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hitch-hiker: the people she met along the journey

posted 7 years ago by PeterBlues (790)
10 replies | jump to latest

since she was dead all along (if i recall right), where did the people she met along the journey come from? were they "dead too"? (phrase from "passage for trumpet"). i'm used to the radio version but saw the tv episode recently and thought her co passenger in a sailor suit acted quite suspicious and very forward, that was a bit of a surprise after being used to the radio adaptation where he seemed like a real calm rational guy. in the radio version these roles are being played by kate jackson and mike starr.

🚘 ⛽️ 🚏 🚦 🚥

her messy paintin shirt on,
in the gallery dont know what its good for,
all needed is a mirror thats all,
no other view i wanna see,
in time and space colour my reality,
on display shes like a painting that cant be beat,
mad smooth self reflected all around,
as she walk in my fun house.

[–] [email protected] (148) 7 years ago

A "Passage For Trumpet" scenario is possible.
I've always thought "The Hitchhiker" was a depiction of someone's dying thoughts. Nan's in an accident, and over the course of a few seconds (or however long it takes her to perish) her mind struggles with what is happening before resigning itself to the grim truth.

[–] [email protected] (5918) 7 years ago

That is an interesting way of looking at it.

For all the times I watched this episode, I never wondered about the people Nan "encountered".

Perhaps she was encountering spirits like Sam Wheat in 'Ghost'. The only beings he could talk to were already dead except for Oda Mae who had a gift for speaking to the deceased.

Maybe Nan was running into people who were also on "their way" to immortality.

I'm thinking about the sailor who was hitchhiking. Maybe he died and was endlessly trying to get back to his ship. Many people are familiar with the ghost story of "the girl on the bridge." In this case it was a ghost giving a lift to a ghost!

[–] Tristan_Booth (405) 7 years ago

Perhaps she was encountering spirits.... The only beings he could talk to were already dead

This was the case in "Death Ship" when Carter could talk to Mr. Kramer and Mrs. Nolan (who were dead), but he didn't see his wife, who was still alive. Likewise, Mason could talk to his wife and child (who were both dead).

[–] Xcalat3 (3749) 7 years ago

/A "Passage For Trumpet" scenario is possible.
I've always thought "The Hitchhiker" was a depiction of someone's dying thoughts. Nan's in an accident, and over the course of a few seconds (or however long it takes her to perish) her mind struggles with what is happening before resigning itself to the grim truth./

i like this theory.

[–] movieghoul (213) 7 years ago

Good theory. THe same applies to the 1963 film Carnival of Souls which is heavily indebted to the Hitchhiker episode.

[–] [email protected] (5918) 7 years ago

That was one creepy movie. I saw it on a Saturday afternoon chiller theater. So scary.

This has remained one of my favorite episodes. To this day I am afraid to look in my rearview mirror if I get in my car at night.

[–] goldenagefilmstv (178) 2 years ago

Yes, I've been wondering if the whole episode could be a dream that Nan Adams has while in a coma just before her death. As you say, the dream-events may occur over only a few minutes' time.

And note that in the very last scene she is back in her car again, and "Death" is present with her.

Who knows what people dream while in a coma from which they never awaken?

[–] JR-TV (102) 7 years ago

I think if the people she met along the way had been dead they would have been able to see the hitch-hiker. The sailor looked right where the hitch-hiker was and the sailor didn't seen him. That tells me they were all alive. I think when they encountered Nan they were actually unknowingly meeting Nan's ghost that didn't know she was a ghost.

[–] [email protected] (5918) 7 years ago

Maybe or...maybe not. It could be that the hitchhiker was only there for Nan. He was her guide, if you could call him that, leading her to the other side.

All those other people might have had their own personal guides and wouldn't see the hitchhiker.

[–] sidekickinwhitefury (54) 2 years ago

I thought they were dead. But remember, she calls her mother on the phone, and the mother is alive.
So I guess those other people are alive except The Hitch Hiker.