Living Doll
(Season 5, Episode 6)
“Talky Tina, a doll that does everything, a lifelike creation of plastic and springs and painted smile. To Erich Streator, she is the most unwelcome addition to his household—but without her, he’d never enter the Twilight Zone.”
Welcome to the episode that made my younger self think twice about owning an American Girl doll. When Annabelle buys her daughter Christie a Talky Tina doll, it’s meant to be an apology/bribe for dealing with her new husband, Erich. Erich is hostile towards Christie and ends up transferring some of his shitty behavior onto Talky Tina, because apparently he’s such a miserable man that he must see little girls suffer, be they real or fake (That’s me “editorializing” here, not stated outright.) We learn along-side Erich that Talky Tina is sentient; as Erich’s behavior worsens, Tina begins threatening him. Erich devolves, scaring Annabelle and Christie with his violent actions towards Tina.
He dials it back and returns the doll to Christie, but it’s too late. When he goes to investigate a mysterious noise, he trips over Tina and fatally falls down the stairs. When Annabelle discovers the doll, Tina has a new warning for her: “My name is Talky Tina…you better be nice to me.” While the idea that a doll is sentient and capable of murder is ostensibly scary (see also: Child’s Play and the series of Chucky movies that followed), the doll is ultimately acting in the best interest of the child, who had been left unprotected by her mother. -Bri Lockhart
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