Entertainment
The Best ‘Twilight Zone’ Episode of All Time Is Still a Chilling Masterpiece
Among the many things that make The Twilight Zone one of television’s greatest achievements is the fact that even decades after its conclusion in 1964, many episodes remain relevant today, almost eerily so. One of its most lauded episodes, “Time Enough at Last,” is one of these. It tells the tale of a man, played by Burgess Meredith (the Penguin from the 1966 Batman series), who wishes for solitude so he can simply have time to read without interruption. And his wish is granted… in true Twilight Zone fashion, that is. The episode’s lessons could, and perhaps even should, be taught today.
‘The Twilight Zone’s “Time Enough at Last” Proves That Maybe Wishes Should Never Come True
Henry Bemis (Meredith) is a bank teller. He is also an avid bookworm, and his passion for books often crosses into his job, annoying a customer with a ceaseless barrage of information about the novel he’s currently reading: Charles Dickens‘ David Copperfield. Both his boss and his wife berate him for wasting far too much time reading, with his wife going so far as to destroy a book of poetry in front of him. But Bemis is not one to let others impinge on his passion, and one day, like every other day, he takes refuge in the bank’s vault during his lunch break, allowing him to read without being disturbed.
Suddenly, an enormous explosion outside rattles the vault and lays Bemis out for a time, but after regaining consciousness, he dons his thick glasses and emerges from the vault, where he sees for the first time the utter devastation left by an H-Bomb. He finds the bank has been leveled, and his former coworkers lie dead, and as he ventures out further, he sees that the entire city has been destroyed, a city that was just recently bustling and now serves as nothing more than a graveyard. He realizes that nuclear war has devastated Earth, and he is the lone survivor in the immediate area, saved by being inside the vault.
Bemis is truly and devastatingly alone, with no way of looking for other survivors. He’ll live a lifetime on canned food and whatever other provisions he can find, but without anything to live for, his life is meaningless. He stumbles upon a revolver and comes achingly close to using it to end his life until his eye catches a public library in the distance. He makes his way there and is overjoyed to see that the books are still intact. Everything he has ever read, everything he has ever wanted to read, is right there, and with no one to interrupt or chastise him, he has all the time in the world to read. But as he rummages through the books, he trips, causing his glasses to fall off and shatter. In an instant, his own personal Heaven turns to Hell; he has everything he hoped for – time, solitude, and books – but he will never be able to read them.
‘The Twilight Zone’s “Time Enough at Last” Holds a Mirror to Today’s World
So, what does “Time Enough at Last” have to say? The threat of nuclear war is just as real today as it was then, and although we’re generations away from having seen the horrors of Hiroshima firsthand, we are, literally, the press of a button away from global devastation and live under its shadow every day. Only that may be the first lesson “Time Enough at Last” has to teach us: we don’t. Or, more accurately, it’s just one of a legion of shadows we’ve learned to live with. We are constantly bombarded with news from around the world about wars, disasters, and global threats, but, just like the headline of the paper that Bemis glances at briefly that reads “H-Bomb Capable of Total Destruction,” we read and move on, almost unable, or unwilling, to recognize it as anything more than just something else out of our control. That is if we’re paying attention at all. Just like Bemis, who placed his own personal satisfaction over others when they were alive, their own wants and needs come first.
‘The Twilight Zone’s “Time Enough at Last” Exposes the Irony of Isolation Today
There’s a scene in Bruce Almighty where Jim Carrey‘s Bruce, who has taken on the responsibilities of Morgan Freeman‘s God, gives up on reading the world’s prayers via email and just automatically gives everyone exactly what they’re praying for. That decision is almost impressively bad, with the lack of foresight about the consequences of granting those wishful prayers leading to extreme chaos worldwide. Bemis longed for and wished for isolation, and he got it in spades. But that selfish desire puts himself first before everyone else, including anyone who might be able to repair his glasses (rather shortsighted, right?), and realistically, few people today think of what is to follow after they get what they want.
Interestingly, it’s Bemis’ desire for isolation that speaks loudest to today’s world. Social media and technology have effectively upended the idea of real-world relationships and social interaction, all of it then concentrated in a post-COVID world. But what’s ironic is that we continue digging deeper into isolation while at the same time being instilled with the fear of being isolated. As much as Bemis rejoices over finally having the time to read uninterrupted, the moments before of utter despair will eventually return, broken glasses or not. “Time Enough at Last” is timeless, and we would do us well to learn the lessons from this iconic story before we’re hit with our own personal Rod Serling-ized Twilight Zone ending.
The Twilight Zone is streaming on Paramount Plus in the U.S.
- Release Date
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1959 – 1964-00-00
- Directors
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John Brahm, Buzz Kulik, Douglas Heyes, Lamont Johnson, Richard L. Bare, James Sheldon, Richard Donner, Don Medford, Montgomery Pittman, Abner Biberman, Alan Crosland, Jr., Alvin Ganzer, Elliot Silverstein, Jack Smight, Joseph M. Newman, Ted Post, William Claxton, Jus Addiss, Mitchell Leisen, Perry Lafferty, Robert Florey, Robert Parrish, Ron Winston, Stuart Rosenberg
- Writers
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Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Earl Hamner, Jr., George Clayton Johnson, Jerry Sohl, Henry Slesar, Martin Goldsmith, Anthony Wilson, Bernard C. Schoenfeld, Bill Idelson, E. Jack Neuman, Jerome Bixby, Jerry McNeely, John Collier, John Furia, Jr., John Tomerlin, Lucille Fletcher, Ray Bradbury, Reginald Rose, Sam Rolfe, Adele T. Strassfield
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