weiss, Thompson, Rice, Hudson, and Whiting, appear to him to stop him from committing suicide. They tell him that his teachings inspired them, as he taught them about patriotism, courage, loyalty, ethics, and honesty.
- Real Award, Fictional Character: Artie Beechcroft is said to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroism during the Battle of Iwo Jima.
- Repaying for the One: Ellis is saved from suicidal despair by the spirits of seven students he taught, who explain their deaths came from the bravery he instilled in them through his lessons.
- Talking Down the Suicidal: Ellis is prepared to commit suicide before the school statue, but the ghosts of seven of his former students return from beyond the grave to tell him that he genuinely left a mark on their lives.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As the ghosts of his students tell him, Ellis may not have saved any lives directly, or made any significant historical changes, but his teachings did inspire others to save many lives. As seen by the end, he's fully content with this knowledge.
