Our Selena Is Dying
| "Our Selena is Dying" | |
|---|---|
| The New Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 43 |
| Directed by | Bruce Pittman |
| Written by |
Rod Serling J. Michael Straczynski |
| Original air date | November 12, 1988 |
| Guest actors | |
|
Terri Garber : Debra Brockman | |
"Our Selena is Dying" is the forty-third episode and the eighth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Opening narration
| “ | Your attention is drawn to the residence of the Brockman clan. An ancient mansion, its paneled walls polished by darkness; a lifeless, soundless place, upon which a greater darkness has fallen. The object of the deathwatch, Selena Brockman, grand dame of the menagerie, who lies in her bed in an inch-by-inch battle with death, trying somehow to reach a compromise instead of a capitulation. | ” |
Plot
A doctor checks on an elderly woman, Selena Brockman. A young woman comes in and asks the doctor how she is. The doctor ignores her and talks to the old woman. As he begins to leave, the young woman, Diane, asks the doctor, Burrell, again how her aunt Selena is. He says she is dying, whether it be now or tomorrow, who is to know. Another young woman, also Selena's niece, prepares to visit her aunt, whom she has never met. Debra meets Diane and she shows her around the mansion, including Diane's own mother, who appears in a catatonic state. When Debra meets Selena, she grabs Debra's hand and soon, a mark starts to appear.
When the doctor arrives the next day, Selena, other than at death's door, is up and smiling and very lucid. Dr. Burrell is surprised, and the deaf handyman attempts to tell something to the doctor, but instead is frightened away by Diane. Soon, Debra starts getting ill and shaky. Late that night, a frightened sounding Debra calls Dr. Burrell. He comes over and sends her to the hospital with the appearances of premature aging. When Dr. Burrell tries to find a cause at the Brockman mansion, he discovers a terrible burn mark on Diane's arm. He is later dismissed by Selena and Diane. Outside, however, he discovers the deaf handyman trying to tell him something. He shows the doctor a diary that shows a picture of a girl from 1940 which looks like Diane and tells a story of how the girl burned her arm in a fire caused by a horse knocking over a lantern.
Burrell slips back into the house and discovers that Diane is the old woman that "Diane" claimed was her mother and "Diane" is the mother, Martha, who was the girl in the diary. He goes to Selena's room to reveal he knows the truth and finds her seemingly even younger and more healthy. The real Martha tries to attack the doctor but is stopped and then the real Diane, the old woman, comes in with a gas lantern asking for her mother. She drops the lantern and the entire room is engulfed in flames. Burrell tries to help them but is nearly knocked out by the smoke and fire. After the fire is out the next morning, they discover one woman is missing, but no one knows which one. Debra, now with her youth restored, arrives and Burrell tells her the whole story.
At the hospital, a doctor and nurse discuss a Jane Doe patient, elderly, with burns all over her body. It's a miracle she's alive, they say. One thing: her left arm seems to be healing quickly. Then a nurse walks by, talking about her left arm with a burn mark that she didn't burn...
Closing narration
| “ | Jane Doe: age unknown. Sole survivor of a terrible fire, soon to undergo a miraculous recovery. A living warning to those who fail to perceive the distinction that there is a difference between the fear of death and the love of life, especially...in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Themes
This episode is loosely similar to an original series episode called "Queen of the Nile", where a movie actress played by Ann Blyth is interviewed by a columnist who learns the secret of her enduring youth.