You can go back now, Ms. Henderson

10/30/18

*Twilight Zone 'Spur of the Moment' and 'Red Shoes' spoilers

Because it’s so close to Halloween and Dad had recently bought all the Night Gallery episodes on dvd, we decided to catch up on some.

We saw, “You Can Come up Now, Mrs. Millikan” which features Roger Davis. I immediately recognized him as David Mitchell in The Twilight Zone’s “Spur of the Moment” episode. His hair was different but his voice was the same and I usually recognize audio things more than visual. I wagered that if I was right about him being Roger Davis, we would put "Spur of the Moment" on- and I was.

Everytime we see older Anne Henderson desperately try to warn her younger self of her ill fate we always joke about how she could have done it differently, more approachable, less like this

But it's a concept that most of us can relate to- regret and the feeling of, “if i could just jump into a time warp of some kind and convince my younger self to take this road instead of that one, I would literally be saving my life”.

I woke up the next morning with the urge to redo that scene or add a new ending, really trying to picture it. Anne redirecting her horse, making a U turn, galloping back to her house instead of the hills to find her younger self, getting down from her horse, taking off that ridiculous black cape (because really sis, what are ya doing with that?) finding David whom she left last in the living room crying and with a thrown drink across his face, and having a sincere, earnest, heart to heart talk with him.

David Mitchell, the man she regretted marrying but David Mitchell her childhood sweetheart, a young couple who seemed so happy and madly in love with each other- to rediscover what they once had for each other and try to rekindle. Then taking the less romantic but practical and sober steps, signing up for couples counseling, AA meetings, OR if she really wanted to go the radical route then going back to her house instead of the hills, kicking him out, plan for a divorce, picking up the pieces, and working on becoming the older more worldly, fabulously single Anne Henderson.

She blamed her father for being spoiled and not teaching her to be someone who is able to discern in life. Well ok Anne, now is when you take a deep breath, use this time wisely and learn how to grow. Now I sound like my Titi Janis who when seeing how 'The Red Shoes' movie ended, exclaimed "...so she chooses death?! No! She could've gotten married and danced part time..." exasperated and offering practical, less tragic solutions.

The thing is I try to just get up and go with what I have in life, as Theodore Roosevelt apparently once said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are". Galloping in an endless loop over and over, screaming at your younger self isn’t a option- and even if it were, I don't think we would listen. I have a feeling we'd be more like this