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Recap / The Twilight Zone (1959) S2E22: "Long Distance Call"
aka: The Twilight Zone S 2 E 58 Long Distance Call

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Rod Serling: As must be obvious, this is a house hovered over by Mr. Death, an omnipresent player to the third and final act of every life. And it's been said, and probably rightfully so, that what follows this life is one of the unfathomable mysteries, an area of darkness which we, the living, reserve for the dead—or so it is said. For in a moment, a child will try to cross that bridge which separates light and shadow, and, of course, he must take the only known route, that indistinct highway through the region we call the Twilight Zone.

Air date: March 31, 1961

Billy Bayles (Billy Mumy) and his grandmother (Lili Darvas) are very close, so he is naturally saddened when she passes away during his birthday party. Soon after, Billy begins claiming to his parents that Grandma called him on the toy telephone she gave him as a present, and wants him to visit. At first, Billy's parents ignore this, thinking that Billy is imagining things, but it seems that Grandma Bayles is lonely in the afterlife, so she is using the telephone to talk Billy into joining her in death. To this end, Billy attempts to kill himself several times; when he tries to drown himself in the family's fish pond and is on the verge of death, his father Chris (Phillip Abbott) grabs the phone and begs his mother to let Billy grow up and experience life... which she thankfully does. To his parents' relief, Billy makes a full recovery.


Long Distance Tropes:

  • Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely in and around the Bayles house.
  • Driven to Suicide: Just barely subverted with Billy, who attempts to drown himself and is resuscitated at the last minute, thanks to his father's heart-to-heart with Grandma.
  • Evil Old Folks: Grandma is more of an anti-villain, only trying to convince Billy to kill himself so she wouldn't be alone in the afterlife.
  • Grandparent Favoritism: Grandma is bitter that her son Chris got married and left her, but she adores her grandson Billy – to the point that she wants to take him into the afterlife with her.
  • Heel–Face Turn: At her son Chris' urging, Grandma Bayles ultimately lets Billy live.
  • I Have No Son!: Grandma Bayles has never forgiven Chris for marrying Sylvia and leaving her alone. In her delirium on her deathbed she insists that Billy, not Chris, is her son.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: A platonic version saves the day in the end: Grandma's spirit finally gives up her resolve to be Together in Death with Billy and lets him be resuscitated so he can live a full life.
  • No Name Given: Grandma Bayles' first name is never revealed.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: Grandma Bayles is noted to have already lost two of her children, and she doesn't get along with her surviving son Chris since he got married, hence why she dotes on Billy so much.
  • Phone Call from the Dead: Grandma keeps calling Billy from beyond the grave on the toy telephone she gifted him. For extra creepiness, we only hear Billy's side of the conversations.
  • Punny Name: A very clever one. The doctor's name is R. Unger, which looks like "rongeur", a surgical tool.
  • Supernatural Phone: The recently deceased Grandma calls her five-year-old grandson Billy on his toy telephone, asking him to kill himself so she won't be alone.
  • Together in Death: Grandma urges Billy to kill himself so they can be together again.
  • Video Inside, Film Outside: This is the last episode recorded on videotape instead of film in order to reduce costs.


Rod Serling: A toy telephone, an act of faith, a set of improbable circumstances, all combine to probe a mystery, to fathom a depth, to send a facet of light into a dark after-region, to be believed or disbelieved, depending on your frame of reference. A fact or a fantasy, a substance or a shadow – but all of it very much a part of The Twilight Zone.

Alternative Title(s): The Twilight Zone S 2 E 58 Long Distance Call

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