Need to Know (The Twilight Zone)
| "Need to Know" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 21a |
| Directed by | Paul Lynch |
| Written by | Sidney Sheldon |
| Original air date | March 21, 1986 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
Frances McDormand: Amanda | |
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"Need to Know" is the first segment of the twenty-first episode of the first season (1985–86) of the American television series The Twilight Zone. It first aired on March 21, 1986. In this segment, a government agent investigates a mysterious outbreak of madness in a small town.
Plot[edit]
Edward Sayers is a government agent sent to a small town to help investigate a bizarre outbreak of insanity. His contact, Amanda Strickland, tells him her father is the latest victim. Edward interviews Amanda's father, who tells him that Mrs. Hotchkiss visited him that morning. When Edward and Amanda question her, she tries to kill Edward with a knife.
Amanda suggests that it may be a disease, spread from person to person, though medical examinations find no physical cause for the madness. She uses contact tracing, and finds that all of the contacts seem to originate with Andrew Potts, who has since died. She suspects his brother Jeffrey, who has not been brought in for madness, may be infected. Edward goes to Jeffrey's house, while Amanda stays at her house to wait for a call from his superior about approval to quarantine the town. Jeffrey tells Edward that while traveling in the Orient he discovered the meaning of life, which he then told to Andrew. Jeffrey is compelled to share it with others by visiting the local radio station and broadcasting it to the town. Intuiting that knowing the meaning of life is what drove Andrew and the others mad, Edward tries to stop him, but Jeffrey knocks him unconscious.
Edward wakes up in enough time to reach Amanda, smash her radio, and get her out before an unpredictable number of people hear Jeffrey's broadcast. However, she points out that she has already been visited by two townspeople. She then whispers to Edward the meaning of life.
External links[edit]
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