Eye of the Beholder

The story (and THAT punchline!) is brilliant. However, the Direction is what really makes the episode so stunning. The photography, the camera angles, the shadows all add to the sense of surrealism which mimics the patient's POV. The anti-fascist message is wonderful, too. Well-deserving of its rating on IMDB, and its fame in the SF world. Watch this to see what great writing and direction can achieve!

The suspense, the message, the performance; WOW! The whole thing is just genius!

One of the truly classic early Twilight Zone episodes. A woman is lying in a hospital bed with her face covered with bandages. All hope lies in an imminent operation to restore her distorted features. The doctors and nurses attempt to reassure her that everything will be all right. The undertone, however, is that if the operation fails, the consequences will be very bad for the patient.

The camera direction plays with the viewer, who hears a lot of conversation but can't really see anyone's faces until the climax.

The episode combines a theme envisioned by the title, along with a kind of big brother overlay, and concludes with a glimmer of hope for even the throwaways of society. The twist at the end is startling if you haven't seen already seen it. and still very dramatic even if you have.

There were so many notable episodes of "The Twilight Zone", it really took a lot of effort to make one that really became famous and this is one of them. What's truly fascinating is the way the pacing in this episode is done. I had heard of the twist ending before, but still loved it. It is kind of obvious that something's amiss when NO ONE's face is shown at first (except of course for our host, Rod Serling). I knew this episode's title just by reading the plot. A lesser show would have just stopped this episode when the reveal was made, but they keep on going with it until it reaches a pretty satisfying ending which is probably bittersweet.

I guess it was mostly one big lesson about our standards of what's normal and what isn't. The plot's very basic, with a woman in a hospital with bandages over her face to look "normal". The filming is done very well with all the shadows. As Rod notes, it really doesn't matter where or when this story takes place. It's just telling us what the title promises. I really can't say much more to people who don't know the ending, even though I'm sure most do. It really is better to just see this one outright. ****

The ugly Janet Tyler is submitted to the eleventh treatment trying to look normal. She has anxiety expecting the doctor to remove her bandages in her last attempt to improve her face. When the doctor and nurses remove her bandages, her expectation ends and she learns the procedure has not worked.

"Eye of the Beholder" is one of the best episodes of "The Twilight Zone" even when the viewer is watching for the third or fourth time. The greatest message of this show is the saying beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning the perception of beauty is subjective. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "A Beleza Está Apenas em Quem Olha" ("The Beauty Is in the Eye of the Beholder")