and a tired woman."
Air date: November 29, 1963
Astronaut Cook (Richard Basehart) crash lands on a strange planet with gravity and atmospheric conditions similar to those on his home world. Most of his equipment is put out of commission by the crash and he cannot repair it due to a broken arm and lack of resources. Shortly afterwards, he learns that his home world has embarked upon a catastrophic nuclear war.
Eventually he encounters a woman from another species (Antoinette Bower), who tells him her name is Norda. They cannot understand each other's language, but she communicates through sketches drawn in the sand and by pantomime that she is also stranded; her planet had left its orbit and she had survived.
In his last transmission, Cook's superior back home, General Larrabee (Harold Gould), tells him that there may be no survivors when the war is over, so he can expect no rescue, and comments on how he hopes his new world is more peaceful. After that, Cook decides to explore the planet and is joined by Norda.
And now the shoe begins to drop.
Together, they embark for a more fertile area, which Cook describes as looking like a "garden". He fully introduces himself as "Adam Cook" and Norda gives her full name as "Norda Eve". Adam and Eve begin a new life on this planet she calls "Irth", which Adam pronounces as Earth. At this point she even offers him a "seppla", which appears to be a very familiar "forbidden fruit".
Trope 7, Over and Out:
- Adam and Eve Plot: Colonel Cook and Norda decide to settle in a fertile area shortly after their arrival on the new planet. As their names are Adam and Eve and they name the planet "Earth," this episode is a very literal application of the trope.
- Apocalypse How: Cook's homeworld has destroyed itself in a war.
- Artistic License – Military: When Colonel Cook's superior General Larrabee ends his radio communication with Cook, he says "Over to you, and out", an example of incorrect radio protocol.
- But What About the Astronauts?: By the time that the war that destroys his homeworld starts, Cook has already crashlanded on the strange planet.
- Depopulation Bomb: Cook's people are wiped out in a devastating war within less than a day. The entire coast of Cook's country was destroyed in only 12 minutes, after which they responded in kind.
- Earth All Along: The final scene reveals that the planet on which Colonel Cook landed is Earth.
- Everything in Space Is a Galaxy: Cook refers to his and Norda's solar systems as "galaxies", even though they're only a few light years apart.
- Garden of Eden: Implied to be the literal Garden — it's an Adam and Eve Plot starring Human Aliens, living in a garden on a planet they name "Earth".
- Human Aliens: What both Cook and Norda turn out to be.
- Humanity Came from Space: The final scene suggests that humanity is descended from Colonel Cook and Norda, a pair of technologically advanced aliens. Colonel Cook's homeworld suffered a nuclear war and Norda's homeworld was destroyed.
- Language Barrier: As they do not understand each other's languages, Cook and Norda have to learn to communicate with each other. They initially do so by making sketches in the sand but Cook is able to teach Norda several words of his language.
- Last of His Kind: Cook and Norda are the last survivors of their respective races. Cook's people destroyed themselves in a war. Norda's planet left its orbit. She either managed to escape in a ship before her people died or was already in her ship at the time.
- Minimalist Cast: This episode only features four credited actors: Richard Basehart, Antoinette Bower, Harold Gould and Barton Heyman.
- Prefers Going Barefoot: Norda doesn't wear any shoes or socks throughout the story.
- Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale: Cook says that he has crashlanded on a planet (which turns out to be Earth) 4.3 light years from his home planet, presumably in the Alpha Centauri system. In his opening narration, Rod Serling says that he's "several million miles" from his launching point, which would put said point somewhere in the Solar System, not the Alpha Centauri system. If he'd really traveled 4.3 light years, that would be 25.28 trillion miles.
- Significant Anagram: Rearrange the letters in 'seppla' and you wind up with 'apples.'
- Subspace Ansible: Cook is able to communicate with his home base 4.3 light years away in real time.
- Tomato Surprise: It is revealed that Cook isn't from Earth.
- Wham Line: The moment Cook describes the planet as being like a "garden", and says his name is "Adam", it becomes clear what the punchline is going to be.
