"The Masks"

"The Masks"

A dying man demands his family don grotesque masks.

Stars Robert Keith, Milton Selzer.
Original air date: March 20, 1964.

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good surprise ending with the faces. somebody sure had it in for his family with this one. but he knew how his family was and had them treated just right.

One of my favs, a most memorable episode. As a freshman in high school I did a form of Rod Serling's intro of this episode for my speech class. An excellent representation of TZ.

I don't like this as much as I used to. Seems a little too talky to me now, so I gave it an 8. Still one of my favorite Season 5 eps.

"10"

But Beev! The talky is the best part-y. Save for the ending. To me the long suffering daughter Emily's comments and Father's replies are priceless.

What is really chilling is when the old guy kicks the bucket and the glee in the family's voices.

Leen

Love this ep. Gave it a 9. Jason just kills me w/ his wit and sarcasm, and watching those awful relatives of his get theirs was just too funny for me!!!

I love this episode...so glad I got to see it uncut. It's been a while since I've watched it, let alone uncut. Those are some pretty sweet masks!

A group of thoroughly unpleasant people who get what they deserve in the end. While they come across as almost cartoon-like caricatures, I still enjoy watching this one, even though I know what the outcome is going to look like.

http://mrlister.us/Photos/pubMasks01.jpg

Uh nice family portrait. I wonder if it went into the Harper Christmas cards:

"There have been quite a few changes for us this year. After Father died we did inherit quite a large sum of money. But we don't get out much anymore. We order out a lot. I still on occasion get very ill. But I bear up. I hope all of you have a better new year.

Sincerely, Emily"

Leen

Very funny, Leen!

I'm glad it was shown uncut, too, even though it's not one of my personal favorite 20 episodes or anything. It's nice to see Sci Fi show the moment when Jason's mask is pulled off. The episode lacks something without that.

Leen, that was hilarious!!!

I wonder if the actors got to keep their masks. If it were me I would definitely want to take mine home with me.

I would like to have the skeleton mask. It would go nicely with a skeleton CD rack I bought a couple years back, wooden, about 3.5 ft high.

That was great, Leen, and all too reminiscent of the letters we really get at this time of year.

Yes, I also wonder what happens afterwards to characters who suffer such fates. For example, try to imagine Oliver Crangle walking along a crowded sidewalk -- or even being able to open the door of his apartment. How does ten-foot-tall Michael Grady ever get through his apartment door, and what reaction do other people have when they see him? Is Virginia Lane Walker still legally married? I could go on, but I'll stop.

Oh, I love this one. It is good!

The father is a nasty old grouch, but he's actually the most decent member of the family. And they absolutely deserve what they get. They got the money and everything else, I hope they're happy!

Interesting to see Alan Sues in a dramatic role, I think he's best known for his work on Laugh-In (wasn't another Zone alum on it, too? I want to say Artie Johnson, but I'm not sure).

And Brooke Hayward (Paula) went on to write Haywire, a memoir about her own wealthy and extremely screwed-up family.

Heh heh heh! I can see Paula Harper doing the same thing, and trying to blame it all on her parents. She probably wouldn't have too many kind words for her grandfather, either.

Jayo, from your reference to the father as "a nasty old grouch," you must be talking about Emily's father, the dying old man. I misunderstood you for a minute and thought you were talking about Wilfred Harper, Sr. Then I realized that there's an argument to be made that he's the most decent of the Fearsome Foursome. I certainly find him the most "affable" and least annoying, anyway. But really, I think he was just the most adept at disguising his true nature, at least until his mask came off. He certainly looks the ugliest of the four in his "after" pictures, doesn't he? Does anyone have an opinion on who the most decent of the Harpers is, or on whether that's a meaningful question?

I'd like "The Masks" better if it were a stronger statement about hypocrisy than it actually is. Wilfred Sr. and Emily are certainly hypocritical "mask-wearers" even before Mardi Gras night, but Wilfred Jr. and Paula seem basically like "what you see is what you get" kind of people. Maybe that's why they seem to be the least deformed of the Harpers by their Mardi Gras experience.

Speaking of another kind of phoniness . . . yes, future Laugh-In regular Arte Johnson was in "The Whole Truth," delivering the phoniest-looking knockdown punch I've ever seen on television.

After thinking about it a bit, I think the male Harpers are worse, since their flaws (greed and cruelty) have stronger negative effects on others than the women's flaws (vanity and self-centeredness). Of course they're all pretty bad. But I think Paula got it worst - not because she ended up ugliest (I agree that distinction belongs to Wilfred Sr.) - but because her looks are her hang-up and being ugly probably hits home the worst with her.

I remember seeing the made-for-TV movie "Haywire." Her parents were Margaret Sullavan and Leland Hayward played by Lee Remick and Jason Robards. I think the Masks is only thing I've ever seen Brooke in.

Folks say Remick had an uncanny resemblance to Sullavan in this movie. She was also married to Henry Fonda and William Wyler as I searched the web.

Leen

SPOILER

At the risk of embarassing myself, I'll reveal what I thought as a little kid,
when I first saw this and most other episodes.
I expected the old man's face would be revealed to have become a skull.

No, not at all. I thought the same thing at my first viewing. And I did so as an adult. I think it just follows suit that the others became what they wore. One would think Jason would as well. The truth is he did become his mask at his death. Just not visibly.

Leen

I always thought the reason the old man's face didn't change was because, of the five, he was the only one who wore his own face. He wasn't hiding his real self inside like the other four were.

Well, that's just my thought ---

I agree, Kathy! That's one of my favorite moments of the episode. Too bad it's cut out in syndication.

They cut out the most important moment in the episode? I'm lucky I saw the uncut version. What will they do next?

Glad to hear that you agree.

Oh, the most famous moment in "Time Enough At Last" is probably next.

That guy second from the left, that's kind of what the WWE wrestler Kain looks like. I knew I saw that face somewhere before.

Another one of my top spots. We are all who we are, but in the end, if it has to to, it will come back to bit us in the ass, and for these poor saps, it did!

Totally agree! Except I gave it a 10. The best of season5!

Wilfred Jr. seems to be the least arrogant. Which isn't saying much.

He was my least favorite. I have a special, hard place in my heart for people who are gratuitously cruel. The torturing of small animals has always deeply offended me ever since I was a child. I have zero tolerance for such people.

It must have offended Rod, too, because he made reference to it in two consecutive episodes: this one and "I Am the Night -- Color Me Black."

I like this ep alot. I think it's really creepy, because I don't like masks, they give me the shivers, like clowns! I like the old man, I get a kick out of him. Hours from croaking and he's still scheming! I have to give him props for that. I don't care for the masks because they look so primitive and clumsy.

Wilfred Jr. only seems the least arrogant because he's the most stupid.

That family photo is probably going to give me nightmares, thanks a lot!

And Dan Hollis, what about including IAGL concerning animal abuse? I know that's not an original TZ story, but it touches on the subject. The original story does so in rather graphic detail, about Anthony making a rat eat itself, starting with its own tail and eventually passing out from shock, after which he wishes it into the cornfield. But the TZ ep does make reference to Anthony and the neighbor's dog, I believe.

I think so many of TZ eps have the contrast between kindness and compassion vs. cruelty and indifference.

I detest people who are cruel to animals too! I'm sorry if I offended anyone. They're all so much losers that it's like picking between Stalin, Hitler, Hussein, and Bin-Laden!

Me too!

I always want to give them a taste of their own medicine....*evil grin*

great episode.. always loved this one.

upon rewatching i noticed how expressive the actors are -even with the masks on. at the end when wilfred sr takes off his mask and his back is to the camera.. you know something is wrong by the reaction of wilfred jr -even without seeing his 'real' face.

the characters made me feel what they were feeling with just a touch to their mask.

-ag

Yes, I notice that too. Reminds me a bit of Janet Tyler under bandages in "Eye of the Beholder." Even with her face covered, Maxine Stuart’s performance is very powerful.

Regarding Jason Foster in "The Masks," we’re all so happy about what happens to his dreadful family that we overlook the very dreadful thing Jason has done to them—presumably for the rest of their lives. Perhaps it's worth rethinking whether Jason has earned that “at peace” look at the end.

I just watched this one myself again today. I was really studying the dialogue especially Jason's. I still think it's the best of the Zone. The jabs and zings!

Bravo Rod for great script writing.

"... considering in the last 25 years you've been at death's door so often it's a wonder you haven't worn a hole in the mat."

I loved it!!! It has become a favorite.

T-Zone Fanatic! I expect we'll have a lot of new members sign on today.

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I liked this one the first few times I saw it, but since then, it's become so-so. I'd rate it a 5 now.