Movies - TV
Ranking The Twilight Zone’s 6 All-Time Best Twist Endings
By DEVIN MEENAN
To Serve Man
The terror of the ending in “To Serve Man” is that mankind, masters of our Earthly domain, could become a lesser species and be treated the same as cows and hogs.
When the Kanamits trick Earthlings into becoming cattle after first presenting themselves as friendly, the episode’s message becomes simple — always look a gift horse in the mouth.
Time Enough At Last
After the world is destroyed, Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith) delights in endless time to read, but he shatters his glasses. It’s a moving depiction of despair.
“Time Enough At Last” is the “Twilight Zone” episode that proves that a twist doesn’t have to be a sharp left turn. It’s a tragedy worthy of the authors whom Bemis adored so much.
A Nice Place
This one is a bombshell: Heaven gets so boring for Rocky (Larry Blyden) he asks to go to “the other place” and Pip (Sebastian Cabot) replies, “This is the other place!”
The censorship of “Hell” makes the line more effective, doubled by an abrupt music cue and Pip’s mocking laughter at Rocky’s horror. The ending is perfectly abrupt.
Eye
Janet (Maxine Stuart and Donna Douglas) is presented as a “disfigured” patient, then revealed to be beautiful, while her “normal” doctors are pig-faced mutants. It’s clever.
The message is about more than beauty standards — differences of any kind are not tolerated in this world. A Hitler-esque dictator broadcasts such messages on the hospital’s TVs.
The Invaders
This episode is a home invasion thriller, and director Douglas Heyes’ direction gives it the suspense it deserves. The silence in the episode is key to the twist.
A woman’s (Agnes Moorehead) home is invaded by a tiny flying saucer; she smashes it, and it’s revealed the saucer is “U.S. Air Force Space Probe #1.” The colonized fight back here.
Midnight Sun
The Earth falls out of its orbit and is hurtling toward the Sun, then, shockingly, it’s revealed the Earth is actually moving away from the Sun and will freeze over.
The reality is the opposite of the premise. Norma (Lois Nettleton) talks about how “wonderful” the cold darkness is, and Mrs. Bronson (Betty Garde) spares her the pain and agrees.