The Twilight Zone (1959) s01e22 Episode Script
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street
-Mr.
Moore.
-Hey, good morning.
Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
Get back to work, all right? Sean Moore a man on the eve of attaining a level of wealth that most of us can only dream about.
But the choices Sean made to get to this point are about to come back to haunt him courtesy of the Twilight Zone.
Contract lawyers at 11 :00 Iunch with the presentation team Oh, and it's your mother's birthday tomorrow.
You want me to send the usual flower arrangement? -Yeah, bingo to that.
-Remind you to call her? That's very funny.
That's the last thing she'd want.
OK, first step, you've got an interview with Elizabeth Carter from High Finance magazine.
What's she after? My guess is word's spreading fast on the Monarch Foods buyout.
No, blow her off.
She's been waiting almost an hour, Sean.
This is not the time for bad press.
Sean Moore, self-made man Ieft Evanston senior year of high school traveled to Venice, California opened up your first cappuccino stand before your 18th birthday.
Two weeks shy.
Sixteen years later, you're C.
E.
O.
of one of America's leading coffee franchises and yet you're trying to sell a company that you built from scratch.
Why? What can I say? I grew up in the Eighties.
Some kids grew up watching "Star Wars.
" I grew up watching "Wall Street.
" "Greed is good.
" Remember? Yes.
I remember.
In my research I found a little story about you.
Really.
Only one.
About a certain baseball signed by the 1927 Yankees a family heirloom that you sold to start your business.
It was my grandfather's ball.
He gave it to my dad my dad gave it to me when I turned 17.
And you got, what, 8,000 for it? Something like that.
And you father didn't mind you selling it? No, of course he didn't.
Even if it meant you leaving home? You know, I answered your question.
You think maybe we could change the subject? Excuse me, Sean but I've got that call you were expecting.
Right.
I'm sorry.
Gonna have to cut the interview short.
I see.
Why do I get the feeling that didn't go so well? Don't let that sweet face fool you.
She's up to no good.
-I need an aspirin.
-Bottom drawer.
"Ruth, Gehrig, Huggins.
" This is the 1927 Yankees.
That must be worth something.
How the hell did it get here? This is the ball that I sold 16 years ago.
This was my dad's baseball.
You are traveling to another dimension.
A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are only that of the imagination.
You're entering She was never out of my sight.
Then how'd she get this in here? Sean, I'm lost.
The baseball.
Somehow, she planted it.
This is just too whacked.
Maybe somebody got it for you as a gift.
It's the exact same ball.
I sold it 16 years ago.
I'll check with the staff see if anybody knows how it got here.
Meantime, the editors are waiting for your final notes on the corporate presentation film.
Message one.
Sean, Kate.
Good news.
Ulrich's flying in from Geneva just for the presentation, so it looks like our friends at Monarch Foods are in a buying mood and, oh, by the way, I asked around the office.
No one seems to know about that baseball.
Message Two.
Hi.
Elizabeth Carter from High Finance.
I really think we need to talk some more about your past.
It's Alicia.
I'll be by your place at 9:00.
I can't wait to see you.
It's only been a week, and it feels like forever.
I miss you like crazy.
Bye.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better.
I hope the neighbors didn't hear.
What's the matter, baby? You having second thoughts about the sale? No.
I'm just a little distracted, that's all.
Was it something I did? No, no, no.
Past stuff.
I guess some things never go away.
I love you, Sean.
I would be so lost without you.
What's the matter? You want me to leave? Yeah.
OK.
You still have to pay me for the entire night.
Listen, next time go easy on the hearts and flowers, OK? You still want me to say "l love you," right? Yeah, that's what I pay you for.
Just don't be so pushy, all right? What the hell? What's wrong? Did she put you up to this? Who? The reporter, Elizabeth Carter.
Did she pay you to put this here? Sean, I don't know what you're talking about.
You don't, huh? It's just an old school jacket.
No, this is my old school jacket.
I got rid of this thing years ago.
I burned it.
OK, well, then, it's not the same one.
It's the same jacket.
Look, it's got my name on it.
It's got my school letters.
What now? Sean? It's the letter.
It's Bess' letter.
Bess? Bess Wicker.
She was my first girlfriend.
You know what they say.
"First love's hardest to forget.
" See you next week, Sean.
"Sean, I'm sending you back your jacket.
"I've decided I can't come to California.
"l wish I could forget what you did, but I can't.
" "l love you, Sean.
I always will "but I just can't forgive you.
Bess.
" Mr.
Moore.
All right, let's have it.
What the hell do you want from me? I thought we could finish up our interview.
Oh, screw the interview.
I want to know how you're pulling it off.
Pulling it off? The baseball, the school jacket.
You really are afraid to look at your past, aren't you? You know what, lady? I don't need to look back.
My company is in play for more money than I ever thought existed in the world.
You live alone.
You have no friends no one you care about, and no one who cares for you.
How do you know all this about me?! Who the hell are you?! I thought you would have figured it out by now.
I know you, Sean.
Bess? Bess Wicker? Sorry I'm late.
Got caught in traffic.
I've got Kurt Bruckman on line three.
He's managing editor at High Finance.
-Bruckman.
Sean Moore.
-Hello.
What can I do for you, Mr.
Moore? I'm tracking down a writer that works at your magazine.
It's the woman doing the feature story.
Feature story? Yeah, the feature story.
The one about me.
To be perfectly frank, I know nothing about a feature article being done about you.
OK, what are you people trying to pull? Her name's Elizabeth Wicker.
She works for High Finance.
There must be some mistake here.
No, there's no mistake.
OK? Now, if you're tellin' me that you don't have an Elizabeth Wicker that works at your magazine-- Well, we did, but Elizabeth Wicker was killed in a car crash three days ago.
Elizabeth Ann Wicker Evanston, lllinois, April 7, 1972.
It's got to be some kind of a hoax.
No.
No, it was Bess.
Don't ask me to explain it, but she was she was sitting right there.
You saw her yourself.
I saw someone named Elizabeth Carter.
Uh-huh.
It was her.
She's all grown up from the kid I used to know.
So what are you saying? It was Elizabeth Wicker's ghost who sat in that chair? The baseball, the jacket All these things I'd thrown away.
Why does she want me to have them? We need to focus.
Tomorrow's sales pitch to Monarch Foods everything you've worked for is riding on this.
You won't get a second chance.
A second chance.
Maybe that's what she's giving me.
Mom.
Mom.
Hello, Sean.
It's been a while.
Happy, uhhappy birthday.
Tell your secretary I said thank you for the flowers.
She's got good taste, doesn't she? So, you come all this way to wish me happy birthday? Do you remember Bess Wicker? Bess Wicker? Of course.
That was a sweet girl.
You lost a jewel when you let that one get away.
Yeah.
I saw her recently and she gave me something for you.
I think she really wanted you to have it.
You recognize it? It's Dad's baseball.
But how did Bess get hold of it? I--I don't know.
Does it really matter? Here.
Take it.
It broke your father's heart, losin' that ball.
Till the day he died, he always hoped that-- I know what he hoped and I'm finally bringing it back.
And that's supposed to make everything right? You stole that ball from your father knowing how much it meant to him how much you meant to him.
Mom, try to understand.
It was the Eighties.
There was all this money around.
I just wanted my share.
Well, you got what you wanted.
I hope it made you happy.
Just take the ball.
It's too late.
Now, having built Moore Java from the ground floor up I can safely say that I wouldn't entrust its future to just any multi-national conglomerate so we've put together this film for you at Monarch Foods to show you why your time and interest in Moore Java is fully justified.
Play.
Play.
Here we go.
I'm not seeing anything.
Hey, Spielberg, you've got the lens cover on.
So, how's it feel to be the first family on the block to own a video camera? -I feel like a star.
-This can't be.
Want to tape me fixing the garbage disposal? Hey, get the love birds.
Here we go! Hey, slick! Give us a big smile over here.
Ha ha! Ahh, way to go, Sean! Just like your old man! Here, give me that.
-Oh, no! -Come on! Come on! -Stop! -Ha ha ha ha! Come on, Dad, do it, already! You watch and learn, son.
-Oh, yeah? -Mmm! Mom, don't embarrass me in front of Bess.
I love you.
Aww.
That is so romantic.
Hello, Sean.
So, how'd you know I'd be here? I didn't.
I just hoped.
You know, I remember all the plans we had.
We were gonna buy this house when my parents moved to the country.
Fix it up.
Make it look like new.
Bess, I wish I could change the past and make everything right.
It's too late.
Is it? That's why you came back, isn't it? Give me a second chance? I can't give you anything.
You have to be willing to take it.
So, how's it feel to be the first family on the block to own a video camera? I know you, Sean.
It broke your father's heart losing that ball.
YesI remember.
Sean.
I told you I was gonna do it on Thursday.
-Yeah, last Thursday.
-Ohhh! Hey, save your strength, slick.
-Watch your language.
-What'd I say? I didn't think you'd be here.
Of course I'm here.
We have plans, remember? Mom, Dad? Bess and I are gonna grab somethin' to eat maybe catch "Roger Rabbit" at the duplex.
Hey, Sean, you need a few bucks? It's OK, Dad.
I got all I need.
I love you, Sean.
They say you can't go home again but tell that to Sean Moore who traded his fortune for the most precious gift of all-- a chance to wipe the slate clean and start life anew.
Moore.
-Hey, good morning.
Congratulations.
Thank you very much.
Get back to work, all right? Sean Moore a man on the eve of attaining a level of wealth that most of us can only dream about.
But the choices Sean made to get to this point are about to come back to haunt him courtesy of the Twilight Zone.
Contract lawyers at 11 :00 Iunch with the presentation team Oh, and it's your mother's birthday tomorrow.
You want me to send the usual flower arrangement? -Yeah, bingo to that.
-Remind you to call her? That's very funny.
That's the last thing she'd want.
OK, first step, you've got an interview with Elizabeth Carter from High Finance magazine.
What's she after? My guess is word's spreading fast on the Monarch Foods buyout.
No, blow her off.
She's been waiting almost an hour, Sean.
This is not the time for bad press.
Sean Moore, self-made man Ieft Evanston senior year of high school traveled to Venice, California opened up your first cappuccino stand before your 18th birthday.
Two weeks shy.
Sixteen years later, you're C.
E.
O.
of one of America's leading coffee franchises and yet you're trying to sell a company that you built from scratch.
Why? What can I say? I grew up in the Eighties.
Some kids grew up watching "Star Wars.
" I grew up watching "Wall Street.
" "Greed is good.
" Remember? Yes.
I remember.
In my research I found a little story about you.
Really.
Only one.
About a certain baseball signed by the 1927 Yankees a family heirloom that you sold to start your business.
It was my grandfather's ball.
He gave it to my dad my dad gave it to me when I turned 17.
And you got, what, 8,000 for it? Something like that.
And you father didn't mind you selling it? No, of course he didn't.
Even if it meant you leaving home? You know, I answered your question.
You think maybe we could change the subject? Excuse me, Sean but I've got that call you were expecting.
Right.
I'm sorry.
Gonna have to cut the interview short.
I see.
Why do I get the feeling that didn't go so well? Don't let that sweet face fool you.
She's up to no good.
-I need an aspirin.
-Bottom drawer.
"Ruth, Gehrig, Huggins.
" This is the 1927 Yankees.
That must be worth something.
How the hell did it get here? This is the ball that I sold 16 years ago.
This was my dad's baseball.
You are traveling to another dimension.
A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.
A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are only that of the imagination.
You're entering She was never out of my sight.
Then how'd she get this in here? Sean, I'm lost.
The baseball.
Somehow, she planted it.
This is just too whacked.
Maybe somebody got it for you as a gift.
It's the exact same ball.
I sold it 16 years ago.
I'll check with the staff see if anybody knows how it got here.
Meantime, the editors are waiting for your final notes on the corporate presentation film.
Message one.
Sean, Kate.
Good news.
Ulrich's flying in from Geneva just for the presentation, so it looks like our friends at Monarch Foods are in a buying mood and, oh, by the way, I asked around the office.
No one seems to know about that baseball.
Message Two.
Hi.
Elizabeth Carter from High Finance.
I really think we need to talk some more about your past.
It's Alicia.
I'll be by your place at 9:00.
I can't wait to see you.
It's only been a week, and it feels like forever.
I miss you like crazy.
Bye.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better.
I hope the neighbors didn't hear.
What's the matter, baby? You having second thoughts about the sale? No.
I'm just a little distracted, that's all.
Was it something I did? No, no, no.
Past stuff.
I guess some things never go away.
I love you, Sean.
I would be so lost without you.
What's the matter? You want me to leave? Yeah.
OK.
You still have to pay me for the entire night.
Listen, next time go easy on the hearts and flowers, OK? You still want me to say "l love you," right? Yeah, that's what I pay you for.
Just don't be so pushy, all right? What the hell? What's wrong? Did she put you up to this? Who? The reporter, Elizabeth Carter.
Did she pay you to put this here? Sean, I don't know what you're talking about.
You don't, huh? It's just an old school jacket.
No, this is my old school jacket.
I got rid of this thing years ago.
I burned it.
OK, well, then, it's not the same one.
It's the same jacket.
Look, it's got my name on it.
It's got my school letters.
What now? Sean? It's the letter.
It's Bess' letter.
Bess? Bess Wicker.
She was my first girlfriend.
You know what they say.
"First love's hardest to forget.
" See you next week, Sean.
"Sean, I'm sending you back your jacket.
"I've decided I can't come to California.
"l wish I could forget what you did, but I can't.
" "l love you, Sean.
I always will "but I just can't forgive you.
Bess.
" Mr.
Moore.
All right, let's have it.
What the hell do you want from me? I thought we could finish up our interview.
Oh, screw the interview.
I want to know how you're pulling it off.
Pulling it off? The baseball, the school jacket.
You really are afraid to look at your past, aren't you? You know what, lady? I don't need to look back.
My company is in play for more money than I ever thought existed in the world.
You live alone.
You have no friends no one you care about, and no one who cares for you.
How do you know all this about me?! Who the hell are you?! I thought you would have figured it out by now.
I know you, Sean.
Bess? Bess Wicker? Sorry I'm late.
Got caught in traffic.
I've got Kurt Bruckman on line three.
He's managing editor at High Finance.
-Bruckman.
Sean Moore.
-Hello.
What can I do for you, Mr.
Moore? I'm tracking down a writer that works at your magazine.
It's the woman doing the feature story.
Feature story? Yeah, the feature story.
The one about me.
To be perfectly frank, I know nothing about a feature article being done about you.
OK, what are you people trying to pull? Her name's Elizabeth Wicker.
She works for High Finance.
There must be some mistake here.
No, there's no mistake.
OK? Now, if you're tellin' me that you don't have an Elizabeth Wicker that works at your magazine-- Well, we did, but Elizabeth Wicker was killed in a car crash three days ago.
Elizabeth Ann Wicker Evanston, lllinois, April 7, 1972.
It's got to be some kind of a hoax.
No.
No, it was Bess.
Don't ask me to explain it, but she was she was sitting right there.
You saw her yourself.
I saw someone named Elizabeth Carter.
Uh-huh.
It was her.
She's all grown up from the kid I used to know.
So what are you saying? It was Elizabeth Wicker's ghost who sat in that chair? The baseball, the jacket All these things I'd thrown away.
Why does she want me to have them? We need to focus.
Tomorrow's sales pitch to Monarch Foods everything you've worked for is riding on this.
You won't get a second chance.
A second chance.
Maybe that's what she's giving me.
Mom.
Mom.
Hello, Sean.
It's been a while.
Happy, uhhappy birthday.
Tell your secretary I said thank you for the flowers.
She's got good taste, doesn't she? So, you come all this way to wish me happy birthday? Do you remember Bess Wicker? Bess Wicker? Of course.
That was a sweet girl.
You lost a jewel when you let that one get away.
Yeah.
I saw her recently and she gave me something for you.
I think she really wanted you to have it.
You recognize it? It's Dad's baseball.
But how did Bess get hold of it? I--I don't know.
Does it really matter? Here.
Take it.
It broke your father's heart, losin' that ball.
Till the day he died, he always hoped that-- I know what he hoped and I'm finally bringing it back.
And that's supposed to make everything right? You stole that ball from your father knowing how much it meant to him how much you meant to him.
Mom, try to understand.
It was the Eighties.
There was all this money around.
I just wanted my share.
Well, you got what you wanted.
I hope it made you happy.
Just take the ball.
It's too late.
Now, having built Moore Java from the ground floor up I can safely say that I wouldn't entrust its future to just any multi-national conglomerate so we've put together this film for you at Monarch Foods to show you why your time and interest in Moore Java is fully justified.
Play.
Play.
Here we go.
I'm not seeing anything.
Hey, Spielberg, you've got the lens cover on.
So, how's it feel to be the first family on the block to own a video camera? -I feel like a star.
-This can't be.
Want to tape me fixing the garbage disposal? Hey, get the love birds.
Here we go! Hey, slick! Give us a big smile over here.
Ha ha! Ahh, way to go, Sean! Just like your old man! Here, give me that.
-Oh, no! -Come on! Come on! -Stop! -Ha ha ha ha! Come on, Dad, do it, already! You watch and learn, son.
-Oh, yeah? -Mmm! Mom, don't embarrass me in front of Bess.
I love you.
Aww.
That is so romantic.
Hello, Sean.
So, how'd you know I'd be here? I didn't.
I just hoped.
You know, I remember all the plans we had.
We were gonna buy this house when my parents moved to the country.
Fix it up.
Make it look like new.
Bess, I wish I could change the past and make everything right.
It's too late.
Is it? That's why you came back, isn't it? Give me a second chance? I can't give you anything.
You have to be willing to take it.
So, how's it feel to be the first family on the block to own a video camera? I know you, Sean.
It broke your father's heart losing that ball.
YesI remember.
Sean.
I told you I was gonna do it on Thursday.
-Yeah, last Thursday.
-Ohhh! Hey, save your strength, slick.
-Watch your language.
-What'd I say? I didn't think you'd be here.
Of course I'm here.
We have plans, remember? Mom, Dad? Bess and I are gonna grab somethin' to eat maybe catch "Roger Rabbit" at the duplex.
Hey, Sean, you need a few bucks? It's OK, Dad.
I got all I need.
I love you, Sean.
They say you can't go home again but tell that to Sean Moore who traded his fortune for the most precious gift of all-- a chance to wipe the slate clean and start life anew.