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The Twilight Zone (1959) S5E27: "Sounds and Silences"
(aka: The Twilight Zone S 5 E 147 Sounds And Silences)

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Sounds and Silences

The Twilight Zone (1959) S5E27: "Sounds and Silences" Recap

Rod Serling: This is Roswell G. Flemington, two hundred and seventeen pounds of gristle, lung tissue and sound decibels. He is, as you have perceived, a noisy man, one of a breed who substitutes volume for substance, sound for significance and shouting to cover up the readily apparent phenomenon that he is nothing more than an overweight and aging perennial Sea Scout whose noise-making is in inverse ratio to his competence and his character. But soon our would-be admiral of the fleet will embark on another voyage. This one is an uncharted and twisting stream that heads for a distant port called the Twilight Zone.

Air date: April 3, 1964

Roswell G. Flemington (John McGiver) was raised by a mother who detested all forms of noise, going so far as to make brownies instead of cookies because they produced less noise when eaten. When he came of age, Roswell went off to serve in the US Navy, then went on to become the owner of a model ship company after his service ended. In the present day, while behaving like he's still in the Navy, he speaks at the top of his lungs and produces as much noise as he can through bells, whistles, and recordings of maritime battles to compensate for his silently miserable childhood, driving all of his employees insane. One day, his wife Lydia (Penny Singleton) has enough of Roswell and his obsession with noise, finally divorcing him after 20 years. Shortly after, every little noise suddenly sounds like an explosion, causing Roswell immense auditory pain. He soon sees a psychotherapist who helps him understand that the noise situation, as well as the conflict it's sparked between him and Lydia, has caused him to relive his resentment against his mother to the point that he has internalized her affliction. Now realizing that it was all in his head, Roswell decides to overcome the mental block with "mind over matter", which he does. The only problem is that when Lydia returns to the apartment to pick up her jewelry, Roswell tells her about his therapy session and proceeds to "shut her out". After prompting her to storm out again, Roswell goes too far in the other direction, so he now cannot hear anything at all. He frantically plays his sea battle records and pleads for someone outside to make some noise, to no avail.


Tropes:

  • Abusive Parent: Roswell's mother was whiny, petulant, strict, and immensely controlling, forbidding him from doing anything that made any sort of noise. His behavior as an adult is born of a sense of pettiness and liberation at this upbringing, prompting him to be as loud as he can without consequence.
  • Artistic License – History: Roswell tells his psychiatrist that if he had been at Trafalgar, Horatio Nelson would have kept both his eye and his arm. In reality, Nelson lost the sight in his right eye (but not the eye itself) during the invasion of Corsica on July 12, 1794, and his right arm in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on July 23, 1797. The Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson was killed, was fought on October 21, 1805.
  • Awful Wedded Life: Roswell's wife Lydia hates him as much as everyone else does for his noise obsession, divorcing him early into the episode.
  • Breather Episode: The episode is a light-hearted comic romp that serves as a welcome change of pace to the sobering previous episode.
  • Catchphrase: Roswell often says "In a manner of speaking" whenever he uses a nautical metaphor. Lydia herself uses it three times to mock him as she leaves for good.
  • Dramatically Missing the Point: The whole point of Roswell's therapy session was to help him through his personal issues with his mother. Unfortunately, he misinterprets that Lydia was the problem, and therefore does not change his noise loving ways.
  • Dripping Disturbance: As the first indication we get that all sound has been magnified to him, Roswell is disturbed by the sound of water dripping in the middle of the night.
  • Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Roswell borders on this. He's shocked that Lydia wants to divorce him, but it's beyond his understanding as to why. It doesn't occur that his own obsession with loud noises is the root of what's driven her away, even when she says it right to his face.
  • Freudian Excuse: According to Roswell, his mother hated all kinds of loud noises, to the point that she made brownies instead of cookies because "they made less noise when you chewed them". As an adult, he spitefully believes that this is enough of a reason to indulge in his loud noises.
    • Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: In response to Roswell's backstory, Lydia rebuffs that it doesn't make his obsession with loud noises any less ludicrous, as well as the fact that the obsession itself made him a horrible husband, hence why she leaves him.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Roswell manages to audibly shut out Lydia to the point where he can no longer hear her, but this backfires when he becomes unable to hear any of the noise that he loves so much.
  • Hated by All: Roswell is utterly despised by all of his employees at the model ship company, who take every opportunity to mock him in his absence. Conklin even throws darts at a large photograph of Roswell in his office. His wife Lydia hates him as well, since she's had to put up with his nautical lifestyle and his obsession with noise for 20 years.
  • I Can't Hear You: This is bound to happen to anyone who is near Roswell's person or apartment, especially when he's listening to recordings of "flight carriers bombarding Okinawa". Roswell himself suffers the same fate at the end of the episode.
  • Large Ham: Roswell, an insufferable blowhard who goes out of his way to make as much noise as he possibly can.
  • Laser-Guided Karma: For forcing everyone to partake in his noisy lifestyle, Roswell's machinations lead to him losing his wife, his respect, and his hearing, the last of which robs him of the enjoyment he takes in sound. In his closing narration, Rod Serling mentions that Roswell has since been committed to a sanitarium, reduced to begging the staff there to make some noise, and even describing his fate as poetic justice.
  • Manchild: Roswell is a temperamental little boy in the body of an ex-Navy officer-turned-model ship manufacturer. He spends all his time shouting at the top of his lungs while incorporating nautical metaphors in his speech, and annoys every single person he comes across with his loud noises, including recordings of maritime battles that cause his whole apartment to shake. All of this came about because his mother strictly forbade him from making any sort of noise in the house, and he acts so loud and brash entirely to spite his late mother.
  • Never My Fault: Roswell's psychiatrist indirectly notes to Roswell that his "imaginary" sounds are the result of his own personal issues with his mother, and helps him overcome it. After he returns home, however, Roswell immediately deduces that Lydia's and her divorce was the "culprit" behind his ailment.
  • NO INDOOR VOICE: Roswell has this down to a T. It's deconstructed as part of what makes him so obnoxious.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The scene where Roswell does not shout or make a scene when he arrives for work is enough to make Conklin, his oldest employee, confused and concerned.
  • Pet the Dog: After the psychiatrist helps Roswell through "mind over matter", the old sailor thanks the doctor and compliments his performance. When he leaves, Roswell hesitates slamming the door, but the psychiatrist allows him to do so without judgment. In turn, Roswell tells the psychiatrist he has the "soul of a seaman" and sincerely thanks him for his open-mindedness.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lydia gives two of them to Roswell throughout the episode, the first in regards to why their marriage is failing (mainly because of his obsession with noise), the other clarifying that he's "nothing more than an overgrown sailor with an undermanned head" who is "so full of neurosis" that it's a mystery why he hasn't gone insane yet.
  • Villain Protagonist: Roswell is an obnoxious, inconsiderate loudmouth who acts like a kid and makes as much noise as he can, blaming others for his problems.

Rod Serling: When last heard from, Mr. Roswell G. Flemington was in a sanitarium, pleading with the medical staff to make some noise. They, of course, believe the case to be a rather tragic aberration - a man's mind becoming unhinged. And for this, they'll give him pills, therapy and rest. Little do they realize that all Mr. Flemington is suffering from is a case of poetic justice. Tonight's tale of sounds and silences from the Twilight Zone.

Alternative Title(s): The Twilight Zone S 5 E 147 Sounds And Silences

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