The Twilight Zone is very much a product of its time. While the celebrated anthology series continues to be deeply influential in the areas of science fiction and horror, that doesn’t change the fact that it aired from 1959 until 1965 and that, in many respects, the show is dated by today’s standards, especially when it comes to creature effects and production design that were groundbreaking at the time.
However, the reason why The Twilight Zone continues to endure is not because of its special effects, but because of the deeper human emotions its stories touched on. These elements remain timeless, which is why The Twilight Zone often feels paradoxically dated, yet somehow relevant to what’s going on today. A great example of this is the season 3 episode “The Shelter,” which debuted 65 years ago in the fall of 1961.
“The Shelter,” like so many other episodes of The Twilight Zone, was written by series host and creator Rod Serling. It begins with a handful of neighboring families sitting down to a birthday dinner for Dr. Bill Stockton (Larry Gates), who has long been the doctor for all of their families. Suddenly, an announcement comes on the radio that unidentified objects have been detected in the skies nearby — meaning a nuclear attack may be imminent — and that everyone should hurry to their basements or, if they have them, their bomb shelters.
As it turns out, the only person to have a shelter in the group is Dr. Stockton. It was something the others had teased him for in the past, even over the birthday dinner, but Stockton believed in being prepared and built the shelter for himself, his wife and his child, without any room for others. Despite the lack of additional space or supplies, all of Stockton’s neighbors begin to plead to let them join him in the shelter. Stockton apologetically refuses and locks himself and his family inside.
Outside the shelter, an argument rages among the neighbors about who should join Stockton. As a result, the base emotions and prejudices of the neighbors come out, with one of them saying that another man, being foreign-born, deserves the safety of the shelter less than his American-born neighbors. The hysteria comes to a head when the neighbors resolve to get a nearby flagpole and use it as a battering ram to take down the door to Stockton’s shelter.
Why “The Shelter” is still relevant
While The Twilight Zone is known for dealing with supernatural elements, there is none of that in “The Shelter.” Even the signature twist at the end of the episode isn’t something strange or otherworldly. On top of that, the show aired in 1961, during a time when it was mandatory for school children to rehearse what to do in the event of a nuclear attack and many people built bomb shelters in real life. With the benefit of hindsight, we know America’s enemies during the Cold War never ended up striking us, but back then the threat was incredibly real, making this episode a truly terrifying scenario for the times.
In that respect, like so much else about The Twilight Zone, “The Shelter” is incredibly dated. More than 60 years later — and even a quarter-century after 9/11 — nothing even resembling a nuclear attack on America feels like it can happen. Yet, like so many other episodes of The Twilight Zone, what it’s about isn’t really what it’s about.
The most poignant message touched upon in “The Shelter” wasn’t the bygone Red Scare, it was prejudice and human nature. At the beginning of the episode, Dr. Stockton is the celebrated friend and neighbor of all of these people, but by the end, his neighbors are cursing his name because he won’t share the shelter with them, even though they are well aware there is no room for them in there. Furthermore, the neighbors begin to tear each other apart along ethnic boundaries.
In that sense, “The Shelter” is as relevant as it ever was. Even though we can’t really relate to the fear people felt during the Cold War, we still see hatred and bigotry on the news every day. That’s why The Twilight Zone continues to endure . The show was never really about aliens and killer dolls or even the fear of nuclear holocaust. It was about human nature, which is forever timeless.
The Twilight Zone is free to stream on Pluto TV.
