The Twilight Zone

Rod “you can call me undernourished Hitchcock" Sterling as creator and our guide through the Twilight Zone. A classic precursor of (not just) short story (not just) series playing (not just) with the “marginal" genres of horror, sci-fi etc. Not that similar attempts hadn’t been made at this before (both on TV and on the radio, cf. Hitchcock and Welles), but never with these genres in the forefront and also never with such quality, with so many famous writers and on such a scale. Because of when it was made, the topics work with fear of the atomic bomb, “McCarthyism", space discovery, Cold War paranoia, etc. As of season two, the creators tried using special effects, daring for the time, but mostly the show stands on ideas, story and morals. Of course, since it is in short story form, the quality oscillates considerably from episode to episode, but overall it is a classic of all classics, many of the best episodes remaining unsurpassed to this day. (1x01) Where is Everybody? 3/5 When the entire story (otherwise outstanding) stands on the shoulders of just one actor, why cast an amateur instead of an actor? (1x02) One for the Angels 4/5 A salesman who could sell a juicer to anybody, even Jason Vale versus the Grim Reaper snowed under by red tape. (1x03) Mr. Denton on Doomsday 3/5 A fateful western with a shameless lush and a fateful shootout. (1x04) The Sixteen Millimeter Shrine 4/5 Sunset Blvd. (1x05) Walking Distance 2/5 Sentimentally intrusive time travel with a lesson about the right values. (1x06) Escape Clause 4/5 A hypochondriac Faust, a fat-bellied devil and a great solution for immortality, too bad for the pointless epilog. (1x07) The Lonely 2/5 Loneliness is an awful thing, but there’s no reason to bore the viewer about it. (1x08) Time Enough at Last 5/5 A TV definition of irony. A keen reader has a tough lot. So many books and so little time. (1x09) Perchance to Dream 5/5 A psycho-horror where nobody speaks, first inspiration for not only the Nightmares on Elm Street. But this is much better and the whole movie stands firmly anchored in reality. Which makes this even more chilling and, therefore, more powerful. (1x10) Judgment Night 3/5 Cabin fever deja vu. (1x11) And When the Sky Was Opened 4/5 Gagarin wasn’t the first person in space, it’s just that the first ones are never remembered. (1x13) The Four of Us Are Dying 3/5 A good theme wasted, too bad. (1x14) Third from the Sun 4/5 The outstanding atmosphere of the end is nigh on the one hand and an obvious lesson on the other. (1x15) I Shot an Arrow into the Air 4/5 A slow-moving story about the unsuccessful first flight into space with a crew, but it’s worth holding out for the finale. And Sterling repeats something strikingly similar to this finale a couple of years later when writing the screenplay for one of the most famous sci-fi movies of all times. (1x16) The Hitch-Hiker 5/5 Psycho terror, frights and wonderfully cast scruffy hitchhiker. One day I would like to listen to the original radio play. P.S.: So I have heard it now, read by Orson Welles and it’s also outrageously good. (1x17) The Fever 3/5 Fundamentally excellent, but the material is for a much shorter episode. "Fraaanklin, Fraaanklin!" (1x18) The Last Flight 4/5 Well thought out; it’s rare for time travel to be approached so consistently “what happened happened and it always happens like that otherwise what happened wouldn’t have happened". (1x20) Elegy 4/5 An absolutely great idea, shame that it didn’t develop on it. (1x21) Mirror Image 4/5 Well, of course². If it had had a different ending, for instance that everything was just a warning for her not to get on the bus, thereby avoiding the fatal accident, then it would have been perfect because the ending used means that the episode just fizzles out. (1x22) The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street 4/5 This should have been made into at least a double-length episode with detailed psychological portraits. This way, the crowd psychology is too jumpy, making it less powerful. The nod to Shirley Jackson’s “Lottery" was nice. (1x23) A World of Difference 4/5 Cut! And now for something completely different... (1x27) The Big Tall Wish 4/5 Kids’ sports wishes come true or a bookmaker’s worst nightmare. Luckily the betting lobby stepped in quickly and so the end of the boxer past his prime who received too many blows during his life is pleasantly realistic. Plus a daring and socially meritorious episode because the exclusively black cast main roles (and a white man massages a black man) was something unheard of back in 1960. (1x29) Nightmare as a Child 3/5 A precocious princess, who would have made Freud very happy. The experienced viewer will not share his enthusiasm so much. (1x30) A Stop at Willoughby 5/5 Push-push-push... A wonderfully melancholic, gloomy episode about a stressed out guy who was born into the wrong century and can’t keep up. A better (much better) adaptation of the episode Walking Distance. (1x31) The Chaser 5/5 A charming variation on “beware what you wish for, it might come true". And who would have thought that the devil was such a pleasant, cynical bookworm? (1x34) The After Hours 4/5 Marsha? Marsha? MARSHA! The excellent, disconcerting atmosphere of a department store after hours which was absolutely ruined by a dumb punchline. (1x36) A World of His Own 5/5 Nothing for feminists. But perfect for those with a sense of humor and it’s charming proof that good entertainment can be produced from very little. Specifically Matheson’s short story, one study with one fireplace and three actors with two envelopes and one Serling on top. (2x05) The Howling Man 4/5 Gandalf the White as the abbot of a weird monastery holding (not) guilty man prisoner, against the law. The atmosphere! The camera angles! And then that dumb, dumb ending... (2x06) Eye of the Beholder 4/5 Its legend status doesn’t help. It is unarguably excellent (primarily visually), just not as outstanding as everybody says. (2x11) The Night of the Meek 4/5 A drunkard, once a department store Santa who finds his way to the real Santa’s gift sack. So good that I wouldn’t be surprised if this were regular Christmas viewing for many families. (2x15) The Invaders 5/5 Simply a hick woman living miles from anywhere versus Action Man figures from space. And no, this is no laid back episode. On the contrary, this is an episode with an incredibly tense atmosphere of terror in the apparent safety of your own home. (2x19) Mr. Dingle, the Strong 2/5 Unintentionally funny at moments when it’s really not meant to be, but embarrassingly unfunny at moments when it’s meant to be funny. And that applies to the majority of moments. (2x22) Long Distance Call 3/5 A young boy speaks with his dead grandma through a toy phone and she wants him with her. Or maybe not... An excellent theme for a horror, but in the end more of a touching soda-pop movie. (2x25) The Silence 4/5 Speech is silver, silence is golden, or Big Brother 1961. (2x27) The Mind and the Matter 3/5 Don’t you just hate those crowds on your way to work in the morning? Are you fed up with people and their behavior? Then this will be your favorite episode and you also learn the lesson that being alone is not the same as being lonely. (2x28) Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up? 4/5 And I used to live under the misconception that women came from Venus. (2x29) The Obsolete Man 5/5 - I’m a human being! - You’re a librarian, Mr. Wordsworth. A monster show trial in an Orwellian dystopic society with an “obsolete" librarian. McCarthy and Czechoslovak Communist State Prosecutor Trudák’s hearts would flutter (if they had any) with joy from the trial; and my heart fluttered from this episode. (3x01) Two 2/5 A speechless post-apo about an uninteresting couple starring a young Bronson. (3x05) A Game of Pool 4/5 A game of pool to the death with the ghost of the best player of all time. (3x10) The Midnight Sun 5/5 The suggestive, scorching atmosphere of the approaching end of the Earth from the point of view of the “sweaty girl next door". Too bad for the pointless attempt at a moral at the end; this episode would leave you feeling parched even without it. (3x11) Still Valley 3/5 Sleeping Beauty in the Civil War. (3x14) Five Characters in Search of an Exit 5/5 The guys from Pixar must have loved this; and not just for the ingenious Murray Matheson clown. (3x21) Kick The Can 2/5 On paper this is condensed nostalgia, but in practice this is a cheap melodrama aimed at gut feelings. (3x24) To Serve Man 5/5 Peaceful aliens and their help of people who will just never learn. So good that it enthralls despite the all too obvious message. (3x28) The Little People 2/5 Not a bad idea, but the result was awful. And I better not even think about a diabolic performance by Joe Maross who moves the bounds of over-acting to new extremes. (3x31) The Trade-Ins 4/5 In view of the retirement age today, this episode about the chance to continue your life in a young body is almost chillingly topical. But how to choose the right model? And be able to afford it, most importantly. (4x02) The Thirty-Fathom Grave 4/5 - Knock! Knock! - Who's there? - A World War II American Submarine from the past, yo! (4x06) Death Ship 4/5 Matheson thought this up and wrote it well, but the cast spoils it. Just one of that trio can act. The second one looks like Andy Serkis pulling faces in all the tense scenes and the third has absolutely stiff facial muscles, which he tries to make up for by waving his arms about. Shame, because it had the potential to be one of the best episodes. (4x16) On Thursday We Leave for Home 4/5 A study of a man who on an inhospitable planet scorched by the incessant glare of two suns that never set develops a fanatical God complex after having enjoyed absolute power over blindly obedient sheep for the thirty long years. (5x03) Nightmare at 20,000 Feet 5/5 Who is afraid of a big bad Monchhichi on the wing in a storm? (5x06) Living Doll 5/5 My Name is Talky Tina and I am going to kill you. Kojak versus a disconcerting talking doll as the dark alter ego of his adoptive daughter. Textbook tension build-up. (5x07) The Old Man in the Cave 3/5 Post-apo with Coburn, which will beat you about the head with its message like an old Latin teacher. Over and over, repeatedly. And just in case you still don’t understand, we’ll say it again and again. (5x17) Number 12 Looks Just Like You 4/5 A variation on the "Eye of the Beholder" the other way round. Paradoxically more topical than when it was made; setting it in the year 2000 was pretty accurate. Too bad about casting a male (non)actor and a thirty-year-old as the eighteen year-old girl. (5x15) The Long Morrow 4/5 Forty years of solitude in space on a pointless mission. A wonderfully depressing ending. (5x22) An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge 4/5 The most movie-like episode and Oscar material - literally. Strange for a TV project, isn’t it? In fact, it wasn’t originally filmed for The Twilight Zone, but was an independent French short, adapted from a short story by Bierce, bought by Sterling in Cannes for season five. He just had to film the opening speech. A great genre movie set in the Civil War that is just right for this series. Plus the wonderful work with film time. (5x23) Queen of the Nile 4/5 Now that IMDb exists, this seems like an even bigger “fairytale" than back then. In any case, a great variation on the Countess Báthory story. (5x28) Caesar and Me 3/5 Who is the puppet and who is the puppet master? (04/05/2011) (less) (more)