Our Selena Is Dying
| "Our Selena is Dying" | |
|---|---|
| The New Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 43 |
| Directed by | Bruce Pittman |
| Written by | Rod Serling J. Michael Straczynski |
| Original air date | November 12, 1988 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Terri Garber: Debra Brockman Jennifer Dale: Diane Charmion King: Selena Brockman R. H. Thomson: Dr. Burrell Paul Bettis: Orville | |
"Our Selena is Dying" is the forty-third episode and the eighth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Opening narration
Your attention is drawn to the residence of the Brockman clan. An ancient mansion, its paneled walls polished by darkness; a lifeless, soundless place, upon which a greater darkness has fallen. The object of the deathwatch, Selena Brockman, grand dame of the menagerie, who lies in her bed in an inch-by-inch battle with death, trying somehow to reach a compromise instead of a capitulation.
Plot
Doctor Burrell checks on an elderly woman named Selena Brockman. While doing so a young woman named Diane enters to check on Brockman's condition. The doctor ignores her and talks to the old woman. As he begins to leave Diane asks Burrell again how her aunt Selena is faring. He says she is dying and whether it be now or tomorrow – nobody knows.
Selena's other niece Debra prepares to visit her aunt whom she has never met. Debra meets Diane and she shows her around the mansion including Diane's own mother, who appears in a catatonic state. When Selena meets Debra she grabs Debra's hand and a mark appears.
When the doctor arrives the next day, Selena is up, smiling and very lucid. Dr. Burrell is surprised and the deaf handyman attempts to tell something to the doctor, but instead is frightened away by Diane. Soon, Debra begins to get ill and shaky. Late that evening, Debra calls Dr. Burrell. He comes over and sends her to the hospital with the appearances of premature aging. When Dr. Burrell tries to find a cause at the Brockman mansion, he discovers a terrible burn mark on Diane's arm. He is later dismissed by Selena and Diane. Outside, however, he discovers the handyman again trying to tell him something. He shows the doctor a diary that shows a picture of a girl from 1940 which looks like Diane and tells a story of how the girl burned her arm in a fire caused by a horse knocking over a lantern.
Dr. Burrell slips back into the house and discovers that Diane and the mother have switched places. He goes to Selena's room to reveal the truth and finds her even younger and more healthy. The real Selena tries to attack the doctor but is stopped when the real Diane enters with a gas lantern asking for her mother. She drops the lantern and the entire room is engulfed in flames. Dr. Burrell tries to help them but is nearly knocked out by the smoke and fire. After the fire is out the next morning, they discover one woman is missing but no one knows which one. Debra, now with her youth restored arrives and Dr. Burrell tells her the whole story.
At the hospital, a doctor and nurse discuss an elderly Jane Doe patient who has burns all over her body. It's a miracle she's alive, they say. But there is one more thing - her left arm seems to be healing quickly and a nearby nurse complains of a burn she doesn't recall receiving.
Closing narration
Jane Doe: age unknown. Sole survivor of a terrible fire, soon to undergo a miraculous recovery. A living warning to those who fail to perceive the distinction that there is a difference between the fear of death and the love of life, especially...in the Twilight Zone.
Themes
This episode is loosely similar to an original series episode called "Queen of the Nile", where a movie actress played by Ann Blyth is interviewed by a columnist who learns the secret of her enduring youth.