As a reimagining of an iconic episode, The Twilight Zone's "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" stars Adam Scott as investigative journalist Justin Sanderson, who desperately wants to avert a disaster by taking matters into his own hands. But given that this is The Twilight Zone, Justin ended up becoming the impetus for such a disaster, and everything else leading up to Flight 1015's crash and disappearance can be considered red herrings.
When it comes to The Twilight Zone, one of the most famous stories ever told in the franchise is "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet", which was directed by a then-up-and-comer Richard Donner and starred William Shatner in the title role. The 1963 episode has been parodied numerous times over the years, but perhaps its most fruitful adaptation was in 1982. George Miller remade the story in a segment for The Twilight Zone: The Movie, with John Lithgow starring in Shatner's place.
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And now, to kick off CBS All Access' The Twilight Zone TV reboot, Peele commissioned writers Glen Morgan (X-Files) and Marco Ramirez (Daredevil) to pen a vastly different version of the story, one that removes the gremlin from the plane - though still adds the doll in the end as an Easter egg - and this time places an emphasis on making one's own fate. Because of all that, The Twilight Zone's "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" ending leaves quite a bit open to interpretation.
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What Happened In Nightmare At 30,000 Feet
Throughout "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", Justin Sanderson listens to an episode of the Enigmatique podcast, which chronicles the disappearance of Northern Gold Star Flight 1015 - a flight that he's a passenger on. Because of this, Justin becomes increasingly nervous, agitated, and unhinged as he tries to uncover the mystery of why Flight 1015 crashed. And the more he listens, the more clues the podcast reveals. But none of those clues sheds any light as to the disappearance of Flight 1015.
First, it's a bird that strikes the engine (possibly as a reference to the gremlin from "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"). Second, it's a pair of Sikh men watching a sports broadcast on the plane's WiFi, something that Justin believes could be causing a disturbance with communications. Third, it's a potential attack against a man named Igor Orlov, who is flying to Tel Aviv to testify against the Russian mafia. Everything revealed on the podcast are merely details of a much larger puzzle in Flight 1015's crash, one that Justin continually, though perhaps unknowingly, attempts to make a reality.
No matter what Justin tries to do or who he tries to tell, nobody believes him - except for Joe Beaumont, a man he met at the start of "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" and had signed a copy of the Progressive Pointe magazine for. Joe ultimately takes it upon himself to save everyone by infiltrating the cockpit, knocking the pilots unconscious, and crashing the plane into the Atlantic Ocean. Afterward, in the epilogue of "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet", it's revealed that all the passengers not only survive the crash but will eventually end up being rescued. That is, everyone but Justin, who the passengers and crew members killed.
Page 2 of 2: Nightmare At 30,000 Feet Ending Explained
Nightmare At 30,000 Feet Ending Explained
"Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" is, again, primarily rooted in the concept of fate. Throughout the episode, Justin hears something on the podcast and in trying to avert whatever it is, he ends up causing more distress and confusion. As someone who suffers from PTSD and admitted to having had a psychotic break before, Justin is an understandably untrustworthy person to listen to in a situation like this. Even the air marshall had heard to the podcast and said she didn't know what Justin was up to you. After all, "podcasts don't predict the future."
One of the biggest clues that the podcast reveals, which Justin tries to prevent from happening, is Captain Donner signing off air traffic control by saying, "Good night, New York." But because Justin sets the plane crash in motion by having Joe Beaumont enter the cockpit and take over flight controls, he becomes the very catalyst of his destiny and his impending doom. All of this can be explained by Justin having another psychotic break. A high-stress situation, such as thinking the plane will crash, is what led to Justin's previous mental breakdown while in Yemen.
As Justin puts it very plainly, Joe is the pilot that signs off from air traffic control, and the reason it's the last transmission from Flight 1015 is because Joe deliberately crashed the plan shortly thereafter. But was that imaginary? It doesn't seem so, no. Joe admitted to Justin that he had made too many mistakes, which is why he doesn't fly anymore. Rather than listening to his doctor, Dr. Cravat, and letting go of the past so he can move forward, Justin indulges in the fantasy that he can prevent the crash. That's what leads to him causing the very crash, to begin with. Just as Peele says in his final monologue, Justin was an investigative reporter unwilling to investigate himself.
What Happened To Joe Beaumont?
An easy explanation for everything that happens in "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" is to say that Joe Beaumont doesn't exist and Justin is living in a Mr. Robot-esque reality in which he's not only hallucinating his companion but also performing every action the companion does. However, when Joe stands up and starts walking towards the cockpit, one of the passengers in front of Justin looks up at Joe, thus confirming that Joe does indeed exist. And considering that Joe was in the cockpit when the plane crashed, he most certainly died. It was his way of escaping the past.
After all, everyone survived but Justin Sanderson, and nobody talks about Joe because Joe must have died in the crash (or shortly thereafter). As for the reason he wasn't mentioned on the podcast for having died since Justin is the only one who's apparently still "missing," it's worth noting that earlier in the episode Joe said that Northern Gold Star allows former pilots to hitch rides on flights if there's room. It's certainly possible, though unlikely by real-life standards, that he just wasn't put on the manifest.