Mirror Image (The Twilight Zone)
A woman encounters her malevolent double at a bus depot.
"Mirror Image" is the twenty-first episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on February 26, 1960, on CBS.
Quick Facts
- Series
- The Twilight Zone
- Airdate
- 26 February 1960
- Writer
- Rod Serling
- Director
- John Brahm
- Season article
- The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series, season 1)
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Millicent Barnes waits in an isolated bus depot in upstate New York for a bus to Cortland, en route to a new job. She notices the bus is late and asks the ticket agent when it will arrive; he complains that this is her third time asking, which she denies. She sees a bag like hers behind the desk, and the agent says it is her bag; she finds her own bag is no longer beside the bench. In the restroom, the cleaning lady insists Millicent has already been there once, which Millicent again denies. Leaving, she sees in the mirror an exact copy of herself sitting on the bench outside. Millicent meets a young man named Paul Grinstead, also waiting for the bus. She explains her encounter with her double; Paul suggests it is a joke or a lookalike. When the bus arrives, Millicent sees the copy already seated on the bus with a malevolent look. She runs back into the depot and faints. While she is unconscious, Paul decides to wait for the 7:00 a.m. bus. Millicent, coming to, insists the events are caused by an evil double from a parallel world that comes into convergence with this world through powerful forces. She says the doppelgänger can survive only by eliminating and replacing her. Paul finds the explanation too metaphysical and calls the police instead of a friend.
Episode notes
Rod Serling said the idea for "Mirror Image" came from an airport encounter. He saw a man across the terminal wearing the same clothes and carrying the same suitcase he had. Serling wondered what would happen if the man turned around and was his exact double. The man turned out to be younger and "more attractive." This episode is among several from the first season that had its original opening title sequence covered over with the season two opening in the summer of 1961, so the earlier episodes would match the show's new look. Jordan Peele's 2019 film Us was inspired by this episode.
More in Television Episodes About Parallel Universes
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