Like most episodes of Rod Serling's classic series The Twilight Zone, the Dennis Hopper-fronted "He's Alive" sports a memorable twist ending. Each decade of TV history has produced hundreds, if not thousands, of new scripted series. With that much output, it's only natural that a good percentage of these eventually fade into obscurity, likely to be discovered by only a select few. It takes a really great show to maintain a high standing for decades on end, and The Twilight Zone may just be the best example of that ever.
Originally airing on CBS from 1959 to 1964, The Twilight Zone was a hit at the time, and has somehow grown even more revered in the decades since. Sure, not every episode is an amazing one, but that's true for any anthology TV series, and is basically the nature of the format. What counts is that The Twilight Zone's best episodes still stand up as excellent when watched today, over 50 years after the series' premiere.
The Twilight Zone concept has also itself proven to have staying power, leading to revivals in 1985, 2002, and 2019, the latter of which is soon to return for its second season. Still, it's unlikely Serling's original show will ever be topped. During season 4, The Twilight Zone briefly switched from a 30-minute timeslot to a 60-minute one. "He's Alive" turned out to be one of the best of those hour-long outings, and boasted a twist that still resonates in 2020.
"He's Alive," which aired on January 24, 1963 as season 4, episode 4 of The Twilight Zone, centers on an American named Peter Vollmer (Dennis Hopper). Despite being raised by a kindly Jewish man named Ernst after being both abused and abandoned by his parents, Peter has developed a Nazi ideology, and leads a small group of like-minded people. Peter's group is floundering, that is until he begins being visited by a mysterious man cloaked in shadow, who instructs Peter how to gain the attention and respect of a crowd, and how to manipulate the situations around him to gain followers for his movement.
These tactics work, leading Peter to rise in power enough that his surrogate father grows worried he'll spur on another Holocaust. He publicly dresses Peter down, ruining one of his Nazi rallies. That's when Peter's mysterious benefactor steps out of the shadows to reveal himself as the ghost of Adolf Hitler. It seems Hitler's spirit lives on through those who share his same hateful values, and the specter convinces Peter to murder Ernst. While Peter is arrested for a past crime, it's clear Hitler's ghost still lives on within him. A Jewish man himself, this story was a very personal one for Rod Serling, who originally envisioned it as a feature film. The twist may seem a bit heavy-handed to some, but considering that Nazi sentiment still persists in many places today, it sadly rings true even now.
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