The After Hours (1985)

The After Hours is the first segment of the twenty-eighth episode of the second season (1986–87) of the revival of The Twilight Zone.

This episode is a remake of The Twilight Zone classic episode. Terry Farrell reprises the role of Marsha, originally played by Anne Francis.

Opening Narration

(only found on the original airing) "How fortunate for Marsha Cole to squeeze into the mall even though it's closing. Someone should remind her though: Doors that keep others out, can also seal you in... the Twilight Zone."

Plot

A young woman named Marsha frantically runs up to a mall's doors, hoping it will still be open. A worker takes pity on her and lets her in. As she comes inside, a man starts following her. She enters the only store open and tells the clerk she is looking for a doll. The clerk goes off looking for it. A little boy in a tuxedo with a toy spider pops up, scares the young woman and calls her Marsha. A lady in an evening gown comes up and apologizes for his rude behavior and dismisses it when Marsha asks how he knew her name. He begs Marsha to take him with her when she goes.

The clerk brings the doll and Marsha pays for it. Marsha goes on to explain that the doll is for her landlord's child because she felt so grateful after he let her rent her apartment, with no money, and found her a job. She says the past month has been wonderful. The man following her appears outside. The woman asks her for details of her life. Marsha says her name and that she works for a local company. The woman says that all just happened in the last month, and asks where she was before then. Marsha runs away through the empty hallways and the woman follows, calling her name. Marsha gets on the elevator and discovers the man following her. He raises his hands to reveal mannequin hands.

Marsha runs out of the elevator into a department store to the sounds of people calling her name, telling her to stop running. She sees a man and tries to get him to help but finds that he is only a mannequin. Marsha runs through the partially-lit department store and tries to escape her pursuers, who attack her. Marsha runs up an escalator and gets into a darkened storage room where she comes across numerous other mannequin parts who also call after her. Marsha escapes through a darkened stairwell and runs out a door on the lower level but finds herself back in the department store. The mannequins find her and give chase. Marsha uses a chair to break a window and escape into the mall. The mannequins find her and tell her she's a mannequin just like them. She runs away, but is disabled as her appendages gradually turn to plastic. The others tell her she had her month to be a human, and now it's someone else's turn. The next day, Marsha, as the mannequin, is in the display, while the mannequin she ran past the night before, is moving and on her way to enjoy her turn.

Ending Narration

"Imagine standing forever still, unable to act, to speak, to touch a reassuring hand. If you were released from such a fate, even for a while, wouldn't you hope to forget that in reality, you're only on a short leave of absence... from the Twilight Zone?"

Differences from the original

• Where the original episode is an eerie mood piece, the remake is conventional horror, with jump scares and other staples of the genre.
• Rather than remembering what she is and accepting her fate as she did in the original, Marsha refuses to return to her true form so that another mannequin can take her place.
• The original episode took place in a department store. This one takes place in a shopping mall.
• In the original episode, Marsha is accidentally locked in after falling asleep. Here, Marsha shows up just before the mall closed and is held in the mall while it was locked up. 
• This episode features a scene where Marsha runs into an elevator and into another mannequin, who holds up his hands to reveal that his fingers are molded together.