The Twilight Zone backdrop
Sci-Fi & Fantasy•Mystery•Drama

The Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone Season 1

Every episode of The Twilight Zone Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Twilight Zone Season 1!

Binge this in 9h 9m•Peaking at 7.5/10

A 2002 revival of Rod Serling's 1950/60s television series, The Twilight Zone, with actor Forest Whitaker assuming Serling's role as narrator and on-screen host.

Airs on
UPN
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons1

All1

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 34 - The Placebo Effect
    7.5/10(436 votes)

    S1:E34

    A hypochondriac with the power to manifest his beliefs into reality poses a danger to the entire world.

    Director:Jerry Levine
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 5 - Cradle of Darkness
    7.4/10(585 votes)

    S1:E5

    Hoping to undo the horrors of WWII, a woman, Andre, sacrifices her own future when she goes back in time to stop Adolf Hitler by killing him when he is a baby.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Kamran Pasha

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 32 - Memphis
    7.4/10(431 votes)

    S1:E32

    A dying man is transported back to the South in 1968 on the day of Martin Luther King's assassination and tries to stop the killing.

    Director:Eriq La Salle
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 36 - The Pharaoh's Curse
    7.3/10(396 votes)

    S1:E36

    A young magician becomes the protégé of an elderly conjurer to learn the secret of an impossible escape - The Pharaoh's Curse.

    Director:Bob Balaban
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 9 - The Pool Guy
    7.2/10(445 votes)

    S1:E9

    A pool cleaner loses the ability to distinguish dreams from reality.

    Director:Brad Turner
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 40 - The Executions of Grady Finch
    7.2/10(374 votes)

    S1:E40

    A prisoner, Grady Finch, who insists on his innocence discovers that he can't be killed. He survives multiple execution attempts and his attorney eventually manages to get him released. Finch is elated, but as he emerges he confesses to his attorney that he was really guilty...and then he is finally killed as a statue of Nemesis, the Goddess of Vengeance, falls on top of him.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Ira Steven Behr

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 BEST Episodes of The Twilight Zone

    READ
  7. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 2 - One Night at Mercy
    7.1/10(558 votes)

    S1:E2

    A young doctor meets a suicide who claims to be Death incarnate. When Death insists he wants to stop his killing ways, the doctor is forced to contemplate what life would be like without death.

    Directors:Peter O'Fallon, Robert Parrish
    Writers:Rod Serling, Christopher Mack

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 13 - Upgrade
    7.1/10(397 votes)

    S1:E13

    Annie fantasizes about her ideal family, a far cry from the dysfunctional group of people she sees everyday. But when her fantasies seemingly become reality, she is horrored to discover she is next on the replacement list.

    Director:Joe Chappelle
    Writer:Robert Hewitt Wolfe

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 6 - Night Route
    7.0/10(480 votes)

    S1:E6

    A young woman's seemingly happy life unravels after a close call with a speeding car. The woman, Melina, begins to forget details of her lfie and how she met her fiance. Worse, she is haunted by strange phenomena: a mysterious bus that follows her and people who know her name that she's never met. Finally her fiance disappears without a trace, leaving her in a desolate life where she knows no one.

    Director:Jean de Segonzac
    Writer:Jill E. Blotevogel

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 30 - It's Still a Good Life
    7.0/10(571 votes)

    S1:E30

    In this sequel to the original TZs "It's a Good Life", an adult Anthony Fremont continues to terrorize the town of Peaksville.

    Director:Allan Kroeker
    Writers:Ira Steven Behr, Jerome Bixby

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 37 - The Collection
    7.0/10(404 votes)

    S1:E37

    A babysitter must deal with a girl who has a collection of dolls that come to life.

    Director:John T. Kretchmer
    Writers:Kay Reindl, Erin Maher

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 42 - Sunrise
    7.0/10(380 votes)

    S1:E42

    Several college students are thrust into a virtual nightmare when they discover an Aztec artifact that causes the sun to vanish and the only solution is a human sacrifice.

    Director:Tim Matheson
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 15 - Chosen
    6.8/10(403 votes)

    S1:E15

    A man is annoyed by two tenacious people he believes to be evangelists and refuses to listen to their claims that the day is Armageddon, but as it transpires the day is Armageddon, and the "evangelists" are Angels in need of help...

    Director:Winrich Kolbe
    Writer:Ira Steven Behr

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 18 - Mr. Motivation
    6.8/10(396 votes)

    S1:E18

    A sinister toy doll encourages a timid man to stand up to his boss and take control of his life.

    Director:Deran Sarafian
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 19 - Sanctuary
    6.8/10(401 votes)

    S1:E19

    Stranded in a modern day Garden of Eden, a man and woman cannot resist the temptation of technology.

    Director:Patrick R. Norris
    Writer:James Crocker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 29 - Into the Light
    6.8/10(322 votes)

    S1:E29

    A teacher on her last few days of teaching high school suddenly starts seeing lights on peoples faces just before they die. When she starts seeing it on most of her students faces, she decides to find out what will happen.

    Director:Lou Diamond Phillips
    Writer:Moira Kirland

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 31 - The Monsters Are on Maple Street
    6.8/10(452 votes)

    S1:E31

    In this remake of the original TZ's "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street", a neighborhood is terrorized by mysterious power outages and begin to turn on each other.

    Director:Debbie Allen
    Writers:Kay Reindl, Erin Maher

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 20 - Future Trade
    6.7/10(433 votes)

    S1:E20

    A man with a dead-end job and a dysfunctional family is lured into trading his future for that of a seemingly privileged man with his trophy wife.

    Director:Bob Balaban
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 22 - Gabe's Story
    6.7/10(370 votes)

    S1:E22

    A man suffering from consistent bad luck is given a surprising chance to change his destiny.

    Director:Allan Kroeker
    Writer:Dusty Kay

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 27 - Rewind
    6.7/10(339 votes)

    S1:E27

    Jonah, a gambler, never can beat "the house" no matter how hard he tries. But then he gets an interesting device that enables him to go back in time up to 5 minutes, and that means he has big chances for his gambling.

    Director:Kevin Bray
    Writer:James Crocker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 16 - Sensuous Cindy
    6.6/10(377 votes)

    S1:E16

    A man buys a "virtual girlfriend" online simply to satisfy his carnal needs, but ends up becoming somebody else's sex slave.

    Director:John T. Kretchmer
    Writer:James Crocker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 17 - Hunted
    6.6/10(348 votes)

    S1:E17

    A cop pursues the last known criminal in Earth's future society. But as it turns out, the criminal is fighting on the same side of the cop, to rid the world of androids.

    Director:Patrick R. Norris
    Writer:Christopher Mack

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 41 - Homecoming
    6.6/10(313 votes)

    S1:E41

    A teenager has a brief reunion with his father, returned from the war.

    Director:Risa Bramon Garcia
    Writer:Michael Angeli

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 3 - Shades of Guilt
    6.5/10(549 votes)

    S1:E3

    Matt McGreevy is driving when a black man runs up to his car and begs for help. Matt drives away as a gang falls on the man and beat him to death. When he arrives home, Matt first bleeds from the cuts the dead man suffers, then his skin changes. By the time he gets back home he has transformed into the dead man, a college professor...

    Director:Perry Lang
    Writer:Ira Steven Behr

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 7 - Time Lapse
    6.5/10(410 votes)

    S1:E7

    After an unconscious high-security patient arrives in his ward, Doctor Zack Taylor finds himself suffering from blackouts. On each occasion he wakes up partway along a byzantine assassination plot to kill the President's daughter with a plastic gun. He gets to the target's location, pulls out his gun, and...shoots an assassin behind the girl...

    Director:John T. Kretchmer
    Writer:James Crocker

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Season 1 Ratings Summary

"The Placebo Effect" is the best rated episode of "The Twilight Zone" season 1. It scored 7.5/10 based on 436 votes. Directed by Jerry Levine and written by Unknown, it aired on 4/2/2003. This episode is rated 0.1 points higher than the second-best, "Cradle of Darkness".