Twenty-two
Creeps me out no end
shareRoom for one more honey!
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MovieChat Forums > The Twilight Zone (1959) Discussion > Twenty-two
Speak of nightmare as a child. This episode freaked me out as a kid.
“Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. It’s July. It’s summer. It’s 1888.”
There were budget cuts when this was made and they had to tape it instead of filming. I think it worked well for this episode.
shareBaawhny!
“Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. It’s July. It’s summer. It’s 1888.”
U're right, videotape dis work well dor this one. It was the 4th one of 6
shareWhile I disliked video immensely, I'm with you here. It didn't hurt in this episode.
sharea "Dancer!" 💃
“Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. It’s July. It’s summer. It’s 1888.”
Dr. Smith is one of creepiest parts of this story.
shareNothing like a good smoke in your hospital bed.
“Willoughby, sir? That’s Willoughby right outside. It’s July. It’s summer. It’s 1888.”
Spoilers Ahead
What's with the ending? Was it real or all in Liz Powell's head? Serling keeps this unanswered in his outro.
It was real-- that is what was so creepy. I think this was the inspiration for the film "Final Destination."
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But in his outro Serling says the hospital's prognosis concerning Liz is "with rest and care she'll probably recover." But she's just been released from the hospital, suggesting that the rest and care Serling references has come to an end. Did the experience of seeing the plane explode send Liz back to the hospital where her treatment was resumed? Or did she never leave the hospital? Is what we're witnessing in the episode's climatic moments a dream, part of an ongoing cycle Liz has yet to break? Serling's outro also mentions "that the cure to some nightmares is not to be found in any known journals." Perhaps Liz is not cured. Perhaps Liz is doomed to remain in the throes of a crippling madness that will forever confine her to a hospital bed and the sleazy ministrations of, in her words, "laughing boy."
Your reading is still definitely creepy.
For the longest time I didn't understand why this one looked crystal clear. It really brings out the night nurse.
shareThe nurse / stewardess has that distinctively sinister expression. It is like she knows what is coming but offers just the same because it is fun to see the dancer scream. Just watched it again tonight. Harris' sleaze is especially memorable. Not a lot of swell folks in this one. "Room for one more, honey."
"The only home your family probably ever had was a ready room on a launching pad." –
I was fortunate to have met the late great Arlene Martell at a TZ convention a few years ago and she was absolutely awesome! Incredibly classy, friendly and exotic. Such a shame she's no longer with us, but her influence on pop culture will forever be assured!
"Room for one more, honey."
On the net:
http://www.arlenemartel.com/
Cool! She certainly leaves a lasting impression in this episode. Only the one line and that face...great stuff!
"The only home your family probably ever had was a ready room on a launching pad." –
For me it's the look on the flight attendant's face when she slowly shuts the plane door. It's a look of evil with a slight smile and confusion. It's hard to describe. She's so calm for what's about to happen. Very scary indeed.
shareWhy does she sport an evil grin? Does she set a bomb off or something? This episode leaves a lot of questions unanswered (which contributes to its unsettling air).
I like how just before the plane goes up in flames Liz in her voice-over questions repeatedly if she's awake or asleep. She never does get a concrete answer to her query.
It's great too that the episode ends immediately after the plane explodes. Nothing gets dragged out. That way the viewer is left all the more shaken.
Evil was the wrong word to use on my end. It's hard to explain but her look is just so odd and frightening. Indeed a very unsettling episode.
shareThe way she behaves, the way the lady reacts to Liz breaking her vase, the whole oft-kilter feel to the airport scene makes us wonder, as Serling warned us we would in his intro, just where is the bright divide between what is real and what isn't.
shareThe stewardess looks like she knows exactly what is going to happen to the plane, and is at least partly responsible for it. I don't think she is at all really surprised by Liz's reaction. There is something supernatural (in a sinister way) about that flight attendant, and I think that's the impression we're supposed to get.
shareYes good spooky ending! the videotape almost adds to the uncertainty in this episode.
shareOne of the few times the videotape format actually worked in the episode's favor.
shareAgreed!
share"Twenty Two" feels artificial, like the TV genre the videotape format is most readily associated with: the soap opera. Shooting it this way it makes Liz seem less like a flesh-and-blood person and more like a character in a script. Which is scary since her destiny is then not controlled by her but by something we and she never fully understand. Everything is already pre-determined and all she can do is play it out. The inevitability takes her agency away, heightening her paranoia. She feels like she's "lying on a glass slide," observed through a microscope by creeps. Liz's sentiments here sound not unlike Ferris' in the first episode "Where is Everybody." And in that episode Ferris' fear of being watched turned out to be true as we discover he's an astronaut in an isolation booth under the watchful eyes of military brass. Liz's dream could be prophetic. She could be part of some experiment like Ferris. She might luck out like Ferris and found what the experiment is all about. She could just keep dreaming ....
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