Twilight Zone episode review — 5.7 — The Old Man in the Cave

Episode 5.7 “The Old Man in the Cave”
Original air date: November 8, 1963
Writer: Rod Serling, adapted from Henry Slesar’s short story
Director: Alan Crosland, Jr.
Rating: 9/10
I think of this as one of the most underrated episodes of the series. It has a great post-apocalyptic setting, and it’s a truly interesting story. Even when you boil it down to certain elements, it has a great power struggle between the two main characters.
Goldsmith (series veteran John Anderson) is the leader of a small community of survivors from a nuclear war. They live off of canned foods that they find throughout their town, so long as the foods have been approved to be not contaminated by “the Old Man in the Cave.”
A group of soldiers comes into town, led by French (James Coburn, Affliction). These soldiers mock the idea of this town listening to the Old Man in the Cave, and insist that the food is okay to eat. Eventually, they find the Old Man in the Cave, which is revealed to be a computer.

Feeling duped, the members of the community destroy it alongside the soldiers.
The episode does reveal that the computer and Goldsmith were right, with Goldsmith being the only survivor after the townsfolk and soldiers ate contaminated food.
It’s a great story of a power struggle, and of humanity’s need to follow some kind of leader, no matter how illogical it may seem. I think it works very well, and it’s a very compelling piece of science fiction television.
