The Twilight Zone (TV Series) The Lonely (1959) User Reviews

Serling does Asimov

[davemci · 9/10 · 7 June 2006]

This is an excellent TV rendition of what could be an early Isaac Asimov short story.

It has one main plot idea - man and machine and how the differences can blur.

There is no time to develop the plot to any great extent, Serling simply raises the idea of how man and machine can interact and the consequences that might follow. Never the less it's a thought provoking episode as most TZ episodes are.

I am working my way through Twighlight Zone episodes (series 1) and this episode (#7) is remarkable for an impressive new opening montage sequence that stands up to anything you could expect to see today. Maybe not so much in the technical sense but certainly in style and impact.

Oh, and Jean Marsh is gorgeous!

Superbly involving

[phantom_tollbooth · 9/10 · 21 February 2007]

After a minor hiccup with 'Escape Clause', 'The Twilight Zone' got back on track with another classic episode. By this time the series had really hit its stride and 'The Lonely' began a run of brilliance that would last for several weeks.

Focusing again on loneliness and isolation, one of the shows' most frequent themes, 'The Lonely' tells the story of a convict sentenced to fifty years of solitary confinement on a distant planet. It is a thoroughly compelling episode due to a great Serling script and some wonderful locations. The episode was filmed in the scorching hot Death Valley but it really does look like a deserted asteroid. The performances of the cast are generally decent but not particularly remarkable, save for Jean Marsh in the role of the robot woman Alicia. When she first emerges from her box she speaks a little too robotically, probably to emphasise the fact that she is a machine and create a dramatic end to the first act. However, after this initial moment, Marsh turns in a performance far more complex than a simple Robo-lady act. Hers is a performance of wide eyed innocence and intense lovability. When she is pushed to the floor by Jack Warden and lays facing the camera with her face twisted in emotional and physical pain, only the most cold hearted viewer could fail to surrender their heart. And so begins the main thrust of the story. The viewer is tricked into falling for Alicia even before Warden does so by the episode's end we are just as desperate as he is for her not to be left behind. When Allenby shoots her in the face we flinch and it is not until we see the exposed wires and circuitry that we fully realise, as Warden finally does, that Alicia is just an illusion. All this is testament to what an involving episode 'The Lonely' really is.

"The Lonely" takes viewers into a glimpse of the future

[chuck-reilly · 9/10 · 21 July 2008]

Jack Warden plays a convict named Corry in this futuristic episode of prison life in the middle of the 21st Century. He's imprisoned on a distant asteroid and his only contact with humans is when his supply spaceship lands every six months. Dying of loneliness and on the edge of insanity, Corry is about to lose all hope when the captain of the supply ship (John Dehner) drops off a mysterious large container and advises him to open it after they've departed. Corry does as he's instructed to do and when he opens the container he is startled beyond belief to find a robot in the guise of a beautiful woman (Jean Marsh before her "Upstairs, Downstairs" days). Strangely, Corry isn't happy nor enthralled with the present. He can't seem to accept the fact that this "scrap of metal" can offer friendship, companionship, and maybe love. He ostracizes "Alicia" and avoids her at all costs until he accidentally manhandles her and causes her some bodily injury. A teary-eyed Alicia convinces him that she has feelings too and Corry has a change of heart. Soon the two are inseparable and a budding romance takes shape---but not for long. Dehner and his men return to the asteroid and inform Corry that he's been given a pardon, but there's only room enough for him and five pounds of personal items on the spacecraft. Alicia, being merely a robot, is the odd one out in the equation. Corry angrily rebels against the idea of leaving his lover behind, but Dehner has the last word on the matter. He destroys the robot.

"The Lonely" examines quite a few prison issues in its twenty-two minutes of airtime (e.g. conjugal visits for prisoners, isolation policies). The asteroid itself is pictured as a cold lifeless expanse that could drive any prisoner into slow madness. The acting in this episode is high-quality. Warden is totally convincing as the inmate who's a half-step away from a straight-jacket. John Dehner, one of TV's better known character actors of the 1950's and 60's, handles his authoritative role with his usual skill. Ted Knight ("Ted Baxter" of the "Mary Tyler Moore" show) is around and very effective as one of Dehner's nastier crew members. Director Jack Smight does a fine job as well and went on to a prolific career in feature films ("The Illustrated Man", "Airport 75", "Harper" etc.). For an episode conceived in 1959, "The Lonely" was way ahead of its time in its subject matter and is certainly worth a look for any modern-day viewers.

Outstanding Episode about the complexity of the human condition

[nivag18 · 10/10 · 7 June 2011]

A lot of what is in the Twilight Zone episodes lived inside of Mr Serling himself. In a short twenty odd minutes he paints a complex picture of the emotional human condition in general. I have read where he had a lot of insecurities about himself and I think he tried to make sense of this universe and his place in it through his writing. He first establishes the anguish of Corey's loneliness and his sense of desolation. I thought Jack warden was really outstanding in this episode. His narration of Serling's monologue about loneliness near the beginning of the show was heart felt and I thought really communicated what Serling was trying to say.

The innocence and emotional vulnerability of Alicia pulls you into the story of two beings that feel and need each other. When she said she could feel loneliness too, Serling was again saying something deeper.

The brief scenes where they play chess and watch the night sky together are very poignant. Two beings sharing each each other making themselves feel complete.

The stark ending leaves the viewer filled with sorrow and raises complex philosophical questions. Corey's sad resignation in his last few words make this episode more than just the sum of it's parts. Rod Serling was a man who had something to say about ourselves and our place in the universe. What a wonderful thing to be able to create something for others to contemplate on after you are gone.

Compelling Story Of A Man And His Robot

[Skeeter700 · 9/10 · 6 February 2006]

"The Lonely" tells the futuristic story of a man found guilty of murder. His sentence is to serve 50 years on a small asteroid alone. This episode starts with the convict looking forward to a supply ship arriving with provisions for him. This ship visits every 3 months and provide the convict with a brief break from the tedious boredom of his daily life. The captain of the supply ship feels sorry for the convict and believes his story of self-defense. We are told he often prolongs his stay on the asteroid to visit, play cards, and entertain this prisoner. But, on this visit, the captain leaves the convict with a present: a robot companion. The rest of the episode deals with the prisoners relationship with the robot. This is a well-written episode of "The Twilight Zone". We feel for the prisoner and understand his loneliness as well as the many emotions he feels after meeting the robot. This episode is well worth watching. It earns 9.3 out of 10.

Moving episode

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 7 April 2017]

Convict James Cory (an outstanding performance by Jack Warden) is serving a fifty year sentence on an empty asteroid. One day Cory receives a gift in the form of human-like female robot Alicia (well played with touching sensitivity and vulnerability by Jean Marsh).

Director Jack Smight astutely captures the slow subtle agony of living an isolated existence and makes excellent use of the desolate desert location. Rod Serling's thoughtful script states a poignant and significant central point about man's deep-seated need for companionship. Warden and Marsh both do sterling work in their roles; they receive sturdy support from John Dehner as the compassionate Captain Allenby and Ted Knight as unsympathetic jerk Adams. The tragic ending packs a devastating punch. Kudos are also in order for Bernard Herrmann's moody score and the sharp black and white cinematography by George T. Clemens. A lovely show.

a wonderful episode

[HelloTexas11 · 9/10 · 26 November 2008]

This is an episode that I've come to feel is one of the best, more for presentation than originality. It's almost a shame it's only a half-hour TV show. Most of the 'Twilight Zone' episodes were perfectly suited for that length and to have made them any longer would have meant excessive padding. In fact, some of them seemed padded at thirty-minutes. But 'The Lonely' could easily have been an hour in length, and might well have worked better had it been. Jack Warden stars as Corry, a convict serving a fifty-year sentence at some point in the future on a barren but liveable asteroid somewhere out in the galaxy. He is given a metal shack to live in and every three months a ship from Earth brings him supplies. Aside from the brief visits though, he is completely alone, and we see that it is driving him to the brink of madness, perhaps suicide. The captain of the supply ship tries to help Corry stave off those feelings to the extent he can, by bringing him books and things to occupy his time... even an old car to work on. Corry is grateful to the man but still is slowly succumbing to loneliness. One day the supply ship brings him a lifelike female robot, one that is programmed to feel and react just like a human. At first Corry rejects it, then comes to accept and finally even fall in love with Alecia, which is the robot's name. When the supply ship returns, the captain has, he thinks, great news... Corry has been pardoned and he is to return to Earth with them. One catch- he can only take 15 pounds of baggage with him, which means Alicia can't go. Corry pleads with the captain that she is real, but there is precious little time and finally, in a typical though brutal Twilight Zone twist, the captain shoots Alecia in the face, revealing her wires and circuitry, in effect 'killing' her to prove she isn't human. Then he takes Corry with him. There are a number of nice touches in 'The Lonely.' The old jalopy that Corry has worked on to alleviate his boredom, the empty landscape, the metal shack itself. Jack Warden gives a wonderful performance as Corry, as does Jean Marsh as Alecia, though she has very few lines of dialogue. It is more her presence than anything. Rod Serling's writing is some of his best, spare yet evocative... particularly Corry's line at the end when the ship captain reminds him Alecia was only a machine... "I must try to remember that." A very powerful and sad episode of the classic series.

She Doesn't Even Need a Wedding Ring

[dougdoepke · 30 June 2006]

One of the very best of the series. Convicted criminal Jack Warden is banished to outlying asteroid, where he lives alone on barren plain (Death Valley) in a rickety corrugated shack (not a wise choice of hot weather building materials). Needless to say, he's going slowly nutzoid. Supply ship commander (Dehner) takes pity and smuggles a female android to him for company.

Outstanding script treats Warden's predicament in unusually intelligent, thoughtful manner, providing at the same time some insight into ordinary human frailties. Android gimmick supplements theme rather than defining it. Solid performances, especially Warden's depiction of a man at the end of his rope, (note presence of uncredited Ted Knight as crewman, practicing the obnoxious personality that would later flower as Ted Baxter on "Mary Tyler Moore Show"). Good location sites help create sense of desperate isolation. The shot of the shack pictured against the infernally barren landscape is enough to send you running for the nearest city. Ending is powerfully done with an emotional impact that will likely stay with you.

In my book, this is one of the entries that established the series' reputation and its now classic status.

Nuts and Bolts.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 15 March 2013]

Jack Warden is a prisoner exiled to an asteroid. He's all alone and going nuts under the burden of his solitude. During a visit from the authorities, he's given a mechanical toy to play with, an erector set, so to speak. She turns out to be a beautiful, quiet, industrious, loving, and obedient woman, just like my ex wife. Warden names her Alicia an falls in love with her, as who wouldn't. It's never explained just how far his attachment to Alicia has been taken but the story is about emotions, after all, not anatomy. Finally, the space ship from Earth arrives again to take him home. He's been pardoned. BUT there is no room aboard for Alicia, the moon of his delight. The problem is solved, more or less, but medical discretion forbids further disclosure.

I kind of like it. It's one of those stories in which nothing much happens. Warden is alone most of the time, talking to himself, as so many characters in the series do. Make up has made the common mistake of spritzing a desert-dwelling character with oil to make it seem as if he's sweating. They tried water at first but it evaporated too quickly in the dry heat. That should have told them they don't need sweat because perspiration dries at once in high temperatures and low humidity.

If you want to sweat, go breathe the boiled air of Houma, Louisiana. Be sure to visit the nearby McIlhenny Tobasco Sauce plant. It's tiny and old fashioned and it sits atop a salt dome in the middle of a swamp. It's not at all shiny and sterile. The staff will happily open one of the ancient kegs in which the peppers, salt, and vinegar are aging. They held the lid off the barrel so long that I was afraid a mouse might drop in from the rafters. Three stars. Highly recommended.

I'm rather fond of this episode, despite my aversion to talky stories in which not much is happening. I'm not sure how well Jack Warden projects loneliness but he looks and sounds like the kind of guy who wouldn't put it on display even if he actually felt it.

As for his attachment to the mechanical woman, I can understand that. I often play a Civil War Game in which I re-fight the Second Battle of Manassas. In this game, you give orders to your men like "Attack" or "Defend" or "Take Cover." When the miniature figures shoot at each other they fall and die. I usually lose because I err on the side of caution. I don't want to see my men's lives put at risk or, worse, see them slaughtered wholesale, even though they're no more than pixels. But once I saw a tiny bluecoat turn and give me the finger and that rather quelled my chagrin. So, yes, I can see falling in love with a mechanical woman.

"The heart has its reasons which the mind will never know," as the philosopher said. The same one who invented calculus, come to think of it. Damn his eyes for that.

A curiously romantic Episode

[Brandon-161 · 10/10 · 2 June 2006]

Many TZ episodes rely on a twist in the end to provide the entertainment. Many of the best know do this - "5 Characters', 'To Serve Man', 'Time Enough At Last' all come to mind.

The kind of thing that allows a 1 sentence total spoiler.

But there is another substantial body of episodes that do not have a twist at the end. Most have a cataclysmic event (I do not do spoilers) but they seem to be juggernauts, proceeding to their doom as surely as anything can.

This one is like that. Jean Marsh is wonderful in her earlier roles, as the robot companion smuggled to the intergalactic exile's bare asteroid/prison.

Typical of the Fatalist Serling's stories, this one will satisfy you if you are a Twilight Zone fan, but the ambush comes from the cold slap of reality.

That is what Romantic Tragedy is all about.

I think this is one of the best.

Jean Marsh Made Us Cry

[nebohr · 7/10 · 8 November 2020]

This Episode, Although 60 Years Old, Had Us Emotionally Invested In A Robot ! Well Written And Well Acted ( Except For Ted Knight ) This Is What The Twilight Zone Does Best: Mix Sci-Fi With Decent Human Connections.

My favorite episode

[jbbc72 · 10/10 · 6 January 2008]

With so many great episodes, it's hard to pick a favorite. But over the years, I liked the Lonely the best. Serling's narration was among his finest which adds to the great story of a man who killed in self defense having to live in solitary confinement on an asteroid 9 million miles from Earth. You can feel the silence he has to face each moment as well as the time that can't go fast enough. When one of his quarterly supply ships lands, Allenby(the captain) who has known Corry(the lonely man) from previous supply stops secretly brings him "salvation" in the form of a robot built in the form of a woman. The first time I saw this episode, I was shocked when he opens the crate and it was this lifelike robot. Anyway, Corry rejects this robot until he finds out "she" has feelings and can even cry. He falls in love with her and each day can now be tolerated. Allenby comes back to inform Corry that he's been given a pardon. He is ecstatic. But there's a big problem. Watch and find out. One very nice scene that is cut out in syndication(but is shown on DVD) is when Corry is sitting with Alicia(robot) under a pitch black starry night and he is explaining the stars to her. You can feel his contentedness, peace and at least an artificial escape from loneliness.

Your Next Stop, The Twilight Zone

[StrictlyConfidential · 6/10 · 23 June 2021]

"The Lonely" (episode 7) was first aired on television November 13, 1959.

Anyway - As the story goes - A convicted murderer incarcerated on a distant asteroid is dying of loneliness. Then a supply ship captain leaves him a female robot - And a dilemma.

Space Age Love Story

[kevinsdoll · 4/10 · 22 May 2021]

Stories of men in love with robot women go back to the ancient Greeks, and are numerous. In 1959, with the recent invention of transistors, it was suddenly obvious this was about to happen for real. There was a sitcom in '64 '65 on CBS, "My Living Doll" about a NASA made robot woman hiding out at a guys apartment. The same writers later did "I Dream Of Jeanie" and "Bewitched".

If there's anything about the plot that disturbs you, remember, Corey has the instruction book, knows the manufacturer and model number. Can snag another on ebay.

The Twilight Zone-The Lonely

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 2 January 2011]

THE LONELY, with Jack Warden and Jean Marsh, has always haunted me. It's the idea of leaving someone--or something--behind. Warden was sent to a barren asteroid, a hot wasteland with a shack to live in and supplies brought to him by astronauts(John Dehner, as Warden's affectionate friend, Captain Allenby, with an unsympathetic Ted Knight who blames the prisoner for having to travel to places like the asteroid which removes time with his own family, and James Turley), because of a homicide he claims was self-defense. Allenby brings along with him a female robot which looks--and feels--like a real woman(played by a plain but still lovely Marsh)so that Warden's Corry would not continue to be agonizingly lonely(he was sentenced to the asteroid for 50 years which he has served a mere four and is practically a basket case). At first Corry resists "Alicia" because she reminds him of a human companion he desperately longs for but realizes is a "fabrication" created by scientists. But because she is equipped with feelings and human characteristics that mimic human behavior so completely, Corry eventually falls in love with her. Allenby returns many months later with good news, but it will require Corry to leave behind something he has found so precious. The one complaint I have with this episode is that it spends little time with Warden and Marsh so that the overall impact of the tragic conclusion doesn't register on an absolute emotional gut level at it easily could've. There's quite a bit of Warden opining to Dehner about his excruciating loneliness and having to deal with the thought of another 46 years of it. Marsh gains sympathy through a few tears and an adolescent kind of approach to Warden who is riddled with bitterness, longing, and exhaustion. When we first meet Warden, he hops up from his bed with glee that Dehner's Allenby has arrived, excited about having a partner to play cards or chess, only to be denied because of the location of his prison world and the orbital problems which cause astronauts who come there to deliver supplies he stands in need of. I guess I was left in sorrow for Alicia. She serves a purpose and what is the result of how Alicia helps Corry? That is what continues to stay with me..what is a machine and what is human? I think it's easy to say you can differentiate the two if you actually see the nuts, bolts, and wires, but when she offers so much in return and appears in your life when she's needed the most, isn't Alicia worth far more than to be left to rust on some asteroid?

Unusual love story is beautiful and unforgettable

[mlraymond · 10/10 · 9 January 2007]

Jack Warden is perfectly cast as the man condemned to live on an isolated planet alone. The range of emotions he goes through in this episode is amazing, from eagerness to have even a brief visit with anyone from Earth, to bitterness at his living death sentence, to wonder and fear when he meets Alicia for the first time, to real affection and devotion over time.

SPOILERS AHEAD: When he unpacks the mysterious crate, and reads the instruction manual, and looks in amazement at the beautiful woman standing a short distance away, the entire scene is so utterly real. When she introduces herself and he nervously tells her to go away, and she looks hurt, but tries again, his angry denunciation of her for not being real, but a thing that mocks his loneliness by her very presence, and his shame and contrition when he shoves her away and she falls down. The moment when she looks up at him with tears in her eyes and says, "You hurt me, Corry", his sudden overwhelming awareness that she really is a woman, as the instruction manual stated, with emotions just like his. The humble way that he apologizes and helps her to her feet, and gently leads her into his shack, and the scenes that follow, of Corry slowly establishing a real relationship with her, are tenderly moving.

This very early Twilight Zone episode stands as one of the all time best of the series, both in writing and acting. I just wish it had a happy ending.

Unforgettable episode

[john_p40 · 10/10 · 7 August 2014]

No need to offer a summary. Just look at the other posts; the science fiction plot is evident. What I want to call your attention to is a scene that comes in the middle of Act III when Jack Warden and Jean Marsh are cuddling under the night sky and admiring constellations with Warden pointing out and naming the stars. Bernard Herrmann's lilting music is playing just under the dialog. When Marsh's character (the robot, Alicia) looks up and says "God's beauty," you, the viewer, will be totally beguiled at the notion of man and robot - deeply in love - and the robot-girl affirming all creation as the work of a higher power. (The powerful irony being, of course, that she was created without a soul; her parents being chemistry and electrical wiring.)This beautifully written scene (for me, at least) is the apotheosis of The Twilight Zone series. It's here, in a desolate place that was once the depths of despair, the protagonist (Warden) goes beyond being physically connected (he and Alicia have been together for about 6 months at the time) to being spiritually connected. And you, the viewer will also be in love with the otherworldly, hauntingly beautiful Jean Marsh, about 25 years old at the time. If you see only one TZ episode, see this one.

Lonely and Bored

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 25 September 2008]

We are by nature social creatures. Oh, granted, some people detest society, but most of us need companionship to survive. I don't know if this man was given the tools to end his life, but it certainly could have been an outcome. He is dying for one game of chess or a bit of talk. The hostility of the men who bring supplies seems incredibly cruel. This is an outrageous sentence, and the murder he is thought to have committed must have been horrible. Either that or the earth has become a senseless, cruel place (which it is in many ways). He is given a chance to interact with a robotic woman, left behind by a compassionate spaceship captain. He develops a relationship and eventually falls in love. We could see this as sick, but remember the circumstances. There are moments when we wonder if he will stay behind and give up his freedom. Fortunately, or not, he has that decision taken from him when the robot is shown to be a mass of wires and circuits. This is an excellent episode and Jack Warden showed what a good actor he was.

Let's face it, prison sex could be worse.

[BA_Harrison · 1 March 2012]

The Lonely is another hugely entertaining episode of The Twilight Zone, one that ponders whether, in the right circumstances, it is possible for a human being to develop feelings towards a machine. Jack Warden plays convict James A. Corry, who is serving time on an otherwise deserted asteroid when he is given a female robot named Alicia (Jean Marsh) for companionship. A year later, Jack is granted a pardon and told that he can return to Earth but, with a 15lb personal cargo limit, is horrified when told that Alicia must remain behind...

A particularly thoughtful episode that explores the complex nature of the human psyche, our fear of loneliness and ability to allow emotions to rule over logic, this romantic tragedy is perfect in all but one way: when Corry is first confronted by Alicia, a robot woman virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, he reacts with disgust, whereas I imagine that most men who have been alone for four years would have no such qualms, and would waste no time in finding out just how anatomically correct their new companion is.

Or maybe that's just me....

Does Alicia Remind You Of Anyone from the Film Blade Runner?

[malvernp · 7/10 · 10 January 2022]

The Lonely was the initial episode to go before the camera in TZ's first season. It is engaging, sad, emotional and complex in its story development. Like so many other episodes of this series, The Lonely seems pretty basic as we start to watch it, but there is much more here than what first meets the eye.

A convicted murderer (Jack Warden) is sentenced to a fifty year term of solitary confinement on a distant asteroid---interrupted only by supply ship visits every three months. The supply chief (John Dehner), out of empathy for the prisoner and his life of brutal human isolation, leaves him with a female humanoid robot (Jean Marsh) to help him pass the time. Whether due to his extreme loneliness or the very human-like warmth exhibited toward him by the robot, the prisoner falls deeply in love with it/her. During a subsequent supply visit, the chief advises the prisoner that his sentence has been reduced by a pardon, and he can now be brought home to Earth along with only 15 pounds of personal belongings. Because of their now deep emotional relationship, the prisoner insists on taking the robot (named Alicia) back to Earth with him--- but logistically this is quite impossible. The chief resolves the dilemma by re-establishing the fact that the robot is not a human being. As they are about to leave the asteroid, the chief reminds the prisoner that in giving up the robot, all he is leaving behind is his loneliness. The prisoner's response to the chief's observation is "I must remember that. I must remember to keep that in mind." Fade out.

Once more we encounter a tale that involves a non-human entity with strong human-like attributes as an essential part of the story's basic narrative--much like what was done in Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Walt Disney's Pinocchio. Rod Serling himself revisited a similar plot element in another well-remembered episode from the first season--The After Hours (6/10/60).

To simulate a locale that would also appear "other worldly," TZ began to film this episode in Death Valley---the first of a few others from the series that chose this site for a similar reason. After two days of extremely difficult shooting, the project was aborted and then moved back to the more comfortable confines of MGM's Hollywood studio. As is well known, Erich von Stroheim's silent classic Greed also extensively used Death Valley in that film's celebrated climax. What else on Earth looks like no place on Earth?

In addition to Serling, The Lonely was fortunate to also be able to utilize a truly remarkable company of outstanding creative artists. Jack Warden, the gifted veteran character actor, had a very impressive list of screen credits, including Heaven Can Wait (nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar), While You Were Sleeping (an early success for co-star Sandra Bullock) and Bye Bye Braverman (a little known but delightful comedy directed by Sidney Lumet). The lovely 25 year old Jean Marsh went on to fame and acclaim in Masterpiece Theatre's Upstairs, Downstairs. Bernard Herrmann's musical score was a fine accomplishment by one of the greatest composers to have ever worked in the film medium. And director Jack Smight went on to helm Harper, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Illustrated Man and Midway.

The Lonely is yet another reason why TZ's first season is considered to be one of the most fondly recalled achievements in the entire history of television's Golden Age.

Powerful Sci Fi Drama In A Short Format

[verbusen · 10/10 · 11 January 2011]

---SPOILERS---

I just watched this episode for the first time today, I wanted to comment on it now as we all tend to dismiss our feelings later.

For a story that takes place in barely 20 minutes, this is very powerful drama.

I thought Jack Warden played an excellent role as the "prisoner", for one moment I felt sympathy and another moment I felt contempt, and still later on I felt sympathy again. This TZ episode will be remembered when I see another film with Jack Warden; it's an excellent script and he plays an excellent role, well done for the makers to choose him, it's a great actor for this role of a man convicted of murder.

With that said, at first I was pretty nonchalant with this episode. The thought of sending men into space to serve a prison sentence alone seemed very absurd. And then having to supply them every three months had me rolling my skeptical eyes, but I let all of that go to dive into the story and I'm happy I did.

I'm also glad that I only had the description of a man in a space prison being given a robot for company. I was very surprised when the robot was a life like looking female robot. I had expected a robot like in the Outer Limit's episode of the mechanical man. For this being made in 1959 to me, is very cutting edge, maybe it still is.

I believe the ending was based on the morality of the day (even of today) that it is taboo for a human to love a machine as they would another human, the TZ couldn't have let him fly off with the robot, CBS would have had calls to cancel it on the spot! But with that being said, what ending is remembered better? A man and female type robot living happily ever after? Or a man torn apart by his love for a machine and having to see that machine destroyed? I thought the latter ending was much more memorable, and quite frankly I had not even expected it. The only alternatives to me were him staying, or him flying off, but "she" would be alive either way

I was surprised by the robots "murder" for you see, I had thought of the robot as being a real person as well, all in so short a span of time as 20 minutes.

I cried. Not just for the robot but for the man.

I find it hard to list any of the TZ episodes in a "top ten" for there are so many good ones, but to me, this is definitely one of the best ones made. I'm surprised I never saw it before when I have seen other episodes many many times over the course of 40 years of re-runs. Maybe it's too "weird" for TV as being the reason. I'm happy I saw it tonight for the first time, excellent sci fi drama. 10 of 10

Relationship with Robots

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 18 July 2022]

A Nice episode about lonliness and a relationship with Robot . That episode was pretty good and we can see trough the characters how he got fooled by his own feelings and get fooled about that robot : he thought she was real human but at the end , we know she was fake . It was an episode about relationship with robots and maybe the first time in a TV show and that problably inspired some movies now ( Her, EX Machina and others ) . I found still pretty interesting to follow and the surprise of the discovery of the robot was pretty good . Nice episode anyway .

"All you're leaving behind is loneliness."

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 20 June 2017]

Just a couple of shows after the solid pilot episode, 'Where Is Everybody?', 'Twilight Zone' series creator Rod Serling again visits the subject of the human need for companionship. Jack Warden stars as James A. Corry, a convicted killer doing time on an asteroid far from Earth. The most taxing aspect of his punishment is his utter loneliness. So he looks forward to periodic visits from a lawman named Allenby (John Dehner). On this latest visit, Allenby drops off a gift: a robot (Jean Marsh) designed to look just like a person - and have emotions, like a person.

Unsurprisingly, Corry is at first turned off by this prospect. He believes that a robot, no matter how it looks, is no replacement for a flesh & blood human being. But he is soon touched by her, and comes to really care for her. Warden delivers one of his most endearing performances of all time, creating a character who instantly earns our sympathies. And the lovely Marsh is quite affecting herself, exhibiting emotion in subtle ways. She doesn't break down and blubber like a human might, but she does cry. These two fine actors are well supported by Dehner as the compassionate Allenby, and an uncredited Ted Knight as the surly, sardonic Adams.

On location shooting in Death Valley ensures a convincingly otherworldly atmosphere, and Bernard Herrmanns' score is quite good - like Marshs' performance, it's not overdone, but is effectively subtle.

The bittersweet ending does leave one with a mild feeling of regret.

Eight out of 10.

Character driven episode

[drystyx · 7/10 · 24 October 2023]

This episode has Warden playing a prisoner on an asteroid. No fences or guards, because it's empty space.

He's wrongly accused of a crime, and dealt with harshly, so Dehner, who brings him supplies on a space ship from Earth every now and then, treats him well. The two other workers who come with Dehner aren't so benevolent. Well, they see Warden as a man who is justly punished.

Dehner, knowing the loneliness, brings him a "gift", a female android.

What transpires next is mostly character driven theater. We wonder if the android really has feelings.

No spoilers from me. It's a character study piece, and I think it's pretty well done. It's very watchable.

A couple of profound mistakes

[hark-2 · 4/10 · 28 December 2007]

This beautifully filmed and scripted episode was let down for two reasons. 1) Perhaps it was the morality of the 1950s talking, but no man left alone on an asteroid for years would react with such hysterical negativity to the gift of a female android. 2) It wasn't an android at all, but a woman, the beautiful Jean Marsh.

The popularity of the sex doll industry in the coming decades could have traced its origins back to this episode if they'd done it properly. In fact, the modernization of sex-bots are in the news as I speak.

Robots were not new to movies or television when this episode was made, so they could have at least had her act like one. Her fleshiness would then have added a creepy element. Instead, it becomes a nice little love story about two humans on faraway star.

The Twilight Zone always stretched the imagination and credulity. Normally no one cared. But this episode seemed hamstrung by a Calvinist morality eschewing what would have amounted to masturbation with a machine, or downright carelessness.