This Classic Twilight Zone Episode Plays Out Like a Speedrun of John Carpenter's The Thing

A group of people snowed into a confined space, desperately trying to figure out who among them is not human. No, we're not talking about John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi horror masterpiece, The Thing, though we wouldn't begrudge you in the slightest if that's where your brain immediately went. Today, we'd like to shine a spotlight on The Twilight Zone (airing regularly on SYFY) — specifically the Season 2 episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" — which uncannily predicted the fear, paranoia, and suspicion that would take hold at Outpost 31 two decades later.

Written by series creator Rod Serling, "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" unfolds at a close-quartered greasy spoon in the middle of a heavy snowstorm. Responding to a call about a UFO crashing in a nearby frozen pond, two state troopers (John Archer and Morgan Jones) are faced with the surreal task of rooting out an extraterrestrial interloper from a group of seven seemingly average bus passengers.

How do they know someone isn't who they appear to be? The driver (William Kendis) clearly remembers picking up six individuals. The only folks above suspicion — or so we're led to believe — are the cops, the driver, and the diner's genial short order cook, Haley (Barney Phillips).

How The Twilight Zone episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" foreshadowed John Carpenter's The Thing

With a runtime of less than 30 minutes, this particular entry of The Twilight Zone plays out like a speedrun of Carpenter's The Thing, skipping the foreplay and getting right to the part where everyone, married couples included, begins to throw out wild accusations without any solid evidence — à la "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" a season before. Jack Elam, of course, is the episode's clear standout as a bug-eyed, chili-scarfing old man who shouts things like, "She's just like a science fiction, that's what she is! A regular Ray Bradbury!" 

The anonymous alien uses all the terrified confusion to its advantage, steadily heightening the tension by psychically messing with the lights and jukebox. Just when things reach a fever pitch, however, the phone rings: it's the country engineer informing the group that a nearby bridge is safe to cross, despite the severe weather. Except the bridge wasn't safe; that phone call was merely another ruse by the cosmic stranger, who led the troopers and busload of people to a watery death. The real Martian, we learn, is the ornery businessman by the name of Ross (John Hoyt), who kept going on about needing to be in Boston the next morning for an important meeting.

He returns to the diner and sits at the counter and lights up a cigarette, revealing a previously unseen third arm and smugly informing the cook that a colonizing party is currently on its way from Mars. But in true Twilight Zone fashion, Serling has one more twist up his sleeve: Haley is also an alien, albeit one from Venus, whose own ships have already intercepted the Martian delegation. The short order cook removes his old-fashioned soda jerk hat to reveal an unblinking eye in the middle of his forehead and begins to laugh jeeringly at Ross.

Recalling the standoff between MacReady (Kurt Russell) and Childs (Keith David) once Outpost 31 goes kablooey, the final confrontation between Ross and Haley represents an inverse of The Thing's ambiguous conclusion. Still, it's no less nihilistic in implication. The two characters left standing are both inhuman creatures and, more importantly, the world as we know it is doomed.

Classic episodes of The Twilight Zone air regularly on SYFY. Click here for complete scheduling info! John Carpenter's The Thing — along with its 2011 prequel — is available to own from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.