Five Characters in Search of an Exit is my second favorite Twilight Zone episode of all time. When I saw this in reruns as a kid, I was speechless at the twist ending. My young mind had been so wrapped up in the character’s plight to figure out who they were and where they were that I could hardly comprehend the brilliance of the ending reveal.

Every time I watch this episode, I wish I had been clever enough to write it. Seriously, I aspire to one-day write something this brilliant. A true teleplay masterpiece.

Synopsis

An army major awakens in a small room with no idea of who he is or how he got there. He finds four other people in the same room, and they all begin to question how they each arrived there, and more importantly, how to escape.

Why this Episode is Great

 The clown
Murray Matheson plays the clown, a strange, riddling jester who turns the idea of the clown as a buffoon on its head. He’s both creepy (as would be expected in an episode written by Rod Serling) and insightful. He provides much of the existential puzzling that elevates this episode to the stratosphere.

Rod Serling’s Twist Ending
Serling is notorious for fabulous twist endings. He was a master of using audience expectations against them and this episode is a prime example. He uses a great deal of cunning to make that last scene so heartbreaking and jaw-dropping. At any point, the whole premise could have fallen apart but he walks the perfect tightrope in getting us to the mind blowing ending.

The acting
All the characters put in spectacular work here (with the exception of the bag piper who seems a bit wooden but honestly, he wasn’t given much to do anyway). Particular standouts are the Army Major played by William Windom and the ballerina played by Susan Harrison. As was typical of that era, over-acting was common and Windom’s performance is sometimes over-the-top and yet it works so well here.

The script
Rod Serling’s teleplay is actually a riff on a 1921 Italian play called: Six Characters in Search of an Author. What’s interesting though is how Serling used the updated setting and characters to make a point about existence, identity, friendship, and belonging. It works as both a great, mystery-driven story and an analysis of the human journey.

Opening Narration

Clown, hobo, ballet dancer, bagpiper, and an Army major – a collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation; just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we’ll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we’ll only explain it – because this is the Twilight Zone.

You can watch the full episode on YouTube here: Five Characters in Search of an Exit

Other posts in this series:

Best Twilight Zone Episodes – Third from the Sun

Best Twilight Zone Episodes – The Hitch-hiker