"The Trance" is the forty-fifth episode and the tenth episode of the third season (1988–89) 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 ...

''. In this episode, a phony

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

appears to become possessed by the spirit he pretends to channel.

Plot

Con artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

s Leonard and Don have been having great success with a scam in which Leonard pretends to channel the spirit of Delos, a citizen of ancient

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

who lived to be 500 years old, and answers questions with his wisdom. They are moving on from doing profitable seminars to television appearances and book deals. As they discuss their upcoming schedule, Leonard unintentionally speaks in his Delos voice. In a pre-interview for a television talk show, Leonard speaks in the voice again, saying all truth is subjective. Don and the producer are puzzled by Leonard's speaking as Delos without any pretense of going into a trance. Offended by their apparent lack of understanding, "Delos" snipes that the producer's boss is an adulteress and a drug user, prematurely ending the interview. Leonard has no memory of anything that happened during his time as Delos. Don has him go to a psychiatrist, but the psychiatrist thinks Leonard is just trying to buy credibility for his scam, and throws him out after Delos starts talking about the psychiatrist's dead wife. On the live television appearance, Leonard is again possessed. The spirit not only denies being Delos, but tells the audience that Delos does not exist, and says that his believers are all gullible sheep. As a result, Leonard and Don's sponsors pull out and they are hit with a swarm of lawsuits. Don berates Leonard for not getting control of his alternate personality and severs their partnership. Leonard descends further into madness, now hearing the nameless spirit speak to him directly. As Leonard rages, the spirit tells him it will remain with him for the foreseeable future.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trance 1988 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1985 TV series season 3) episodes Television episodes about spirit possession fr:La Transe