CROSSING ZONE - "THE PASSERS-BY" WITH "ASHES TO ASHES"

It's been a few weeks since my last "Crossing Zone" post and I figured today was as good a day as any to launch this next one.....

But first, if you haven't seen "The Passers-By" episode of 'The Twilight Zone', 'Life On Mars', or 'Ashes to Ashes', then I suggest you turn away as there will be plenty of SPOILERS!!!!

'THE TWILIGHT ZONE'

"THE PASSERS-BY"

“This road is the afterwards of the Civil War. 

It began at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 

and ended at a place called Appomattox. 

It's littered with the residue of broken battles 

and shattered dreams.

In just a moment, you will enter a strange province
that knows neither North nor South, 

a place we call—The Twilight Zone."

ROD SERLING

Synopsis:

While headed home a Confederate soldier meets an anguished woman at the end of the Civil War.  (IMDb)

The Confederate Sergeant realized long before it dawned on Lavinia Godwin that they were no longer on Earth.  Both of them were dead and transmuted to the personification of their souls.  They were no longer sitting by the road near her home; it was just a visualization of her heart's desire.  The road was in fact the road to the next stage for all of these souls passing by.  (I would not be surprised if there was a fork in the road ahead - pointing the direction toward Heaven & Hell.)

The episode takes place in Limbo, just as the British TV series 'Life On Mars' and 'Ashes To Ashes' do as well.  Limbo looks like whatever is needed for the soul that is occupying it.  So for Lavinia Godwin, it looked like the road running alongside her home.  Who knows how it looked from the perspective of the Sergeant or any of the other "soul-diers" traipsing along it?  

But by the time Abraham Lincoln came long the road, Lavinia knew that the Sergeant was right - this had to be the road to the afterlife.  Once she realized that, she accepted her fate and moved on to the next stage.  For Alex Drake, it was the same thing: once Hunt had determined that she was ready to move on, Alex went into the Railway Arms bar, albeit reluctantly, to move on to the next plane of existence.

I have other TV shows in mind to connect with 'Ashes To Ashes' because of the Limbo aspect - 'Sherlock', 'Madigan', a good part of the sixth season of 'Lost'.  This episode of 'The Twilight Zone' may have been the first, but who knows?

BCnU!