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Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
There is a knock at the door, and a man (R.G. Armstrong) breaks into the apartment, knocking Wanda out in the process. When she comes to, the man apologizes for the disturbance and explains that he's a building contractor, set to demolish the building in one hour. He indicates that she has been given due notice and ample time to move, but if she refuses, he will have to call the police to forcibly escort her from the premises. She protests and asks Harold for help, but the contractor can't see Harold. Wanda looks in the mirror and sees the bed where Harold is lying, but not Harold himself. She realizes that Harold he is in fact Death, finally coming to claim her.
to:
There is a knock at the door, and a man (R.G. Armstrong) breaks into the apartment, knocking Wanda out in the process. When she comes to, the man apologizes for the disturbance and explains that he's a building contractor, set to demolish the building in one hour. He indicates that she has been given due notice and ample time to move, but if she refuses, he will have to call the police to forcibly escort her from the premises. She protests and asks Harold for help, but the contractor can't see Harold. Wanda looks in the mirror and sees the bed where Harold is lying, but not Harold himself. She realizes that Harold he is in fact Death, finally coming to claim her.
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Gladys Cooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
to:
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Gladys (Gladys Cooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him that she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
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Changed line(s) 1,5 (click to see context) from:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tz_nothing_in_the_dark.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Harold and Wanda.]]
->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now, she's faced with a grim decision -- whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way, she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to The Twilight Zone.
[[caption-width-right:350:Harold and Wanda.]]
->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now, she's faced with a grim decision -- whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way, she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to The Twilight Zone.
to:
->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now, she's faced with a grim decision -- whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way, she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to
Changed line(s) 37 (click to see context) from:
->'''Rod Serling:''' There was an old woman who lived in a room, and, like all of us, was frightened of the dark. But who discovered in a minute last fragment of her life, that there was [[TitleDrop nothing in the dark]] that wasn't there when the lights were on. Object lesson for the more frightened amongst us, in or out of The Twilight Zone.
to:
->'''Rod Serling:''' There was an old woman who lived in a room, and, like all of us, was frightened of the dark. But who discovered in a minute last fragment of her life, that there was [[TitleDrop nothing in the dark]] that wasn't there when the lights were on. Object lesson for the more frightened amongst us, in or out of The the Twilight Zone.Zone.
----
----
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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Creator/GladysCooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
to:
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Creator/GladysCooper), Gladys Cooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
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Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tz_nothing_in_the_dark.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Harold and Wanda.]]
->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now, she's faced with a grim decision -- whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way, she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to The Twilight Zone.
Air date: January 5, 1962
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Creator/GladysCooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
There is a knock at the door, and a man (R.G. Armstrong) breaks into the apartment, knocking Wanda out in the process. When she comes to, the man apologizes for the disturbance and explains that he's a building contractor, set to demolish the building in one hour. He indicates that she has been given due notice and ample time to move, but if she refuses, he will have to call the police to forcibly escort her from the premises. She protests and asks Harold for help, but the contractor can't see Harold. Wanda looks in the mirror and sees the bed where Harold is lying, but not Harold himself. She realizes that Harold he is in fact Death, finally coming to claim her.
As the contractor leaves, Death explains that he set up the elaborate ruse just to get her to trust him, so she could understand that he's nothing to be scared of. At first, Wanda is livid and claims that it's not fair that he tricked her. But rather than being a monster, she is talked out of her hatred for Death when she sees him as actually being a gentle deliverer. As he asks for her hand, Wanda grabs onto him. Before she even realizes anything has changed, Wanda finds herself standing beside her own dead body. Having been cured of her fears and realizing that the end of life doesn't bring with it all sorts of horrors, Wanda and Death walk together hand in hand through the doorway and out into the sunlight.
----
!!Nothing in the Tropes:
* AnAesop: Don't let the fear of mortality ruin your chances of enjoying life to the fullest. When Death ''does'' come, just remember, there's nothing to be afraid of, as dying is just the next phase of life.
* BatmanGambit: Death pretends to be a mortally wounded policeman named Harold who begs Wanda for help. When she falls for it, he tells her that it was a ploy to get close enough to Wanda and help her understand that he isn't something to be scared of.
* BittersweetEnding: Wanda finally dies, but she goes without regret, as she's learned learning that Death is nothing to be afraid of.
* BottleEpisode: Many ''Twilight Zone'' episodes were made pretty cheaply, but this has to be one of the all-time examples, featuring only one set and three speaking parts.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Death is described as this, if one takes the second layer of meaning to the contractor's words. He exists not to cause destruction, but to allow new things to grow, to remove the tired and worn out, and finally allow them rest.
* DontFearTheReaper: Death is actually a very gentle person, even willing to take time out of his ''really'' busy job just to make sure that Wanda's passing isn't unnecessarily traumatizing.
* DoubleMeaning: Though unintentional on the contractor's part, his speech about how his job is to destroy old buildings so new ones can be built and society can continue to prosper mirrors Death's true purpose: neither are evil, but they're needed to allow the world to continue.
* GlamourFailure: "Harold" is revealed to be Death when Wanda [[MissingReflection looks in the mirror and sees nothing]], not even a shape holding up the blanket he's underneath.
* InvisibleToNormals: The revelation that the contractor can't see Harold leads Wanda to realize that he is actually Death.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Wanda grows reflective and thinks about her life before she spent all her time in a basement, saying "I was young once. People said I was pretty."
* LivingIsMoreThanSurviving: Death's lesson to Wanda, and to the viewers. Wanda fears Death so much that she shut herself away in her dark basement apartment, trying to be content on just surviving. As Death notes, this isn't the same as living in the warm sunlight.
* MinimalistCast: The episode has only three characters.
* MirrorCharacter: Death and his true purpose are not so different from those of demolition contractors, such as the one who visits Wanda. The speech he gives [[DoubleMeaning mirrors them perfectly]].
* MortalityPhobia: Wanda saw Death only once, but she became so frightened of dying that she shut herself up in her apartment and stayed there well into old age, refusing to let anyone else inside out of fear that they could be Death.
* NiceGuy: "Harold" and the contractor. The former, Death himself, exists so the old and weary can rest and the newer and younger can take their places.
* NothingIsScarier: Death says what actually Wanda fears isn't him specifically, but rather the unknown happenings that come when he visits and takes her away.
* ProperlyParanoid: Wanda fears that Harold might be Death, trying to trick her to allow him to do his work with her. She's right, but Death is a lot [[NiceGuy nicer and more gentlemanly]] than she believes him to be.
* {{Psychopomp}}: Harold is literally Death incarnate, but he's far from malicious.
* TitleDrop: During the closing narration.
* TouchOfDeath: Wanda has [[TheShutIn kept herself isolated for years]] out of fear of Death taking her away.
----
->'''Rod Serling:''' There was an old woman who lived in a room, and, like all of us, was frightened of the dark. But who discovered in a minute last fragment of her life, that there was [[TitleDrop nothing in the dark]] that wasn't there when the lights were on. Object lesson for the more frightened amongst us, in or out of The Twilight Zone.
[[caption-width-right:350:Harold and Wanda.]]
->'''Creator/RodSerling:''' An old woman living in a nightmare, an old woman who has fought a thousand battles with death and always won. Now, she's faced with a grim decision -- whether or not to open a door. And in some strange and frightening way, she knows that this seemingly ordinary door leads to The Twilight Zone.
Air date: January 5, 1962
Wanda Dunn (veteran stage actress Creator/GladysCooper), a decrepitly-old woman, refuses to leave her dark and seemingly-abandoned basement apartment because she's afraid "Mr. Death" is waiting for her outside. When an altercation soon arises outside, Wanda peeks out fearfully. A young police officer, Harold Beldon (Creator/RobertRedford), is lying outside the door, grievously wounded after being shot. After much convincing, Wanda finally opens the door and brings him in. Harold talks to her about her fear of dying, and she tells him she has already seen Death before. She remembers how he took the form of a man, and witnessed him taking the life of a woman on a bus just by touching her. Wanda has been terrified of Death coming for her ever since.
There is a knock at the door, and a man (R.G. Armstrong) breaks into the apartment, knocking Wanda out in the process. When she comes to, the man apologizes for the disturbance and explains that he's a building contractor, set to demolish the building in one hour. He indicates that she has been given due notice and ample time to move, but if she refuses, he will have to call the police to forcibly escort her from the premises. She protests and asks Harold for help, but the contractor can't see Harold. Wanda looks in the mirror and sees the bed where Harold is lying, but not Harold himself. She realizes that Harold he is in fact Death, finally coming to claim her.
As the contractor leaves, Death explains that he set up the elaborate ruse just to get her to trust him, so she could understand that he's nothing to be scared of. At first, Wanda is livid and claims that it's not fair that he tricked her. But rather than being a monster, she is talked out of her hatred for Death when she sees him as actually being a gentle deliverer. As he asks for her hand, Wanda grabs onto him. Before she even realizes anything has changed, Wanda finds herself standing beside her own dead body. Having been cured of her fears and realizing that the end of life doesn't bring with it all sorts of horrors, Wanda and Death walk together hand in hand through the doorway and out into the sunlight.
----
!!Nothing in the Tropes:
* AnAesop: Don't let the fear of mortality ruin your chances of enjoying life to the fullest. When Death ''does'' come, just remember, there's nothing to be afraid of, as dying is just the next phase of life.
* BatmanGambit: Death pretends to be a mortally wounded policeman named Harold who begs Wanda for help. When she falls for it, he tells her that it was a ploy to get close enough to Wanda and help her understand that he isn't something to be scared of.
* BittersweetEnding: Wanda finally dies, but she goes without regret, as she's learned learning that Death is nothing to be afraid of.
* BottleEpisode: Many ''Twilight Zone'' episodes were made pretty cheaply, but this has to be one of the all-time examples, featuring only one set and three speaking parts.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Death is described as this, if one takes the second layer of meaning to the contractor's words. He exists not to cause destruction, but to allow new things to grow, to remove the tired and worn out, and finally allow them rest.
* DontFearTheReaper: Death is actually a very gentle person, even willing to take time out of his ''really'' busy job just to make sure that Wanda's passing isn't unnecessarily traumatizing.
* DoubleMeaning: Though unintentional on the contractor's part, his speech about how his job is to destroy old buildings so new ones can be built and society can continue to prosper mirrors Death's true purpose: neither are evil, but they're needed to allow the world to continue.
* GlamourFailure: "Harold" is revealed to be Death when Wanda [[MissingReflection looks in the mirror and sees nothing]], not even a shape holding up the blanket he's underneath.
* InvisibleToNormals: The revelation that the contractor can't see Harold leads Wanda to realize that he is actually Death.
* IWasQuiteALooker: Wanda grows reflective and thinks about her life before she spent all her time in a basement, saying "I was young once. People said I was pretty."
* LivingIsMoreThanSurviving: Death's lesson to Wanda, and to the viewers. Wanda fears Death so much that she shut herself away in her dark basement apartment, trying to be content on just surviving. As Death notes, this isn't the same as living in the warm sunlight.
* MinimalistCast: The episode has only three characters.
* MirrorCharacter: Death and his true purpose are not so different from those of demolition contractors, such as the one who visits Wanda. The speech he gives [[DoubleMeaning mirrors them perfectly]].
* MortalityPhobia: Wanda saw Death only once, but she became so frightened of dying that she shut herself up in her apartment and stayed there well into old age, refusing to let anyone else inside out of fear that they could be Death.
* NiceGuy: "Harold" and the contractor. The former, Death himself, exists so the old and weary can rest and the newer and younger can take their places.
* NothingIsScarier: Death says what actually Wanda fears isn't him specifically, but rather the unknown happenings that come when he visits and takes her away.
* ProperlyParanoid: Wanda fears that Harold might be Death, trying to trick her to allow him to do his work with her. She's right, but Death is a lot [[NiceGuy nicer and more gentlemanly]] than she believes him to be.
* {{Psychopomp}}: Harold is literally Death incarnate, but he's far from malicious.
* TitleDrop: During the closing narration.
* TouchOfDeath: Wanda has [[TheShutIn kept herself isolated for years]] out of fear of Death taking her away.
----
->'''Rod Serling:''' There was an old woman who lived in a room, and, like all of us, was frightened of the dark. But who discovered in a minute last fragment of her life, that there was [[TitleDrop nothing in the dark]] that wasn't there when the lights were on. Object lesson for the more frightened amongst us, in or out of The Twilight Zone.
