It would have been way too easy to use the cookbook line for my summary above. Instead, I'm fascinated by how ominous Rod Serling made the Kanamits appear when he compared them to government agents - "We are here to help you". Needless to say, when the real invasion occurs you better keep up your guard.
There's a reason this one tops the charts as perhaps the best Twilight Zone of all time. Unlike many other episodes that end with a twist, you don't see this one coming, even when the title is served up on a dinner platter half way through. There was another tip off too - all travelers boarding the space ship for the Kanamit planet got weighed on an industrial scale. You didn't see any anorexics boarding now did you?
I can't help comparing this episode to the 1951 sci-fi classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still". In that one, the aliens arrived on Earth with a mission too, but it had more to do with an ultimatum than an assertion of good will. The end of that film leaves it to the viewer's imagination as to what earth's final fate would be, although if you follow the progress of human history, there's no doubt that the aliens wind up pulling the trigger on Man's arrogance and stupidity.
I could go on and on about this episode. There are so many nuances Serling threw in that were so topical back then, but are even more glaring now with the advantage of hindsight. Like how ineffective the United Nations was in dealing with the alien threat, similar to the way they are now with globe troubling issues like nuclear proliferation from North Korea and Iran. At least back then, the UN wasn't corrupt, or at least AS corrupt.
Here's another one. How about when the Kanamit (Richard Kiel) makes his first appearance at the UN. You don't see him at first, only that ghastly shadow on the wall as he heads to the General Assembly. You would have to go all the way back to 1922's silent film "Nosferatu" to see how effectively that scene was done almost a half century earlier. There's more horror conveyed in a simple scene like that than all the slasher/gore nonsense that's brought to modern film year after year today.
Another example of how things change but remain the same can be found in the headlines of 'The Chronicle' right underneath 'Kanamits Promise New Era'. Right there in black and white - 'New Tax Bill May Be Needed'. Then, in a prescient moment, some three years before it actually happened, you have '4-Hour Power Failure Brings Chaos to N.Y.' I guess Serling turned out to be a pretty good prophet, as that great New York City blackout was blamed for a healthy rise in birth rates nine months later.
One more - I can't resist. Narrator Michael Chambers (Lloyd Bochner) found himself on Flight 914 going to the Kanamit planet. '914' was, and still is, the telephone exchange for the lower New York State area consisting of Westchester County. Coincidence? Serling used New York State locations a lot in his stories, so who knows?
Depending on my mood and time of day, 'To Serve Man' sits at Number #1 or 2 as my favorite Twilight Zone episode. Interestingly, I just learned (by watching the TZ Definitive Edition offering of this show), that the other one vying for the top spot is the very next episode of the series titled 'The Fugitive'. I'll get into that in my next review.
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