| "The Library" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 22c |
||
| Directed by | John Hancock | ||
| Written by | Anne Collins | ||
| Original air date | March 28, 1986 | ||
| Guest stars | |||
|
Frances Conroy : Ellen Pendleton |
|||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| List of The Twilight Zone episodes | |||
"The Library" is the third segment of the twenty-second episode of the first season (1985-1986) of the American television series The Twilight Zone.
Ellen Pendleton, an aspiring writer looking to earn some money on the side, gets a job at a private library run by Gloria. Ellen soon finds out that this is no ordinary library; the books in it actually contain people's lives, updating with every moment. Gloria warns Ellen not to even look into the books, as that is something firmly prohibited by her masters.
When Ellen gets home and is disturbed by the noise of the neighbours, she decides to have a little revenge. The next morning, she re-writes a chapter in the book of her neighbour to make him a priest, and therefore not able to marry the woman from downstairs who caused all the fuss. But when Ellen gets home that night, she finds her sister Lori consoling the noisy woman, Carla, who is on the verge of nervous breakdown because of loneliness.
Deciding to fix this one as well, Ellen rewrites Carla's book to make her happily married to another neighbour, Doug. That indeed happens, but now the problem is that Doug is bankrupt from buying all those gifts for Carla. Ellen then fixes Doug's problems by giving him real estate wealth, only to find out that he is now her landlord, and that her sister is staging a protest against him raising the rent.
Thinking a relocation will solve her problems once for all, Ellen rewrites her own book, setting her and Lori to live in a house by the sea. And even though that sounds fairly innocent, she returns home to find her sister nearly dead, as she drowned while attempting to save a little boy. She dashes back to the library and is caught by Gloria, who is incensed when she learns books have been tampered with. She quickly orders Ellen to gather all the books she rewrote and ushers her out of the library.
Much to her amazement, Ellen is met outside by Lori, looking alive and well. She rings the doorbell of the library, but the door is answered by an unknown man who claims to have been living there for the past ten years. Convinced now that things are in order, Ellen leaves with Lori.