The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street is a first season episode of The Twilight Zone which originally aired in 1960. The story takes place in a small 1950's era town, specifically on Maple Street. It's a warm summer evening and the residents of the street are doing everyday things- cooking, washing their cars, kids running around, etc. Suddenly an object- they assume a meteor- streaks across the sky, startling people with its light and noise. Soon people begin to realize that everything which requires power of any sort isn't working: telephones, radios, cars, power tools, appliances- everything is dead. Maple Street residents gather in groups, trying to figure out what's going on... it's a clear day with no electrical storm, and even if there was one, cars and battery operated radios shouldn't be affected. One of the men-Pete Van Horne- decides to walk over to the next street (Floral), to see if it too has no power, and another resident named Steve Brand suggests that he and his neighbour Charlie walk downtown to see if there's power there. The two men are stopped by nerdy teen Tommy who, as an avid science fiction reader, is sure that the meteor was a U.F.O. and that aliens who want to isolate them for some nefarious purpose are responsible for the blackout. Tommy says that a situation like this occurred in a story he's been reading and, in the same story, aliens had sent some of their kind ahead, disguised as humans, to infiltrate the town and prepare for an invasion. Naturally everyone scoffs at this wild theory and Steve tells Tommy that like as not the meteor just caused some kind of interferance which disrupted everyone's power. Suddenly, the car belonging to another neighbour- Les- starts running without anyone turning it on. Les is bemused, but a number of the street residents are suspicious... why is his car running- and by itself- when nothing else on Maple Street is working? Charlie starts muttering that Les has always been a bit odd, and another man says that he noticed that Les didn't come out of his house to look at the meteor like everyone else- didn't seem a bit interested, in fact. That's kind of weird, isn't it. Steve tries to diffuse the situation, but it gets even more tense when one of the women says that several times she's seen Les out in his yard late at night, staring up at the sky as though he was waiting for something- or someone. Les, incredulous and indignant about the overt suspicion being directed at him says that the only thing he's guilty of is insomnia. He also warns them that they're starting something dangerous. As the evening progresses and darkness falls, the power remains out and peoples' nerves fray even further. A lot of them are still staring accusingly at Les, who is defiantly standing on his porch with his wife. Charlie in particular is confrontational, drinking and keeping watch on Les. When Steve tries to inject some sanity into the situation, Charlie belligerantly suggests that maybe he's in cahoots with Les, and wants to know just who Steve's been talking to on that ham radio in his basement. Now angry, Steve accuses the murmuring neighbours of trying to find a scapegoat- any scapegoat- and says that the only thing which will result from all this finger pointing is that they'll end up eating each other. He seems to be getting through to a lot of the gathered crowd as many start to look down or away, uncomfortable and ashamed. In the sudden quiet, however, they hear footsteps coming along Maple Street towards them. Fearfully, the gathered residents peer down the street but all they can see is a shadowy figure emerging from the darkness, coming towards them. In a panic, Charlie grabs a shotgun and fires at the approaching form. It staggers and falls, and the crowd runs forward only to discover that it is Pete, returning from checking on Floral Street. He's dead. Charlie tries to make excuses... how was he to know it wasn't a monster? He was just trying to protect his home! But as he's babbling, the lights come on in his house. Accusing eyes turn on Charlie: why did his lights come on the minute he killed Pete? A vengeful Les pipes up: Charlie was awfully quick to point the finger at other people... maybe he was trying to hide his own machinations. Maybe Pete found out something about him over on Floral Street and Charlie had to kill him to keep him quiet. Of course Charlie denies this but the crowd, transformed into a mob, is in no mood to listen to his pleas. Charlie is forced to flee to his house, pursued by his maddened neighbours who pelt him with stones. Terrified and bleeding, Charlie shouts that he knows who's responsible: young Tommy, who started all this trouble to begin with. Horrified, Tommy's mother denies it- her son is just a boy. Yeah, one of the other ladies points out- a boy who knew everything that was going to happen with the aliens. Tommy flees in terror as the hysterical crowd gives chase, while Steve futilely shouts at them to stop this madness. Suddenly, lights start flashing on and off in random houses all along the street, while lawnmowers, cars, etc. turn on by themselves as well. Terrified, confused and hostile, the mob turns on each other and the once idyllic street devolves into a scene of chaos and violence, with shots being fired, bricks thrown, and formerly friendly neighbours brutally attacking one another. It is at this point that we find out that the meteor actually was a space ship and that two aliens are watching the ghastly scene on Maple Street with scholarly interest. One explains to the other that, by turning off humans' technology and stoking the fires of paranoia and fear, they could cause them to turn on each other. The other asks if this always happens and the first one replies yes, with few variations. He says the humans always try to find their most dangerous enemy and it turns out to be themselves. He also says that all they need do to conquer this world is to sit back and watch the humans destroy each other, one Maple Street at a time. "The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices – to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill – and suspicion can destroy – and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own – for the children – and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is – that these things cannot be confined – to the Twilight Zone.”
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