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{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| caption =
| season = 3
| episode = 14
| airdate = {{Start date|1961|12|22}}
| production = 4805
| teleplay = [[Rod Serling]]
| based_on = "The Depository" by Marvin Petal
| director = [[Lamont Johnson]]
| guests = {{plainlist|
* [[William Windom (actor)|William Windom]]
* [[Murray Matheson]]
* [[Susan Harrison]]
* [[Kelton Garwood]] as Hobo
* [[Clark Allen]] as Bagpiper
}}
| music = Stock from "[[A Hundred Yards Over the Rim]]"
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
| prev = [[Once Upon a Time (The Twilight Zone)|Once Upon a Time]]
| next = [[A Quality of Mercy]]
}}
"'''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'''" is episode 79 of the television [[anthology series]] ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It originally aired on December 22, 1961.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|[[Clown]], [[hobo]], ballet dancer, bagpiper, and an army major—a collection of question marks. Five improbable entities stuck together into a pit of darkness. No logic, no reason, no explanation; just a prolonged nightmare in which fear, loneliness, and the unexplainable walk hand in hand through the shadows. In a moment, we'll start collecting clues as to the whys, the whats, and the wheres. We will not end the nightmare, we'll only explain it—because this is the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
A uniformed U.S. Army [[major]] wakes up to find himself trapped inside a large metal cylinder, where he meets a [[hobo]], a [[ballet]] dancer, a [[bagpipes|bagpiper]], and a [[clown]] who, ironically, seems to be the one among them all who reasons the most. All of them have different theories regarding their presence here, although they admit none of them are realistic. They also have no memory of who they are, or how they became trapped, and they do not seem to have any need for food or water. The major, being the newest arrival, is the most determined to escape. He is told there is no way of either breaking through or climbing up the cylinder.

Eventually, the major suggests a plan to escape: forming a tower of people, each person on the other's shoulders. However, the dancer at the top of the tower is still a few inches short of the cylinder's top, and a loud clanging sound shakes the cylinder and sends the five tumbling to the ground. The major demands that they all must make a promise to not leave the cylinder until everyone else has left. Now even more determined, the major fashions a [[grappling hook]] out of loose bits of clothing and his sword. By reforming the tower, he manages to grapple onto the edge of the cylinder. As he turns to survey the area surrounding the cylinder, he tumbles to the ground outside. The clown inside the cylinder briefly bemoans the loss, saying how the major left without them and if he comes back, it won’t be to get them out. The clown then admits that the major was right after all: they are all in Hell.

The scene cuts to a little girl picking up a [[doll]] from the snow, in the dress of an army major. The cylinder is a Christmas toy collection barrel for a girls' orphanage, and all five characters are nothing more than dolls. The loud clanging was the ringing of a bell, used by a woman to attract donations; she tells the girl to return the doll to the barrel.

The final shot is of the five characters, now seen as dolls with painted faces and glass eyes. The ballet dancer moves to hold the hand of the major as her eyes fill with tears.

==Closing narration==
{{cquote|Just a barrel, a dark depository where are kept the counterfeit, make-believe pieces of plaster and cloth, wrought in a distorted image of human life. But this added hopeful note: perhaps they are unloved only for the moment. In the arms of children, there can be nothing but love. A clown, a tramp, a bagpipe player, a ballet dancer, and a Major. Tonight's cast of players on the odd stage—known as—The Twilight Zone.}}

==Cast==
* [[Susan Harrison]] as Ballerina
* [[William Windom (actor)|William Windom]] as Major
* [[Murray Matheson]] as Clown
* [[Kelton Garwood]] as Hobo
* [[Clark Allen]] as Bagpiper

==Episode notes==
The episode's title is a variation on the [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello]] play ''[[Six Characters in Search of an Author]].'' Dolls were specially crafted for the final shot that closely resembled the actors who had played the parts.

==Legacy==
The episode was reportedly an inspiration for the 1997 film ''[[Cube (1997 film)|Cube]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/cube.asp |author= Eggert, Brian |date= 19 May 2010 |title= ''Cube'' (1998) |publisher= Deep Focus Review |quote= Vincenzo Natali's ''Cube'' extends a scenario seemingly straight from ''The Twilight Zone'' for the duration of a full-length feature... filled with sharp ideas and a setup worthy of Franz Kafka..." |access-date= 23 May 2014 |archive-date= 24 May 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140524025657/http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/cube.asp |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1= Blake |first1= Marc |last2= Bailey |first2= Sara |title= Writing the Horror Movie |location= London; New York |publisher= Bloomsbury |year= 2013 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=WUEbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |page= 137 |quote= ''Cube'' (1997) was reportedly influenced by a ''Twilight Zone'' episode, ''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'', written by its creator Rod Serling. |isbn= 9781441195067 |access-date= 20 September 2016 |archive-date= 29 July 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200729192143/https://books.google.com/books?id=WUEbAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA137 |url-status= live }}</ref> The TV series ''[[Felicity (TV series)|Felicity]]'' paid homage to "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" in its episode "Help for the Lovelorn"; both episodes were directed by Lamont Johnson.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.felicitypage.com/s2e11.html |title=Sophomore Year (Season 2) Episode 11: Help For The Lovelorn |author=Chan, Lisa |year=2001 |publisher=Felicitypage.com |access-date=2012-11-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010307173648/http://www.felicitypage.com/s2e11.html |archive-date=2001-03-07}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|0734569}}
*[http://twilightzoneproject.blogspot.com/2007/07/314-five-characters-in-search-of-exit.html ''Five Characters in Search of an Exit'' Review] at The Twilight Zone Project

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Characters In Search Of An Exit}}
[[Category:1961 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 3) episodes]]
[[Category:Adaptations of works by Luigi Pirandello]]
[[Category:Existentialist works]]
[[Category:Sentient toys in fiction]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:Television shows based on short fiction]]
[[Category:Television shows about clowns]]
[[Category:Absurdist fiction]]

Five Characters in Search of an Exit - Revision history

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