Editing Five Characters in Search of an Exit

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| caption =
| season = 3
| episode = 14
| airdate = {{Start date|1961|12|22}}
| production = 4805
| teleplay = [[Rod Serling]]
| based_on = "The Depository" by Marvin Petal
| director = [[Lamont Johnson]]
| guests = {{plainlist|
* [[William Windom (actor)|William Windom]] as the Major
* [[Murray Matheson]] as the Clown
* [[Susan Harrison]] as the Ballet Dancer
* [[Kelton Garwood]] as the Hobo
* [[Clark Allen]] as the Bagpiper
}}
| music = Stock from "[[A Hundred Yards Over the Rim]]"
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
| prev = [[Once Upon a Time (The Twilight Zone)|Once Upon a Time]]
| next = [[A Quality of Mercy]]
}}
"'''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'''" is episode 79 of the television [[anthology series]] ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It originally aired on December 22, 1961.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|[[Clown]], [[hobo]], [[ballet dancer]], [[bagpipe]]r, and an [[Major (rank)|army major]]—a collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation; just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it—because this is the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
A uniformed [[U.S. Army]] major wakes up to find himself trapped inside a large metal [[cylinder]], where he meets a hobo, a ballet dancer, a bagpiper, and a clown. All of them theorize wildly regarding their presence here, as no one remembers who they are or how they became trapped, and they do not seem to have any need for food or water. The major, being the newest arrival, is the most determined to escape. He is told there is no way of either breaking through or climbing up the cylinder.

Eventually, the major suggests a plan to escape: forming a tower of people, each person on the other's shoulders. However, the dancer at the top of the tower is still a few inches short of the cylinder's top, and a loud clanging sound shakes the cylinder and sends the five tumbling to the ground. The major demands that they all make a promise to not leave the cylinder until everyone else has left.

Now even more determined, the major fashions a [[grappling hook]] out of loose bits of clothing and his sword. By reforming the tower, he manages to grapple onto the edge of the cylinder, only to tumble to the ground outside. Inside, the clown bemoans how the major left without them and will not rescue them if he ever returns, and surmises that the major was right about them being in [[Hell]].

Just then a little girl picks up a [[doll]] from the snow, in the dress of an army major. The cylinder is a [[Christmas]] toy collection barrel for a girls' [[orphanage]], and all five characters are dolls. The loud clanging was the ringing of a [[handbell|bell]], used by a woman to attract donations; she tells the girl to return the doll to the barrel.

The five characters, now dolls with painted faces and glass eyes, lie unmoving. The ballet dancer nonetheless moves her hand to hold that of the major's as her eyes fill with tears.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in a distorted image of human life. But this added hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children, there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer, and a Major. Tonight's cast of players on the odd stage—known as—The Twilight Zone.}}

==Cast==
* [[Susan Harrison]] as Ballerina
* [[William Windom (actor)|William Windom]] as Major
* [[Murray Matheson]] as Clown
* [[Kelton Garwood]] as Hobo
* [[Clark Allen]] as Bagpiper

==Episode notes==
The episode's title is a variation on the [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello]] play ''[[Six Characters in Search of an Author]]'' and existentialist [[Jean-Paul Sartre|Sartre]] play ''[[No Exit]],'' both of which served as inspiration for the script.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-19 |title=What Influenced "The Twilight Zone" Episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"? {{!}} Read {{!}} The Take |url=https://the-take.com/read/what-influenced-the-twilight-zone-episode-five-characters-in-search-of-an-exit |access-date=2023-01-19 |website=The Take |language=en}}</ref>

Dolls were specially crafted for the final shots that closely resembled the actors who had played the parts.

==Legacy==
The episode was reportedly an inspiration for the 1997 film ''[[Cube (1997 film)|Cube]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/cube.asp |author= Eggert, Brian |date= 19 May 2010 |title= ''Cube'' (1998) |publisher= Deep Focus Review |quote= Vincenzo Natali's ''Cube'' extends a scenario seemingly straight from ''The Twilight Zone'' for the duration of a full-length feature... filled with sharp ideas and a setup worthy of Franz Kafka..." |access-date= 23 May 2014 |archive-date= 24 May 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140524025657/http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/cube.asp |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1= Blake |first1= Marc |last2= Bailey |first2= Sara |title= Writing the Horror Movie |location= London; New York |publisher= Bloomsbury |year= 2013 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WUEbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |page= 137 |quote= ''Cube'' (1997) was reportedly influenced by a ''Twilight Zone'' episode, ''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'', written by its creator Rod Serling. |isbn= 9781441195067 |access-date= 20 September 2016 |archive-date= 29 July 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200729192143/https://books.google.com/books?id=WUEbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |url-status= live }}</ref>  The TV series ''[[Felicity (TV series)|Felicity]]'' paid homage in its episode "Help for the Lovelorn"; both episodes were directed by Lamont Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.felicitypage.com/s2e11.html |title=Sophomore Year (Season 2) Episode 11: Help For The Lovelorn |author=Chan, Lisa |year=2001 |publisher=Felicitypage.com |access-date=2012-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010307173648/http://www.felicitypage.com/s2e11.html |archive-date=2001-03-07}}</ref> This episode would also serve as one of the inspirations for horror film director [[Damien Leone]] to create the character [[Art the Clown]] who serves as the main antagonist in Leone's [[Terrifier (film series)|''Terrifier'' franchise]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|0734569}}
*[http://twilightzoneproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/314-five-characters-in-search-of-exit.html ''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'' Review] at The Twilight Zone Project

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}
{{Six Characters in Search of an Author}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Characters In Search Of An Exit}}
[[Category:1961 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 3 episodes]]
[[Category:Works based on Six Characters in Search of an Author]]
[[Category:Existentialist works]]
[[Category:Sentient toys in fiction]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Television shows about clowns]]
[[Category:Absurdist fiction]]