Twilight Zone’s “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”: Debating the Ending of a Season 5 Classic

You’d expect Twilight Zone fans to disagree over which episodes are best. Tastes can vary widely in the fifth dimension. But sometimes we can’t even agree on what happened in the stories themselves.

For example, in Season 4’s “The New Exhibit,” who committed the murders, Martin or the wax figures? In Season 1’s “A World of Difference,” what’s the true identity of the character played by Howard Duff, Arthur Curtis or Gerald Raigan?

Those are just two instances I’ve written about. There are others. In each case, I was sure I knew the answer — indeed, I didn’t even think there was another option! — until I ran into some fellow fans who felt differently. It’s been a bit disconcerting to ponder other possibilities, but also rather intriguing, frankly.

So let’s queue up another debate. This one’s about Season 5’s “Number 12 Looks Just Like You” by Charles Beaumont and John Tomerlin. (For those who haven’t seen it or forget what happens, consider watching first and then coming back before wading into the spoiler-filled details ahead.)

I’ve written about this excellent, thought-provoking episode before (you’ll find a link below). My question today, though, is this: Did Marilyn finally just give up at the end and decide to embrace her new identity? Or do we see her gushing over her new appearance because the Transformation alters not only your body, but also your mind?

I’m in the latter camp. I think the Marilyn we see at the end has essentially been brainwashed. But sometimes I hear from fans who say what a shame it is that she yielded — that she put up a valiant fight, but then threw in the towel. Faced with opposition at every turn, she finally adopted an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude and bowed to peer pressure.

I had honestly never considered this possibility before, but I can see where these fans are coming from. Since the episode is so heavily focused on one’s outward appearance — like its TZ sibling, “Eye of the Beholder” — why shouldn’t we assume the change is only skin-deep? Isn’t it essentially like putting your consciousness into a new body, as in “The Trade-Ins”? You’re still “you,” aren’t you, just in a new body?

I don’t think so.

I’ll admit that my initial impression was based solely on the fact that her attitude is so radically different, such a complete 180-degree turn, that it hardly seemed like it could be the same person — at least not without some “help.” The Marilyn we see throughout the story is very strong-willed and dedicated to the memory of her father, who was himself a dissenter from the Gospel of Superficial Beauty. He even, as Marilyn eventually admits, killed himself rather than live as a “transformed” person.

So I couldn’t imagine his headstrong daughter, who spends the episode arguing her point strenuously, would not only give up, but actually become an enthusiastic proponent of the Transformation. The Marilyn at the end acts just as robotically vacuous as the rest of society (at least the small slice we see of it).

But I’m certainly willing to entertain other theories, so I rewatched the episode carefully to see if I’d misjudged it on this point. If anything, though, I think the case for Marilyn’s having been brainwashed is even stronger than I had remembered.

For one thing, there are signs throughout that this society is awash in concoctions to alter your mood, if not your mind. Almost every time Marilyn argues her point of view, she’s offered something called “Instant Smile.” We never learn what’s in it, but judging from the perpetual Barbie-doll grins on the faces around her, I think it’s something more sinister than a few vitamins and minerals. These people seem programmed, not persuaded.

That would explain why everyone acts so maddeningly pleasant throughout, and why they seem incapable of empathizing with Marilyn. No one’s like, “I know how you feel. I wasn’t sure at first either. But then I saw the wisdom of it.” No, they’re simply astonished that anyone would even question the desirability of the Transformation. And if Marilyn doesn’t agree, well, she’s just nervous, or too attached to her father’s supposedly crazy ideas.

Speaking of her father, we really see how a Transformed person is something less than human in the scene where Marilyn’s friend Val questions her devotion to him. She doesn’t even pretend to sympathize. Val notes how she’s had numerous stepfathers, like most people in this world apparently do, and she insists she likes the steps better. Why, she wonders, is Marilyn all hung up on her biological father? He’s dead, so who cares?

Val is so casually callous in this scene that Marilyn turns to her incredulously, and asks:

“Valerie, can’t you feel … anything?”

“Well, of course, silly. I feel … I feel good. I always feel good. Life is pretty, life is fun, I am all, and all is one.” 

This strongly suggests to me that the Transformation makes you more mannequin than man. But there are other hints, if you listen to what people say to Marilyn. For example, Dr. Rex tells her:

“Now, Marilyn, you must really try to understand, the Transformation is not merely desirable from an aesthetic point of view, but experience has shown us that it plays a very important role in psychological adjustment.”

One wonders what it takes to effect such a full and complete “adjustment,” to the point where not a single Tranformed person feels anything but “good” 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Perhaps, like Randall Patrick McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” they’ve had their, ahem, undesirable thoughts and attitudes neutralized in some manner.

Naturally, those in charge try to convey an illusion of free will. But the threat is always there, even if it’s couched in soothing language.

Marilyn: “Why are you going to force me to do something that I don’t want to do? You can’t make me do it, can you? Nobody can make me do it?”

Professor Sig: “Now, now, my dear child. No one has ever been forced to take the Transformation if he didn’t want it. You see, the problem is simply to discover why you don’t want it, and then to make the necessary corrections.”

I shudder to think what those “corrections” consist of. Whatever they are, it’s clear that the Transformation is more than just physical. As Dr. Rex tells Marilyn’s mother, “Occasionally a young person has difficulty adjusting to the idea. But we’ve improved methods since the old days, and now it always turns out well in the end.”

What are these “methods” that help someone “adjust to the idea,” and why do they always turn out “well”? That hardly seems possible if everyone is simply placed in a new synthetic body. No, they’re basically wiping your mind and enabling you to function as a compliant drone in their allegedly perfect and superficially beautiful society.

So what are your thoughts on “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”? Feel free to sound off below.

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Don’t miss “The Lure of Forced Utopia: Twilight Zone’s Number 12 Looks Just Like You.“

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