The Purple Testament - Twilight-Tober Zone

Being the first war episode of the show, "The Purple Testament" has some good character interactions, but feels like a bit of a letdown. Is this episode best left inside The Twilight Zone? Find out now!

"The Purple Testament" is episode nineteen of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is "the story of a man who can forecast death". It originally aired on February 12, 1960.


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[ChannelAwesome]

What did everyone think of "The Purple Testament"?

[hawkeye]

“War stinks”, the greatest understatement you will ever hear in... The Twilight Zone.

[Graywyck]

There are no bad Twilight Zone episodes, it's just that some of them are so good that others pale in comparison.

[kingkrelly]

This is my favorite episode. So Tragic. A man's life shattered by a twist of fate.

[overlydramaticpanda]

Considering the fact that Rod Serling served in WW2 and the fairly subdued nature of the opening and closing narration, not to mention that this episode came out while America was still recovering from one war and was on the verge of plunging into another, I think the entire point of the episode is the fact that the main character does very little with his gift/curse beyond just trying to get people to believe that it exists. Because really, what *can* he do with it? He's not the one in charge of sending these men to their deaths and when he tries to speak out about his power, the only people willing to believe him even a little are the ones who are even more powerless about the situation than he is, the ones whose morale is already at breaking point. So what realistic good could he possibly have done with the knowledge before each battle of who would die when no one in an actual position to help believes him?

The question of causation vs correlation is deliberately left up in the air for the main character - is him knowing in advance which men will die what's causing them to die or is he merely seeing what was always bound to happen? He starts off convinced it's the former and then by the end, it's heavily implied that he sees it as the latter. The more he tries to convince his friend of what he's seeing and to stay behind on the latest mission, the more determined his friend is to not listen to him and dismiss the whole thing as the result of trauma and superstition. There's something just so sad and resigned about the episode, especially when it comes to the ending: he's come to accept so completely that anyone whose face glows is effectively a dead person walking that even when it comes to trying to save himself he does absolutely nothing to fight it and willingly goes to his death, probably as a form of suicide to stop the torture of knowing exactly who won't be coming back from each battle and being helpless to do anything to prevent it. It's as much a reflection of the growing disillusionment of "the glory of war" within the US post-WW2 as anything else. And to be perfectly honest, there's more than enough "protagonist has knowledge of future events and tries to change it" stories out there and they can only really end in one of two ways: either the protagonist succeeds in changing things or fails (99% of the time via self-fulfilling prophecy). I personally actually think it's quite refreshing to come across something in the "Cassandra mode" of such things - where the protagonist knows what will happen but cannot/will not try to change it.

[nickkurtz]

I personally like the idea of this episode. It’s sad and scary for the thought of knowing someone is going to die but try to explain and you will be seen is crazy. So is it best to know and be silent or not to know and save a life? Life can’t always be easy even in “The Twilight Zone”.

[miroslavtomic]

This episode is notable for marking the first role of Barney Philips, who played Gunther, in Twilight Zone. He went on to make three more appearances, most famously in Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up, and is considered a TZ legend.

[Agent_]

I wish this was a series that didn't consist of just one month

[FC]

One of my favorite Twilight Zone Episodes💯💯 Being a soldier (Rod Serling) in the He knew the feelings displayed in this episode. Cause guaranteed, he felt the same during the war. In the beginning of the episode.. Listen to his narration.. That was a shoot, because he was there during WW2.

[CyndisKrist]

One of my faves, largely because of the interaction between Fitz and Riker which was quite good. Fitz knew. Riker thought it was battle fatigue. Reynolds did a great job building character substance with such short notice in taking over the role. Thanks for posting this.

[Vejur]

Dick York is beloved. He was an excellent actor.

[RoninDave]

I think this episode had more to do with that feeling some combat soldiers get when they feel their number is up. Fitz's power was this feeling manifested but it was not something he could control. It was not like the men could call in sick from the war and avoid their deaths. It was inevitable unavoidable fate and Fitz was cursed not blessed with this knowledge. Serling served in the Pacific and saw a lot of death which no doubt influenced this story.

[CaptainRiterraSmith]

Man, what could be worse? Knowing what's coming or not? War is Hell so much so that even walking into it forewarned might not provide much consolation.

[gregcampwriter]

Dick York also gave a good performance as Bertram Cates in Inherit the Wind.

[aarongall]

Imagine if you will, you had been a WWII soldier who watched this episode before being deployed.

[gailcbull]

War Stories had to be handled a lot more diplomatically in the years when this episode first aired. Between WWII and the Korean War, almost every person in the audience would have had family members who had first hand experience as soldiers. The films in our own era are far more like to treat soldiers like superheroes and war like a high-tech video game then the wars of this era and a lot of that has to do with the way warfare has changed in the subsequent decades.

[wjzav]

I actually like the concept. When you go to war, there is a good chance that you and your fellows are not gonna make it.
I like the concept of every day could be your last and you are unable to change that.

[vicbaez]

Weird, this is actually one of my favorite episodes

[AngelCam]

I don't know if this is a funny coincidence, but I just got an ad for Purple mattress before this video played. 😆

[tommyjones]

The same concept was explored in a much more chilling way in the "I Can't Help Saying Goodbye" episode of "Tales from the Darkside."