'Time Enough at Last' is one of the most famous episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' ever made and it's not difficult to see why. Another solid classic, it is the first episode not to feature an original story by Serling. The script is based on a short story by Lynn Venable but in adapting it Serling has stamped his mark all over the story. It is a rich and involving script, blending comedy with tragedy to devastating effect.
A lot of hard work has obviously been put into 'Time Enough at Last. Aside from Serling's script, the post-apocalyptic set is wonderfully realistic and Burgess Meredith turns in one of the definitive performances of the entire series as Henry Bemis. It is important that we like this character intensely and want him to come out on top in order for the final twist to have full effect. So the first half of the episode is spent introducing us to the amiable Bemis and his love of books. We share in his frustration as an anti-intellectual world conspires to prevent him indulging his love of literature. The scene in which he opens his book of poetry only to find all the pages crossed out by his monstrous wife is one of the most heart rending moments. In her brief role, Jacqueline deWit is an amusing emasculator, leading her husband to believe she wants to share in his love of poetry. Bemis is clearly delighted to see his wife showing an interest and he is brought down to earth with crushing cruelty. But this is nothing to the cruelty the Twilight Zone will mete out to him at the tales' end.
I have always found the moment in which Bemis breaks his glasses to be more disturbing than most of the overt supernatural moments in other episodes. This is the Twilight Zone playing a sick joke on an innocent, trapping him alone in a world where he can no longer distinguish one thing from another. He has discarded his gun so he cannot commit suicide so where exactly Bemis goes from here is left up to our imaginations. This brilliant and unforgettable ironic twist must be credited to Lynn Venable but Serling and Meredith ensure we are suitably enamoured with Bemis for it to have its full tragic effect. This is the Twilight Zone playing a sick joke and Serling drops his usual humanitarian personality to deliver a brilliant, smirking conclusion; "Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis in the Twilight Zone."
If we must make a criticism of such a classic episode it would be the length of the second act. Serling struggles to stretch Bemis' journey through the destroyed landscape out to ten minutes and the result is a few moments where the story flags a little. Despite this, however, the climax renders any such complaint completely obsolete. Rewatching the episode with the knowledge of what is to come gives the proceedings a whole new emotional significance. We know we are heading to first share in Bemis joy and then watch his lifelong dream snatched away all for the want of a pair of glasses. It's no wonder this hauntingly cruel twist has become so famous.
A lot of hard work has obviously been put into 'Time Enough at Last. Aside from Serling's script, the post-apocalyptic set is wonderfully realistic and Burgess Meredith turns in one of the definitive performances of the entire series as Henry Bemis. It is important that we like this character intensely and want him to come out on top in order for the final twist to have full effect. So the first half of the episode is spent introducing us to the amiable Bemis and his love of books. We share in his frustration as an anti-intellectual world conspires to prevent him indulging his love of literature. The scene in which he opens his book of poetry only to find all the pages crossed out by his monstrous wife is one of the most heart rending moments. In her brief role, Jacqueline deWit is an amusing emasculator, leading her husband to believe she wants to share in his love of poetry. Bemis is clearly delighted to see his wife showing an interest and he is brought down to earth with crushing cruelty. But this is nothing to the cruelty the Twilight Zone will mete out to him at the tales' end.
I have always found the moment in which Bemis breaks his glasses to be more disturbing than most of the overt supernatural moments in other episodes. This is the Twilight Zone playing a sick joke on an innocent, trapping him alone in a world where he can no longer distinguish one thing from another. He has discarded his gun so he cannot commit suicide so where exactly Bemis goes from here is left up to our imaginations. This brilliant and unforgettable ironic twist must be credited to Lynn Venable but Serling and Meredith ensure we are suitably enamoured with Bemis for it to have its full tragic effect. This is the Twilight Zone playing a sick joke and Serling drops his usual humanitarian personality to deliver a brilliant, smirking conclusion; "Henry Bemis, now just a part of a smashed landscape, just a piece of the rubble, just a fragment of what man has deeded to himself. Mr. Henry Bemis in the Twilight Zone."
If we must make a criticism of such a classic episode it would be the length of the second act. Serling struggles to stretch Bemis' journey through the destroyed landscape out to ten minutes and the result is a few moments where the story flags a little. Despite this, however, the climax renders any such complaint completely obsolete. Rewatching the episode with the knowledge of what is to come gives the proceedings a whole new emotional significance. We know we are heading to first share in Bemis joy and then watch his lifelong dream snatched away all for the want of a pair of glasses. It's no wonder this hauntingly cruel twist has become so famous.