Image via Netflix
It’s hard to deny that The Twilight Zone is one of the most influential sci-fi shows in the history of television. Rod Serling’s prime-time magnum opus not only challenged network censorship and redefined the kind of hard-hitting social commentary that could reach audiences, it also captured the imagination of a generation and inspired a following that has lasted until the present day. In hindsight, the full impact of Serling’s writing is hard to quantify, a vast web of disparate threads that has filtered through decades of programming, but The Twilight Zone owes no small part of its storied legacy to its most iconic episodes. Season 1, Episode 10, “Judgment Night,” is a classic tale of sociopolitical karma set in the fifth dimension. Exchanging the creepy dolls and sci-fi antics for a British cargo vessel in 1942, the episode centers on the perpetually beleaguered Carl Lanser (Nehemiah Persoff), a passenger who somehow can’t remember ever boarding the ship in the first place or the specifics of his past. What follows is a voyage of suspense that culminates in the kind of bitter twist only The Twilight Zone can deliver. What many fans may not realize is that this episode also bears a striking resemblance to one of the most iconic episodes of a more contemporary anthology series, Black Mirror, ultimately highlighting the major impact Serling’s work has had on Charlie Brooker’s streaming hit.
“Judgment Night” Is a Time Loop of Endless Retribution in ‘The Twilight Zone’
In many ways, “Judgment Night” represents the quintessential episode of The Twilight Zone, both in terms of story structure and messaging. Beginning with the mystery of Carl Lanser’s past and teasing the lingering threat of German U-boats in the water, the episode keeps viewers constantly on edge before culminating in a revelation that is both surprising and instantly thought-provoking, showcasing the best elements with which The Twilight Zone has become synonymous. For those who need a refresher, the story’s big twist is that the captain of the U-boat hunting Lanser is, in fact, none other than a past version of Lanser himself, and that his panicked premonitions about an impending U-boat attack are founded on personal experience. In this case, a member of the German military receives divine punishment for his cruel actions during World War II, underscoring the impact that Serling’s own service had on his creative career while also delivering a sense of long-overdue justice. For Lanser, “Judgment Night” forces him to relive the final moments of his victims alongside the passengers he originally killed, arguing that those who carelessly take lives should be doomed to experience their collective suffering. Lanser answers to the ultimate form of poetic justice during his brief stint in The Twilight Zone, forced to confront the empathy he lacked in life by repeating the final moments of the SS Queen of Glasgow over and over again.
‘Black Mirror’ Picks Up the Theme of Repetitive Punishment in Season 2, Episode 2, “White Bear”
Image via Netflix
Lacking any U-boat captains or doomed cargo vessels, Season 2, Episode 2 of Brooker’s Black Mirror, “White Bear,” nevertheless bears a striking resemblance to Serling’s tale of eternal punishment. The episode centers on an initially unnamed woman (Lenora Crichlow) waking up in a suburban neighborhood with no memory of who she is, though her confusion is quickly replaced by terror when she is attacked by assailants wearing masks with a mysterious white symbol also scattered throughout the woman’s surroundings. After surviving the most lethal of these assailants, Baxter (Michael Smiley), and escaping with the one person who has been kind towards her, the pair reach a transmission station that can supposedly cut the signal, causing the world to plunge into chaos. Once again, however, the joke is on the episode’s protagonist. Rather than salvation, a wall in the station opens up to reveal a live studio audience, and the Black Mirror episode’s twist is that the woman, Victoria Skillane, is not navigating a nerve-wracking apocalypse. Instead, she is being punished by the state for the part she played in the murder of a six-year-old girl, and the mysterious mark she keeps seeing is actually a tattoo belonging to her former accomplice/fiancé, who died before he could be sentenced as well. Like “Judgment Night,” “White Bear” creates a sense of eternal damnation, with Baxter—who is actually a staff member—wiping Victoria’s memory every night so she can be freshly tortured the following day. Coupled with the entry’s memory-loss premise and sense of moral comeuppance, this disturbing Black Mirror episode subsequently feels as much like a remake of “Judgment Night” as it does its own disturbing story.
Related
10 Best ‘The Twilight Zone’ Quotes, Ranked
“I’m a human being, I exist.”
‘The Twilight Zone’ Set the Stage for ‘Black Mirror’s Exploration of Murky Social Justice
There’s good reason to make the comparison between one of Black Mirror’s most unsettling episodes and the early days of The Twilight Zone. While Brooker’s precise inspirations for “White Bear” can be traced back to a real crime spree committed in the 1960s and a last-minute spark of inspiration that actually changed the episode’s original story into what we have today, the impact that The Twilight Zone had on Black Mirror’s creative development can’t be understated. In an article for the Guardian written shortly before his series aired, Brooker cites Serling’s series as a major influence, crediting The Twilight Zone for being “far crueller than most TV drama today would dare to be” and acknowledging his predecessor’s habit of tackling relevant social issues plaguing society. Given the fact that Brooker had never changed a Black Mirror script so late in production until “White Bear,” some of Serling’s old narrative cruelty clearly crept its way into his creative process, delivering a spiritual follow-up to an already iconic episode of television. As someone who respected Serling and would have been more than aware of “Judgment Night,” Brooker’s work acknowledges his predecessor and represents a figurative passing of the torch. While “Judgment Night” struck a chord with audiences for its original depiction of eternal punishment, Brooker’s take on the concept imbues it with the kind of modern commentary for which The Twilight Zone was also famous. By contrasting Victoria’s panic with crowds of apathetic onlookers carelessly pointing their phones towards her suffering, Black Mirror adds a wrinkle to Serling’s premise of eternal damnation, forcing the audience to reconsider what it means to endure cruel punishment when those doling it out are just as equally human. The end result is a terrifying episode of television which interrogates the simple moral of Serling’s original tale, demonstrating that technology can enable self-righteous extensions of the law to resemble the very monsters they are trying to condemn. By expanding on the thematic groundwork Rod Serling put in place with “Judgment Night,” Charlie Brooker ultimately honors his inspiration by injecting Serling’s premise with his own voice, proving that The Twilight Zone’s impact continues to reverberate through culture in surprising new ways. Episodes of The Twilight Zone can be streamed on Paramount+ in the U.S.
The Twilight Zone
Release Date
1959 – 1964
Network
CBS
Directors
John Brahm, Buzz Kulik, Douglas Heyes, Lamont Johnson, Richard L. Bare, James Sheldon, Richard Donner, Don Medford, Montgomery Pittman, Abner Biberman, Alan Crosland, Jr., Alvin Ganzer, Elliot Silverstein, Jack Smight, Joseph M. Newman, Ted Post, William Claxton, Jus Addiss, Mitchell Leisen, Perry Lafferty, Robert Florey, Robert Parrish, Ron Winston, Stuart Rosenberg
Writers
Charles Beaumont, Richard Matheson, Earl Hamner, Jr., George Clayton Johnson, Jerry Sohl, Henry Slesar, Martin Goldsmith, Anthony Wilson, Bernard C. Schoenfeld, Bill Idelson, E. Jack Neuman, Jerome Bixby, Jerry McNeely, John Collier, John Furia, Jr., John Tomerlin, Lucille Fletcher, Ray Bradbury, Reginald Rose, Sam Rolfe, Adele T. Strassfield
About The Author
