Yet I don’t feel particularly cynical when I watch The Twilight Zone, even during these less-than-uplifting times. Holding up a mirror to humanity means we can recognize when we’re not at our best. We can correct course as necessary. We don’t have to panic, turn other people into scapegoats, or, alternatively, pull the wool over our eyes and pretend nothing is happening at all. Serling created a way to check our most basic human tendencies, ideally, so we can rise above them.