We dip back into the 1985 The Twilight Zone with a featured episode that makes you maybe want to double check a phone number. "The Call" is the 9th episode of the third season of the series. It was written by J. Michael Straczynski , who would later create Babylon 5 .
The episode's main character is a man named Norman Blane who apparently worries that if he were to disappear nobody would notice. I'm here wondering if they picked this name because it works like Normal and Bland. Blane is played by William Sanderson, whom you might know as Larry from the great TV series Newhart. He lives by himself, minus a bird, and lives in a normal apartment and does things by himself. He sleeps on a pull out bed from a couch.
Anyway, he hears an ad on TV for public domain safe music, direct to consumer ad and writes down the phone number, now this very important even the camera cuts to a shot of the number being written on paper, so it's important. We hear the number and it looks like he wrote a 7 instead of the 1. He calls in and a woman's voice picks up and it says hello and not something more business-y business. He realizes he might have dialed the wrong number. (Oops he must have called one those numbers)
The caller doesn't seem to mind and she asks him his name, and he asks her name which is Mary-Anne. Mary-Anne is voiced by Julie Khaner and maybe more a voicing than being seen. Norman seemed to talk to Mary-Anne for hour and he seems to get along.
The next day he told this to his co-worker, Richard (Dan Redican) and he seems to prefer Norman to not talk very much. Norman also mentions that the woman says he call her again, but after 7 PM. Richard suggests he should ask her out. Then wants some peace and quiet because he has five kids.
I have five kids, none of them are even mine
Norman calls Mary-Anne again and they seem to have 3+ hour conversation. (Good thing it was after 7PM or that would be a high bill) He asks her out, but she says no and prefers just talking on the phone and wants to keep it that way. He promises to call her the next day. Now Richard is annoyed that Norman is being quiet, make up your mind. He suggests that he calls the operator and asks what the address for the number is, that was a thing. (The 80's were easier for stalkers)
We find out that is the Art Gallery. He goes to ask a woman for Mary-Anne and they don't know who that could be either and he waits for the director to come. He finds a phone and dials the number and follows the ringing to a phone in spot right by a sculpture. A museum person shows up and talks about it and the artist who made it did a self sculpture and that was last thing she did before committing suicide. [scary word]
She looks like someone who calls taverns and makes bar tenders say See More Butts
He hears the name of the artist a woman named Mary-Anne. Well that's a funny coincidence isn't it? Then later he calls her and she says she saw him talking to the woman, he can't believe it and he hangs up. Then he calls again. She feels bad. Then hangs up after saying it's been a long time since she talked to anyone and had been lonely. He seems to understand that and longs for her by sketching her.
He tries to make a call and she doesn't seem to pick up or something. Then he goes to the art gallery and tries talking to her face to face. (She's kind of stone faced talking to him) He talks to her and expresses how he feels and she made him feel worth something again and that's was in love.
Later there's another call and it's her. She talks to him and he says that he loves her but she doesn't want him to. She says come to her that night and hurry. This is going in some direction, oh that's right this is the Twilight Zone. A security goes on his rounds to check the place while she tells him she wants him to stay with her and guess what he's become a statue too.
I'll melt...uh bronze with you...
Let's start with the first twist. The episode does a good job at throwing in things that make you wonder. Why does the woman not want calls before 7pm? Why does she not want to see him in person. There's a whole lot it does to make a viewer curious and want to see where it goes. I think the idea of her being statue could have been a great end, where he finds outs that.
The episode continues and we get that twist pretty much half way through. There's an point where yeah maybe it would have felt too dragged out if the whole 22 minutes were that story, but yeah. Then the episode continues with the next part. Norman finds out and seems to process that fact pretty well after a minor eek moment. The episode starts and mentions that he's a lonely man and establishes that and he finds connection to Mary-Anne because she was lonely too. Then he falls in love with her.
Now there's the 2nd twist of what's going to happen in the episode with these two. There are many potential ways it could have gone and chose the strangest one, [with that, I can also mention her turning alive - more alive?- would be strange too] to just have him join her as a statue. The narration introducing Norman at the start says would anybody miss him if he's gone? Maybe his bird would.
This episode is about loneliness and how that is with people how people feel about it. Richard, for his annoyance, has something Norman wished he had. Richard has a wife , I'm assuming, and the mentioned 5 kids, Norman would wish to have such a thing, whilst maybe Richard wouldn't mind at times having Norman's quiet existence. Though, that's a guess not a mentioned thing.
There is a tense uncertainty to this episode which is good for a "Twilight Zone" episode in any form of the show. It's hard to guess where it's fully going and Norman really takes a leap of faith here , correction: he takes many leaps of faith here. He wanted to get away from his loneliness that badly. I like how it does leave things open in thought, like how did he become a statue was he one before and didn't realize it? That's a different Twilight Zone episode.
It's a good episode , doesn't feel like it's dragging and presents an interesting story and twists.
Well, that's it for now, tune in next time when we call a doll and she sticks us with the charges, rude!
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