Description: Season 2, Episode 20
Air Date: March 10, 1961
Plot Summary: An old man, miserable with life, reminisces about the good ol' days with the aid of a mysterious radio.
Review: I really want to like this episode, but it's hard to get past the similarities to other episodes that dealt with the same themes. I've already covered the rose-colored glasses phenomenon--and will continue to touch on it in future episodes--which is essentially all the story breaks down into. Now, I'm not saying this was a bad episode, it simply deals with familiar material that was done better. Plus, on the bright side, the food of the '60s was still great...so slide over grandpa and give me your pudding! I'm not asking...
The story begins with the main character, Ed, seemingly, angry at the sheer existence of television. That's a good one. Just be glad you never lived to see the nightmare of today's era. Arrrghh, if I could only destroy all the cell phones on the planet! Staying at a boarding home, Ed doesn't like the way people watch the TV hypnotically, and this inspires him to grab his old radio from the basement. After paying a dumbass, dancing boy (don't ask) to help him lift the radio, Ed tries to tune into those classic jams of the '40s. You know like...umm...and...uhhh...yeah, I've got nothing. The only problem is that no one can hear the songs but Ed. Rightfully so, the other people living at the boarding home think he's finally lost it.
We then get drama between Ed and a borderline gilf named Vinnie. Vinnie, huh? It would appear Ed and Vinnie were once an item decades ago, but complications stopped them from ever getting married. Whew...it was rare to dodge that bullet back then, Eddy--better thank your lucky charms. Essentially, Vinnie tells Ed that he's living in the past, and his nostalgia is probably due to the fact that their anniversary was coming up or something. Vinnie convinces Ed to admit he did really love her long ago which appears to make him quite angry. Not caring if the radio signals are in his head, Ed escapes into his perceived happiness. One day, Ed comes home to find that they threw away his radio; this doesn't matter since Ed buys it right back. However, before any serious resolution can occur, Ed suddenly finds himself transported back into the past to, seemingly, fix his mistakes. Alternatively, we could view the ending as a gloomier one where Ed has succumbed to his manifesting dementia. Take your pick.
Overall, this is nothing really new to TZ. Sure, the ending and setup are a bit different, but we get it. Actually, I think a more ballsy ending would have made this episode stand out. Like, keep the whole Ed returning to 1940 aspect, but then cut to the present with him drooling or something. The closing lines from Mr. Serling could be extra somber and really hit the message home.
One thing about many Twilight zone episodes I've noticed is that Rod Sterling doesn't make the endings too explained and wants to leave the viewer still guessing some on what really happens. Like at the end of "Willoughby", it's never clearly explained on what Willoughby really was, they show us " Willoughby funeral home" and they make it look like Willoughby was the afterlife for Gart when he dies jumping off the commuter train, but no one comes straight out and says it. With this episode, the viewer is left with the two options, did he really go back to 1940 or was it all in the old man's dementia ridden head? In real life, it would obviously be the latter, but this is the Twilight zone. Such as the end of "Sixteen millimeter shrine", it appears that the aging actress really went back to the 1930s, but they could've also left the viewer assuming that the last scene was all in her head, and that she really passed out somewhere outside when going for a walk, which would explain why no one could find her in the house. Most episodes, you can really look into two possible options
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