[re favorite episode of
La quatrième dimension (1959)] "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" taught me the value of a good old-fashioned reversal. The obvious commentary on McCarthyism was completely lost on me as a kid, but what stuck with me so much was [Rod]Serling's ability to write a reversal so strong that it felt like the entire world was shifting beneath the characters' feet. We buy into the panic along with the characters, so when the camera zooms out and the residents of Maple Street are revealed to be the true monsters, we're revealed to be monsters as well. It taught me that a good reversal sort of bounces the story right back into the audience's lap.
