| "The Call" | |||
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| The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 44 |
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| Directed by | Gilbert M. Shilton | ||
| Written by | J. Michael Straczynski | ||
| Original air date | November 19, 1988 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
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William Sanderson : Norman Blane |
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| Episode chronology | |||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||
"The Call" is the forty-fourth episode (the ninth episode of the third season (1988–1989) of the television series The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series).
Contents |
| “ | Norman Blane, whose greatest fear is that, if he were to vanish from the Earth tomorrow, no one will notice, or mourn, or question, and whose greatest sadness is the realization that he is probably right. Sofa, coffee table, chair, and pet; solitary decorations in a life noted chiefly for its isolation. Point of origin and point of destination for Norman Blane, whose days and nights are routinely swallowed into unhappy silence. | ” |
Norman Blane, a lonely man who spends his evenings with the television and TV dinners, in an attempt to order a music album off the television, mistakenly dials the number of a mysterious woman. When he apologizes for misdialing, she keeps him on the phone, starting an interesting conversation. He discovers her name is Mary Ann and she's apparently lonely too. The next day, at work, he discusses what happened to a colleague and wonders whether or not he should try to meet this mysterious Mary Ann.
That evening, Norman calls Mary Ann again, after seven o'clock as she requested, and talks for three hours. She thanks him for their conversations and he suggests they meet. She is adamant about not meeting, that she only wants to talk on the phone. The next day, his work colleague suggests that he use the phone number to determine the address so that he can "accidentally" run into her. The phone number gives him the address of an art gallery so he inquires as to whether or not a Mary Ann worked there, but finds nothing. Norman attempts to call the number again and it starts ringing the telephone to the gallery in an exhibit near a sculpture of a woman. A patron explains to Norman the story behind the sculpture. An artist named Mary Ann Windebelle created the sculpture, a self-portrait, before she killed herself.
At home, Norman calls Mary Ann and she says she saw him at the exhibit talking to some woman. He panics and hangs up. Then he calls her back and apologizes. She talks about how lonely and dark it is where she is. He tries to talk more but she hangs up. Norman soon becomes obsessed with Mary Ann. One late night, he tries to call again, but no one answers. The next day, he goes back to the art gallery. He goes into the exhibit and talks to the sculpture, telling it how much he loved talking to her and how much he misses her and loves her. He apologizes to her and almost kisses her before a security guard asks him to not touch the exhibit. That night, Mary Ann calls him. She tells him she heard what he said. He tells her again he loves her. She wants him to come to her right then. He sneaks into the art gallery. Norman sits by her and holds her. He tells her he wants to be with her forever. Just then, the security guard comes in to find two sculptures, holding hands...
| “ | On display: a very special exhibit, cast in bronze and loneliness; a tender symmetry of line and form, suggestive of love, finally found...in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
This episode is similar to "Miniature", an episode in the original Twilight Zone series starring Robert Duvall. It also shares elements with another episode from the original series, "Night Call".