"Many, Many Monkeys" is an episode of the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, sup ...

'', first broadcast in 1989. The episode was written in 1964 for the final season of the original ''

'' series by producer

William Froug William Froug (May 26, 1922 – August 25, 2013) was an American television writer and producer. His producing credits included the series ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Gilligan's Island'', and ''Bewitched''. He was a writer for, among other shows, '' ...

, but though

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

bought the script, they chose not to use it. Froug believed that they found it "too grotesque."Quoted in Marc Scott Zicree, ''The Twilight Zone Companion'', Second Edition p. 388. It remained shelved for more than twenty years until it was made as an episode in the third and final season of the 1980s ''Twilight Zone'' revival. The episode is a

medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical dramatic programming go beyond the events pertaining to the characters' jobs and portray som ...

centering on an

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

which causes people to go blind.

Plot

Shortly after entering a hospital emergency room, Mrs. Reed goes blind from

cataracts A cataract is a cloudy area in the lens of the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble ...

. While Nurse Claire Hendricks is visiting her hospital room, Mrs. Reed tells her that they are two of a kind. Uninterested in her cryptic remarks, Claire leaves. Mr. Reed is brought to the hospital, having been abandoned by Mrs. Reed after he started going blind. The spontaneous cataract development proves to be an epidemic. Claire, despite her incredible workload, visits with Mrs. Reed again. Mrs. Reed again says they are alike and claims the blindness is

divine retribution Divine retribution is supernatural punishment of a person, a group of people, or everyone by a deity in response to some action. Many cultures have a story about how a deity exacted punishment upon previous inhabitants of their land, causing t ...

on a human race that has become indifferent to suffering, like monkeys—see no evil, speak no evil, etc. A report surfaces that an explosion at a biological research laboratory released several unstable forms of

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

into the atmosphere just hours before the outbreak. Claire tells Dr. Peterson that she is nonetheless now convinced that Mrs. Reed is right, and she feels that she herself has become unfeeling towards her patients and to her own husband. Dr. Peterson argues that she has only maintained the professional distance necessary to do her job, but she is unconvinced. After talking to him, Claire succumbs to blindness. A surgery is developed to remove the cataracts. Dr. Peterson asks Mrs. Reed to visit Claire and cheer her. Though she has not yet had the surgery, Mrs. Reed is hopeful and convinced that the discovery of the bacteria proves she was wrong. However, Claire argues that the presence of a scientific explanation for the epidemic does not mean it is not divine retribution, and that if they treat themselves with surgery, the same affliction will strike them down in another form. Concerned, Mrs. Reed asks Dr. Peterson if Claire will have the surgery. He says "An operation isn't the answer in her case.", as Claire's eyes are clear and her blindness is psychosomatic.

References

External links

* {{The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series) episodes 1989 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series season 3) episodes fr:Épidémie (La Cinquième Dimension)