23 Must See Twilight Zone Episodes To Watch Before The Revival Series
Jordan Peele is directing the most recent revival of the Twilight Zone, but have you seen the original series?
The Twilight Zone ran for 5 seasons from 1959-1964 and was revived for the first time in 1985-1989, the second revival in 2002-2003, and most recently, Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone has just begun to release episodes on the first of April. The new series is being released on CBS All Access (looks like I need to make an account!)
With the excitement of the show being revived again, and by none other than Jordan Peele, I wanted to reflect upon the original episodes.
This amazing show tackled a variety of topics which are still topics of discussion to this day such as:
-Beauty standards
-Twisted justice/vengeance
-Accepting death
-Parallel universes
-Be careful what you wish for
-Can you fight fate?
-Artificial intelligence
-Humans are the real monsters
-Time travel
Note: This top list only includes episodes from seasons 1,2,3, and 5. Unfortunately, I can not include season 4 in my list because it is not available to view on Netflix.
A Penny For Your Thoughts (Season 2, Episode 16)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhthnDQLiU
"Gaining telepathic abilities when his coin lands on its edge, bank clerk Hector B. Poole learns the difference between people's plans and fantasies."
-Netflix's episode description
A Stop At Willoughby (Season 1, Episode 30)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf1jD0Z5L6M
"While napping on the train home, a harried adman dreams of Willoughby, a Utopian 1880 town, then gets a chance to make Willoughby his final last stop."
-Netflix's episode description
The Jeopardy Room (Season 5, Episode 29)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMMs7d31Q5E
"A defector is trapped in a hotel room and given 3 hours to find a hidden bomb."
-Netflix's episode description
Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (Season 5, Episode 3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6gv2_KhiOg
"A man, newly recovered from a nervous breakdown, becomes convinces that a monster only he sees is damaging the plane he's flying in."
-Netflix's episode description
The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street (Season 1, Episode 22)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT4N6QqGsSI
"On a peaceful suburban street, strange occurences and mysterious people stroke the residents' paranoia to a disastrous intensty."
-Netflix's episode description
One For The Angels (Season 1, Episode 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1tzL0QZlKI
"When Death informs salesman Lou that he'll die at midnight, Lou talks Death into a stay of execution to make a final, seemingly perfect sales pitch."
-Netflix's episode description
The Rip Van Winkle Caper (Season 2, Episode 24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mpIzO30SSE
"After a successful gold heist, the criminals and a scientist cohort put themselves in suspended animation. Decades later, they have a rude awakening."
-Netflix's episode description
The 7th Is Made Up Of Phantoms (Season 5, Episode 10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTYcOIjJDK8
"Three 1960s National Guard soldiers on maneuvers near the Little Big Horn battle site find themselves unwittingly involved in Custer's last stand."
-Netflix's episode description
The Hunt (Season 3, Episode 19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F1SxicAZ4
"Upon returning from a coon hunt, Hyder Simpson discovers that no one can see or hear him because he has passed on."
-Netflix's episode description
The Passerby (Season 3, Episode 4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09oC4MTTvi8
"Near the end of the Civil War, a sergeant stops at the remains of the home of Lavinia Godwin, who's been watching wounded soldiers parade by."
-Netflix's episode description
The Man In The Bottle (Season 2, Episode 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bGbRUALaFk
A couple's luck turns when a genie springs from a bottle in their antique shop. He grants them four wishes but warns, "be careful what they wish for."
-Netflix's episode description
Living Doll (Season 5, Episode 6)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hfTP-LgW8E
A father does battle with his stepdaughter's talking doll, whose vocabulary includes such phrased as "I hate you" and "I'm going to kill you."
-Netflix's episode description
A Most Unusual Camera (Season 2, Episode 10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hshN_LImdBU
"When three dum-dum crooks get ahold of a camera that takes pictures of the guture, they set out to make a quick fortune with their new toy."
-Netflix's episode description
The Shelter (Season 3, Episode 3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TghYXxm3wq8
"As a neighborhood scrambles to prepare for an impending nuclear attack, everyone turns against the one family that installed a bomb shelter."
-Netflix's episode description
What You Need (Season 1, Episode 12)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIsm97HL0EU
"When a crook learns that a psychic peddler is selling people items they'll need in the future, he attempts to exploit the gift, with dubious results."
-Netflix's episode description
To Serve Man (Season 3, Episode 24)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5NWCD7D5n8
"An alien race comes to earth, promising peace and sharing technology. A linguist and his team set out to translate the aliens' language."
-Netflix's episode description
Execution (Season 1, Episode 26)
"In 1880, as outlaw Joe is about to be hanged, he's teleported to the future by a scientist, who gets a rude surprise when he tries to send Joe back."
-Netflix's episode description
Nick Of Time (Season 2, Episode 7)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=405IKLIMvJo
"A pair of newlyweds stopping in a small town are trapped by their own superstition when playing a fortune telling machine at a local diner."
-Netflix's episode description
The Midnight Sun (Season 3, Episode 10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCEWd7usi_M
"When the Earth falls out of orbit, two women try to cope with the increasingly oppressive heat in a nearly abandoned city."
-Netflix's episode description
Little Girl Lost (Season 3, Episode 26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcFmIIiixrA
"Awoken by the cries of his daughter, a father enters the girl's room to find she's vanished -- even though he can still hear her crying out for help."
-Netflix's episode description
Back There (Season 2, Episode 13)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clTlP_yB9jk
"After debating whether time travel can change history, a prominent Washington man finds himself in 1865, on the night President Lincoln will be shot."
-Netflix's episode description
Mirror Image (Season 1, Episode 21)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVSOCbXzdO0
"While waiting in a bus station, Millicent Barnes has the strange feeling that her doppelganger is trying to take over her life."
-Netflix's episode description
An Occurrence At Owl Creek
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByOlA8fQTbw
"It is the end of the Civil War and Union troops have occupied the South. They are going to execute a Southern resistance fighter."
-Netflix's episode description