Rod Serling was the creative mind behind many episodes ofThe Twilight Zone, and his favorite one is still a masterpiece six decades later, with a devastating ending, too. Back in 1959, viewers were taken to another dimension in the sci-fi fantasy horror TV showThe Twilight Zone, created by Rod Serling.
The success ofThe Twilight Zoneled to it running for five seasons and becoming one ofthe best TV shows of all time. The impact and legacy ofThe Twilight Zonealso led to three revivals, but the show’s original run remains the best and strongest one, housing most of the franchise’s best episodes.
The Twilight Zonecounted on the talents of different writers and adapted different stories, but Serling was also behind many stories. Some ofThe Twilight Zone’s best episodeswere written by Serling, as is his favorite episode, which has one of the most devastating endings.
“Time Enough At Last” Was An Incredible Twilight Zone Installment & Rod Serling’s Favorite
“Time Enough At Last” Aired On June 19, 2025
The first season ofThe Twilight Zonewas a strong start for the show, and it houses some of the franchise’s best and most popular episodes, such as “The Hitch-Hiker” and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street.” Among them is also “Time Enough at Last”, the eighth episode of the show, directed by John Brahm.
Based on the short story of the same name by Lynn Venable, published in the 1953 edition ofIf: Worlds of Science Fiction,“Time Enough at Last” introduces the audience to Mr. Henry Bemis (Burgess Meredith), an avid readerworking at a bank and struggling to find time to read. Bemis’ problem isn’t necessarily time, but that his wife and his boss are against reading.
Burgess Meredith appeared in four episodes ofThe Twilight Zone.
Bemis’ boss calls him out for reading during work, while his wife doesn’t let him read anything, not even the newspaper, and even crosses out all the text in one of his poetry books before ripping the pages in front of him.
One day, Bemis takes his lunch break in the bank’s vault as he usually does, as it’s the only place where he can read in peace, but his life takes an unexpected turn. A huge explosion outside shakes the vault, and when Bemis regains consciousness and gets out of the vault,he finds the world destroyed and himself as the only survivor.
What follows is Bemis realizing that he’s completely alone and dealing with this new reality before he makes a hopeful discovery. In a 1970 interview with University of Kansas professor James Gunn (not the filmmaker),Rod Serling sharedthe twoTwilight Zoneepisodes he was most pleased with, and one was “Time Enough at Last.”
I agree with Serling about the episode’s production value, as even now there’s a disturbing sense of realism in the post-apocalyptic world Bemis finds himself in.
Serling praised the story itself and shared how proud he was of adapting it, as well as of the overall production value of the episode. I agree with Serling about the episode’s production value, as even now there’s a disturbing sense of realism in the post-apocalyptic world Bemis finds himself in.
The Twilight Zone Gave Viewers A Heartbreaking Ending In “Time Enough At Last”
“Time Enough At Last” Has One Of The Show’s Most Tragic Endings
Bemis’ hopeful discovery is the remains of the public library. Right before he kills himself with a revolver, Bemis realizes he’s next to what used to be the public library.Bemis finds that all the books are intact, and realizes he now has the time and freedom to read all he wants.
Bemis organizes the books in piles and, knowing he has enough food to survive for years, he’s all set to enjoy his new life. Unfortunately, when reaching out to grab a book,Bemis’ glasses fall and break, and he truly can’t see anything without them.
The ending of “Time Enough At Last” is devastating, and not just because of Bemis’ broken glasses.
Bemis is then left completely alone, as he now can’t even have the company of books, as he can no longer read them. After that,The Twilight Zoneleaves Bemis’ fate to the interpretation of the audience. The ending of “Time Enough At Last” is devastating, and not just because of Bemis’ broken glasses.
Bemis ultimately got what he wanted, as now there’s no one who can keep him from reading and he has no other duties, but this also means that he’s alone in the world, also fulfilling his antisocial tendencies. Even with his glasses intact,Bemis would have enjoyed this new life only briefly, as loneliness would have affected him again.
Rod Serling Was Behind Some Of The Twilight Zone’s Best Episodes
“Time Enough At Last” is just one of thebestTwilight Zoneepisodes written by Rod Serling, whether original stories or adaptations of other works. The show’s very first episode, “Where Is Everybody?”, was written by Serling, and it perfectly established the type of story, structure, and characters the audience could expect from him and the show.
Serling was also behind classics like “It’s A Good Life” (theonly Twilight Zone episode to get a sequel), “Eye of the Beholder”, and “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”, all of them with different styles and covering different topics, but with surprising twists and revelations.
Rod Serling not only gave us one of the best TV shows of all time but also some of its best episodes, and he knew how to make an impact with surprise endings and well-developed characters, as well as how to leave the audience thinking about the story and specific topics after the episodes ended.
