Revisiting The Twilight Zone: S05E24: What’s in the Box?

Revisiting The Twilight Zone: S05E24: What’s in the Box?

It is somewhat amusing to see a tale that harps a little on the obsession of some people on watching television back in 1964, especially given the argument that often rears its head in 2017 about how much television the people of today are watching. Still, in the long run that’s not exactly what this episode is about at all. No, it is something completely different and unrelated.

Welcome Joe Britt, a character who seems to have very little redeeming qualities. Let’s bitch about our dinner, let’s bitch about our wife, and let’s bitch about out television repairman. Well, do so at your own risk, because if you have Winnie the Pooh’s voice repairing your TV, then he may just make a special tweak for you. Because once he leaves and Joe resumes his favourite position, suddenly what he can watch on the TV is his life – parts that have passed, parts that are current, and what scares him more, parts of what is to come.

OK, so without trying to overanalyse the episode, if this was occurring to you, would you not try and conclude whether anyone else could see if (which his wife could not) and then try and examine whether you were seeing things? Yes, I am overanalysing I know, and while the episode draws to its inevitable conclusions I guess you should be able to enjoy it without trying to pick it all to pieces. I have a bad habit of doing that to episodes that use either time travel or knowledge of the past or future in them.

As it turns out, two rather unlikeable characters both get their just desserts, which is perhaps the way it should be in a world where the Twilight Zone plays its parts in proceedings.

Rating:  Just turn it over to the wrestling!   3.5/5