Twilight Zone: Person or Persons Unknown
Reviewed by Geno McGahee
David Gurney (Richard Long) wakes up next to his wife after a party where they both drank a little too much. He realizes that he is late for work at the bank and quickly jumps up, awaking his wife, Wilma (Shirley Ballard). It gets strange when Wilma panics and tells him to leave the house immediately and that she had no idea just who he was. Gurney, a fantastic character by the way, gets angry and wants to know what her game is and tells her to snap out of it. She is still terrified and doesn’t know him, prompting him to search through the drawers looking for his clothing, only to find Wilma’s stuff, unless he is a cross dresser, of course. I doubt it, but I never and I repeat, NEVER rule it out.
When Gurney gets to work, things go from bad to worse. He knows everyone, but nobody knows him, and there is some guy sitting at his desk. It is hilarious to see David bully the wormy guy out of his desk and then gather the man’s family photos and property and say: “Will you be kind enough to remove this junk.” It is a hilarious scene and this episode just keeps getting better and better as it goes.
After being dragged out of the bank and arrested, he is brought to a mental hospital and told that he created this life and was not who he thought he was. Dr. Koslenko (Frank Silvera) does all sorts of things to prove that he is in fact not David Gurney, including phoning various people at the request of Gurney, only to find out that they have no idea who he is. Why he allowed David himself to phone people and harass them is beyond me, but he is. When he doesn’t get the answer he wants, he is desperate to prove himself and in one of the best TZ scenes ever, he pushes past the doctor and jumps out the glass window head first, shattering it. He steals a delivery van and tries to go to familiar places where he will be recognized as David Gurney.
The proof comes in a photograph of him and his so-called wife, Wilma, leading to a confusing ending, but a good one. This is a great tale and Richard Long really plays the jerk role up quite well, amusing the hell out of me, especially when he deals with the guy at his desk at the bank. I was waiting for him to scream: “Do you know who I am?!!!” Don’t you love when people say that?
I highly recommend this one. It was a great tale with some great characters and an ending that allows you to use your imagination and draw your own conclusions.
RSR Rating: 8.5/10. Do you know who I am?