Night Route
“Ms. Molina is out for a late-night walk with her dog and she reaches a fork in the road, along her trip of life.” A public transit bus stops near her, the driver pears at her and her dog is doing its best to jump in. She can’t seem to pull away as the bus driver has left her perplexed. The next morning she asks her fiancée about a bus down their street. “No such luck, not on our street” is his response.
She later heads out shopping with her mother for her wedding dress. She checks the registry of the store at her mother’s behest and it turns out that she is not registered. The next evening, the bus passes again and this time, the passengers along with the bus driver long for her to board the bus – she declines to board. The next day in her classroom, her students quote Emily Dickinson: “I could not stop for death.” The same student sings her admiration of Emily: “She is so goth.” The next night, the bus stops by her home again and she cries out “This is harassment, you can’t do this to me”, and the driver responds: “We are waiting for you.”
She comes upon an accident and she discovers the truth. “Making the wrong choice can be fatal in the Twilight Zone.” This episode is similar to The Hitcher, another Twilight Zone episode and in that episode; the driver never had a choice. Here, the choice was never made, as she never had time for death. My rating: C+
Synopsis (From TwilightZonetv.com)
Directed by: Jean De Segonzac
Starring: Ione Skye, Dylan Walsh
Melina Kroner is a young English professor who is also busy planning her
upcoming wedding. One night while walking her dog, Melina is nearly hit by a
car. Startled, Melina continues on her way home, but notices a strange bus
waiting on the corner. When the bus’ door opens, the driver and his passengers
gaze out towards Melina, waiting for her to board. Having never seen this bus on
her block before, Melina hurries home. The next day, bizarre occurrences
continue to happen to Melina; strangers say hello to her on the street, and she
sees the same bus again with the identical driver waiting for her to board. As
the days progress, the mysterious bus continues to follow Melina.
Convinced that she barely escaped death when the car missed her, Melina believes
the bus is a symbol that death has come to take her away. While Melina does
everything in her power to avoid the bus, things around her continue to take on
a frightening tone. Melina begins to bleed from inexplicable wounds on her face
and people she doesn’t know are convinced she is someone else. The bus stops
for Melina one last time and her dog, outrunning her, boards the bus. Alone,
Melina’s attention turns to an accident at the end of her block. As she
approaches the scene surrounded by flashing lights from emergency vehicles,
Melina sees her own body on the ground.
