Poetic Justice With A Twilight Zone Twist

In the episode “Two” of the Twilight Zone there is a noticeable debate on the benevolence of human nature and its change through a period of warfare. The episode begins with the introduction of a Russian, female character in a worn out military uniform. She searches for food at what seems to be a restaurant, finding a can of chicken and as she opens it, a male, American character appears. These two lonely beings are what is left of a city that has not been inhabited for five years due to a war. They begin fighting as they recognize each other’s uniforms, during the struggle the male strikes her and the female falls unconscious.

The male character rummages through the remains of the city probably reflecting on what he has done and seems to want to create a family as he tells the following words to the woman as he wakes her up and offers her some chicken from the can. “But I’m afraid the only way I could convince you of my honorable intentions would be by force. And I’m terribly, terribly sick of fighting.” (11:00) Even though the Russian doesn’t understand what he says, she completely changes her behavior towards him. She is curious of the man as he walks into a barber shop and shaves his face. They continue walking through the city and pass by a theatre where they both spot the dead bodies of two soldiers and each of them run for the bodies’ weapons. They both aim at each other, giving the viewer a feeling of going back to the old times of war, of the human’s nature to destroy each other, even when both are in deplorable conditions and the simultaneous opposing need to stand beside each other to survive. At this moment, we can understand how ‘perfect’ this punishment is. How life-changing it would be to be alone in a city with a person whose ideals I have opposed with my life and now my life is hanging on the thread of cooperation and union.

They both put their guns on their backs and continue walking. The American leads them to a clothes store where he stares at a woman’s dress. The woman says prekrassnyi which is Russian for pretty. In this moment, we have confirmation that she is Russian, but there is some kind of understanding between them that transcends the spoken language. The punishment they have received by finding each other is recompensed through this unstable and strange relationship which has followed on awkward, uneasy steps that are clearly changing their minds and characters. The man now asks the woman to try on the dress, this resembles a transformation and communion proposal of some sort , which she considers for some time. She then enters a recruiting office where she begins to change her uniform, her past military life, for her new dress as a civilian. In the office, she begins to change her mind as she is exposed to American Posters that contain propaganda in which the Russians are shown as grotesque beasts. “Your… country needs men and women. All ages. Join Now! Our army needs all of you.” (18:27) She hurriedly comes out of the office and shoots at the American who leaves in a heartbeat to save himself. These seconds of the video confirm the poetic justice in this piece clearly showing that the punishment the two main characters receive is proportional to the hatred for the actions of the other and the obsession for the ideals they once stood, fought and killed for.

The Russian who is hiding behind a car and the American meet once again as he comes out of a building dressed up as if for a wedding. The woman shows herself dressed in the gown he had showed her before which finally gives place for what we all hope is the final reconciliation. All these wars, hatreds, divisions and bloodshed finally end in some sort of blending, mending and uniting once again. Will we ever learn and start connecting instead of killing each other from day one? Killing is the quick, stupid, easy yet horrendous way. Downsizing our differences and uniting by strengthening and empowering our eternal similarities takes not only a lot of brains and great timing, but active wisdom, emotional intelligence and a deep love for our frail humanity.