SPOILERS for The Twilight Zone season 2, episode 5, “Among the Untrodden”
“Among the Untrodden” is a visually distinctive episode of The Twilight Zone season 2, subverting audience expectations through the story of a girl with psychic powers. The episode begins with Irene (Sophia Macy) arriving late to class. It’s her first day as a transfer student at an all-girls’ boarding school. Given Irene’s nebbish demeanor, not to mention her enthusiastic interest in the paranormal, she’s a quick and easy target for bullies. When a pencil hits Irene in the head only to dissolve into nothingness seconds later, viewers are primed to assume that this is the first tantalizing tease of the revenge Irene will later enact on her tormentors.
Instead, it’s the resident mean girl Madison (Abbie Hern) who proves to possess special abilities. Madison gradually goes from mocking Irene and throwing pencils at her to relying on the transfer student’s knowledge of the paranormal to hone her powers. The two strike up an uneasy friendship, with Irene teaching Madison how to make the most out of her ability to read minds and conjure objects that dissolve once they’ve served their purpose. While this is happening, Irene is desperate to be accepted by Madison’s wider social circle. Much more cruel than their ringleader, Madison’s posse pressure Irene to belittle herself for their amusement. During one such instance, Irene accidently falls from the roof of the school. She should be dead, but somehow she survives.
“Among the Untrodden” frequently toys with the idea that it’s actually Irene who has psychic gifts. This comes to a head when, after a particularly malicious prank by Madison’s posse, Irene lets out a glass-shattering scream which appears to leave all three bullies in a coma. Madison sees this happening, thinking that Irene is hiding the truth from her.
The episode, which is directed by Tayarisha Poe and written by Heather Anne Campbell, is constantly toying with genre expectations and changing established tropes. Thanks to Carrie, and many other works of pop culture in which the withdrawn outcast gets the last laugh, the audience prepares for Irene to have something up her sleeve. She doesn’t. In fact, as it nears its conclusion, “Among the Untrodden” reveals that Irene is simply the result of Madison’s conjuration powers. Just like the pencil from the opening scene, just like a key she wished for, Madison created Irene because she needed a friend. Once she served that purpose and Madison finally admits that she sees Irene as a friend, Irene turns to stone and dissipates. Not realizing that Irene was a creation, Madison breaks down crying.
Examined in this way, “Among the Untrodden” creates a heartbreaking character in addition to being a smart subversion of tropes. Madison can never fully know if anyone she meets is real. Irene didn’t know that she was conjured up until the moment that she was turning into stone. Already wary of others, and generally keeping people at a distance, Madison will likely double down on her viciousness as a defense mechanism. This is supported by the episode’s closing, which sees a new student arriving at the boarding school. Madison looks up at her, her expression a mix of trepidation and sadness. Viewers are left to decide whether the person is real or merely a conjured wish.
“Among the Untrodden” makes a case for itself as the strongest installment in the first half of The Twilight Zone season 2. It stands out visually, taking place almost entirely in dimly-lit rooms and unfolding in the dark of night. Separate from the episode’s success at subversion and its trick of turning the antagonistic Madison into a tragic figure, the boarding school atmosphere lends the hour both a sense of uniqueness and familiarity.
