June 25, 2023-number 89

Spoilers

“To Serve Man”

My friend Todd told me that this was his favorite episode of The Twilight Zone and that I would love it. I know that the expectations were high for the episode as it is considered one of the iconic episodes of the entire run.

“Respectfully submitted for your perusal — a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we’re going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone.”

I enjoyed the way the episode started, with Michael Chambers locked inside a room by himself as instructions came over the speakers. It immediately places the audience on their guard. With his own narration used, it set a new feel for the episode since typically all we get for narration is Rod Serling at the beginning and the end of episodes.

The Kanamit aliens looked great, using their telepathy to talk is a really cool idea too. I see that Richard Kiel was the actor who played the giant aliens. Kiel also became famous for his role as Jaws in several James Bond movies.

Now, I did figure out the twist early in the episode. When I first thought about it- the fact that the Kanamits were actually doing everything for the humans because they were preparing them as food to eat- it seemed like a joke, a Soylent Green-esque moment. However, as the episode continued and when the cover title was deciphered, I had a pretty good idea that my guess was indeed the correct one.

I did love the twist and I am sure that it was sensational to the people of 1962 when this first aired. This was based on a short story of the same name by Damon Knight from 1950.

“The recollections of one Michael Chambers, with appropriate flashbacks and soliloquy. Or, more simply stated, the evolution of man. The cycle of going from dust to dessert. The metamorphosis from being the ruler of a planet to an ingredient in someone’s soup. It’s tonight’s bill of fare from the Twilight Zone.”

Todd was right again. I did love this episode. I kind of wish that I did not figure out the twist so early because I can see that line “It’s a Cookbook!” being a great horrific reveal.