![]() ![]() A good reason is never given, and for good reason. My expectation was that she had suffered some kind of injury, maybe a crash or something, and that the surgery was reconstructive. There is a curious political element in the show, as a woman named Janet Tyler is undergoing what I believe was her 23rd surgery, sponsored by "the state," to try to make her look normal, so that she can have a normal life. The story, of course, is based on the subjective perception of beauty, and it plays with the audience's expectations in the most unexpected way, which is probably why it is so often selected as a representative episode of the series. ![]() Before that I had nothing more than a basic, passing knowledge of it, but this episode must have been one that I saw when I was really young, because I recognized the characters instantly. It was not long ago that I started watching the original Twilight Zone series on DVD. It really is better to just see this one outright. I really can't say much more to people who don't know the ending, even though I'm sure most do. It's just telling us what the title promises. As Rod notes, it really doesn't matter where or when this story takes place. The filming is done very well with all the shadows. The plot's very basic, with a woman in a hospital with bandages over her face to look "normal". I guess it was mostly one big lesson about our standards of what's normal and what isn't. A lesser show would have just stopped this episode when the reveal was made, but they keep on going with it until it reaches a pretty satisfying ending which is probably bittersweet. I knew this episode's title just by reading the plot. It is kind of obvious that something's amiss when NO ONE's face is shown at first (except of course for our host, Rod Serling). I had heard of the twist ending before, but still loved it. What's truly fascinating is the way the pacing in this episode is done. There were so many notable episodes of "The Twilight Zone", it really took a lot of effort to make one that really became famous and this is one of them. It's a classic Twilight Zone treatment in the way the episode turns accepted conventions on their head, so well in fact, that once you see it, you'll always remember it for the reaction you had the first time around. Instead of a hideously disfigured population of 'ugly' folks, you have a race of swine people whose version of Miss America might resemble Miss Piggy. You have a good idea that the woman under wraps is probably going to look fairly normal (in human terms), so you're left wondering how the show will portray the 'beauty' side of the equation. It's interesting to reflect on one's own reaction to the story's punch line when seeing it for the first time. She's a threat to the established order personified by a porcine leader delivering a televised address, reminding his citizens that glorious conformity is the best feature of a unified society. Patient 307 (Donna Douglas) is more a prisoner than a patient, and her crime has more to do with challenging the status quo and refusing to live with others like her in a segregated community created just for that purpose. Viewed critically, this little parable moves well beyond notions of physical beauty, and plumbs the depths of racism, bigotry and narrow mindedness in a setting that's frighteningly reminiscent of dictatorship and government propaganda to obtain conformity to the state. To say it delivers would be an enormous understatement - Eye of the Beholder gives the audience their due payoff and then some! I'm not going to say any more - just see this as soon as possible.Īs the episode title suggests, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but so it seems is the content of the story. Our heroine is kept wrapped up in bandages for almost the entire running time, and with that in mind it's not unreasonable to expect a huge payoff once the bandages are removed. This episode is great because it presents a real dream-like atmosphere, and it's easy to believe that this story really is taking place in the 'The Twilight Zone'. However, it seems she has undergone some of surgery to reverse the disability and it's almost time for the bandages to be removed. She's in a hospital, and it soon becomes apparent that she is the victim of a horrible facial disfigurement. What I thought was going to turn out to be just a deviation on the French classic 'Eyes without a Face' turned out to be something much, much more! As the title suggests, this tale is based on the old saying 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder', and we are introduced to a woman dressed in bandages. I've just finished watching this episode of The Twilight Zone, and am still trying to catch my breath. ![]()
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