Twilight Zone episode review — 5.31 — The Encounter

Episode 5.31 “The Encounter”
Original air date: May 1, 1964
Writer: Martin M. Goldsmith
Director: Robert Butler

Rating: 9/10

“The Encounter” is very good, but it’s also the most controversial episode the series ever aired. Because of the series’s heavy themes on racism, the episode was pulled from syndication apparently until 2016. And that’s too bad, too, although it’s definitely good that it can be shown now. Because it is quite good.

A World War II veteran, Fenton (Neville Brand), is digging around through his attic when his Japanese neighbor, Arthur Takamori (George Takei, Star Trek), comes over looking for work.

The interactions between these two characters are amicable enough at the beginning, but there’s also a good deal of tension, when Fenton starts talking about his experiences in World War II. He shows Arthur a Samurai sword that he won in battle, and Arthur talks about how he was a small child at Pearl Harbor.

Arthur seems to get some kind of supernatural insight from the sword, and when he goes to leave, the door is locked. The interactions between the two grow more hostile, with Arthur accusing Fenton of taking the sword from an unarmed man that he killed. Arthur also admits that his father had betrayed the United States and told the Japanese military where to bomb in Pearl Harbor.

Fenton breaks down, admitting that his life has been consumed by bigotry and that his wife has left him. After a brief fight, Arthur kills Fenton with the sword, and then jumps out the window to kill himself. The door then opens on its own.

I see why this was so controversial. It doesn’t hold any punches with its discussion on racism, and I’d say the movie’s World War II discussion makes it even more troubling, implying that some Americans were in the wrong with how they viewed the Japanese as inhuman.

It’s a very compelling episode. It’s well acted by both performers, and it’s palpably tense throughout.