'the Twilight Zone' ONe for the Angels
Season 1. Episode 2
“One for the Angels”
Originally aired on Oct. 9, 1959
Written by Rod Serling
Spoiler Alert: You should only continue reading if you have seen the episode in question. The Twilight Zone’s themes are revealed in subtle ways that shouldn’t be ruined by reading an essay before you have seen the episode.
“One for the Angels”
Originally aired on Oct. 9, 1959
Written by Rod Serling
Spoiler Alert: You should only continue reading if you have seen the episode in question. The Twilight Zone’s themes are revealed in subtle ways that shouldn’t be ruined by reading an essay before you have seen the episode.
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In this episode of The Twilight Zone, death is played by a pleasant looking man with a notepad in a suit. Murray Hamilton plays Mr. Death as a being who is sympathetic to those he will be leading into the afterlife. In fact, when Death meets pitchman Lou Bookman, played by Ed Wynn, it is to warn Bookman of his impending demise and to give him the opportunity to get his affairs in order.
When Death explains the three reasons Death could grant an extension, Bookman jumps at the chance to lengthen his life indefinitely. Bookman’s reason for not wanting to die is because he hasn’t ever made that one big pitch. Mr. Death is reluctant to grant him a stay but gives in when he sees how important it is to Bookman.
Even when Death finds out he has been tricked, he never becomes a threatening character. He is always kind and soft spoken. He is just a man, and a mild mannered one, doing a difficult job, one he does with compassion. Death, in places other than The Twilight Zone, is often depicted as a voiceless skeleton in a black robe that reps souls with a scythe. Serling’s depiction of Death stands in stark contrast to the myth, and this depiction may have been one way that Serling was able to deal with the deaths that he witnessed as a paratrooper in World War II.
When Death explains the three reasons Death could grant an extension, Bookman jumps at the chance to lengthen his life indefinitely. Bookman’s reason for not wanting to die is because he hasn’t ever made that one big pitch. Mr. Death is reluctant to grant him a stay but gives in when he sees how important it is to Bookman.
Even when Death finds out he has been tricked, he never becomes a threatening character. He is always kind and soft spoken. He is just a man, and a mild mannered one, doing a difficult job, one he does with compassion. Death, in places other than The Twilight Zone, is often depicted as a voiceless skeleton in a black robe that reps souls with a scythe. Serling’s depiction of Death stands in stark contrast to the myth, and this depiction may have been one way that Serling was able to deal with the deaths that he witnessed as a paratrooper in World War II.
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Read about Anne Serling's book As I Knew Him: My Dad, Rod Serling