Perchance to Dream

Description: Season 1, Episode 9

Air Date: November 27, 1959

Plot Summary: A man fears that, if he falls asleep, he will die in his dreams.

Review: That's such a good line, right--perchance to dream? There's a certain eloquence to it, but that's Shakespeare for you. Anyway, this episode is some next level "Inception" shit mixed with "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Oddly enough, the thing I remember most about this episode is the "cat girl" which I guess shouldn't be confused with a cat lady. The story involves a man meeting with a psychiatrist, or whatever, who is highly strung and rattling on about how he's afraid to sleep. He mentions nonsense about how his imagination could almost come to life, but I don't know what that was all about. What is important, however, is that the man has been awake for almost four days straight. This puts the man in a predicament as he fears he will die if he sleeps yet he has a heart condition that will surely kill him if he doesn't get rest. The man explains to the psychiatrist that his dreams continue where they left off between waking. In other words, what happens in his dreams continues as if waking up were a mere intermission. This was a cool concept and not one I can recall being touched on prior to TZ.

Probably the reason why this episode isn't all that memorable is due to the fact that the man's dream itself is on the lame side. All that happens is he's at an amusement park stalked by cat girl, named Maya. Hmm, Mayaaaa--nice name--I think this is another case of being hot for the '50s but not quite cutting it for me; she certainly is curvaceous though. I felt like the dream was TZ's way of subtly throwing in an erotic subtext what with Maya seemingly trying to seduce the guy and a moment where he almost grabs a tit (love the look on both of their faces with that scene). The guy insists that she wants him to die, but it felt ambiguous and she does mention that if it's a dream he can do all the things he can't do in reality. The psychiatrist doesn't fully know what to make of the situation, but then the man decides to take a break only to discover the psychiatrist's receptionist looks exactly like Maya...minus the cat girl features of course. Overreacting--just a tad--the man immediately throws himself out a window to go splat on the pavement. But just when you think nothing makes any sense the audience realizes that all of these events have also been a dream. A dream within a dream. Oh shit! The actual psychiatrist talks to the receptionist, whose name is not Maya, and explains that the man walked into the office, immediately fell asleep, then screamed and died. This means only a few minutes passed in reality as well. The way Mr. Serling sums the episode up is with the suggestion that a lifetime can be lived in a one second dream and "who's to say which is the greater reality." I definitely loved that closing, and it is an interesting philosophical debate.

Had they made the amusement park scarier looking, as it's described, this could have been one of the classics. The themes are wonderful and definitely worth discussing, but the context in which they're handled is lacking; the ideas are there, but the execution is not. I still feel there was something more going on with Maya and her apparent seduction. If this were made nowaday they would have played her up big time. Nevertheless, TZ was always innovating and using massive creativity.

Is all we see and seem but a dream within a dream? Feels real enough though, right buddy?!