I was diverted from my resolutions for the New Year because a local TV channel was running a Twilight Zone marathon over the weekend. I found myself caught up in the cascading episodes, 25 minute tales of kindness, cruelty, random chance, the best and worst of humanity facing the riddle of existence. There went my plans for the day.
In a way, it’s a good preparation for 2024. Even the usually oblivious press is becoming peripherally aware that things have come unstuck and we are walking drunkenly half-blind above the abyss. Nothing can be taken for granted. We are all living in The Twilight Zone.
Donald Trump’s brag about being able to shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose a vote has the rest of us wondering after January 6 if we are living on Maple Street. (I didn’t catch that particular episode, but there were others just as disturbing.) Parents are awakened in the middle of the night by their little girl crying — and they can’t find her because she’s fallen into a dimensional rift that opened without warning. (And we now live in a time where a child can go into a school and never come out again.)
People are insistent on getting what they want — yet don’t know what it is they really need. We have a man dominating the world who is a toxic narcissist — so how about a fable about about a man who seeks to be a god? We rely on our technology without thinking too much about it — until we find ourselves for unknown reasons outside the limits it was meant to operate.
In a time when it seems like all of our best efforts amount to nothing, a tale of a teacher forced into retirement feeling he has accomplished nothing is reminded that we can’t always know the difference we make to others. Mark Sumner informs us the warming world is shifting growing zones northward — how about a story of the Earth burning up? Did you see the Barbie movie? Perhaps it would be worth considering Number 12 Looks Just Like You.
The Twilight Zone was something that is a challenging format: an anthology series. Every episode is different — no continuing story arc, different characters in every episode (although recurring actors may take on new roles in each show.) The shows have to be consistently good enough to hold an audience from week to week on their own merits. They can’t become a franchise centered around a particular cast, because the cast keeps changing, as do the settings and the genre. Tragedy, comedy, social commentary, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, love story — it could be any or combinations of those for any given show.
Watching these episodes from the black and white era of television is fascinating on another level. While shows featured many established actors, others would appear who would become better known in later tv and movie shows. Susan Oliver, famed for her appearance in the first Star Trek pilot “The Cage”, appears with Roddy McDowall in People Are Alike All Over. A Telly Savalas who still had some hair at the time has a battle with a demonic Talky Tina in Living Doll.
A horror story set waiting for a bus in upstate New York teams Martin Milner with Vera Miles. A battle with tiny alien invaders has Agnes Moorehead giving a performance with no dialogue other than Serling’s narration and a voice over. Jack Klugman does a turn as an obsessed pool player determined to prove he is the best — and Jonathan Winters gives Klugman the match of his life, portraying a legendary player from beyond the grave in a straight dramatic performance.
What tied it together was Rod Serling — his opening stage-setting narration and his concluding observations — and the idea of existence outside the boundaries of normality, or a view of normality from an unexpected perspective. While known for his writing, Serling was also a decorated combat veteran of World War II. (“During his military service, Private Serling was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star,[10] and the Philippine Liberation Medal.[4][11]” )
Serling suffered from what we now know as PTSD. His experiences in combat showed him humans at their best and their worst, and how things could turn on random chance. If there are things on The Twilight Zone that seem over the top or improbable, Serling had seen things that deny an orderly universe. As per:
...Serling's time in Leyte shaped his writing and political views for the rest of his life. He saw death every day while in the Philippines, at the hands of his enemies and his allies, and through freak accidents such as that which killed another Jewish private, Melvin Levy. Levy was delivering a comic monologue for the platoon as they rested under a palm tree when a food crate was dropped from a plane above, decapitating him...
...When portions of the city [Manila] were taken from Japanese control, local civilians sometimes showed their gratitude by throwing parties and hosting banquets. During one of these parties, Serling and his comrades were fired upon, resulting in many soldier and civilian deaths. Serling, still a private after three years, caught the attention of Sergeant Lewis when he ran into the line of fire to rescue a performer who had been on stage when the artillery started firing.[2]: 49
Serling’s origins in upstate New York turn up in episodes from time to time, with particular local geographic references. The company he organized to produce the show was named Cayuga Productions.
Binge-Watching The Twilight Zone is a way to prepare for what we are up against this year. Seeing a range of human follies and triumphs, the best and the worst, the shock of seeing things from a new perspective, the operation of random chance — it can open your mind to possibilities too easily missed in the routine of just getting through things day by day.
Digby picks up on a commentary taking a look at what we may be facing. Here’s how it starts:
Author Brynn Tannehill tweeted this and I think she’s right. No matter what happens in the election in 2024, we are in for tremendous tumult. Even so, there is only one thinkable outcome. It won’t be easy and the aftermath may very well be violent. But it’s infinitely better than the alternative.
I’m going to bookmark once I post this, because it’s about what’s going to happen in 2024. I’m going out on a limb to say that regardless of what specifically happens, this is going to end up being mentioned along with 1860 as watershed moments in US history.
Read the whole thing — it’s a short summary but worth reading.
We’re going to have to be prepared to go beyond the bounds of the normal and the accepted to face what’s coming. We need to embrace an expanded sense of the possible, both the good and the bad, to get through this.
Welcome to The Twilight Zone.