In an average American town there lives a monster. A monster who forces the town's inhabitants to be constantly happy, because if they are not then the monster will get mad and bend the laws of physics with his mind alone to punish them. But that's not all. This monster is, in fact, a little boy. The episode has such a powerful tone and mood of fear that what could be ridiculous (and was made so when The Simpsons parodied this episode many years later) becomes terrifying. Everyone, even his parents, quake with fear around little Anthony Freemont (who we've already seen talk to his dead grandmother on a toy phone so we know he's a little unhinged) which means that, by osmosis, the viewer does too every time he is on screen. The most memorable scene is surely the moment that Anthony punishes a neighbour who wants to celebrate his birthday by turning him into a jack-in-the-box. We never actually see the transformation - perhaps due to the lack of means to make it look realistic - but the shadow of the man's head swinging on a spring is enough. We don't want to see any more. It's... good that the makers of the show did that... very good.
