Examination Day
| "Examination DIc" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episode | |
 Scene from "Examination Day" | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6a |
| Directed by | Paul Lynch |
| Written by | Philip DeGuere (Based on the short story "Examination Day", by Henry Slesar. The story was first published in Playboy (February 1958). |
| Original air date | November 1, 1985 |
| Guest appearances | |
| David Mendenhall : Dickie Jordan Christopher Allport : Richard Jordan Elizabeth Norment : Ruth Jordan Ed Krieger : Clerk #1 Myrna White : Clerk #2 Jeffrey Alan Chandler : Clerk #3 | |
"Examination Day" is the first segment of the sixth episode from the first season (1985–86) of the television series The Twilight Zone. The segment is based on the short story "Examination Day" by Henry Slesar.
Plot
Richard "Dickie" Jordan is an intelligent and curious youth. He and his family live in a dystopian future and it is David's twelfth birthday. This means he is required by law to report to a government testing facility for a mandatory examination. As David gleefully tells his parents how he was told by an older friend that the test is easy and that he's sure he will pass it, his parents appear stressed and avoid his questions (or give him obviously incorrect answers, such as "the sun is five thousand miles away"). When the time comes, they bring him to the facility and go back home to wait anxiously for the results.
When Jordan arrives at the testing facility, he is given medicine by an examiner who says it will ensure he tells the truth. He is then seated in a special chair with a microphone and abandoned by the examiner, subsequently given a series of intelligence tests. Much to his delight, he gets several answers correct.
After his parents await the test results at home for hours, they are contacted by the government. Jordan's test results are in: his intelligence has exceeded the legal limit that the totalitarian government allows and he was therefore executed. The parents burst into tears as the government examiners ask them how they would like to handle their son's remains.
Reception
The Evening Independent wrote that the episode was "a bit predictable, but the reason for the tragic climax was a shock".[1]
References
- ^ Masters, Kay (1985-11-14). "New Episodes of Twilight Zone Are Clever, Unpredictable, Entertaining". Evening Standard. p. 3B.