June 2, 2023- number 8-9

SPOILERS

“Time Enough at Last”

This episode of the first season of The Twilight Zone was adapted from a short story by author Lynn Venable and starred Burgess Meredith as poor Henry Bemis, a put upon man who just wanted some time to read the newspaper or some classic literature. His boss and his wife reacted negatively to his wish, going to dramatic steps to stop him from engaging in his hobby.

I related to Henry Bemis immediately. All he wanted was to be able to read and, as a reading teacher, I wish more people would be so motivated.

However, Bemis’s tale took a drastic switch as he was hidden away at the bank that he worked at inside a vault when an H-bomb exploded, destroying evrerything around him, killing all of the people of his city. I was happy that he did not have to deal with his horrible wife any longer. Henry was upset and lonely, unsure of what his life was going to be until he found the reminensce of the public library. Books, books, books everywhere and nothing but time to read them.

I was happy for him until the show pulled one of the crueler tricks that it has done as Henry’s glasses fell and broke, leaving him in a constant blurry world.

The hatred shown by several characters in this episode really relates to the current day as many books are being banned around the country. It really is sad that Henry was denied his one major love, something that had saved him from his near suicide earlier in the episode.

“The best-laid plans of mice and men…and Henry Bemis, the small man in the glasses who wanted nothing but time. Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis, in the Twilight Zone.“

“Perchance to Dream”

Episode nine of The Twilight Zone was the first episode of the series not written by Rod Serling. This episode, “Purchance to Dream” was written by Charles Beaumont.

Edward Hall needed help and he went to psychiatrist Dr. Eliot Rathmann looking for it. Edward had not slept for several days because of a dream that he was having. Dr. Rathmann had Edward lay down on his couch to rest, but Edward bolted up, afraid to succumb to sleep.

He told the psychiatrist that he had a bad heart condition and could not handle stressful situations or being startled. He then told the doctor that he had been having a dream of a carnival and a Cat Girl named Maya and he was sure that his heart could not handle the dream.

He told about the terrors at the carnival and the stress of the roller coaster. He said that he was sure that Maya was trying to scare him to death and that if he fell back asleep, she would succeed.

When he was leaving the office, he noticed that Rathmann’s receptionist resembled Maya. Frightened by this, Edward ran back into the office and leapt through the window, falling to his death.

However, we discover that he had not done any of this and that he was still on the psychiatrist’ couch, having never awakened. Dr. Rathmann checked Edward’s pulse, realizing that he had died in hi sleep, ironically stating that “At least he died peacefully…”

“They say a dream takes only a second or so, and yet in that second a man can live a lifetime. He can suffer and die, and who’s to say which is the greater reality: the one we know or the one in dreams, between heaven, the sky, the earth – in the Twilight Zone.“

This was a very intriguing episode and ending was extremely satisfying. When we come out of the dream where Edward had killed himself was very surreal. This felt very appropriate for The Twilight Zone.