The Twilight Zone - In His Image

So I’m charting a destination through the fourth season of The Twilight Zone which I plan to offer for the blog. It is a season that is often neglected, not too much talked about or discussed, perhaps undeserved. I guess I shall see.

One of the critiques I often find myself even making is that these episodes extended to the necessary hour, plus commercials of the time, would seem ideal if fitted into the proper thirty minute format instead. Such as the very first episode of the series’ fourth season, “In His Image”, featuring Grizzard (from a Twilight Zone episode I didn’t care for when I watched it for my own personal 4^th of July marathon, “The Chaser”) as a tormented out-of-towner in New York who finds quick love with lonelyheart, Jessica (Gail Kobe, a face in 60s sci-fi I know real well, considering I am also a big fan of The Outer Limits), the two caught up in a whirlwind romance with marriage on the horizon. In the very first season, we are introduced to this fanatical religious woman (Katherine Squire, earlier of “One More Pallbearer”) pelting Grizzard’s Alan Talbot with instructions towards receiving salvation before death, triggering a homicidal psychosis that results in his grabbing her and tossing her in front of a moving subway train! I can see why many might feel he was perhaps justified for shutting her up…okay, that was uncalled for. Anyway, something visually the episode does when he is homicidally overtaken by the urge to kill is this bright light (I’m not sure this was an effective visual cue as it looks like a crew member of the production is shining a spotlight on him) and audibly electronic noises cacophoning depicts a severe pain that agonizingly has Alan grabbing his head and ears. That first kill is always supposed to serve as a functionary suspense device, particularly later on when it does appear Jessica could be in grave danger.

The first half of the episode focuses on Alan taking Jessica to his “hometown”, noticing that it isn’t quite the same as he left, although it was only a week. He remarks to Jessica when buildings are either missing or not quite as he once remembered that it was as if 20 years had passed. In fact, when he goes to visit his “Aunt Mildred”, she isn’t at the house he thought she would be, finding a disgruntled home owner later getting a police officer to confront him about the “civil disturbance”. I think the guy was just being a jerk, leading the police officer to a cemetery where Alan and Jessica went to locate the graves of Alan’s parents. Alan remembers certain details, though. The sheriff’s predecessor Alan asks about was real…and dead, buried not far from where Alan and Jessica are standing. The parents, though, Alan thought should be buried in the cemetery are named Ryder, not Talbot. The name Ryder will indeed lead Alan to answers that he seeks. Alan did remember a neighbor next to the house that was supposed to be Aunt Mildred’s home, so there are pieces of memory that indicate some details are correct.

When Alan thankfully convinces Jessica to flee in the car so she couldn’t be bludgeoned by a stone in his hand during one of his “episodes”, he’s nearly hit by a motorist (George Petrie; cool that he would later star in the 80s TZ reboot as well). Alan scratches his arm and finds a terrifying discovery…the wound opens a layer of prosthetic “skin” revealing springs and parts, seemingly telling us that he’s not necessarily human!

The second half of the episode has Alan locating his creator, Walter, Jr. Walter looks exactly like Alan! Walter tells Alan about how he was a somewhat successful artificial intelligent human machine, perhaps a “better version” of himself. Except something went wrong…the inhibitors that would deter acting out violently don’t seem to work. A misfire left Alan a flawed and dangerous android, with great qualities (Jessica did fall in love with him) undermined by it. Alan is a kind and compassionate being but that misfire leaves him unable to control the violent urges when they eventually overwhelm him. Walter speaks about geniuses coming and going during his experiments to create the perfect being, and that Alan was actually a culmination of many failures (Alan is shown earlier incarnations that look very mannequin and incomplete), obsessive drive, and a lot of luck. Walter wanted him to have a lot of the qualities he lacked: the ability to talk to women, to function within society without all the “misfit” issues that seem to derail him, and to assert himself more. Alan eventually inspires Walter to pursue Jessica before one last misfire drives him to go after his creator in a deranged assault inside the basement lab. The lab, of course, goes up in sparks and explosions as Alan pursues Walter and Walter tries as he might to flee before he’s pummeled into a puddle of flesh and bone.

I thought the episode was okay. I thought Grizzard got the chance to flex his acting muscles, this time a nice guy with this serial killer in him just raging out when that misfire arrives. And he can play two characters, too, the Walter that airs his many reasons for creating Alan, and Alan reacting to the shocking revelation that he’s a machine despite how he feels. Beaumont’s script really kicks off the episode with that odd encounter between Alan and the religious fanatic who bombards him with history of her dead husband, reading the Good Book, and receiving salvation while he still has the chance. I did like the visit to a home of Walter’s youth, changed over the process of time which means that Alan is perplexed at why it isn’t reminiscent of what he remembers. Jessica by his side, nothing is as it should be, considering that Walter gave Alan the memories and home identity of 20 years past. Those reactions and the bewildering situation give the episode a sort of tragic quality. Alan’s fate is also tragic as he learns he isn’t human and will not be able to marry Jessica and make a true relationship with her. Walter, instead, is granted that privilege, but I do wonder if he will ever live up to the impression his creation left behind.

2.5/5