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Few shows have stood the test of time quite like The Twilight Zone. For a show that first aired 60 years ago, it’s absolutely shocking how relevant and influential many of its classic episodes are. However, like any show with well over 100 episodes, some of them are going to stink. The Twilight Zone is no exception, and includes some really bad stuff. Luckily, the good far outweighs the bad, and that’s all anyone could ask for from a long-running series. On the other end of the spectrum, what’s the best one? What episodes stand out above the others?
This issue can (and continues to be) debated by fans for decades, but there is a clear winner, at least when it comes to users of certain websites. “Eye of the Beholder,” the 42nd overall episode of “The Twilight Zone,” stands out above the rest. Highest rated work in the series on IMDb. For those who have seen this, it is definitely a difficult episode to argue with. While viewers will no doubt have their personal favorites, there’s a reason “Eye of the Beholder” is often cited as the quintessential work.
The episode centers on a young woman lying in a hospital bed, recovering from a surgery performed in a last-ditch effort to look normal. She has her head bandaged and is anxiously awaiting the results of the surgery. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet, but this episode contains one of the biggest twists in Twilight Zone history. The best is out there.
Eye of the Beholder is the best Twilight Zone
“Eye of the Bealder,” the sixth episode of “The Twilight Zone” Season 2, features one of the best storylines in the show’s history. It was written by series creator Rod Serling and directed by Douglas Hayes, who directed many episodes of the show’s first two seasons. It also required few visual effects, no fancy sets, and only a handful of actors participated. It depends purely on the major premise and the execution of that premise.
Looking back, it feels like a miracle that CBS was able to keep this show alive for five seasons and over 150 episodes in such high quality. As it turned out, it was network interference that doomed the 2002 revival of “The Twilight Zone.” Sixty years later, it remains a timeless example of storytelling that represents the best of what Serling had to offer the world as a storyteller. There are no bad, degraded CGI shots to bore the viewer, and no compromises dictated by an unnecessarily large budget. It’s a clever story with something to say, executed to perfection by some very talented artists. It is special and deserves every accolade.
“The Twilight Zone” is currently streaming on Prime Video and Paramount+. You can also get the entire series on Blu-ray from Amazon.
