The Passersby

"The Passersby" is the 69th episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It was written by series creator and showrunner Rod Serling.

As the episode starts, a group of Civil War soldiers are walking down a road as Rod Serling narrates:

This road is the afterwards of the Civil War. It began at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and ended at a place called Appomattox. It's littered with the residue of broken battles and shattered dreams.

After the first dialogue between the Sergeant and Lavinia Godwin, Rod Serling resumes:

In just a moment, you will enter a strange province that knows neither North nor South, a place we call—The Twilight Zone.

At the end of the Civil War, a Confederate Army Sergeant walks down a road aided by a wooden crutch. He carries with him a dirty bed roll and a homemade guitar. The limping Sergeant comes across a ruined antebellum mansion which belongs to Lavinia Godwin, a Southern belle whose husband was killed in the war and whose bitterness toward the Union Army still survives.

The Sergeant receives permission from Lavinia to sit on a bench under a dead tree in her front yard. He plays his guitar, and Lavinia recognizes the tune as one that her husband used to sing. The two watch as soldiers belonging to both the Union and the Confederacy pass by the house and continue down the road. The Sergeant learns about Lavinia's illness and her husband's death.

As they reminisce, a Union Lieutenant on horseback stops by the home to ask for water. The Sergeant recognizes him as the man that saved his life in the war. Meanwhile, Lavinia retrieves an old shotgun and fires at the Lieutenant. The blast passes through him and he remarks that nothing matters anymore. The Sergeant then remembers that the man who saved his life was killed. He gives the Lieutenant a drink from the well and the soldier continues on his way.