1 of 10

Write now Article Tools

The music was eerie and Rod Serling's voice sinister when he warned us that we were now entering The Twilight Zone. Completely unique and guaranteed to take a twist at the end, Americans did not quite know what to make of it but we watched every week. With the feeling of science fiction we were shocked, entertained, and intrigued by thought-provoking stories about things that dwell in the recesses of our psyches.

Airing from the time I was 9 until I was 14 years old, Twilight Zone contributed immensely to the development of many of my life philosophies. Many episodes were just creepy in a fun way, but many had a moral if you cared to find it.

An episode comes to mind about a young woman who was so ugly she had subjected herself to numerous unsuccessful plastic surgeries, only to arrive at the last chance surgery to remove her horrible imperfections. As you hear the doctors and nurses discussing her tragic condition the picture unfolds that those who are deformed and imperfect are taken to live apart from normal society with others of their kind. Throughout the episode we never see her face. Or anyone else's for that matter. Suspense builds as the doctor unwinds the bandages.

As the last remnant of gauze is removed (we are seeing this from inside the bandages) the girl hears the gasps and sees the expression of horror on the faces looking down at her. Faces that look like deformed swine; their world's idea of beauty in twisted mouths and snouts, scowling eyebrows over concerned eyes. The camera pans to her and now, finally, we see a beautiful, blue-eyed blond; stereotypical beauty in our society, not in hers.

Another of her kind, a hideous creature in their world (think Cary Grant) leads her away as she sobs. The narration has informed us that after a while of being together these deformed humans become accustomed to their repulsiveness and actual become attractive to one another. Could it be that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder? Is it really reasonable to think beneath a less than perfect exterior there could be a person worth knowing?

A venture into the dark side of humanity starts with a power out and a rumor. As things get darker, rumors run rampant, and neighbors turn against one another. Things spiral downward from there and as they fight the scene pans to aliens watching how typical American neighbors might behave when times get dark and fear takes over. The aliens comment how easy it was to let the earthlings fight amongst and weaken themselves instead of invading Earth and doing all the work. Maybe the darkness we must guard against is within us, not somewhere in the universe. At the end of this episode I was resolved to not listen to rumor but insist on fact, especially for the important things. I was also determined not to live my life in fear and apprehension, I was going to own it.

Oh, there were many episodes meant just to creep us out, one of my favorites, To Serve Man, did just that. Aliens have arrived. They are here and they are friendly. To encourage interaction they offer transportation to their world and humans line up by the hundreds to take the trip. Whole families board the spaceships in anticipation of a real outer space adventure.

In the meantime an alien book is discovered and is in the process of being translated. Finally the title is translated to read, "To Serve Man" and everyone is pretty tickled being the egocentric humans they were. As the episode ends, the guy translating the book runs up to the spaceship shouting to his friend who is just entering the spaceship, "Don't go. It's a cookbook!" Fava beans and Chianti have nothing on that. Bon Apptit!
Twilight Zone was special.

Learn more about this author, Melodee Monroe.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about TV show reviews: The Twilight Zone?
We want to hear your view. Write now!