Twilight Zone was all over the place when it came to the unexplained and the supernatural. Time travel, lost identity, lost airplanes, guardian angels, alien invasions, on and on. Some worked, some were dogs. What makes The After Hours stand out is it's one of the few genuine thrillers produced by the show, with a twist ending that works superbly. Anne Francis was positively amazing as she tries to sort out the mystery in the empty department store. No music, no punchy chords, just a tense walk around of the floor, trying to find her way out before she discovers her real destiny. A few jumpy moments that will make you gasp. Truly one of the best directed episodes and dare I would say inspired by Hitchcock.
It starts off as a "rather prosaic" story of a young woman who visits a major department store to purchase a gift for her mother. Told by the elevator man that what she's looking for can be found on the 9th floor, a floor that turns out to be completely empty. Later we learn the building has only 8 floors. Yet, she finds the gift she was looking for on that floor anyway. Later through a trick of fate she finds herself locked in the store after closing time. And her nightmare truly begins.
There are many unanswered questions, too many to list. As well as an abundance of logical conundrums replete in this episode. The thing about TZ is we have the benefit of 60 years to pick apart episodes and ask why, how, yeah but, and that makes no sense. But for a 30 minute time slot, there just wasn't time to answer them all. And in After Hours, you don't really care. Because the payoff was worth it. One of the top 10 episodes.
It starts off as a "rather prosaic" story of a young woman who visits a major department store to purchase a gift for her mother. Told by the elevator man that what she's looking for can be found on the 9th floor, a floor that turns out to be completely empty. Later we learn the building has only 8 floors. Yet, she finds the gift she was looking for on that floor anyway. Later through a trick of fate she finds herself locked in the store after closing time. And her nightmare truly begins.
There are many unanswered questions, too many to list. As well as an abundance of logical conundrums replete in this episode. The thing about TZ is we have the benefit of 60 years to pick apart episodes and ask why, how, yeah but, and that makes no sense. But for a 30 minute time slot, there just wasn't time to answer them all. And in After Hours, you don't really care. Because the payoff was worth it. One of the top 10 episodes.