God in The Twilight Zone: Spiritual Lessons from the Fifth Dimension

By Dann Michalski

Submitted for your approval, an exploration of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone from a Christian perspective. Ten religiously themed episodes are examined, looking at how biblical issues are treated in the show and how Christian principles are demonstrated through the stories and characters. See how this classic television series is sti

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dann Michalski
• Release date: Dec 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781088010952

Book preview

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: ONE FOR THE ANGELS

CHAPTER 2: NOTHING IN THE DARK

CHAPTER 3: MR. BEVIS

CHAPTER 4: CAVENDER IS COMING

CHAPTER 5: ONE MORE PALLBEARER

CHAPTER 6: IN PRAISE OF PIP

CHAPTER 7: THE HUNT

CHAPTER 8: STILL VALLEY

CHAPTER 9: THE HOWLING MAN

CHAPTER 10: PRINTER’S DEVIL

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

"There is a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space, and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagining. It is an area which we call—The Twilight Zone."

I love The Twilight Zone. I love it. I’m not sure how the love affair began. Slowly it came into my life—watching it on late night television, then on DVD, and before I knew it, the marathons. Gradually my remote control was drawn to, and found, The Twilight Zone—and locked in. Then suddenly it was part of my life, as if it had always been there. No matter which episode it was, good or bad, I had to watch. The Zone was must see TV.

The stories captivated my imagination. A book lover surviving a nuclear holocaust only to break his glasses—becoming effectively blind. An explorer traveling out into the far reaches of space and finding humanoid life, only to become a zoo exhibit. Taking an airplane trip and discovering a grotesque creature tearing apart the wing. Five strangers finding themselves captives in a strange place who work together to escape, and in the process make an earthshattering discovery.

And the variety of stories presented its own allure. One would be about witchcraft and magic, and the next would be about aliens and science. It could be a thriller about secret agents, inventors creating ro-buts, ordinary men getting extraordinary powers, genies causing mischief, or astronauts exploring new worlds. Science-fiction, westerns, romance, action, comedy: it all had a place in the Twilight Zone.

One never knew where the Twilight Zone would take you. One episode would be set a hundred years in the past, and the next would be in the distant future. It spanned vast regions of space, but could also be next door. The inner city, rural mountains, lavish mansions, cheap hotel rooms: the Twilight Zone could go and be anywhere.

As I became more of a cinema devotee, I also began to appreciate the phenomenal amount of acting talent that The Twilight Zone was able to garner. Rocky’s Burgess Meredith, Psycho’s Vera Miles, Star Trek’s William Shatner, Columbo himself, Peter Falk, Halloween’s Donald Pleasence, and Robby the Robot. The number of A-list and rising stars is just incredible—from silent era pioneers like Buster Keaton to modern era stars like Robert Redford.

Even directors like Richard Donner (Superman), Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), and Ted Post (Beneath the Planet of the Apes) made their bones in the Twilight Zone. And some of the literary giants of the science-fiction genre, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, wrote for or contributed scripts to the show. The amount of talent that came out of The Twilight Zone is staggering. Something about it attracted and produced some of the best people of their fields.

With each new watching I’d find more and more to appreciate. Easter eggs I never knew were there would pop up. And slowly but surely I found a home in the Twilight Zone. It spoke to me on a spiritual, intellectual, and aesthetic level. Rod Serling’s smooth and hypnotic voice lulled and welcomed me into the realm of imagination, of shadow and substance….

But as a person of faith, I had to question whether The Twilight Zone was welcoming to a person of my beliefs and values. Did it support my walk with Christ or distract? Did it treat my religion as superstition? Did it elevate science over faith? Was God in The Twilight Zone?

Of course the show wasn’t meant to be a guide to Christian living or to proselytize the Christian faith. To judge it by those standards would be foolish to say the least. Few if any mainstream television shows would live up to that standard. Yet that doesn’t mean that a show can’t espouse and support the morals and values of the Christian faith.

Many shows advance the values of family, honesty, faith, brotherly love, and peace. They aren’t necessarily faith based or Christ centric, yet they honor many of Christ’s teachings nonetheless. And they function as quality entertainment that believers can share in and enjoy—that affirm the lessons that we have learned in the Bible and in Christian fellowship.

Is The Twilight Zone one of these programs? I endeavored to find out. 

As a science-fiction and fantasy anthology series, The Twilight Zone has a vast array of messages and themes. Yet there are a number of episodes that explicitly deal with religious themes—Angels, Devils, Heaven, Hell. And these episodes seemed like a natural place to begin my exploration into the show’s treatment of religion. That is not to say that the science-fiction themed ones with their allegorical messages aren’t as important or relevant to the show’s overall content. But the religious episodes are the ones that most directly reveal the show’s attitude towards religious viewers and their faith.

I selected 10 of these episodes and looked at them through a Christian perspective—analyzing the plots and thematic elements to see how they adhered to the biblical teachings of the Christian faith. And indeed I found that they explore many biblical issues; from the treatment of the poor to prayer to redemption. They may not be articulated as well as a Sunday morning sermon, but they are there in principle.

The Christian faith has many different sects with varying views on Christ’s teachings and other elements of church doctrine. So the goal wasn’t to fit the biblical topics found in the episodes into a Catholic, Baptist, or Methodist outlook. It was only to illustrate how the Bible’s teachings and the episodes’ treatment of certain topics align. It may not be a perfect alignment, artistic liberties and such, but generally the selected episodes adhere to a general Christian understanding of the issues discussed.

While many saw and still see television as the idiot box, it has proven in numerous cases to be more—much more. The Twilight Zone, I would argue, is one such program. It wasn’t just entertainment for entertainment’s sake. Rather, it had a larger objective, a purpose—to explore the boundaries of imagination, to go beyond sight and sound, and into mind. And it was the product of skilled artisans (writers, actors, makeup artists, sound designers, costumers), and is art.

And art is subjective. So no doubt I brought a certain predisposition to see things from my own experiences and beliefs. That’s not a discretization, but a recognition that my perspective has been shaped by my culture and environment. Someone of a different background and knowledge base may likely come to different conclusions and have other ideas as to the meanings of these episodes. And thus the beauty and power of art.

One of the reasons that The Twilight Zone has endured for so long is that it engages viewers and invites them to find meaning. And it is done in such a manner as to allow the viewer to come to it rather than bludgeon them with a hammer saying, It means this. That is not to say that there weren’t intentions behind the episodes or that they can’t be misconstrued, but by and