Rendezvous in a Dark Place
"Rendezvous in a Dark Place" is the sixtieth episode and the twenty-fifth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
| "Rendezvous in a Dark Place" | |
|---|---|
| The New Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 60 |
| Directed by | René Bonnière |
| Written by | J. Michael Straczynski |
| Original air date | March 12, 1989 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Janet Leigh: Barbara LeMay | |
Opening narration
Barbara LeMay, the woman in black, out of place in a world of colors and sounds and life. A woman caught between fascination and something more profound, and less earthly. Barbara LeMay, with one foot in the grave; the other, firmly planted in the Twilight Zone.
Plot
Barbara LeMay, an elderly but seemingly mindful woman, gets great joy out of attending funerals even those of people she does not know. As she leaves a funeral one day, the priest is befuddled after she reveals she did not know the deceased but "it was still a very lovely service." As Barbara discusses the last service she attended with her son Jason he becomes upset and claims that it is wrong of her to continue attending strangers' funerals. She goes on dreamily about the funeral and planning her own and Jason claims she revels in talking about death. However, he tells her that he loves her and wants her to see his children grow up. She reassures Jason everything will be okay and he leaves for his flight.
Later that night, a storm moves into the area and a man named Trent breaks into Barbara's home. He is injured and bleeding. After he passes out, Barbara tries to comfort him and learns that he is the criminal who robbed a local liquor store. She thinks he is dying and he begs her not to take him to the hospital but requests that he would not like to die alone. Soon, another man enters the room who reveals himself to be Death. Barbara is excited and talks excessively about seeing him before and knowing him so well. Then she begs Death to take her instead of Trent, as she poetically espouses her knowledge of him. Death denies her and tells her that he cannot take a life where there is none, because she embraces him while others run from him. So, Death takes Trent and leaves in an instant.
After the police arrive, Barbara decides to await Death once again and he arrives and tries to comfort her. She attempts to explain why she embraces him and because he took all that she loved, she became jealous and her love transferred to him. It's just the way of the universe, he claims, and while she acknowledges this, she realizes there is something else. In the end, Death is all anyone has. After her husband died, she considered suicide. Death offers his hand and he takes her where she is "most needed." They appear in a hospital, where Barbara, now dressed in black, goes to a man who is dying and offers him comfort, taking him just as Death had taken Trent. Death commends her on a job well done.
Closing narration
Incident in a hospital room. Part of the status quo of life and death. A visitation accompanied by cold winds and warm hands locked in a midnight embrace...in the Twilight Zone.
Themes
This episode is a reversal, but similar to the original series episode "Nothing in the Dark", starring Robert Redford and Gladys Cooper, where an old woman is convinced she knows "Mr. Death" when she sees him and can stay alive as long as she keeps everyone out of her tiny apartment and never goes out.