Teacher's Aide (The Twilight Zone)
"Teacher's Aide" is the first segment of the seventh episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
| "Teacher's Aide" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
 Scene from "Teacher's Aide" | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 7a |
| Directed by | B.W.L. Norton |
| Written by | Steven Barnes |
| Original air date | November 8, 1985 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Adrienne Barbeau: Miss Peters | |
Plot
Miss Peters is an English teacher at a gang-infested high school where fights between different gangs are the norm. Trying to stop one of these clashes, she is captured by the sight of a gargoyle on the rooftop of the school's main entrance which appears to be watching over her. After this incident, Miss Peters start to notice some changes in her behavior. For example, she pins one of the gang members in the classroom against a wall after a small class insubordination. Moments later, she spots another member of a gang vandalizing his locker. She violently confronts him, knocking him against the locker several times, chiding him that the school is older than his grandmother and if he respects his grandmother, then he should respect the school. Later that night, her dog starts barking at her for no apparent reason which leads her to believe there must be something very wrong with her.
The next day in class, a gang member nicknamed Wizard starts to play his boom box in the middle of the class and Miss Peters crushes the radio with her own bare hands and wipes the wall with Wizard's body. The Fury's gang leader decides that he has had enough and prepares to finish her later with a baseball bat when the school building is empty. Thanks to her recently gained supernatural abilities, she senses his plan and draws him into a storage room. After a game of cat-and-mouse, Miss Peters emerges resembling a gargoyle and defeats Wizard. As she is getting ready to finish him off, she sees herself in the mirror and recoils. Lightning strikes the gargoyle on the rooftop and Miss Peters backs into a power box. Wizard helps Miss Peters to her feet, and asks if he should get a doctor. Miss Peters, now returned to her normal self, thanks Wizard for aiding her and that she is OK. The two leave the storeroom.
Closing narration
We're told that damned places exist. Buildings where madness permeates the very bricks and mortar. We're told that sometimes dedication and kindness can purge the evil from those walls. This has merely been a story. Life isn't really like this, is it? A lesson to be learned in the study halls of the Twilight Zone.