The Twilight Zone “The Changing Of The Guard”

Well, it’s the season finale, the episode aired in June, it was set around Christmas, and it has a lead role for actor Donald Pleasense as an old man despite being in his early 40s at the time but playing a man presumably in his 70s, and he’s best known these days for a movie called Halloween.

That’ s a lot of qualifiers.

Basic Premise:  An elderly poetry teacher is forced into retirement.

Writer:  Series creator Rod Serling

Commentary:  So, the episode opens with Professor Fowler (Pleasence) berating some of his students for not knowing some basic poetry stuff, calling them dunderheads, but then revealing he’s a big softie as he is letting them go early for Christmas break.  Then he gets the big news: his contract is not being renewed as the board is pushing him to retire, just as he’s found he has a former student’s grandson in one of his classes.

This isn’t the news Fowler wanted.  He wanted to keep teaching there until he was 100, and now that he’s been forced to retire at half salary (he may have to let his housekeeper go), but for now, he’s questioning if any of his students remember him or learned anything from him.

I gotta say, as a teacher, this is something that I might worry about if I stopped to think about it.  But I will add, when Fowler starts talking about former students, particularly one that died at Iwo Jima, that is impressive.  I can’t remember most of my students after two years, but when you do what I do for as long as I do, and you’re getting at least 60 or so students a year, yeah, you aren’t going to remember most of them no matter who they are.

Regardless, the old man is contemplating suicide.

The Twist:  Fowler hears the assembly bell ringing and heads off to his classroom.  From there, the ghosts of former students, most of whom died valiantly in war (one died trying to cure cancer and accidentally irradiated himself), and all of them credit some lesson Fowler gave them, allowing him to retire at peace with himself.  Huh.  I would have thought he would have decided to stick at it harder since he had accomplished so much, but he opted to quit while he was ahead.  Oh well.

What about Rod?  He’s got as seat in the classroom.

Extra note:  So, that’s the end of season three.  Season four is the odd one:  the episodes are longer, but they didn’t make as many.  Apparently, someone thought this show would work better if episodes were about an hour instead of half that, and then they realized that was a bad idea later.