{"id":103537,"date":"2021-05-05T20:49:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T01:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103537"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:28:09","slug":"the-twilight-zone-review-the-encounter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103537","title":{"rendered":"The Twilight Zone Review: The Encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103537\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=103537\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-103538 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The_Twilight_Zone_The_Encounter_TV-544562427-large-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The_Twilight_Zone_The_Encounter_TV-544562427-large-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/The_Twilight_Zone_The_Encounter_TV-544562427-large.jpg 497w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a>By William Kozy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>What a strange, unwieldy episode \u201cThe Encounter\u201d is. It\u2019s a big disappointment as many fans have attested to, but it does have some assets. For one thing I\u2019m pleased over how the two actors, who have not been recognized as\u2026shall we say, master thespians in the annals of television history, actually come off surprisingly well. Kudos to director Robert Butler (who also helped Jackie Cooper give a fine performance in the episode \u201cCaesar and Me\u201d), and kudos to the two leads in one of the few episodes with a total cast of two or fewer performers. Neville Brand, in reality one of the most highly decorated combat soldiers of World War II, has a strong tank of a face and plays his part of a tough ex-Fight Nav, with equal parts bluster and wounded psyche. And George Takei, famous for playing the Starship Enterprise\u2019s navigator, had become something of a pop culture joke in recent years, but here in this episode we are reminded that he actually had some chops.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s able to pull off some casual conversation with aplomb but also is able to go for broke and deliver the goods on some very high intensity emotional monologues. So what went wrong? I\u2019d have to put the blame on the script that pushes and pulls these two men in wildly opposite directions from moment to moment while not helping the actors out at all by supplying a provocation. Perhaps that\u2019s why the episode received only 6 votes in my survey of fans and writers asking, \u2018What is your favorite episode of the original Twilight Zone series?\u2019 tying it with 11 other episodes for 106th thru 116th place of the 156 episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Fenton is seen going through some \u201cjunk\u201d in his attic when his attention is suddenly caught by an old Japanese samurai sword. He unsheathes it, looks at it with something between awe and shame and throws it across the room. Just then we hear Arthur Takamuri calling from the bottom of the steps. Arthur came into the house looking for Fenton because he was told Fenton was looking for someone to care for his lawn. The two men strike a deal and Fenton invites Arthur to come up and have a beer.<\/p>\n<p>Immediately the offenses come out as Fenton calls Arthur \u201cboy\u201d and scoffs that Arthur calls himself that anglicized name. Arthur admits his born name is Taro, and will later demonstrate that he\u2019s no chump as he calls Fenton on his gaffs, telling him, \u201cWhile we\u2019re at it, Mr. Fenton, I get bugged by \u2018Boy\u2019. Europeans are always calling the natives \u2018boy\u2019 and going by the white man\u2019s burden. Well, the facts are I\u2019m a full grown man. I work for a living and I answer to Arthur Takamuri, and believe it or not, sometimes to Mr. Takamuri.\u201d Fenton again scoffs, not respecting Arthur\u2019s point of view. The episode repeats this pattern ad nauseum: Fenton says something offensive, to which Arthur takes offense, to which Fenton blows him off by telling him he\u2019s \u201cwound up\u201d or not to take things so seriously.<\/p>\n<p>The episode proposes to be a microcosm of a battle, like some sort of classic one-act play that we\u2019re supposed to view with nodding recognition of its clever symbolism. But instead, conflicts are crammed in so tightly one on top of the other, and then resolved with immediacy in order to be able to heap on the next social\/political jab. And to bounce these two around even more unpredictably there are the many ambassadorial attempts at an accord, i.e, Fenton describing the respect they had for the Japanese for being such ferocious tigers in battle. The two combatants toast with their beer cans.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s the issue with the sword, which raises the question of how or which of the details in this episode are supernatural if any. Like when the door leading out of the attic gets so stuck that neither man can open it, forcing them to resume their conflicts. Or here when Fenton tries to find the sword again\u2014he had shown it to Arthur earlier and then left to get the beers. Arthur hid it behind some junk after bizarrely muttering \u201cI\u2019m going to kill him.\u201d (Huh?!) Where that came from I have no idea, even after seeing the story through to its end. But as Fenton lurks about, looking for the sword he relates that he\u2019s tried to get rid of it many times: \u201cI\u2019ve tried to give it away, sell it, hawk it, throw it out with the garbage\u2026but it always comes back.\u201d The writing goes out of its way however to disavow a supernatural link a la \u201cLiving Doll\u201d by having Fenton continue: \u201cOh nothing supernatural. I don\u2019t believe in that jazz, but when people refuse it, even wrapped as a gift, when the men on the garbage truck bring it in, well, you give up after a while.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then Fenton offers it to Arthur, inexplicably adding that Arthur can give it back to him, \u201cpoint first!\u201d These crazy directions the dialogue heads off into don\u2019t make things easy for the actors but the two men do their best. Fenton admits that he knows what was engraved on the blade after lying to Arthur earlier, saying he didn\u2019t know. It says, \u201cThe sword will avenge me.\u201d Arthur has also lied though when he said earlier that he didn\u2019t speak Japanese, but we then confesses that he does, and so must also know what the sword said. But, what was the point of either lie? For Arthur, perhaps to lessen the distance of his foreignness to Fenton? It\u2019s not clear.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton then launches into a tirade about working and how he operated a Cat, a heavy duty machine that moved the earth, not \u201cmanicured\u201d it like Arthur does. And then he accusatorially describes to Arthur the intensity of actual combat. So deep into his own tortured psyche goes Fenton that he\/we begin to here machine gun fire, sounds of the jungle at night, and a taunting enemy. At that point Arthur bends down to where he hid the sword and pulls it out, fearing that Fenton has gone full lunatic. Fenton counters with a knife. The two stalk each other, and it\u2019s just too much to have asked this episode to depict. Writer Martin M. Goldsmith actually writes them hunting each other in an attic. The choreography here suffers also as Fenton makes a sudden move and clumsily falls to the ground. I couldn\u2019t even tell you exactly what he did\u2014trip on what? It\u2019s an odd-looking physical moment, but Arthur has the drop on him, and stands over him with the sword. \u201cWait a minute\u201d says Fenton, \u201cI was only telling you how it was.\u201d Well, he dropped that weird reverie pretty fast. Arthur snaps out of it also, pondering how he didn\u2019t know what got into him. So again, there\u2019s a hint of something otherworldly manipulating these two men, but it\u2019s just so tenuous.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton snaps at him, \u201cYou used that sword like you were mowing a lawn.\u201d I\u2019m not sure what that\u2019s supposed to mean. During the scene, Arthur actually looked extremely adept at handling the sword. Arthur then accuses Fenton of shooting a surrendering officer and then taking the sword from him. Where he gets this idea from is anybody\u2019s guess. His imagination working overtime now, Arthur describes his father\u2019s wartime heroism at Pearl Harbor \u201cwatching men of his own race destroy what he\u2019d built with his own hands.\u201d He describes watching his father trying to warn the sailors about the incoming bombers. Takei falls into his own reverie this time, wildly describing each \u201cBOOM\u201d and imitating the attacking planes before collapsing exhausted onto the floor as Fenton watches him with complete disinterest. But then Arthur does an about face and admits what really happened in a monologue in which Arthur cries in shame over his father\u2019s traitorous acts: signaling the planes and showing them where to drop the bombs. And it is this historically inaccurate misstep that apparently got this episode taken out of syndication. There was, as we now know, not one single instance of Japanese-American betrayals at Pearl Harbor, nor anywhere else. Goldsmith\u2019s monologue posed the danger of planting the idea in viewers\u2019 minds that there were actual acts of traitorous sabotage, and Arthur describes just one. It\u2019s a fairly irresponsible writing mistake.<\/p>\n<p>The next awkward chapter in this encounter is how Fenton one-ups Arthur and abruptly details his unfortunate home life as Arthur cries at the window, trying the latch to find an exit. Fenton describes feeling lonesome, that his \u201cold lady got teed off last night\u201d over his drinking and left. Right on the heels of revealing he was also fired due to his drinking, Fenton angrily blurts that it wasn\u2019t the booze, it was all the \u201ccheap labor\u201d being brought in, and he lists all the minorities. There\u2019s some sloppiness in the dialogue throughout, with regard to repetitiveness, and this monologue is a good example of that, repeating that his wife left last night to go sleep at her sister\u2019s, etc. Fenton turns to Arthur and tells him not to take things so hard, but he does it in a way that feels more intended to verbally beat up Arthur: \u201cJust because your old man was a sneaky little double-dealing traitor, that doesn\u2019t mean you are.\u201d Which gives Arthur cause to revisit the accusation that Fenton murdered the soldier he took the sword from. Round and round we go.<\/p>\n<p>Fenton starts breaking down, asking Arthur why all these bad things are happening to him. \u201cI\u2019m not such a bad guy! Why? Why?!\u201d But in reply, Arthur holds up the samurai sword grimly, eyeing Fenton pitilessly. Fenton tells him to go ahead and kill him, \u201cGo on, I dare you!\u201d He continues blathering about his circumstances and the unfairness of the world, sweating and blubbering. After a pause, once again, they start circling each other threateningly yet again. Fenton lunges for the sword wrestling it away from Arthur. It drops to the floor and Fenton hits Arthur on the back. Fenton lunges for the sword, and in yet another indiscernible bit of choreography, somehow Fenton gets impaled on the sword as Arthur pulls at his leg. Fenton has a last gasp and then falls back, dead. Indeed the sword has avenged its owner.<\/p>\n<p>Then, perhaps out of guilt over his father\u2019s treason, Arthur yells out \u201cBonsai!\u201d and leaps at the window, crashing through to his death below.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>I counter \u201cThe Encounter\u2019s\u201d foolishness with a rating of 3.3.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Welcome To The &quot;Bad&quot; Brad Berkwitt Show\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SI1AfkBrG3I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; 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It\u2019s a big disappointment as many fans have attested to, but it does have some assets. For one thing I\u2019m pleased over how the two actors, who have not been recognized as\u2026shall we say, master thespians in the annals of television history, actually come [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26491],"class_list":["post-103537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-the-twilight-zone-review-the-encounter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=103537"}],"version-history":[{"count":-1,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103537\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=103537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=103537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=103537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}