Five Characters in Search of an Exit - Twilight-Tober Zone
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ก.ย. 2024
- "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" is a weird, captivating, first-rate installment. Is it worth all the praise it gets? Find out now as Walter takes a look at this episode in the Twilight-Tober Zone!
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"Five Characters in Search of an Exit" is episode 79 of the television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 22, 1961.
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Thoughts on "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"?
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It's one of my top five favourite episodes in this series. Even if you've never actually seen it, you'd know the twist, and the tension is very well written.
Gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
I suspect the Star Trek: TNG episode "Allegiance" also drew inspiration from this episode. There are a number of very similar plot elements.
I've never seen this episode before, but honestly the premise felt *so* familiar that I'd guessed the twist before you'd even gotten to it. I'm actually really excited to find this episode and watch it through myself! I love the clown's delivery in the clips shown, and I really want to watch the interactions in context.
Yeah, this could be added to a list of things that did Toy Story before Toy Story, like The Christmas Toy, The Velveteen Rabbit, & Raggedy Anne & Andy the Movie.
As a kid, this is the kind of episode I would have listened to while playing games on my phone, had cell phones existed back then. Kind of a snoozer, like The Invaders.
I love the amount of foreshadowing that's subtly built up. The Major's sword easily breaks against the side of the metal chamber, which makes sense, since it's a plastic prop. And while it's pointed out that none of them feel any physical sensations, or thirst, heat, cold and hunger, they CAN feel pain, just like dolls, who can be broken.
Wait, if they can’t feel emotions then why do they wanna get out so bad? Wouldn’t they not care about escaping or something?
@Trina Oh man I never realize this episode had all that foreshadowing. I knew the five characters did not feel thirst, cold, heat, hunger and that all they could feel is pain. I never picked up on the symbolism meaning behind that. Thanks for your insight 👍
Pain still doesn't make sense bc toys don't scream out when u break them. They feel nothing, 0
@@gking2709 Or can they
@@gking2709 toy story, buzz lightyesr
I respect the bagpiper for trying to do both a scottish and irish accent at the same time. Ambitious!
Maybe he should have been an uilleann pipes player?
I like the roles every character has. The Major represents progression, pushing forward, and solving problems despite the struggle. the clown represents anit-progression. He believes there is no reason to work and instead tries to distract everyone. The Balle dancer represents innocence, the victim that bad things will happen to if something isn't done. The bagpiper just wants to play his music. The Hobo just wants to wallow in his own self-pity. Each character represents a theme and that's why this episode is so good.
💯
This is such a strange episode. I wanna say it's sad, but idk. It leaves you with this sad but hopeful feeling for them all. The ballerina tears at the end always gets me.
It’s bittersweet.
"But this added hopeful note. Perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children there can be nothing but love." Great narrative line for the ending.
Likewise, I love the bittersweet element. It's implied that the toys will be given to children who genuinely care for them, and that they won't have to stay in the box forever.
I'm in my 50s, but I remember being a child and being convinced that my toys were somehow alive. Even though I knew it was ridiculous, that weird feeling felt vindicated after I watched the Toy Story movies, even though I was well into adulthood by the time those came along.
@@Yesica1993 I've always thought, this was where they got Toy Story from, minus Andy
This episode has one of the better and more underrated plot twists in the series, since it doesn’t have the same recognition for twists like Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up and To Serve Man, but it’s really well done and very unpredictable for the characters turning out to be toys
personally I found it to be the most obvious and predictable twist
@@staceynainlab888 I think I just figured it out, the five characters are toys that just recently gained sentience sort of like toy story and are trapped in a toy box
idk I found the twist pretty obvious, mostly because the only thing the costumes they are wearing have in common is that they are common picks for old timey toys and figurines and - more tellingly - the characters didn't have much personality beyond them.
For example if they actually were on hell, you'd expect a memory of their past to come up at some point, instead they are pureky defined by the costume they wear. The ballerina even prances around even though there is no reason to put on a performance.
They had to be either porcellaine figurines or toys.
@@jojoversus1100 I figured it out almost immediately just by looking at how big the characters are compared to the size of the bin
@@staceynainlab888 Nah the most obvious twist is Minitiature, where a couple is trapped in a giant doll house. Obvious from the second they find that the food is fake, yet someone still found it necesarry to play creepy girl's laughter in the background
One of the more underrated episodes of the entire series
💯💯💯
Precisely, it's definitely in my top five episodes.
@@trinaq Time Enough At Last is my personal favorite
What is a comment on every one of these videos.
Yes, definitely! I bought the BluRay set when this series started, to rewatch and relive this whole series, one of the favorites of my youth. There are better and worse episodes, but it‘s all part of the big package. There are no mountains if there are no valleys.
YES!!! This is my all time favorite Twilight Zone Episode! Not only does it have a great premise, a colorful cast of characters (ironic I know), and a great twist, but my high school adapted it into a stage play where I got to play the role of the clown, and I loved every second of it! I just loved doing the high pitched voice and the zainy movements and hearing people laugh at what I was doing. It was so much fun! Not to mention the rest of the cast (there were two of them, we did a cast A one night and cast B and other night thing) was incredible to work with too.
This episode just gives me a bunch of good memories, and I love it!
Clearly this is a bot XD
it would make a very good play - fairly straightforward set and limited but fun cast
I love it when they're throwing out theories on where they are. Almost feels like they're taking the mickey out of the show itself
I've got a great story about this episode:
I first saw this episode when I was 10 and it scared me so bad that I avoided the show after that.
In my mid-teens, I decided that it was time to put on my big boy pants and get over my fear. I stayed up until 1AM to watch it on TV and coincidence of coincidences, this same episode was the one airing that night.
I wound up falling in love with this show after that so hard that I started taking creative writing classes in college and wrote fanfiction for three and a half years.
I've long since dropped out of the writing scene but this episode is nos one of my all-time favorites, not for how good it is but for how much of my life it wound up influencing.
This episode was "Toy Story" 34 years before it even existed! They did a masterful job of building up the suspense and tension throughout, with the characters playing well off each other.
💯💯💯. Soooo true
The weird thing here is that the toys in this episode don't realize they are toys.
@@melissacooper8724 And the Dramatic Irony is what makes it great
@@melissacooper8724 similar to Buzz Lightyear in the first Toy Story.
@@Spindler2007 exactly!
This is definitely one of the best episodes of the show. I will always love Time enough at last and Monsters are Due on Maple Street.
Preach, it's one of the most referenced, iconic installments, to the point that you'd likely already know the twist before even seeing the episode.
One of the most brilliant episodes of a show ever.🙏
💯💯💯
Indeed, it's easily one of the most iconic and referenced episodes in the show's history!
@@trinaq Time Enough At Last and Mosters Due on Maple Street are also Top tier
It’s cool that in the end credits of the previous episode when Rod promotes this one, he seems especially excited, and says that this has the best twist ending to date
One of my all time favorite episodes!
Small limited cast but great portrayals and they bounce off each other so well, especially the Clown, Major, and Ballerina.
Interestingly enough the various hypotheses (maybe we're in Hell, maybe we're on a spaceship, maybe we're insane, maybe we're in a dream) are all twists from previous or subsequent episodes.
I remember this episode so well from when I was a little kid. It was so anxiety-producing, and the ending freaked the heck out of me.
Love this one! Great example of just putting interesting characters in 1 space and watching them interact. Plus your Twilight Zone sauce, great one.
My favourite episode and arguably the best episode ever.
Top 10 episode of The Twilight Zone. I feel like this is one of those episodes, that absolutely no one hates.
Finally! I've been waiting for this episode! This has got to be one of if not my favorite episode. I remember watching this one years back and just really enjoying it. Anyone who hasn't had a chance to watch this one yet should definitely check it out!
I had to a report in High School where I had to present a sci-fi show that I liked and I showed the class this episode.
Needless to say, everyone loved the reveal at the end and one of my classmates got into the series soon thereafter.
This could be "Toy Story in the Twilight Zone." The clown and the ballet dancer were my favorites of the episode.
This is such a masterpiece and in my eyes has one of the greatest plot twist ever written not just to the twilight zone, one of the greatest plot twist ever seen in television 📺. The characterization, the dialogue, the acting from the five actors, the amazing cinematography and the bizarre premise make this episode a must see and one hell of a story
I saw a comment above claiming that this was "the first twist they guessed, & was way too obvious".
man, I hope someday I can be that cool
We watched this in 7th grade and let’s just say we were all mind blown 12 year olds 🤯. We also watched An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge after reading the short story. Both got me and others into horror stories and thrillers.
One of my first episodes. Being as young as I was, I was so confused. I appreciate it more now.
I remember being a little disappointed at the ending, but as a child I didn't realize what an "existential" story was. I remember how sad I was when they opine that they are in hell. But, hey, we're all stuck in this big circular container together with no answers.... it's called "the world".
"We don't know who we are, we don't know where we are. Each of us woke up one moment and here we were in the darkness"
One of my top five favorite episodes of the series.
This episode holds a special spot in my mind and heart, multiple Twilight Zone episodes that my film teacher played do. This episode, To Serve Man, The eye of the beholder, the Jeopardy room, The Obsolete man, all of them just remind me of his class and him, which is a good thing, this one and to serve man especially remind me of his class.
The question he had for us if I remember correctly is where are they? Are they in limbo, a bomb shelter, what exactly are they? We were asked these and then to analyze. We all were surprised by the ending, absolutely no one guessed they were dolls in a bin.
Its such a great episode, and it reminded me of another movie we watched at the time, 12 Angry Men, with how its mostly only in 1 room.
This was my FIRST episode of the Twilight zone. A super interesting start.
SAME. And it’s my favorite episode too
Happy Belated Birthday, Walter.
GREAT episode! When I 1st saw it, that twist shocked me & I thought it was so clever.
One of my favorite episodes
Just from the brief description, I immediately thought the twist would be toys as well. I'm getting a feeling of deja vu
I love stories about fictional characters and their perceived life.
I know I have never seen this episode, but as soon as you described the premise, I knew what the twist was going to be as if I had. Like you said, this episode seems to somehow just exist in some collective zeitgeist.
YES! This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. I think I have mentioned before, I LOVE stories where a character or characters are in 0one place leaving nothing but character development. The play that inspired this episode, Jean-Paul Satre's No Exit, also did that and it was great too. Five Characters in Search of an Exit has great characters, an interesting story, and one of the best twist endings in the show's history. Bravo, Mr. Serling, Bravo.
My absolute favourite episode. And it was also the first one I ever saw.
Twilight tober zone is my favorite thing on TH-cam!
This has such a twist I never imagined and I love the clown he reminded me of Clopell from the Hunchback of Notra Dame
This my favorite episode of the twilight zone period❤
I remember seeing this for the first time while visiting my grandparents, my grandpa is a fan of shows like Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Stargate, Babylon 5 and X-Files.
Not sure why, but the twist was first thing that come to my mind
The end of the episode is so bittersweet. Knowing that these toys will eventually find warmth and love in the home of a child, but in the meanwhile they are trapped in an unknown barrel where they will have no idea where or when they will end up.
And here it is my absolute favorite episode of the TZ
This was the only episode I had seen in full prior to these videos being made, so yeah its kinda neat that we are finally here.
William Windom continued to collaborate with Rod Serling after "TZ". Most memorable of all, starring in arguably the greatest "Night Gallery" episode, "They're Tearing Down Tim Reilly's Bar."
The guy in the Scottish kilt was Clark Allen. He was a family friend of ours; my dad went into the restaurant business with him.
Cool story
@@johndavis6719 LOL, whatever, Sparky.
@Serai3 whatever sparky I was just saying that's good that you're family was associated with a famous actor.
Nice! This episode has been my Channel thumbnail for years
This is one of those episodes that messed with me as a kid. The blank background of the cylinder, the way the characters moved, THE CLOWN!--it gave you this feeling like something is really wrong here, like you were trapped with them. If you've never seen the episode, it's a must.
4:24 - 4:34/For those curious, if the actress looks familiar, Susan Harrison made her film debut as Susie, the sister of J.J. Hunsucker in the 1957 classic SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS! Something tells me that her theatrical career, along with a little bit of actor's ego, led to her arguing with Mr. Windom over top billing.
The twist was honestly kinda obvious after all the times we've seen the same plot done, but still works.
This is my favorite episode
That is a good question. I don't know how I knew about 5 Characters in Search of an Exit either. It feels like I've known about it forever, although I've never seen it.
Jason Mraz as the hobo was awesome. That dude does not age!!
a real favorite, which I've shown in various classes
I remember showing my little brother this one in the early 2000's lol and having him try to guess what was happening lol. It is a great one for sure.
Five Characters in Search of An Existence perhaps? I also noticed upon a second watch that despite their costumes none of the “characters” knew how to do any of their “occupations” with any fine tuned skill-which hints to me their true nature.
This is one of my top five episodes .
This is one of my favorite episodes and for a show that is praised for its great plots and twists, The twist in this one Genuinely shocked me the first time i watched it. The ending monologue was really giving me a "The incredible shrinking man" vibes.
I don't know if it was a homage to this episode or not, but there's an episode of Star Trek: TNG that has a similar premise called 'Allegiance'. Picard and three others are trapped in a room together, each one with a differing personality and they try to deduce their way out of the predicament.
One of my favorite episodes. This one, The Night of the Meek, and A Stop at Willoughby are hard to decide between. There are others I also include among my favorites, but I always have trouble recalling them.
There is actually a small reference to this episode in Toy Story 2. When Woody is having that nightmare where Andy abandons him, he falls into a garbage bin much like in this episode.
I love the twilight zone!!!! Ive seen every episode
Oh, I’ve been looking forward to this one. There have been some mind-blowing twists in the twilight zone but this one tops them all. It’s an absolute must-watch.
I saw someone above claim that this twist was "really obvious" & "the first one they guessed". Some people really will just lie through their teeth to try & look cool lol.
I wouldn’t call this my favorite Twilight Zone episode. But I would say it would be in my top 15-25.
But if I were with someone who had never seen a Twilight Zone episode and they asked me to show them one that is most representative of the series, I think it might be this it’s the most “ Twilight Zonish” for lack of words if anyone gets my drift
The Twilight Zine was so brilliant in every aspect. Of course the writing. But EVERYTHING came together. And that started with of course Serling. The perfect producer. Great directors.
Great actors one after another; many who started on the show to later become famous. Brilliant camera work
And the scores. For this episode Fred Steiners score from “ One Hundred Yards over The Rim” fits perfectly and adds so much to the atmosphere of this. Maybe the most Twilght Zone like score! Although there were so many that were brilliant.. I think my favorite score from my favorite episode ; Bernard Herman’s from “Walking Distance “.
Well , you can see by my rambling I’m a big fan of the series!!
"I'm not the only one getting Toy Story vibes, right?" I'm also getting The Stuff Of Legend vibes.
We're here because we're here because...🎵
I watched a lot Twilight Zone when was younger and it good be remind it of some the episode I haven't seen in years, good job
One of my favorite episoee
This episode has always stuck with me for whatever reason.
Stories that take place in one location have always interested me, when done right.
I loved the twist ending on this one.
I like that they have no memory of their previous identity before they ended up in the box, where the Clown doesn't even know if he really is a clown but merely plays the role based on his outfit.
A child would naturally assign an identity and personality to its doll and when it gives the doll away, that would naturally go away too.
While this is not one of my favorite episodes, it always comes to mind first when I think of The Twilight zone for some reason
I sort of guessed they are toys when I saw the episode. The way they are dressed and behave reminds me of the popular dolls back then.
I was five years old when my father turned on the tv. We watched this episode and I remember that from that day on I took good care of my toys for years to come. More than twenty years have gone by and I still have my first Spiderman toy.
Me at 1:01 : They're abandoned toys, aren't they?
6:01 : Even if you can see the twist coming, it's still such a sad and tragic fate. I think I need to watch the episode play out and see the performances, the clown alone has me peeked.
This is one of my Top 5 episodes.
I hope you had an Awesome Birthday surrounded by the people you love, and keep up the good work Walter, Best Wishes.
Are the five characters Doug, Malcolm, Tamara, Heather and Rob? XD
This is absolutely one of, if not my favorite episode of the show. I remember writing a story like this in elementary school in the 90s, before I ever heard of Twilight Zone and shortly before Toy Story… Mine had more of a board game theme to it, but definitely some similarities between them. If you’re curious, the Radioplayer/audio version of this and every other episode is available on TH-cam, and they’re great… Jason Alexander plays the Major in this one and he does a great job.
I could have sworn this was a repost from last year or something ... turns out sfdebris did a review Nov 25, 2021. Good to see another take on it.
The clown singing "we're here because we're here" always gets me.
Not only is it funny and mocking in the best way, but in context it has this sense of nihilism that really foreshadows the twist in a perfectly ironic way.
This was the very first episode I ever saw when I was a kid.
This is one of my favorite episodes. So weird with a clever twist. The characters are all fantastic. I’m a real fan of shows / episodes with a limited cast. Also, as an action figure collector.... Yeah, this is a great one.
This was the first episode I ever saw, 7 years old.
Special, yes. There are not too many sweet TZ episodes. I love this one.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for...
The episode that got me into the series
Sabrina The Teenage Witch homages this episode, or coincidentally had a scene very much like it. Sabrina’s bratty younger cousin shrinks the main cast and traps them inside her toybox.
Easily one of my personal favorites
Putting the "stack" flat on the ground would've been given away by some of the costumes.
Bill Windom also played Commodore Decker in one of the best episodes of the original Star Trek, "The Doomsday Machine."
Called it in my head right away
If I knew the original transmission date before I saw this for the first time , maybe I’d have guessed the twist, but I didn’t, and I didn’t. In my Top 3.
Kind of like the feeling of being trapped and trying to escape from that trap this episode's meaning
Ironically enough i got the twist without watching the episode, it's my first time hearing about this. When i saw these characters in that place, my first idea that came to mind was "they're toys"
Same. In the back of my mind, all I could hear was Woody screaming “YOU ARE A TOY!!!”.
“A toy is never truly happy, unless it is loved by a child!”
-Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
This is one of the few Twilight Zone episodes I actually saw and remember, such a bizarre concept.
I watch this episode 12 times
Guessed the twist as soon as this video began. I'll have to watch it today. Seems like a fun one