The climax is really cool, but fairly easy to predict if you're slightly familiar with the legendary TV-series. Very good, although unremarkable and predictable "Twilight Zone" episode, mainly saved by the strong performances of the two leads and the respectable references towards Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". Navigator Craig abuses his towering height and plays for God, while the modest Commander Fletcher attempts to temper his dictatorship against the little people. After running adrift in space, astronauts Fletcher and Craig land on an unknown planet, but quickly discover it's inhabited by a race of miniscule people. This "Twilight Zone" tale instantly reminded me of that lesson, and in more ways than one. She taught me to remain humble whenever I'm good at something, or when I'm are more privileged than others, because someone bigger and better than you will always come along at one point or another. Particularly her lesson in modesty is one I'll always remember. My sweet old grandma, may she rest in peace, taught me a couple of valuable life lessons when I was young. Naturally, the story was written by Rod Serling. The title of this piece ("The Little People") is served up with a load of irony that only the Twilight Zone could deliver. Akins is his usual stern self here and provides a nice sane counterpart to his co-star's histrionics. He's so delirious with his new power of domination that he sabotages his mission and completely self-destructs. Maross fits the bill as the out-of-control Craig. It's the Twilight Zone version of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. "The Little People" exposes the dark side of human behavior. With his former partner out of the way, Craig can begin his reign of terror with no interference. "It is the age of Craig," he roars to Fletcher, "and there's only room for one 'god' on this planet." At the point of a gun, Craig forces Fletcher to leave the planet without him. Soon, however, Fletcher learns that Craig is no longer interested in anything but the domination of the little people. While this is taking place, the commanding pilot named Fletcher (Claude Akins) remains oblivious to his partner's antics he's too busy concentrating on repairing the ship so the two can continue their mission. Sensing a new-found power, Craig decides to terrorize the little folks and begins to threaten them with annihilation unless they do his bidding. At first he is merely curious about their existence, then he finds out he can communicate directly with them-to ominous results. While repairing their ship, one of the men called Craig (Joe Maross) discovers a race of little people the size of insects on the ground below them. In the 1962 entry "The Little People", two US astronauts are stranded on a desolate planet after their spacecraft breaks down. The ending is a replay of another Season III story, in which an Army Major dubiously achieves success as a character in search of an exit. They had no more regard for Craig than Craig himself did for any one of his subjects. The self appointed lord and master in turn becomes one of the little people when a pair of super-human giants land on the same planet. Just as in the prior episode of the series (#3.27 - Person or Persons Unknown), writer Rod Serling takes the basic plot point of the story and turns it upside down. Come on, really, how long would it take to go completely out of your mind with boredom? There's only so many statues you can have built to yourself before the novelty wears off. So severe that he passed on a trip back to Earth once the ship was repaired. It seems to me though, that Craig had severe self esteem issues if he wanted to lord it over a race of people only visible under a magnifying glass. An earlier episode of Season III dealt with a banana republic dictator with the combined qualities of a Hitler and a Castro who similarly meant to protect his legitimacy (#3.6 - The Mirror). Rod Serling found the theme of tyranny versus liberty to be a particularly intriguing one. All the rest, his inferior subjects, are the little people. As Peter Craig (Joe Maross) explains to his Commander William Fletcher (Claude Akins), in a monotheistic society, there can only be room for one god. It can also refer to the way elitist politicians and wealthy businessmen look at the masses. Certainly "The Little People" pertains to the insect size inhabitants of a distant planet two U.S. There's an interesting play on words in the title here.
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