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The Twilight Zone: Uncle Simon (1963)
Uncle S
Warning: This review may contain spoilers, so read with caution.
This time around I had an unusually strong reaction to this episode, which normally I had found just rather hateful, siding with the niece. I guess my own age has contributed to my sympathy for old Unc. Simon, and I found this episode to be unusually raw and honest, stripped of the "nice" lies. The niece was taking care of the uncle for one reason: his money. She hoped he would die faster. He was well-aware of this and didn't make the expected social convention of pretending they loved each other somehow. No whitewashing here. He called it as it was; she cared for him to get his money, period. He deeply resented that and gave her a wallop in perpetuity.One might ask why she didn't love him at all, and if he was responsible in some measure for that. It may well be that she was a shallow, dim-witted type, who more or less deserved what she got. Think of poor Uncle Simon; he has money and has to give it to somebody, but there is no one worthy, so he returns hate with hate. No one has mentioned it, but one can see a connection to the episode called "The Masks," where it is quite similar, in that an old, wealthy man returns his children's hate with hate, of a perpetual nature, like the robot. I find both episodes compelling. I bet in the Masks people tend to identify with the old man, but in Uncle Simon, it is the opposite, which is interesting between the two episodes, I think. In sum, who knows if Uncle Simon's bitterness is any less deserved than the old man in the Masks (forgot his name). I would even say that the rawness of the hatred, the likes of which I can hardly recall in any episode, save the Masks (where it is somehow less so perhaps), makes for a disturbingly real episode, all-too-human, open honest hate. A great episode, even with the comedic effect of the robot.
The Twilight Zone: The Bewitchin' Pool (1964)
Repetition in Betwitchen' Pool
I am just wondering, has anyone noticed that this particular episode is the only one in the series in which there is a duplication of a scene, which seems to be an error? There is a repetition of the footage. One first sees the scene where the children are told about the impending divorce, and this is repeated, inexplicably, later in the episode. It's hard to believe that an error as egregious as this would pass unnoticed, but I cannot figure it out. If it's intended, what would be the point of showing that particular segment twice? On another note, does the collected set of Twilight Zone have the Owl Creek episode, which I have never been privileged to see?