"When not in use, turn off the juice!"
Director: John Brahm
Writer: Rod Serling
Composer: Bernard Hermann
Alright so that quote at the top doesn't really have much impact on the episode, but it stood out and it would be impossible not to include somewhere.
This was the first episode of The Twilight Zone to prove legitimately frightening. It's unsettling. Serling's writing here is absolutely phenomenal, having the viewer walk alongside Millicent as she slowly begins to get away from being the calm, collected type to a woman on the hunt.
"Mirror Image" is about a young bank secretary named Millicent Barnes, played by Vera Miles, being plagued by an unknown entity that may well be somehow wearing her face. She confides in a man named Paul, played by Martin Miller, who tries to help her through this experience. The viewers are once again near-exclusively stuck in a single, open location, and the mystery is on.
While this episode is not dripping with atmosphere, the environment becomes a character all on its own. Right away it's easy to spot that there are very few hiding places in the bus station save for the back luggage area and the restrooms, so if somewhere noticeable were hiding, they'd have to be out in the open. Then again, as is revealed in the opening narration, Millicent is a bit of an unassuming woman. She doesn't believe in the fantastic.
If this were a woman bred from paranoia and fear this episode would be open and shut. She'd be carted off in an instant without a moment's hesitation. But the fact that Millicent tries to play games with the wild nature of the Twilight Zone is what makes her special, and what makes her particularly foolish.
Vera Miles as Millicent Barnes may be seen as the typical Twilight Zone denizen that doesn't believe in what's happening and slowly lets it get to her, but her full breakdown is never really shown. Sure, she does miraculously come to an abnormal conclusion, but it's also interesting that sees a logical woman try to make sense of an illogical situation (more on that in the spoiler section below). Miles plays Millicent less as a woman made of fear but a woman determined to take down the person haunting her.
She isn't a damsel, she isn't necessarily scared, she's just confused and annoyed and wants this dealt with. While Paul does treat her like that as she begins making really odd statements, it doesn't detract from the fact that he does want to help. Paul doesn't have much of a character in the first half of the episode, and it does feel like a story of two halves in that regard. It's two people who think they have a grasp on a situation they'll never understand.
The background characters do serve as some good company narratively. They'd be terrible to deal with in real life. The old man running the counter is angry and annoyed at everything, and tries to serve as the voice of the skeptic, while the custodial woman is clearly not on Millicent's side but would probably throw a lending hand her way if she could just get her point across. They make for solid opposite sides of the same coin, and in an enclosed space, that's something that makes everything have an extra dimension of duality.
Millicent is probably one of the more complex characters seen in the scary episodes of The Twilight Zone. Other characters are more in a fight for their own survival, but Millicent is more of a curious woman than one haggard and beaten down trying to just make it on her own. Sure, she's outnumbered by skeptics who don't think anything weird is going on, but it will not stop her from questioning the curiosity sprouting up around her.
What adds to all of this is that the viewer sees the culprit just twice, both equally shocking moments, and both moments that are near impossible for anyone else to just believe. Paul manages to ration it out to her with an explanation that makes quite a bit of sense. If the viewer had seen more of the perpetrator then it would be a bit much and the mystery and scare of Millicent's story would be vanquished, and instead, it would turn into a revenge quest.
Arguably the scariest thing about this episode is Bernard Herrmann's absolutely haunting score, giving everything an eerie vibe from the moment Millicent sits back down to all of the various times she thinks she's getting her leg pulled, or sees the perpetrator. It sets the mood perfectly in an otherwise non-scary environment.
"Mirror Image" is both a mystery and a terror story all-in-one, and they both weave together excellently. Millicent Barnes is a relatable, friendly, and great character that the audience gets with easily, so it's easy to get into the story as she fumbles around for answers about what's going on. The atmosphere, a mix of moody music and a now-scary bus stop, sets the tone perfectly and makes everything like more of being in a box than an actaul place.
***SPOILER SECTION***
Oh goodness how frightening was this episode upon first viewing. The two scenes that made me just lose it were the scene where she goes in the restroom, and there's basically no lighting at all, and the final scene, where Paul finally sees his doppelganger and the cycle begins anew. Granted, it's hard to take it more seriously with that terrible green screen effect on the doppelganger, but let's breakdown that restroom scene.
This is essentially the climax of Millicent's story. She's come up with her wildly true theory that the doppelgangers are coming from another dimension to take their place, possibly kill them, and now is on the prowl for her own. She's searched everywhere, even though she knows that the bus her doppelganger is on has left.
So, when she enters the bathroom and it's pitch-black, the rules of whether or not the doppelgangers can teleport or will actually take their place are still left questioned. And just like H.P. Lovecraft before him, Rod Serling knows that there is nothing scarier than the unknown. So having Millicent framed up, barely in the light, with just darkness and nothing around her, leaves for a world of possibilities.
What if the doppelganger is there? What will it do? What if it isn't? Does that mean it was never really there? Is this where Millicent finally cracks and breaks down?
Vera Miles does a great dual-performance in this episode, too. While her doppelganger is not seen much of, she is frightening and powerful in all the wrong ways here. She has a face of raw, pure confidence that she is going to win, and that single shot of her on the bus about to depart is legitimately chilling.
Upon another viewing, Millicent's sudden jump to the idea of a world of doppelgangers is correct, obviously, but comes almost out of nowhere. While it starts naturally that it is a doppelganger, her explanation of "I read it somewhere recently" just seems too convenient. It would have been nicer to see Paul bounce ideas back at her, but have the duality of "oh, we're just kidding" versus "no, this is serious, I'm on to something" to heighten an already-tense moment.
When the episode shifts to Paul's perspective and he suddenly loses his bag is a great moment of filmmaking, but where does the bag does go? It wasn't a small bag, and the doppelganger goes running off empty-handed. Did he just drop the bag on the side of the road? Also the shot of them running is way too long and it feels more like the director wanted to show he could do something, but it doesn't mean he had to. In fact it would have been a lot more jarring if it'd just been the single shot of the doppelganger turning around, smiling at Paul, and then scurrying off again.
But, those are really just nitpicks in an otherwise very chilling episode of The Twilight Zone.
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