Who doesn’t love The Twilight Zone?
I’ve already talked about the best Twilight Zone episodes, as well as some of the more obscure ones. Hell, I’ve even talked about the worst Twilight Zone episodes. But now, I want to talk about the weirdest ones.
Now, you might look at this headline and wonder, why would I not want to watch certain episodes? And the thing is, you might if you truly love the show. However, if you’re more of a casual viewer, then you might want to skip some of these, as they might tarnish your overall feeling about the series. So, with that said, here are the 10 weirdest episodes of The Twilight Zone.
“The Fever" (Season 1, Episode 17)
A husband and wife go to Vegas. The wife is excited, but the husband, who hates gambling, argues that she’s wasting her money. She loses and goes back to their room, but by happenstance, the husband gets an opportunity to gamble, and he takes it…to deadly results.
“The Fever” is a story about addiction, which is right up The Twilight Zone’s alley. However, what’s strange about this episode is how it all plays out, as the slot machine takes a life of its own. At first, it whispers to the husband, only to eventually follow him back to his hotel room.
Yes, all of this could be chalked up to it being in the husband’s head, but it’s still pretty silly to see an actual smiling slot machine threaten a man’s life. It’s a somewhat comical episode, but a good one.
"A Thing About Machines" (Season 2, Episode 4)
A while ago, I wrote about how A.I. will kill us one day, but I live in 2024, where that seems entirely possible. The Twilight Zone, however, was tackling that topic all the way back in 1960. Talk about being prescient!
In this silly episode, a luddite hates all the technology around him. He doesn’t see the point of his television, and has the feeling that the appliances in his house will kill him one day. And, since this is The Twilight Zone, his appliances do just that. His typewriter tells him to get out of the house, and his electric razor physically attacks him.
Not only that, but just like in John Carpenter’s Christine, even his car has a mind of its own. It’s pandemonium!
But, it’s also very silly. Much like the villainous slot machine in “The Fever,” seeing all of the appliances coming to life is a bit too on the nose when it comes to the theme of being too reliant on technology. It’s not a bad episode, per se, but it’s definitely one of the stranger ones.
"The Odyssey of Flight 33" (Season 2, Episode 18)
Have you ever watched Manifest (which may or may not get a spin-off)? Well, on the show, a plane takes off, and when it lands, it’s five years later. It’s a cool concept, but The Twilight Zone kind of did that idea several decades earlier with “The Odyssey of Flight 33” (which in itself is based on the Flying Dutchman story).
In the episode, a crew gets caught in a jet stream, and goes back in time, with a stop motion dinosaur and everything. The crew then ends up a bit more into the future, but not far enough. It actually has one of the more unsettling endings of The Twilight Zone.
What makes it weird though is not so much the concept, but more so how everybody reacts. For example, nobody shouts, “Yo! That’s a dinosaur!” Which is what I would definitely say if I ever saw one chilling on the ground. So, it’s really more how calm everybody seems in such extreme conditions that makes this such a strange one. That said, it’s also really good!
"Mr. Dingle, The Strong" (Season 2, Episode 19)
A weakling gets picked on by pretty much everybody–including children! So, a weird, invisible, two-headed Martian conducts an experiment on the man, giving him super strength. He becomes a local celebrity, before having it taken away again. It’s really silly.
But, not in a good way. “Mr. Dingle, the Strong” is one of those episodes where you know it’s supposed to be funny, but it’s just not. I like the aliens at the end though. They’re hilarious.
"Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" (Season 2, Episode 28)
On a snowy night, a UFO is reported to have crashed. Two police officers follow footprints to a diner, where an alien is suspected to be among the patrons. Paranoia (and some humor) ensues.
“Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?” is a really good episode, but a weird one. It might be because one of the patrons is putting on the performance of a lifetime as a strange old kook. Otherwise, the episode kind of reminds me of the Men in Black series, in that anybody could be an alien in hiding.
What’s strange about this one though is the actual reveal. I won’t spoil it, but even by The Twilight Zone standards, it’s a great, albeit, strange one.
"Dead Man's Shoes" (Season 3, Episode 18)
A homeless man filches a dead gangster’s shoes, and then is imbued by the gangster’s spirit.
I’ve always been a huge fan of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror episodes, and one of my favorite segments is “Hell Toupee” in which Homer gets a dead criminal’s hair transplant, and ultimately becomes that criminal.
The fact that a Simpsons episode played this story for laughs is just one of the many reasons why “Dead Man’s Shoes” is one of the weirder episodes of The Twilight Zone. It’s not a funny episode, but it is just as strange as the one on The Simpsons. Even so, the acting is really good, so that’s a positive.
"I Sing The Body Electric" (Season 3, Episode 35)
A widower gets a robot nanny for his children. One of the children hates the robot, but it’s more because of what she represents rather than the robot itself.
“I Sing the Body Electric” is actually weird because it’s so damn sweet. Other episodes would usually have a much darker tone when it comes to a robot being brought into the family, but this one feels strangely Hallmark in nature.
Perhaps it’s the Ray Bradbury script, but for whatever reason, this one just feels off for some reason. I expect my A.I. to be murderous, not sending kids off to college, dammit!
"Mute" (Season 4, Episode 5)
A little girl raised to be a telepath by her parents loses them in a fire, and is adopted by people who don’t understand her. There’s also a super mean teacher who tries to force her to speak. It’s a whole ordeal.
The concept of this episode is one of my favorites, as it’s creepy and off-putting. Based on a Richard Matheson script, the concept of a community trying to create telepathic children gives me serious Village of the Damned vibes.
That said, as one of the hour-long episodes, it kind of wears out its welcome. I do like to think of this one as a counterpoint to “It’s a Good Life,” though, since we actually feel sympathy rather than horror for a telepathic child in this one.
"Miniature" (Season 4, Episode 8)
A milquetoast goes to a museum and falls in love with a woman in a dollhouse.
What makes this episode so weird is that the milquetoast in question is played by the one and only Robert Duvall.
It’s a performance that I never imagined I would ever see out of him, and the episode itself just has a sort of syrupy vibe to it that’s both distinctly The Twilight Zone, and yet, something else entirely. I’m not entirely sure what, though.
"A Kind of Stopwatch" (Season 5, Episode 4)
An annoying guy who probably shouldn’t have the power to stop time gets it anyway with a magical stopwatch.
There are other episodes involving time similar to “A Kind of Stopwatch,” but this one is played for laughs, which just doesn’t feel quite right. Especially given its ending, which is similar to the fan-favorite episode, “Time Enough at Last.” But, rather than being a cautionary tale, this episode feels like one big gag. Like oops, sorry I froze the entire world. My bad.
And, that’s the list. How many of these episodes have you seen? For more news on all things The Twilight Zone–related, be sure to swing by here often.