Episode no. Season 2
Episode 13 Written by Rod Serling Production code 173-3648 | Directed by David Orrick McDearmon Featured music Jerry Goldsmith Original air date January 13, 1961 | |
"Back There" is episode 49 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on January 13, 1961 on CBS.
Contents
Plot
On April 14, 1961, young professor Peter Corrigan (Russell Johnson) is involved in a discussion with colleagues at the Potomac Club on the question of whether events in history could be changed if time travel were possible. After bumping into an attendant named William on the way out, Peter feels faint. Confused by the gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages on the street, he notices that he's wearing clothes of a much older style and walks home. He finds that his "home" is a boarding house. In discussion with the strangers he meets there, he discovers that he has been transmitted back in time to April 14, 1865, the day of Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
Peter rushes to Ford's Theatre to warn everyone but is arrested for disturbing the peace. The police presume him to be a Union soldier under emotional distress. After being held in the police station a short time, he is released into the custody of a Mr. Jonathan Wellington. Peter implores Wellington to do something to warn and protect the president. Wellington gives Peter a secretly drugged drink, presumably because he doesn't believe Peter and wants him quiet.
After Wellington's exit, Peter crawls to the door but passes out before he can warn anyone else. When a policeman who overheard his story comes in and rouses him, he notices that the handkerchief left behind by "Wellington" bears the initials JWB. John Wilkes Booth himself had drugged Peter to prevent any interference in his mission. He hears the crowd outside spreading the news that the president has just been shot.
Peter pounds his fist on a window sill and finds he is back in 1961, pounding on the door of the Potomac Club. After being let in he asks for William. His request is met with only confusion. Back at the table with his colleagues, he finds that the scholarly discussion has moved from time travel to money, and William is at the table participating. William says that his money was inherited from his great-grandfather, a policeman had insisted despite all opposition that there would be an assassination attempt on the president that evening. He had been the only person to believe Peter, made a name for himself trying to stop the assassination, and become a millionaire.
Peter tells the others that some past events can be changed, and others can't. Overwhelmed by all that has happened, Peter steps aside to wipe his brow with his handkerchief and notices the initials: JWB.