The Mirror (The Twilight Zone)
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The Mirror is an episode of the television show The Twilight Zone.
Episode number: 71
Season: 3
Original airdate: October 20, 1961
Writer: Rod Serling
Director: Don Medford
Notable cast members: Peter Falk, Will Kuluva, Vladimir Sokoloff
Episode Summary: A Fidel Castro lookalike played by Falk celebrates the victory of the "people's revolution" led by himself and his three life-long confidantes. The ambitious Central American farmer faces down the overthrown leader, who warns him that he will soon see his enemies everywhere, including in an ornate mirror on the wall.
When the new leader begins to use methods much like his predecessor, his friends begin to argue with him over the course of the revolution. One by one, he believes he sees each of them try to betray him as he looks in the mirror. One by one, he has them executed, until finally he falls victim to his own paranoia. In the end, he indeed sees that the true enemy in the mirror is himself.
Rod Serling often used the plotline of the corruptive influence of power on world leaders in his stories. In this story, he used an obvious parellel to the conditions in Cuba, and the abrupt change in Castro after he gained control of the government.
Trivia:
Back to: The Twilight Zone, Episode List, Season 3