Dream Me a Life
| "Dream Me a Life" |
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"Dream Me a Life" is the fortieth episode (the fifth episode of the third season) of the television revival series The Twilight Zone.
Opening narration
Portrait of a man having a bad dream. His name: Roger Simpson Leeds. Place of residence: A retirement home. Roger Simpson Leeds, who since the death of his wife three years ago, has dedicated himself to living a life in which he touches no one and no one touches him. But now, contact has been made and Mr. Leeds is about to find himself touched...by the Twilight Zone.
Plot
Enter a black and white surreal scene of a man wandering through a candle-lit room, encountering a woman begging him for help, not to let something come in the door. He panics and runs away from her...and awakens from this nightmare. This man, Roger Leeds, staggers out of bed to calm himself. The next day, Roger and his friend, Frank, discuss visiting Roger's children and grandchildren. Rather a curmudgeon, Roger balks at them visiting but laughs it off with Frank. Then they discuss Roger's nightmares and that Roger is getting a new neighbor. Shocked, he sees the new neighbor and it is the woman in his nightmares, begging for help.
Later that evening, Roger sees the woman in the recreation area and is panic-stricken. Frank tells Roger her name is Laurel Kincaid and she's been catatonic since her husband died ten years ago. Frank then finds Roger and attempts to bring him out of this hole he seems to have dug for himself. They start reminiscing about Roger's late wife and it brings Roger to tears. Frank tries to comfort him and Roger reveals the problem with the nightmares. After going up to bed, Roger looks in on Mrs. Kincaid and goes to sleep. Roger enters the dream once again and this time, passes his hand over a lit candle in the dream and wakes up with a burn mark.
The next day, Roger is eating breakfast when a nurse brings in Mrs. Kincaid. When Frank comes in and questions him about his hand, Roger blows up at him and storms out. Roger goes out and begins talking to Mrs. Kincaid. Of course, he can't get anything out of her, but he goes on to talk to her about many things, including his wife. He talked about how painful it was when he lost his wife, how much pain she was in and how he had to deal with it. Roger then tells her that he can't help her keep the "monster" from coming through the door. That night, he has the dream again. Roger tries to keep the door closed, but he realizes that Mrs. Kincaid is just keeping something out that needs to come in. Roger busts the door open and her dead husband's image comes in and talks to her. Her husband tells her she must accept his death and go back to the world of the living.
Roger tells him that it was her husband who was calling for him, not her. He asks why, and Mrs. Kincaid's husband says "I think you know." Roger awakens and goes down to talk to Mrs. Kincaid. He tells her he can wait for her. Suddenly, she begins talking and he is stunned. She talks to him about his burned hand and she apologizes for it, knowing it happened in the dream. He asks her if she would like some breakfast. They smile at each other and go inside...
Closing narration
Mr. Roger Simpson Leeds, lately returned from a journey into shadow, who found that there is no darkness so complete that it cannot be penetrated by the human heart, or...the Twilight Zone.
Extra notes
Eddie Albert played the President of the United States in a similarly themed film a few years prior to this episode about dreams, Dreamscape.