This is one of the more understated episodes of The Twilight Zone, especially of the ones that were penned by Rod Serling. There’s no grand soapbox moment at the end where twist and narration combine to tell you what’s what, and maybe that’s why it’s so effective and timeless.
Sometimes on TZ, the morality got in the way of the story. Sometimes the brilliant twist closed too many doors. In “Mirror Image” the point is in the wondering, and it’s that wondering that wakes people up at 2:05 in the morning, just to listen to the wind and make sure that they’re still who they think they are.
And there’s a tremendous cast! Our leading lady is Vera
Miles, enigmatic and cool as always. She’s probably best remembered today for
her supporting role in Psycho (even
though she crushed it in The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valance). Plus, we’ve got TV legend Martin Milner, who somehow
hasn’t been in a recap yet, which makes me think I’ve been falling down on the
job.
The episode opens with a dark and stormy night. Lightning
cracks across a deluging sky. But it’s not the couple who finds the bridge
washed out, or the once-wealthy residents of a Gothic manor house we’re
concerning ourselves with. It’s a young woman – Millicent Barnes, played by
Miles – waiting in a dreary bus depot in upstate New York.
