- Valley of the Shadow
Infobox Television episode
Title = Valley of the Shadow
Series = The Twilight Zone
Caption = Scene from "Valley of the Shadow"
Season = 4
Episode = 105
Airdate =January 17 ,1963
Production =4861
Writer =Charles Beaumont
Director =Perry Lafferty
Guests =Ed Nelson : Philip Redfield
Natalie Trundy : Ellen Marshall
David Opatoshu : Dorn
Dabbs Greer : Evans
Jacques Aubuchon : Connelly
James Doohan : Johnson
Morgan Brittany : Girl
Music =
Episode list =List of Twilight Zone episodes
Prev =The Thirty-Fathom Grave
Next =He's Alive "Valley of the Shadow" is an episode of the
American television anthology series "The Twilight Zone".Opening Narration
ynopsis
A reporter named Philip Redfield (Ed Nelson) finds himself unable to leave a small town when he learns too much about a secret mechanical device which can control and rearrange atoms, making things appear and disappear, assemble and reassemble. The town refuses to share this and other amazing technology until "men learn the ways of peace."
Redfield becomes romantically involved with (what appears to be the only) female member of the town his age, and she convinces him that she wants to leave the sleepy village. The backwater confinement chafes, and Redfield decides to make a break for it one evening. The lure of saving the world becomes too much for him, and he uses the technology to make a gun.
He steals the book of formulas, shooting the three town elders on the way out. However, the joke is on him. Once he and the girl are just outside the town limits (and the force field), he looks at the book to see it full of blank pages. The town elders, including the mayor Redfield supposedly shot and killed, reveal that the girl was a plant and that Redfield has failed their test spectacularly. The girl tearfully confesses that it wasn't all a lie, implying her love for him was real, but Redfield will have none of it and approaches what he believes to be his imminent death in the surly, combative manner that has characterized him throughout the episode.
The end of the episode is ambiguous. Redfield apparently wakes up to find everything in order. The car is gassed up, and Redfield drives out of town. Whether the events were a dream, or whether Redfield is now in some sort of illusion is left open.
Closing Narration
Preview for Next Week's Story
References
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). "Trivia from The Twilight Zone". Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
*Grams, Martin. (2008). "The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic". Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090"Twilight Zone" links
*
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
* Episode listExternal links
*imdb title|id=0734688|title=Valley of the Shadow
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