On Thursday We Leave for Home story
In 2021, a group of space pioneers prepare for a return trip to Earth upon having failed to establish a new society on a distant planet. The group's leader refuses to give up his authority. Directed by: Buzz Kulik. Story by: Rod Serling.
25 total · 2 choice · 8 major · 15 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| space colonization | choice | A rescue flying saucer arrived on planet V9-Gamma to pick up its 180 pioneering inhabitants, who had made a failed attempt to establish a flourishing colony there. |
| the lust for power | choice | Benteen revealed through his actions that he was primary motivated by a desire to maintain control over the colonists under his charge. |
| attitude of superiority | major | Benteen was convinced that he knew better than the colonists what was good for them, and he treated them like children. |
| clash of wills | major | Benteen and Colonel Sloane butted heads over the extent to which the colonists under Benteen's charge should have control over their own fate. |
| force of nature existential risk to civilization | major | The colony was about to perish because of a hostile environment - though one can say that they were simply dumb to settle there in the first place. |
| human vs. the elements | major | Some colonists had been struggling to eek out a living on a blisteringly hot desert planet, away from the Earth with its many wars. They failed miserably. [searing heat] |
| leadership | major | Benteen's selfishness clouded his judgment to the extent that the welfare of the colonists under his charge was put into jeopardy. |
| obsession with a life-dedicated project | major | Benteen explained that his obsession with the colony had prevented him from forming a family etc. |
| power corrupts | major | Benteen made terrible decisions on behalf of his colonists because he was drunk on his own power. |
| pridefulness | major | Benteen's attitude toward the colonists under his charge was paternalistic to the max. |