I've Watched All the Episodes of The Twilight Zone, and These 5 Are a Must-See

The Twilight Zone is, without exaggeration, one of the most important series in TV history. References to episodes of the anthology can be found in many movies and shows even today.

The stories of The Twilight Zone are by no means outdated. They are not just scary tales – each episode contains social commentary and philosophical meaning.

I have watched the original series and all the reboots and have chosen the most iconic episodes that will appeal even to those who have never seen the great TV masterpiece.

1. Mirror Image (1960) – Season 1 Episode 21

Night, bus depot in New York. A young woman, Millicent, is waiting for a bus to Cortland. The bus is late and the woman is worried. Millicent goes to the ticket agent for advice and gets an unexpected answer: she is approaching him for the third time. But Millicent knows that this is not true.

Then, her bag ends up on the luggage rack by itself. The delusional nightmare continues when the woman, standing near the sink, sees in the reflection of the mirror an exact copy of herself sitting in the waiting room.

Mirror Image is a landmark episode for all television science fiction. It was one of the first to explore the topic of multiple parallel universes.

2. The Little People (1962) – Season 3 Episode 28

Two astronauts land on an unknown planet where they accidentally discover an entire settlement of small humanoids. The aliens are no bigger than ants.

One of the astronauts decides to use his height advantage and begins to command the little people. The power obsesses him, and his god complex eventually leads the man to force them to build a life-size statue of himself.

The episode ends with a masterful twist that turns everything upside down and shows what megalomania can lead to.

3. Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (1963) – Season 5 Episode 3

The original scripts for The Twilight Zone were almost always written by series creator Rod Serling himself. However, he sometimes enlisted the help of guest writers. His most successful collaboration was with author Richard Matheson.

Robert is on a plane with his pregnant wife. In the recent past, he had a nervous breakdown during a flight, so it is morally difficult for him to sit on board.

The man tries to stay calm and he succeeds until a terrible monster appears on the wing of the plane outside the window. The main character tries to show the creature to his wife and the stewardess, but each time it disappears.

4. Blurryman (2019) – Season 1 Episode 10

While filming an episode of The Twilight Zone, screenwriter Sophie is followed by a strange man – or rather, his blurry silhouette somewhere in the background.

First, someone replaces the text Sophie wrote for the next commentary Jordan Peele is supposed to say. Then an assistant points out to Sophie that the mysterious silhouette is present in the scenes of the episodes that have already been filmed.

A nice final chord to the season, and very much in the spirit of Jordan Peele: Blurryman is a movie within a movie and a movie about a movie. In this episode, the mythology, philosophy and logic of Rod Serling's classic Twilight Zone are presented in all their glory.

5. You Might Also Like (2020) – Season 2 Episode 10

This is the story of a wealthy housewife who must receive a certain egg – a household appliance that, according to its manufacturer, will radically change the life of its owner.

All her neighbors are obsessed with this egg, it is considered a measure of success in life, and to get it, people sign up for a waiting list.

You Might Also Like is the only original episode of Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone – it was directed and written by Oz Perkins, known for The Monkey and Longlegs. The director rethought the episode To Serve Man from the third season of Rob Serling's original show, including in it a critique of the modern realities of consumer society.