To Serve Man

Description: Season 3, Episode 24

Air Date: March 2, 1962

Plot Summary: A codebreaker is tasked to discover whether or not aliens, who have recently come to Earth, have come in peace or have ulterior motives.

Review: This is easily one of the best and most infamous episodes in the entire series. Although there are a few oversights in the plot, this episode has it all: cool twist, breaking the fourth wall, a timeless message, and so much more. With some minor tweaks this story could be practically told in today's era without any problem; now that is a testament to the longevity of this episode's storytelling. This is also an instance where the twist has become embedded so deeply into pop culture that the kiddies might not even be aware of its origin anymore.

The episode begins with the main character, Chambers, already aboard an alien spaceship as we flashback to the events leading up to this point. Out of the blue, aliens arrived one day in order to meet with Earth's leaders. Called the Kanamits, the aliens are giant men who speak telepathically in order to present a pleasant voice. The Kanamits offer peace and numerous ways for humanity to improve their living situation. In essence, they want to help turn Earth into a utopia with no benefit to themselves...only out of the goodness of their hearts. Of course this appears too good to be true as the USA's military wants their codebreakers, including Chambers and his sorta-love interest, to translate the Kanamit's language--specifically, a particular book. Admittedly, the aliens just leaving one of their books around is contrived, but we could assume they didn't care if humans uncovered its contents. To help alleviate any worries, and gain the public's trust, the Kanamits offer themselves up to a lie detector; yeah, it won't hold up in court, but, sure, let's put the fate of humanity on the results! However, many fears do vanish once they realize the book's title is translated to mean "TO SERVE MAN."

While Chambers and crew struggle to translate the rest of the language, the Earth is transformed into a paradise within the course of a year. The Kanamits begin to offer trips to their world for anyone that wishes to go, and Chambers and his chickadee have signed up on the waiting list. With the world seemingly at ever lasting peace, Chambers is heading off to the Kanamit home world. Just as Chambers is walking up the stairs to the spaceship, his chickadee comes screaming through the airport (spaceport?) that the book's actual meaning is to serve man as a meal! IT'S A COOKBOOK! Oh shit! It's too late though as Chambers is shoved into the ship, and we cut back to the beginning of the episode. You'd think that chickadee would have warned the government first, but I guess Chambers was in more immediate danger. The episode ends with Chambers addressing the TV audience and wondering whether or not we are on the ship or Earth but we all end up on the menu one way or another. Definitely a grim conclusion that's for sure.

Overall, this is an awesome episode that incorporates all the major factors that make TZ great. The flaws regarding the book being left around, and a few others, are not detrimental to the experience. I liked how the episode made the Soviets extra paranoid, but, hell, I'd be with them; you must be crazy to trust big ass aliens from space promising peace. Regardless, everything about the story still holds up today and the effects weren't too bad either. This was definitely one of the highlights of the entire series, and that's saying something.