The Ray Bradbury Theatre S1E4
Episode 4 "The Town Where No One Got Off"
Ray Bradbury is seen in the dead ass of night looking at train stop locations on a chalkboard in front of him with a guard nearby making small chit chat.
Interrupting their conversation is the roaring engine approaching. The guard is confuzzled as heck as it can't possibly be the 'ol 99. Ray says to him that it might be the '99 or it might be....a STORY!
That segues in the actual episode and it begins as a man sitting in front of an elderly man on the train during the bright and blue skies. Looking out window they see the beautiful country. The elderly man thinks out loud how can people live in god forsaken lands like that. The young man (played by a young Jeff Goldblum) tries to offset his response by saying nahhhhh it's BOO-tea-FUL so quit talkin' shit ya old fart! The point is that he likes the closeness of a community that a small one would entail. The Old man is just peeing in his cheerios and discourages the beauty of the country life. In fact he says, that if he looooves the country so much then GTFO the train then!
As a matter of fact, he thinks I will do just that.
The conductor walks by and so he asks him the name of this next town coming on up because he wants to hop on down. He tosses the man some bribery monies and cool beans, he gets to get off.
Old ass fart still calls him a damn fool but wishes him luck anyway.
He happily exits the train and looks in bewilderment of the rocky roads and the old ass buildings surrounding him. Since this is the 80s it is filled with lingering background music to signify how lovely it is.
However this is short lived when he enters a building to inquire about the town around him but the guy behind the counter is not in a chatty mood. In fact, he doesn't even say a damn word to him. As he exits the building, he comes across a sleeping old dude. GASP he is only pretending to be asleep because as soon as he passes him up, he high tails it out of there to follow our Jeff Goldblum!!! Oh noooes! Mr. Goldblum better watch his back!
So he goes strolling around the town and it's such a torn down and dilapidated city. He even sees a horse carriage. No cars that he sees anyway.
He approaches a soda machine. One of those old school ones but he bangs on it as it seems like he can't get his bottle of carbonated sugarssss. A woman from inside the store is half peering out of the door asking him WTF does he think he is doing. Well, lady he is trying get ding dang darn soda. She's like "Well I haven't seen you around here." He pulls the uno reverse card on her and parrots back the same exact line. She tells him to fuck off the broken machine and heads back in.
Broken and soda-less, he decides to resume stalking the streets of this unknown town when he gets the heebie jeebies when he sees the formerly sleeping bum from earlier. No words get spoken between them and he just continues on his merry way.
Seeing a little girl on the swing, he tries to make small chit chat with her asking if her mother is home. She yeets out of there and fetches her mom. He introduces himself to her to inquires about the "room for rent" sign. Not even giving any pleasantries or anything, she abruptly says that the room is magically already being rented out...? And then she sntaches her daughter back in the house. Weird but ok. He takes his cue and fucks off.
When he approaches the sidewalk, he notices the same man but he is trying to be inconspicuous. Yeah he does a shit job at that because his spidey senses have long been tingled.
A nice calming lake is where our main character approaches next and continues his walk over a bridge. The sun is now starting to set and this old man is trailing not too far behind him. Always keeping his distance within ear shot.
His next stop is at a the same shop from where the soda was. This time, he walks on in. He sees 2 men sitting at a table. He asks the men when the next train will arrive. The woman behind the counter says they just plain don't. In fact, all it does he pass by but rarely would it stop unless there is a flare on the track.
This is when one of the men at the table is like "Leaving us already, eh?" Oooookay a little creepy but whatever.
He steps back out and sees the same old man in front of the hardware store so he tries to sees what he was looking at. The old man walks away as he approaches. As soon as he was about to enter, a man inside the store does the flippity flip on the open sign where it is now signified as closed. DAFUQ is this shit? He turns a corner and sees the same old man staring back at him. He just gives him the dirty look and walks the different direction.
As he continues walking, the old man is now making it known more than ever that he is totes following the fuck out of him. He gets the more heebie jeebies. On higher alert now, he tried to enter another building when oh jesus mother fuck it is locked.
He goes looking around cars parked and he notices that some are dusty AF. In fact, one of them he dusts off is an old police car. Oh po-lice him this poor old man!
Just when he turns the next corner is when he comes face to face with this old man ever closer than ever who makes the beelines towards him. Spooked, he walks in the rear direction. He gets closer and closer to him is when he finally decides to break his silence.
"I have been waiting a loooooooong time at that bus station for youuuu." He gets cryptic about him being that mysterious visitor that he was waiting for. 20 years in fact. For someone like him. He asks what he thinks about this town.
Yeah so they continue walking side by side. Difficult to say who is walking who at this point.
Anyway, the old man continues to say that he just one day decided to take his grand old chair and just plop his butt at the bus station saying when this something that is supposed to happen happens then he'll be like YAY BRO. Still cryptic but he tosses him some breadcrumbs.
Confused, he asked WTF but this old man pokes and prods about his inner psyche and then asks if he ever thinks about: MURDER! Then he goes on a creepy tangent. Then proceeds to invite our main character for a quick drink. He happily obliges. I guess broski got a death wish or something.
They both go down these stairs into a more creepier surrounding as if it wasn't creepy enough. The old man continue on his creepy tangent blabber hating everybody and wanting to unleash his inner prehistoric savage ways and just bash someone's head in. So yeah, he's totally level headed.
They both find a place to sit, chat and drink while all our main character says at this point is smile and go "Mmmhmmm". He continues to listen but this is when he finally brings up about the train that comes through this town once a day BUT it only comes to pick up stuff "but no one ever gets off". He gets filled with glee that he is brings these 2 subjects together that he was waiting for someone to get off that train. Someone that no one knows. Someone that he can lure to be alone and keel him!
So it is all coming together. He is trapped with this demented old man who has a homicidal urges to kill a complete stranger. Right when he is done with his psycho corny villain filibuster, is when Cogswell tries to deflect by saying "OH WOW we are alike, you and I!" to pretty much say that he got the same thought while he was on the train pretty much giving him another uno reverse card but this time in his perspective. He gestures in his pocket that he has a gun.
They both have a stare down. "Oh, it be like that, huh?"
Cogswell replies "Yeah, it do be like that."
After a tense scene, Cogswell is seen sending out that flare on the road signalling the train to stop for him. He gets back up on the train with the conductor asking him "Soooo, did you find what you were looking for?" As he sits down in his seat, he looks out the window and creepily enough, he sees the same old man slowly taking his seat in the aforementioned chair with a creepy smile on his face as the train pulls out of the station.
The end.