The Best Twilight Zone Twist Endings

For a show as well-known and celebrated as "The Twilight Zone," making a good first impression was paramount to its success. Luckily, the show's inaugural episode "Where is Everybody?" wasn't just a good pilot — it was a great one. The concept (much like ones for many future episodes) is simple. Yet, it succeeds at creating a highly unsettling environment. An unnamed man with no memory of who he is or where he is from finds himself alone in the middle of nowhere. After finding a recently deserted diner, he eventually makes his way into a small town.

However, the town is also bereft of human beings, leading to the man's paranoia increasing. He always seems to just miss a person by only a few moments, finding only a lit cigarette or a rotating book rack. As night falls, he finds a cinema with a film poster that tips him off to his true identity as a member of the U.S. Air Force. After finally succumbing to his fears, the man begins violently pressing a crosswalk button — which, in reality, is a panic button. The man is soon revealed to be Sergeant Mike Ferris who is being prepared for the isolation of space travel. It's a simple but effective twist, and one that would definitely set the stage for the show's following 150-plus episodes.