History Awesome / TheTwilightZone1959

* On a more technical scale, the cinematography of the original series is some of the ''absolutely'' breathtaking examples of black-and-white television, especially considering the era. Most notable episodes include "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E10JudgementNight Judgement Night]]", which rivals even ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'' in its beauty.
* The climax of "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E82OneMorePallbearer One More Pallbearer]]", when Mrs. Langsford, Reverend Hughes, and Colonel Hawthorne refuse to gratify [[TheSociopath Paul Radin's]] egotistical demands in exchange for his shelter, choosing to [[RousseauWasRight retain their honor and compassion]], wing it and spend their last minutes of life with friends and family before the (staged) nuclear war occurs. And after all the [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech prolonged berating]] the [[EvilIsPetty petty Radin]] gave them, they manage to [[ShutUpHannibal break him with comparatively fewer words.]]

** On a more meta level, Creator/AgnesMoorehead delivers an absolutely ''epic'' performance in this episode, all without saying a word. Her reactions, especially as she moves from terror to pain as the aliens attack to grim determination as she fights back, are whole monologues.

** What's more, earlier, Gerald points out that the trick to using the piano to expose people's "true face" is to "know what particular face you're looking for". And guess what? Esther was spot on [[{{Manchild}} what kind of person]] Gerald is deep down. Assuming it wasn't just [[AccidentallyInaccurate unwitting]] on her part, Fitzgerald underestimated how clever his wife was.

** Wordsworth got to pick his own method of execution, and he chose a bomb exploding in a room. This leads to added awesomeness because he traps the chancellor that helped condemn him in the room with a half-hour to go. Wordsworth [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces death with dignity]], but his foe doesn't. In the last few moments, just as Wordsworth expected, the chancellor cracks and pleads to be released "in the name of God". [[spoiler:A pleased Wordsworth agrees and the chancellor escapes the room just in time. Problem is, since the execution was televised, ''everyone'' witnessed the chancellor's weakness and the state deems ''him'' obsolete - something Wordsworth almost assuredly knew would happen. As well as speaking God's name, in which religion is considered obsolete. The ending implies he is given the much more painful death of being torn apart by a furious mob.]]

** [[spoiler: Later, the teen angrily shoots him, but the old man decides to FaceDeathWithDignity and warns the Nazi that "[[YouCannotKillAnIdea You can't kill an idea with a bullet]]."]]

--> '''The Stranger:''' "Mr. Vollmer! [[BadassBoast I was making speeches before you could read them! I was fighting battles when your only struggle was to climb out of a womb! I was taking over the world when your universe was a crib!]] And as for being in darkness, Mr. Vollmer.... [[BlasphemousBoast I INVENTED darkness!]]" ([[EmergingFromTheShadows The stranger steps from the shadows]] [[TheReveal to reveal he is]] '''[[spoiler: [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler ADOLF HITLER]]!!!]]''')

* "Execution" has Rod Serling LampShading the ending, [[spoiler: how both Joe Caswell and Paul Johnson met their end by asphyxiation, albeit in each other's times. Caswell may have avoided getting hanged, but he's eventually strangled by Paul in what is essentially the future. And Paul is sent back to Caswell's time and hanged in his place at the execution. As Serling so put it, "Justice can span years and retribution is not subject to a calendar.]]

* In "The Hunt", [[spoiler: the hunter's dog essentially saves him from literally walking ''right into Hell''.]]

** A rustic woman, whose lonely farmhouse doesn't have electricity, gas, or any modern conveniences, takes on two tiny but powerful aliens with the tools around her house. They're armed with laser guns and one of her own knives--all she has is a collection of wooden utensils and an axe. She's able to successfully defeat them and destroy their ship. [[spoiler: Of course, TheReveal that said ship was from the United States, meaning the ''woman'' was actually a gigantic humanoid alien, might turn this around for viewers: instead, the awesome moments might go to the two Earthlings who successfully fended her off for a short while. Granted, they provoked her first, but still.]]

** What's more, earlier, Gerald points out that the trick to using the piano to expose people's "true face" is to "know what particular face you're looking for". And guess what? Esther was spot on [[{{Manchild}} what kind of person]] Gerald is deep down.

* "The Last Flight" has a DirtyCoward having a HeelRealization, facing his fears, and [[spoiler:[[RedemptionEqualsDeath dying]] [[HeroicSacrifice a hero]]]].

** Bonus points for Wordsworth being played by Burgess Meredith, who played another bookworm in "Time Enough At Last."

** On a more meta level, Agnes Moorehead delivers an absolutely ''epic'' performance in this episode, all without saying a word. Her reactions, especially as she moves from terror to pain as the aliens attack to grim determination as she fights back, are whole monologues.

* The fight between the man and woman in "Two" (and the woman is ''Elizabeth Montgomery''. Yes, it's Creator/CharlesBronson vs. [[Series/{{Bewitched}} Samantha Stevens]]!).

* "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet:" Robert Wilson spends the whole episode desperately trying to convince anyone else that there's a monster tearing up the wing of the plane he's in before it crashes. After one failure after another he finally takes matters into his own hands by stealing a gun, opening the door, and ''nailing'' the monster perfectly even under the effects of decompression. And the ending monologue implies that while he's currently being carted off to a mental institution, the damage on the wing will soon be discovered and prove he was right.

* "Execution" has Rod Serling LampShading the ending, [[spoiler: how both Joe Caswell and Paul Johnson met their end by asphyxiation, albeit in each other's times. Caswell may have avoided getting hanged, but he's eventually strangled by Paul in what is essentially the future. And Paul is sent back to Caswell's time and hung in his place at the execution. As Serling so put it, "Justice can span years and retribution is not subject to a calendar.]]

-->'''Radin''': "You're too blind or you're too stupid, because none of you seem to understand. All you have to do--literally, all you have to do--is to say a sentence. Just a string of silly, stupid words. Like a command, colonel, or like a lesson, teacher, or like a prayer, reverend. All you have to say is you're sorry. All right, you want to die, fine. But you'll be back inside five minutes. There's the elevator! Take it! Take the farce to its conclusion. Go up into the street and see the panic and the frenzy and the horror. And then come back down here to your salvation. Or you can watch it all down here on that screen. You can see it all happen, the whole thing. Watch the world being shoveled into a grave. It's your last chance. It's your last chance, I mean it. Tell me, reverend, is life so stinking cheap that you can throw it down a drain?"
-->'''Hughes''': "Life is very dear, Mr. Radin, infinitely valuable. But there are other things that come even higher. Honor is one of them--perhaps the most expensive of them all."
-->'''Hawthrone''': "Amen."
-->'''Langsford''': "Try not to get too lonely, Mr. Radin. Use mirrors. They may help. Put them all around the room. Then you'll have the company of a world full of Radins. It'll be a fantasy, of course, but then your whole life has been a fantasy, a parade of illusions- illusions about what people have done to you, illusions about what justice is, illusions about what is the dignity of even the lowest of us. A fantasy, Mr. Radin, and you can have it all to yourself."

-->'''Langsford''': "Pretty please with sugar on it."
-->'''Radin''': "How's that? Speak up, teacher."
-->'''Langsford''': "Pretty please with sugar on it. It's what children say to exact a favor. I don't want your favor, Mr. Radin! Let me out of here! If I'm to spend my last quarter hour on Earth I'd rather spend it with a stray cat or alone in Central Park or in a city full of strangers whose names I'll never know."

** Earlier, back before the ship arrived, Benteen's leadership is admittedly what got his people through the hard times. At one point during a funeral, one of his crew members decided to forgo the rules. It's Benteen's own speech that reminds his people that they can't lose hope just yet, and if they do, the ship and its crew will arrive only to find a people without honor. He then rallies his people to chant a [[DownplayedTrope Not-so-]]MadnessMantra about how the ship ''will'' come.