The Twilight Zone Season 1: Episode 8 - Time Enough At Last

Consider Mr. Henry Bemis, bookworm.  A man who takes every spare moment, every last second of time he can obtain to read.  Yet it seems in every aspect of his life there's someone standing in his way, someone preventing him from his only joy, his only escape in life.  But that's all about to change, because Mr. Bemis's love of books will ultimately save his life and provide him with all the time in the world to read, at least that's what he thinks.

Story - 9/10 - Henry Bemis is married to a woman that won't let him read thus causing him to turn to reading at every chance he can get when he's away from home, which is usually during his work as a bank teller.  One afternoon on Bemis's daily trek down to the bank vault for lunch and a quiet read he finds himself the sole survivor of an H-bomb attack.  Now Bemis is the last person around, possibly the last man on earth.  While quite depressed at first, his hopes are quickly recovered when he realizes he now has all the time in the world to read, that is until life gives Bemis one final kick in the groin.

Characters - 9/10 - Henry Bemis is an amusing character, both in looks and demeanor.  Who can't help but feel sorry for the guy whose married to a task master that won't even allow him to read!  Bemis is played by the famed actor Burgess Meredith whom most will undoubtedly recognize from the Rocky films and The Batman television series where he played the Penguin.

Classic Value - 10/10 - This episode is pure classic Twilight Zone, completely full of twists and turns, and laden with irony.  A simple hobby which this man is constantly refused the pleasure of ultimately saves his life on two occasions only to be ripped away from him one final time by the pure insensitivity of life, that's this series in a nutshell.

Moral of the Story - 10/10 - Life is completely unfair.  If you haven't personally learned this by now this episode is a grand example of it.  It's also a textbook example of irony and how the one thing the main character wants keeps getting unfairly ripped from his hands.

9.5/10