Eye of the Beholder (The Twilight Zone, 2002)

Last updated
"Eye of the Beholder"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 39
Directed by David R. Ellis
Written by Rod Serling
Featured music Mark Snow
Production code140
Original air dateApril 30, 2003 (2003-04-30)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"The Collection"
Next 
"Developing"
List of episodes

"Eye of the Beholder" is the 39th episode of the sci-fi anthology television series The Twilight Zone . The episode aired on April 30, 2003 on UPN. It is a remake of the episode from the original Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling about a woman with bandages covering her face hoping that a last-chance surgery will allow her to fit in with society, lest she be sent to a community of people with her 'deformity'.

Contents

Opening narration

You have been introduced to Miss Janet Tyler, who lives in a very private world of darkness – a universe whose dimensions are the size, thickness and length of the bandages that cover her face. In a moment, we'll witness the removal of those bandages and we'll see what's under them – keeping in mind, of course, that we're not to be surprised by what we see, because this isn't just a hospital. And this patient, Janet Tyler, patient number 307 is not just a woman, because this happens to be the Twilight Zone.

Summary

Janet Tyler is lying in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around her head. It is her eleventh attempt at looking normal in a society that regards her as ugly and since no more procedures are allowed after eleven, she is informed by Dr. Bernardi that she would have to live among others like her should this last treatment prove to be unsuccessful. Janet is anxious to see the result of her latest surgery and the doctor complies with her request to take the bandages off, while requesting the anesthetist to be present in case she gets violent. The bandages are removed during a speech by the Leader of the State and Janet is revealed to be beautiful, while those in her society are revealed to be deformed. Janet flees before the doctor can have her sedated and finds herself surrounded by screens showing the Leader's face as he preaches about conformity. She eventually runs into the break room and meets Mr. Smith, a handsome man who is to take her to a village with people just like them and tells her that it doesn't matter why they were born the way they are, because "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." The doctor says goodbye to Janet as Mr. Smith leads her out of the hospital to a new life with those of her own kind.

Closing narration

Now the questions that come to mind: Where is this place and when is it? What kind of world is this where ugliness is the norm and beauty the deviation from that norm? You want an answer? The answer is it doesn't make any difference, because the old saying happens to be true. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in this year or a hundred years hence. On this planet or wherever there is intelligent life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Lesson to be learned in the Twilight Zone.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">And When the Sky Was Opened</span> 11th episode of the 1st season of The Twilight Zone

"And When the Sky Was Opened" is the eleventh episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on December 11, 1959. It is an adaptation of the 1953 Richard Matheson short story "Disappearing Act."

"Eye of the Beholder" is episode 42 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on November 11, 1960, on CBS.

Twenty Two (<i>The Twilight Zone</i>) 17th episode of the 2nd season of The Twilight Zone

"Twenty Two" is episode 53 of the American television series The Twilight Zone. The story was adapted by Rod Serling from a short anecdote in the 1944 Bennett Cerf Random House anthology Famous Ghost Stories, which itself was an adaptation of "The Bus-Conductor", a short story by E. F. Benson published in The Pall Mall Magazine in 1906. It was one of the six episodes of the second season which were shot on videotape in a short-lived experiment aimed to cut costs, and was directed by Jack Smight.

"Many, Many Monkeys" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone, first broadcast in 1989. The episode was written in 1964 for the final season of the original The Twilight Zone series by producer William Froug, but though CBS bought the script, they chose not to use it. Froug believed that they found it "too grotesque." It remained shelved for more than twenty years until it was made as an episode in the third and final season of the 1980s Twilight Zone revival. The episode is a medical drama centering on an epidemic which causes people to go blind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Number 12 Looks Just Like You</span> 17th episode of the 5th season of The Twilight Zone

"Number 12 Looks Just Like You" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is set in a dystopian future in which everyone, upon reaching adulthood, has their body surgically altered into one of a set of physically attractive models.

"The Cyber House Rules" is the ninth episode in the third season of the American animated television series Futurama, and the 41st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 1, 2001. The title comes from the John Irving novel The Cider House Rules.

<i>Ray</i> (manga) Manga

Ray is a science fiction manga by Akihito Yoshitomi that ran in Champion Red magazine from 2002 to 2006 and was compiled in seven volumes. An anime television series adaptation titled Ray the Animation was broadcast in Japan from April 6, 2006, through June 29, 2006. The anime series was produced by Tezuka Productions and animated by OLM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jing-Mei Chen</span> Fictional character

Jing-MeiChen, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama series ER, portrayed by Ming-Na Wen. The character first appears in the first season as a recurring guest character, going by the name Debra "Deb" Chen. She departs the series towards the end of the first season, before returning as a main cast member part way through the sixth season, remaining until the middle of the eleventh season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanguinarium</span> 6th episode of the 4th season of The X-Files

"Sanguinarium" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. "Sanguinarium" was written by newcomers Vivian and Valerie Mayhew and directed by Kim Manners, and is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, a stand-alone plot which is unconnected to the series' wider mythology. It first aired in the United States on November 10, 1996 on the Fox network, earning a Nielsen rating of 11.1 and being seen by 19.85 million viewers upon its initial broadcast.

Uglies is a book series by Scott Westerfeld for young adults. Westerfeld originally intended for Uglies to be a trilogy. However, after publishing the series' first three novels, Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, he ultimately wrote an additional fourth book, Extras. This fourth book is dedicated "[t]o everyone who wrote to me to reveal the secret definition of the word 'trilogy'." On February 2, 2018, Westerfeld announced a continuation of the series consisting of four new novels, the first one being Impostors, that was released in September 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Hardy</span> Fictional character

Steve Hardy is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Former Major League Baseball infielder John Beradino originated the role of Steve Hardy on the show's April 1, 1963, premiere, portraying the character for 33 years until taken ill and last appearing on April 23, 1996. A leading presence on the series in over 4,300 episodes, Beradino received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, the same year GH celebrated its 30th anniversary. Jason Thompson portrayed the character in a flashback episode for the show's 52nd anniversary.

"Not Cancer" is the second episode of the fifth season of House and the eighty-eighth episode overall. It aired on Fox on September 23, 2008.

"5 to 9" is the fourteenth episode of the sixth season of House. It aired on Fox on February 8, 2010.

Characters of <i>Holby City</i>

Holby City is a British medical drama television series that premiered on 12 January 1999 on BBC One. The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty. It is set in the same hospital as Casualty, Holby General, in the fictional city of Holby, and features occasional crossovers of characters and plots with both Casualty and the show's 2007 police procedural spin-off HolbyBlue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bohdan Pomahač</span> Czech plastic surgeon

Bohdan Pomahač is a Czech plastic surgeon. He led the team that performed the first full face transplant in United States and the third overall in the world.

"Shiny Happy People" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of the American television medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and the show's 124th episode overall. It premiered on May 13, 2010. Written by Zoanne Clack and Peter Nowalk, while directed by Ed Ornelas, the episode was viewed by 11.05 million Americans. In his review of the episode, The Huffington Post's Michael Pascua said "Demi Lovato may have been the big celebrity name that was advertised on the commercials for Grey's Anatomy, but Marion Ross [...] had the most touching story." He also noted a change in Sandra Oh's character, Cristina Yang, wondering "what happened to the headstrong independent Cristina of yester-season". The episode earned Lovato a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Guest Star.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Tressler</span> Fictional character

Harry Tressler is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by Jules Knight. He first appeared in the fifteenth series episode "The More Deceived", broadcast on 14 May 2013. Harry was introduced as a CT1, later progressing to CT3. Knight's casting was announced in January 2013. He auditioned four times, with the producers taking two and a half months to choose him for the part. To help prepare for the role, Knight shadowed a surgeon and watched a laparotomy. In February 2015, it was announced that Knight had quit the show in order to concentrate on the release of his first solo record. Harry departed during the seventeenth series on 14 April 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essie Harrison</span> Fictional character

Estelle "Essie" Harrison is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actress Kaye Wragg. She first appeared in the series sixteen episode "My Name Is Joe", broadcast on 6 May 2014. Essie arrives at Holby City employed as an agency nurse working on the hospital's AAU and Keller wards. She is characterised as an opinionated nurse who is not afraid to challenge the healthcare system. She is also played as a warm person who makes a good friend for fellow characters and strives to provide excellent patient care. Her introduction to the show was controversial and featured the discovery that her grandfather Joe Goodridge was an escaped Nazi war criminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raf di Lucca</span> Fictional character

Raffaello "Raf" di Lucca is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actor Joe McFadden. He first appeared in the sixteenth series episode "Prince Among Men", broadcast on 28 January 2014. Raf is a Registrar General Surgeon, who joined the Acute Assessment Unit staff. He was introduced along with two other regular characters by the show's executive producer Oliver Kent in a bid to "shake things up". McFadden's casting was announced in September 2013, and he began filming the following month. He initially received a one-year contract with the show. To help him prepare for the role, McFadden watched open-heart surgery. McFadden departed in the nineteenth series episode "Group Animal, Part Two", broadcast on 7 December 2017, and returns for a single episode in the twenty-second series, broadcast on 21 July 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky McKendrick</span> Fictional character from the television series Holby City

Nicky McKendrick is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Holby City, played by actress Belinda Owusu. She first appeared in the series nineteen episode "We Need to Talk About Fredrik", broadcast on 12 December 2017. Nicky arrives at Holby City hospital to work as a trainee doctor (F1). Fifty five female actresses attended auditions to play Nicky and Meena Chowdhury. The series producer Kate Hall workshopped the characters during August 2017 and in September it was announced that Owusu and Salma Haque had been chosen to play Nicky and Meena.