Young Man's Fancy

Description: Season 3, Episode 34

Air Date: May 11, 1962

Plot Summary: The new bride of a momma's boy believes she is being haunted by her mother in law's ghost.

Review: This is definitely one of TZ's most bizarre episodes. You could read deeply into the subtext if you wanted to as well, but I'll just cover the general shenanigans. The story begins with a newly married couple that had apparently been dating for 12 years! Goddamn, son! The couple, Alex and Virginia, have come to clean out Alex's mother's home after her death; they are about to sell it finally. When Alex is struggling to let go of the memories the home holds, Virginia believes the mom's ghost is haunting them. Needless to say, Alex is a huge ass, Norman Bates-esque, momma's boy. Not going to lie here, you could definitely conclude there was some level of incest, Oedipus complex, etc. kind of relationship going on. Alternatively, she may have just been that awesome! While I would tell that bitch-boy to forget marriage altogether, my honorable nature does say you owe 12 years of undying loyalty some form of commitment...even if Virginia clearly smashed, headfirst, into the wall after she hit 30.

When you think they are about to sell the home, Alex changes his tune and wants time to think the sale over. This quickly turns into the suggestion that the couple lives there, and Alex is not budging on the issue. Virginia feels as though the mom's ghost is influencing Alex from the grave and even sees the creepy old lady. However, the mom's spirit reveals that it is the fact that Alex is such a ridiculous bitch-boy and not her affect on him; the mom's spirit infers this rather than speaking it. Then Alex has turned into a little boy again and wants to spend forever with mommy. Uhhhh...okay. I like how the little boy version says they don't need Virginia anymore and Virginia's reaction is to run away screaming; the "Scooby Doo" scenario is perfect. And that's it. Psh. Hey, at least this episode is funny. This was surprisingly a disturbing episode if you take everything under consideration. While the context may have been a bit different in '62, it comes off that much more freakish in today's world. And what exactly was the young man's fancy...his mommy?!