The Masks
| "The Masks" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 26 |
| Directed by | Ida Lupino |
| Written by | Rod Serling |
| Featured music | Stock from A Thing About Machines |
| Production code | 2601 |
| Original air date | March 20, 1964 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
"The Masks" is episode 145 of the American television series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on March 20, 1964 on CBS.
A very wealthy old man named Jason Foster, who is dying, has just been visited by Dr. Sam Thorne on the night of Mardi Gras. Cranky and candid, Jason is not cheered by a visit from his daughter Emily Harper and her family—husband Wilfred Harper, son Wilfred Harper Jr., and daughter Paula. All four have various, terrible traits.
Moreover, it is clear that they are only there in order to claim Jason's fortune once he dies. Jason is not shy about his opinions of his family and openly insults each of them. In an act of apology, he says he has a special Mardi Gras party planned for the group that night.
After dinner, the family gathers in Jason's study where he offers them special one-of-a-kind masks. These masks, which he said are "crafted by an old Cajun", are very ugly creations. Jason informs his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren that a Mardi Gras custom is to wear masks that are the exact opposite of a person's true personality. Thereupon, he says sarcastically that these masks are just that. Jason offers the mask of a sniveling coward to Emily, a miserable miser to Wilfred, a twisted buffoon to Wilfred Jr., and a self-obsessed narcissist to Paula. He himself dons a skull claiming that the opposite of life is death. The family is reluctant to wear the ugly masks—until Jason quotes his demands as a proviso from his will, unless all four of them don the masks and leave them on until midnight, all they will receive from his vast estate is train fare home to Boston. The foursome comply in spite of their disgust.
As the hours tick by, all four beg to be allowed to take off the masks...claiming that they are worse than uncomfortable, they are unbearable. Yet their pleas are wasted on Jason who delivers his final tirade to his family as he dies. He explains that even "without [their] masks, [they are] caricatures!" He then dies. The foursome rejoices in the fact that they are now rich, until they remove their disguises and find to their horror that their faces have conformed to the hideous shapes of the masks. When Jason's mask is removed, it appears as if nothing has changed, but his face is actually the expression of death itself—calm, peaceful, and serene. As Dr. Sam Thorne observes "This must be death. No horror, no fear...nothing but peace." As the episode ends, the butler Jeffrey (Bill Walker) looks upon the relatives' ugly faces.
...
Wikipedia