To Serve Man
(Season 3, Episode 24)
“Respectfully submitted for your perusal – a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we’re going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is The Twilight Zone.”
Based on the Damon Knight short story of the same name, “To Serve Man” explores what happens when the arrogance of man meets clever aliens from another planet. When the Kanamits visit Earth, they take care to win the trust of humans. Let’s face it, they’re as they say, creepy AF–nine feet tall, blank stares, and ominous voices that come from their brains–so they use a bit of flattery and altruism to win the trust of humans, who are thrilled to learn that their book is called To Serve Man. Unfortunately, cryptographer Patty cracks the rest of their code as narrator Mr. Chambers is getting on their ship: “The rest of the book To Serve Man…it’s a cookbook!” she shouts. It’s too late–Mr. Chambers is now stuck in a cell, biding his time until the aliens come for him.
“To Serve Man” features what is probably one of The Twilight Zone’s most famous twists in pop culture history–and with good reason. Most Twilight Zone episodes feature a lesson in each twist, and this one is no different; arrogance can blind you to danger. Subsequently, the episode has been referenced and parodied many times, most famously in the first ever “Treehouse of Horror” episode of The Simpsons, where the twist is flipped again and the aliens want to serve an actual dinner to the humans. -Bri Lockhart
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