The Call (The Twilight Zone)

"The Call" is the forty-fourth episode and the ninth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration[]

Norman Blane, whose greatest fear is that, if he were to vanish from the Earth tomorrow, no one will notice, or mourn, or question, and whose greatest sadness is the realization that he is probably right. Sofa, coffee table, chair, and pet; solitary decorations in a life noted chiefly for its isolation. Point of origin and point of destination for Norman Blane, whose days and nights are routinely swallowed into unhappy silence.

Plot[]

Norman Blane is a lonely man who spends his evenings watching the television and eating TV dinners. After attempting to order a music album from a television advertisement, he accidentally dials the number of a mysterious woman. He apologizes for misdialing but she lures him into an interesting conversation. He discovers her name is Mary Ann and she's apparently lonely too. The next day at work, he discusses with a colleague the events of the previous night, and he wonders if he should try to meet this mysterious Mary Ann.

That evening, Norman calls Mary Ann again. He waits until after seven o'clock as she had requested. They talk for three hours and she thanks him for their conversation and he suggests they meet in person. She is adamantly resistant to the idea as she only wants to talk on the phone. The next day, his colleague suggests that he use the phone number to trace her address so that he can accidentally run into her. The phone number is linked to the address of an art gallery but no one named Mary Ann works there. Norman calls the number while in the gallery and a telephone standing near the sculpture of a woman begins to ring. A patron explains the story behind the sculpture: it is a self-portrait by the artist Mary Ann Windebelle who finished it just before she killed herself.

Norman calls Mary Ann that night and she says she saw him at the exhibit. He panics and hangs up then calls back and apologizes. She says it is lonely and dark where she is and then she hangs up the phone. Norman becomes obsessed with Mary Ann and on another night he calls again - but no one answers. He returns to the art gallery and talks to the sculpture, telling it how much he loved talking to her and how much he misses her and loves her. He almost kisses the sculpture but a security guard asks him not to touch the exhibit. That night, Mary Ann calls him and she tells him she heard what he said. He tells her again that he loves her and she wants him to come to her immediately. He breaks into the art gallery and embraces the sculpture, telling her that he wants to be with her forever. A security guard enters and finds two sculptures holding hands.

Closing narration[]

On display: a very special exhibit, cast in bronze and loneliness; a tender symmetry of line and form, suggestive of love, finally found...in the Twilight Zone.

External links[]

• "The Call" at IMDb