In some ways, this episode reminds me of my own grandmother, who spoke of dying almost from the time I can remember her. She lived with my family - mother, father and sister, or I should say, we lived with her in the home she built. When I was Billy Mumy's age in the show, my grandmother would have been sixty two, which about parallels the characters in the story. For all of my 'babci' contemplating her demise at any minute, she managed to hang on until the age of ninety eight. I don't use a telephone to talk to her every now and then, but I do ask for her help in watching over my family and keeping things safe for my kids and grandkids. That spiritual element may come across as part of the supernatural with this installment of The Twilight Zone, but for anyone seeking help from a higher power, it's comforting to know there's someone on the other side to weigh in with a favorable vote.
"Long Distance Call" is a poignant story, one that examines a variety of issues from a mother's resentment against a woman stealing away her son in marriage, to reliving one's youth through a surrogate child. It's true there's almost a creepiness to the way Grandma Bayles interacts with her grandson, with those suspect glances exchanged between young Billy's parents. It leads to that 'uh-oh' moment when Billy considers he might want to go and stay with her after she's passed on. Writers Charles Beaumont and Bill Idelson tread a fine line for the 1960's in tackling a subject like child suicide, which seems daring even today some fifty years later.
As was often the case, Rod Serling would eventually recycle the theme introduced here, with that of a disembodied voice on a phone in a fifth season episode titled 'Night Call'. That one plays for shivers more so than the one here, set as it is within the confines of an average suburban home. In either case, one can readily come to the conclusion that in The Twilight Zone, there's no such thing as a wrong number.
"Long Distance Call" is a poignant story, one that examines a variety of issues from a mother's resentment against a woman stealing away her son in marriage, to reliving one's youth through a surrogate child. It's true there's almost a creepiness to the way Grandma Bayles interacts with her grandson, with those suspect glances exchanged between young Billy's parents. It leads to that 'uh-oh' moment when Billy considers he might want to go and stay with her after she's passed on. Writers Charles Beaumont and Bill Idelson tread a fine line for the 1960's in tackling a subject like child suicide, which seems daring even today some fifty years later.
As was often the case, Rod Serling would eventually recycle the theme introduced here, with that of a disembodied voice on a phone in a fifth season episode titled 'Night Call'. That one plays for shivers more so than the one here, set as it is within the confines of an average suburban home. In either case, one can readily come to the conclusion that in The Twilight Zone, there's no such thing as a wrong number.