Dream Me a Life

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"Dream Me a Life"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 40
Directed byAllan King
Written byJ. Michael Straczynski
Original air dateOctober 22, 1988 (1988-10-22)
Guest appearances
Eddie Albert: Roger Simpson Leeds
Frances Hyland: Laurel Kincaid
Barry Morse: Frank
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Hunters"
Next →
"Memories"
List of episodes

"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[]

A man named Roger Leeds wanders through a candle-lit room. He encounters a woman begging for help to prevent something from coming through the door. He panics and runs away from her and awakens from this nightmare. The next day, Roger and his friend Frank discuss visiting Roger's children and grandchildren. The curmudgeonly Roger balks at this, 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 from his nightmares who was 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 the 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 Laurel and goes to sleep. Roger enters the dream once again and this time, passes his hand over a lit candle in the dream - he wakes up with a burn mark.

The next day, Roger is eating breakfast when a nurse brings in Laurel. Frank comes in and questions him about his hand and Roger blows up at him and storms out. Roger begins talking to Laurel. 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 manage his loss. Roger then tells Laurel that he can't help her keep the "monster" from coming through the door. That night, he has the dream again but this time Roger tries to keep the door closed. He soon realizes that Laurel is just keeping something out that needs to come in, so Roger busts the door open. Laurel's dead husband comes in and speaks with her. He tells her she must accept his death and go back to the world of the living.

Laurel tells Roger that it was her husband who was calling for him, not her. Roger asks why, and Laurel’s husband says "I think you know." Roger awakens and goes down to talk to Laurel. He tells her he can wait for her and she begins talking. She talks to him about his burned hand and she apologizes knowing it happened in the dream. He asks her if she would like some breakfast. They smile at each other and leave to 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.

External links[]

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