Stranger in Possum Meadows

"Stranger in Possum Meadows" is the fifty-second episode (the seventeenth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration[]

For Danny Wilkins, a sunny afternoon is a world of adventure. He's a typical boy who likes nothing better than following a trail, just to see where it goes. But today, that trail will lead Danny through a private reserve, which lies just inside the borders...of the Twilight Zone.

Plot[]

Inside a mobile home in a rural community a mother is tuning the radio and beginning her daily chores while her son Danny finishes his breakfast. He runs to the door and says he's in a hurry to go to Possum Meadows. His mother tells him to be careful. Danny soon makes his way to the creek, and plays with his toy boat and runs along the water. He notices the boat goes down the creek into an odd-looking fog; meanwhile, a man in a grey outfit attempts to touch a deer but it runs off. Then he notices Danny and they exchange greetings. The man tells him his name is Scout. He questions Danny what his toy boat is and what a tadpole is as if the man had no idea what these things were. Danny and Scout begin walking together and discussing the weather and what the area is called. Danny asks him if he's from around here but Scout says no but he likes it. Soon, Danny says he has to leave and Scout says goodbye. Danny's mom is furious with him for trusting a strange man and she wants him to stay away from Scout the next time he sees him. Danny says he can't because he invited Scout to dinner; meanwhile, Scout is outside and he starts studying birds and fish. He then points at a deer, it glows and then disappears.

Later that evening Scout arrives home and Mrs. Wilkins answers the door. She tells Scout that Danny shouldn't go around inviting total strangers to dinner. Scout graciously understands and apologizes for being an inconvenience, but Mrs. Wilkins changes her mind and invites him inside. Their dog begins growling at Scout but he subdues the animal by putting his hand out in front of him, at which the dog whimpers and becomes quiet. During dinner, they converse about Scout's family and how Mrs. Wilkins must work nights so often has to leave Danny alone. Scout tells them he is from a large industrial firm looking for places to put new locations and he stays in a small motor home near Possum Meadows. He thanks them for dinner and leaves. Mrs. Wilkins tells Danny that she wants him home after school and not to go see Scout.

The next day, Danny comes home to find his dog gone. Then Scout shows up with the flashlight Danny let him borrow and asks Danny to come help him. When he says his mom said he should stay home Scout tells him he talked to her and she said it was okay. He says that Mrs. Wilkins and the dog are at his house and they are going to have dinner together. At first Danny is suspicious but he goes along anyway and afterward Mrs. Wilkins arrives back at home - Scout having lied to Danny. She notices that the flashlight Scout took is on the porch and Danny and the dog are nowhere to be found. She runs frantically to find Scout at the creek and questions him about Danny but he says he hasn't seen Danny since they had dinner. He also claims Danny wasn't home when he returned the flashlight. He claims he wants to help her by looking in the woods while she looks along the creek.

Inside Scout's motor home are frozen bodies of the dog, the deer and other animals. Scout, at a control panel and in an alien language, reports that he is prepared to return with his specimens. He looks at Danny who is also frozen in a compartment. Then Scout asks his home world about the well-being of his family and says that he misses them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilkins frantically searches in the dark for Danny when she comes upon an odd shape. The shape soon becomes enshrouded in blinding light and then jettisons into space. She begins crying and believes Danny might be in the spaceship when she hears him mumbling from the grass. When asks by his mother if he is alright, he replies that he is "just cold."

Closing narration[]

Danny Wilkins, beneficiary of an act of kindness offered by a stranger. A stranger who's been reminded of a truth, the power of which cuts across races, cultures and even species—the love between parent and child. It's a truth that can change minds and actions even in a place known...as the Twilight Zone.

External links[]

• "Stranger in Possum Meadows" at IMDb