The Burning Man (The Twilight Zone)
"The Burning Man" is the second segment of the eighth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. It is based on Ray Bradbury's short story "The Burning Man", first published in his collection Long After Midnight (1976).
| "The Burning Man" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
 Scene from "The Burning Man" | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 8b |
| Directed by | J.D. Feigelson |
| Written by | J.D. Feigelson |
| Production code | 14 |
| Original air date | November 15, 1985 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Danny Cooksey: Boy | |
Plot
On a hot summer day in 1936 Kansas, a woman and her nephew are driving along a dusty, country road. They come upon an old man in raggedy clothes who hails them to stop. They pick him up and he says to just go because someone is after him. When they ask who is after him, he tells them the sun.
The old man starts talking about the seventeen-year locusts that are on their way and other wild theories about people and evil, more specifically, people who are born evil. When they stop to fix a flat tire, the old man continues telling the boy his strange theories but the aunt is starting to tire of it. She thinks the heat has gotten to him. When she can't take him anymore, the aunt stops the car and throws the old man out. They try to laugh it off and head for a lake, where they stop and enjoy the day.
The boy begins to worry about the evil the old man was talking about when they come upon a boy in a bright white suit. He claims he was at a picnic and got separated and then lost. They pick him up and soon it becomes dark. The boy in the white suit leans forward and says something to the aunt, and the car comes to a stop and dies. The aunt and nephew look back at the boy. Smiling, the boy in the white suit says "Have you ever wondered if there was such a thing as genetic evil in the world?"
From a long shot, the headlights of the car go dark.