Cat and Mouse (The Twilight Zone)

"Cat and Mouse" is the fifty-ninth episode and the twenty-fourth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration[]

Andrea Moffatt longs for true love. A man who is strong, handsome, and exotic; who desires her above all other women. She is about to learn that naivete has a price and that the universe has a very curious sense of humor.

Plot[]

A timid woman named Andrea "Andie" Moffatt works in a pharmacy and is hit-on by her coworker Carl but she refuses his advances. She is coached by her female friend Elaine to stop rejecting real men and to not believe the romance novel version of men. At home, after falling asleep reading another romance novel, Andie is awakened by a black cat coming through her window. She immediately attaches herself and takes a shower, but finds someone has taken her robe. Andie comes out to discover a man standing in her robe drinking coffee. She panics and starts to call the police. He says to tell them that she has seen a man turn into a cat, which he promptly does—and then turns into a man again. He reveals his name is Guillaume and he was a lover. But his love for one woman got him cursed to be a cat and he is trapped as a cat during the day, and may freely transform at night.

The next day, Andie returns to work, very happy and very chipper. Even Elaine questions her about drinking too much coffee. Andie just laughs it off. She goes through her day, worried about seeing Guillaume again. When Elaine discovers the pharmacy is doing inventory, she slips her "downers" that she has been stealing into Andie's purse. Andie goes home to her rendezvous with Guillaume, once he turns into a man again. Each day, Andie comes to work less and less "dowdy", wearing makeup and doing her hair. And more and more, Andie has more encounters with Guillaume. At work the next day, Elaine noses into Andie's purchases and discovers lingerie. Wondering whom it's for, Elaine decides to spy on Andie. When Guillaume is dissatisfied with the coffee Andie has, she goes out for something different and Elaine makes her way inside and Guillaume seduces her.

Andie returns to see Elaine leaving Guillaume and both are very satisfied. When Andie confronts Guillaume, he just brushes her off and decides to leave. Andie asks for one more night, and Guillaume relents. She offers to make coffee and puts Elaine's "downers" in it. While Guillaume drinks his coffee, Andie gets a call and agrees to a date with Carl. Guillaume soon passes out from the drugged coffee. He awakens as a cat at the veterinarian with Andie giving orders to have him fixed.

Closing narration[]

A lesson on romance versus reality, with a word of warning for those who want to mix the two: don't, or you may find your head in the clouds, your feet on the ground, and the rest of you, somewhere...in the Twilight Zone.

External links[]

• "Cat and Mouse" at IMDb