63 Years Later, 'The Twilight Zone’s Most Emotional Episode is Still a Bold Masterpiece

The Twilight Zone wasn’t all about weird creatures

When people think of The Twilight Zone, their minds usually goes to the weird sci-fi creatures. For example, the miniature aliens featured in season 2’s “The Invaders,” or the larger, hungrier aliens in “To Serve Man.” They may also think of more horror-heavy episodes, like the killer doll story “Living Doll” or the mannequin-filled horror show “After Hours.” But The Twilight Zone could be far more grounded, and one of its very best episodes has only the mildest of supernatural elements.

The first episode of season 5 — The Twilight Zone’s final season — was titled “In Praise of Pip” and it was written by The Twilight Zone creator and host, Rod Serling. In the 1963 episode, Jack Klugman stars as Max Phillips, an alcoholic small-time bookie whose son, Pip, is fighting in the still-young Vietnam War. Despite spending much of his life as a reprobate, Max decides to let a young kid slide on a debt he owes, but Max’s boss, Mr. Moran (S. John Launer), won’t allow it and an argument ensues between Max, Moran, and the kid.

During the dispute, Max gets a phone call informing him that his son has been injured in Vietnam and is dying. Max is already full of regret for the life he’s lived, so he decides to double down on his rare good deed by telling the young kid to run off. This prompts Mr. Moran’s enforcer to shoot Max, and Max then stumbles into the street. He enters an empty amusement park after hours, a place he used to take his son when he was young. Once inside, Max sees his son (Billy Mumy), who is magically 10-years-old again. Max is perplexed by this, but when all the lights in the park turn on, the two of them enjoy all the rides, snacks and games they want. The fun comes to an abrupt end though when the boy stops being happy and suddenly seems scared and runs off, and Max chases after him.

I won’t ruin what happens at the end, but I’ll simply say it's incredibly emotional, just like the rest of the episode.

Why “In Praise of Pip” is so good

“In Praise of Pip” is deeply affecting for a lot of reasons. For one thing, the story is very basic, and the only “weird” thing about it is Max seeing his young son, which is easily explained by a hallucination after getting shot. Because of the simple story, the episode is pretty much all about the performance, and Klugman is astoundingly good as a man consumed with regret about the way he’s lived his life — with a dishonorable profession, drinking too much, and being a dad who could never live up to his promises. Klugman had a lot of great roles in his day, like the streetwise Juror #5 in 12 Angry Men, the brilliant forensic pathologist Dr. Quincy in Quincy, M.E., and, probably most famously, the sloppy Oscar Madison in the 1970s sitcom The Odd Couple.

Throughout his career, Klugman proved he could pull off comedy and drama with equal skill and “In Praise of Pip” is among his best dramatic roles. I challenge anyone not to be moved to tears by the performance, particularly the scene where Max pours his heart out to his 10-year-old son, apologizing for never giving up drinking or finding different work. The whole speech is moving, but the most profound part comes when, speaking of his regret, he says, “I dreamed instead of did. And I wished and hoped instead of tried. But as God is my witness, Pip, I loved you.”

Also remarkable in the episode is a brief but poignant anti-war message. When Max gets the call about Pip’s imminent demise, Max hangs up and says to himself, “Pip is dying. My kid is dying in a place called South Vietnam. There isn't even supposed to be a war going on there, but my son is dying.”

This might not seem like much, but this was in 1963, while the Vietnam War was still relatively new under President Kennedy, who didn’t even refer to it as a “war” but a “conflict” instead, which is why Max says, “There isn't even supposed to be a war going on there.” The timing is also notable because, until about 1965, the war in Vietnam was publicly quite popular. For Serling to speak out against it on one of the biggest shows on TV was especially brave.

In the 63 years since this episode aired, America has engaged in a variety of other wars that weren’t — or aren’t — supposed to be wars at all, making this episode tragically timeless. “In Praise of Pip” may not be what people think of when they imagine The Twilight Zone, but it’s the perfect evidence of just how versatile and deeply moving the show could be.

The Twilight Zone is free to stream on Tubi.