Episode no. Season 2
Episode 33a Written by Cal Willingham Original air date 21 May 1987 | Directed by Gil Bettman Director Gil Bettman | |
"Joy Ride" is the first segment of the thirty-third episode and the ninth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Plot
Two girls and two brothers, trying to find something to do one evening, hotwire a classic car and go joy riding. After finding a loaded gun in the car, the driver, Alonzo, starts to become a little consumed by the car. He suddenly knows there are cigarettes in the glove compartment. Greg wants him to pull over after they start noticing all the cars are suddenly styled like 1950s cars and the streets start to look unrecognizable.
Soon, a police car pulls them over. The officer wants to know what they were up to, since a local store was robbed earlier. Greg remembers the store and that it was torn down years ago. Alonzo pulls out the gun, shoots the cop, and takes off. In the fracas, Adrienne was shot and is bleeding badly. Alonzo refuses to take her to the hospital but pulls into a parking lot and shoves Adrienne out. Suddenly Greg and Deena don't see her anymore, and she looks up and realizes she's not shot anymore. Alonzo takes off again, possessed. He finally pulls over to let Greg and Deena out after they demand to be let out. Greg tries to appeal to Alonzo again, but Alonzo just pushes Deena out. Greg doesn't see her after she is pushed out.
Greg finally decides to jump while Alonzo is driving and falls on the ground outside the parked car right where it was when they hot-wired it. It turns out the car was used in a hold-up and a cop was shot. The old man who owned it died before he confessed, and Alonzo was living out the night it all happened. But Alonzo didn't kill anyone, nor did they actually drive anywhere. It is possible that this was the man's way of confessing.