History Recap / TheTwilightZone1959S1E1WhereIsEverybody

* PinchMe: He believes he must be dreaming and tells himself to wake up.
-->"I'd like to wake up! I'd like to wake up now!"

->'''Creator/RodSerling''': The time is here, the place is now, and the journey into the shadows that we are about to watch could very well be our own.

He continues to wander the town, still failing to find anyone. He eventually goes into a drugstore, where he decides to serve himself a sundae. He talks to himself in the mirror (vaguely recognizing his own reflection), believing himself to be dreaming and wants to wake up now. He even quotes ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', specifically Scrooge's denials to Jacob Marley. He searches the store and notes the detail, finding a shelf of books for sale, each titled "The Last Man On Earth". He once again rushes into the street, begging for someone to answer him.

* BeingWatched: The man feels this way as he searches the empty town.

* PinchMe: He keeps telling himself to wake up.

* QuestForIdentity: The man isn't sure himself of who he is for part of it. He hardly even recognize his own reflection. Though he eventually recalls being in the U.S. Air Force.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he finds himself in a diner, he accidentally knocked over a clock and the glass breaks. Later he breaks the clock inside the small box where he's confined.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he finds himself in a diner, he accidentally knocked out a timer and the glass broke. Later he breaks the clock inside the small box.

!!Tropes:

Night falls, and the man, having amused himself by playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt, is surprised when the city's lights come on. He notices a movie theatre playing a war movie. Investigating, he sees the movie's poster, and is suddenly struck with remembrance: he's in the Air Force. Happily, he runs inside, shouting this revelation, but finds no one. Sighing, he sits down, concluding that a bomb must have dropped, but quickly finds the flaws in his logic.

-->'''Rod Serling''': Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is the sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting. Waiting with the patience of eons. Forever waiting...in the Twilight Zone''.

-->"I like to wake up! I like to wake up now!"

-->'''Rod Serling''': Up there, up there in the vastness of space, in the void that is the sky, up there is an enemy known as isolation. It sits there in the stars waiting. Waiting with the patience of eons. Forever waiting...in ''Series/TheTwilightZone''.

* QuestForIdentity: The man isn't sure himself of who he is for part of it. Though he eventually recalls being in the U.S. Air Force.

He continues to wander the town, still failing to find anyone. He eventually goes into a drugstore, where he decides to serve himself a sundae. He talks to himself in the mirror (but doesn't recognize his own reflection), believing himself to be dreaming and wants to wake up now. He even quotes ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', specifically Scrooge's denials to Jacob Marley. He searches the store and notes the detail, finding a shelf of books for sale, each titled "The Last Man On Earth". He once again rushes into the street, begging for someone to answer him.

He continues to wander the town, still failing to find anyone. He eventually goes into a drugstore, where he decides to serve himself a sundae. He talks to himself in the mirror (but not recognizing his own reflection), believing himself to be dreaming and wants to wake up. He even quotes ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', specifically Scrooge's denials to Jacob Marley. He searches the store and notes the detail, finding a shelf of books for sale, each titled "The Last Man On Earth". He once again rushes into the street, begging for someone to answer him.

* QuestForIdentity: The man isn't sure himself of who he is for part of it.

He searches the police station, once again finding no one. He starts to feel like he's being watched. He finds a still lit cigar burning in the ashtray, which only heightens his suspicions. He checks the prison cells and finds water still dripping in the sink, along with ready to go shaving supplies. He tells himself to wake up, and when the cell door begins to close, goes running through the neighborhood, screaming "[[TitleDrop Where is everybody?]]"

He continues to wander the town, still failing to find anyone. He eventually goes into a drugstore, where he decides to serve himself a sundae. He talks to himself in the mirror, believing himself to be dreaming. He even quotes ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', specifically Scrooge's denials to Jacob Marley. He searches the store and notes the detail, finding a shelf of books for sale, each titled "The Last Man On Earth". He once again rushes into the street, begging for someone to answer him.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: When he finds himself in a diner, he accidentally knocked out a timer and the glass broke. Later the clock inside the small box broken by him.
* GhostTown: In a town where there are no people.

* QuestForIdentity: The man isn't sure himself of how he is for part of it.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In the book ''The Twilight Zone Companion'', Serling is quoted as saying the phone booth scene came from his real life. He was in an airport and couldn't open the door, after he started to panic a guy just walked up, kicked the door open and walked away.

* TitleDrop: The man shouts out the title of the episode in frustration when he can't find people around.

Suddenly the movie starts. He quickly goes up to the projection booth, shouting for someone, but finds it empty. He runs through the theatre, and ends up running into a mirror, knocking himself down. Now [[GoMadFromTheIsolation half-mad]], he runs through the town, desperately looking for someone. Seeing an eye in a sign for an optometrist, he panics further, believing himself to be watched. He's eventually collapses in front of a walk button, pressing it repeatedly and begging for help.

The scene then cuts to a group of men in uniform, hearing the man's pleas. They are watching him inside a small box, and he is really pressing a panic button. After a few moments, they clock him, and the leader orders his release. The colonel releases him with care. He then reports to his superior that he was in that box for 484 hours and six minutes. The press then arrives for a statement. The man was locked in a simulated flight to the moon, testing to see how a man would react to the isolation of the trip which would take about three weeks. The town was a product of his sensory deprived mind. He then talks to the man, Mike Ferris, now lucid once more. As he is carried out on the stretcher, he looks at the moon and promises to be there soon.

* OrWasItADream: When Rod Serling wrote this as a short story in a book, he added an extra twist: when Ferris was being carried out, he felt something in his pocket. He pulled out a movie ticket from the theatre he had entered in his dream town. Ironically, without this twist this is one of four episodes with no fantastic elements at all.

* OntologicalMystery

* QuestForIdentity

* TitleDrop

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In the book ''The Twilight Zone Companion'', Serling is quoted as saying the phone booth scene came from his real life. He was in an airport and couldn't open the door, after he started to panic a guy just walked up and kicked the door open and kept walking off.

Suddenly the movie starts. He quickly goes up to the projectors booth, shouting for someone, but finds it empty. He runs through the theatre, and ends up running into a mirror, knocking him down. Now [[GoMadFromTheIsolation half-mad]], he runs through the town, desperately looking for someone. Seeing an eye in a sign for an optometrist, he panics further, believing himself to be watched. He's eventually collapses in front of a walk button, pressing it repeatedly and begging for help.

In the town the streets are empty, no people. He searches the buildings, again, empty. He eventually spots a car with a woman in it and yells for her. He explains that he doesn't know who he is, or even remembers waking up this morning, just that he suddenly found himself walking on the road. He asks the woman if she knows a doctor, but when he opens the car the woman turns out to be a mannequin. He laughs at this slightly until he hears a phone ring in a phone booth. He rushes to answer it, desperately yelling for an answer, but none comes. He calls the operator, but it is merely a recording. He still begs to it, demanding to know where he is. Frustrated, he hangs up. He checks the phone book but finds no clues. He tries exiting the booth, only to find it locked. he angrily beats at the door, demanding someone let him out, but no help comes. Eventually, he gets it open.

Night falls, and the man, having amused himself be playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt, is surprised when the city's lights come on. He notices a movie theatre playing a war movie. Investigating, he sees the movie's poster, and is suddenly struck with remembrance: he's in the Air Force. Happily, he runs inside, shouting this revelation, but finds no one. Sighing, he sits down, concluding that a bomb must have dropped, but quickly finds the flaws in his logic.

* AllJustADream