10 Greatest Episodes Of The Twilight Zone
5. Nick Of Time
In terms of William Shatner episodes, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet gets a lot of attention, but an even better one is the much simpler Nick of Time. The episode follows two newlyweds, Don and Pat, who stop for lunch at a cafe. They come upon a fortune telling machine, and when it gets its initial prediction right, Don becomes increasingly obsessed.
Nick of Time is all about the dangers of superstition and blind faith. Guiding one’s life based on a shaky belief can lead to some happiness, as seen in Don’s initial joy over his promotion at work being predicted by the machine. But it can also be taken too far and become unhealthy when this becomes the basis of all your decisions.
What’s also great about the episode is its ambiguity. You never find out if the machine really does predict the future or if Don was just reading into it too much. Instead, his wife convinces him that he has to let it go, and the two leave the diner never having gotten a clear answer. Serling suggests that sometimes there are questions you'll just never have the answer to, and you have to find a way to be comfortable with that and move forward.