Episode no. Season 2
Episode 28b Original air date 18 October 1986 | Directed by Gus Trikonis Director Gus Trikonis | |
Written by Phyllis Eisenstein, George R. R. Martin | ||
"Lost and Found" is the second segment of the twenty-eighth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Contents
Plot
Jenny Templeton is a young college student who discovers she has been losing personal items which seem to just disappear. Her trash is empty after having filled it with her old notes, but no one had apparently emptied it. Her political science book disappears and reappears without notice. Jenny's roommate, Kathy, is accused of at first playing a joke on her. She reveals that not only her study books, but her high school yearbook and other things are missing.
Suddenly, she hears noises in her closet and thinks someone might be inside. When Kathy thinks Jenny is hearing things, she laughingly opens the closet, but discovers inside are two people dressed strangely, apparently out of sync draped in a great light, who return her pencil mug. They say that they shouldn't have taken anything that would have been missed. Apparently, the couple are a pair of time travellers from 2139 and they apologize for the inconveniences. While they discuss how foolish they had been, they inadvertently reveal that Jenny will become the first president of Earth and she will be called "The Great Peacemaker". After the woman returns to 2139 and the man goes back in time to 32 B.C. to see Cleopatra (the woman warned him if he did this, he shan't bother coming home), Kathy stands in wonder while Jenny ponders that perhaps she shouldn't cut her political science class anymore.
Note
This five-and-a-half-minute-long episode is based on the short story "Lost and Found" by Phyllis Eisenstein. The story was first published in Analog (October 1978).
The episode was originally slightly over 8 minutes in its initial airing. However the episode was cut down (most likely for international markets) to fit into the half-hour timeslot. This was even before the show got cut for syndication.