The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Dust (1961) User Reviews

Moving Story

[chrstphrtully · 8/10 · 23 July 2007]

Serling's "Dust" is one of the more low-key episodes in the series, but one that sells its point -- about the power of love and forgiveness in the face of despair -- with well-drawn characters instead of one-dimensional caricatures. In a dying southwestern village anticipating a hanging, a sleazy peddler (Thomas Gomez) convinces the desperate father (Vladimir Sokoloff) of the condemned man that he has a magic dust that changes hate into love.

Although Serling could get preachy with his later episodes (the later, yet similar, "I Am the Night, Color Me Black" is a good example), the speeches in this story well directly out of the characters, particularly Sokoloff, whose anguish is palpable. Likewise, Gomez' actions are driven by greed and a general misanthropy, and John Larch's by an exhausted cynicism. The town's desperation is made manifest in the production design, and in the well-drawn characters.

Beware, however, of cuts of the show that edit out the last scene with Gomez and the children -- this scene is the true Twilight Zone twist, which ties the entire show together.

"You must pay heed to the magic!"

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 15 April 2010]

There aren't many Twilight Zone episodes I haven't seen since growing up in the Sixties, but this happens to be one of them. It's kind of interesting catching one as an adult for the first time rather than having seen it as a kid back in the day. Certainly the magic dust business would have caught more of my attention as a youngster, making me wonder if such a thing might be possible. Funny thing is, the older one gets, I think, the more one begins to believe in magic again, the kind of magic that makes Santa Claus possible and magic dust the answer to turning hate into love. Sometimes the right con artist can pull it off, but more often than not, is exposed for a fraud and a sham. The only person that can really make it happen is the one who believes in the basic goodness of man and the redemptive power of the human spirit. For that person, magic and miracles have a place in the world, and they're sometimes able to impact those around them.

This is one of the subtler episodes of The Twilight Zone, one without an ironic or twist ending in the classic sense. Yes, there is a rather unusual confluence of events culminating in the impossible breaking of a brand new hangman's rope, but sometimes life is about taking the impossible and making it possible. There's also the pain inherent in having to live with a tragedy one is responsible for that no punishment can ever erase. As always, there's some insight one can take away from these little stories, and for this one time, you don't have to go to the outer edges of the Twilight Zone.

All we are is Magic Dust in the Wind?

[Coventry · 8/10 · 28 August 2018]

The quality and originality of these "Twilight Zone" episodes never cease to amaze me! Here I was, once again, blown away by the powerful impact of "Dust". I didn't have great expectations for this tale at first, because by default I don't think the format of a fantasy/Sci-Fi show works very well in a western setting, but Rod Serling delivers another wondrously absorbing and poignant story with an intense atmosphere and unique characters. In his small-town Arizona prison cell, Luis Gallegos awaits to be hung. The Sheriff is melancholic because Gallegos isn't the type of man who deserves to hang from the gallows. He killed a little girl, but it was an accident as a ran over her with his wagon at night and when he was drunk. Luis' desperate father begs the townspeople, particularly the grieving parents of the young girl, to spare his son's life. This gives the sleazy and unscrupulous salesman Peter Sykes the idea to exploit the father's misery even further, and he sells him a bag of dust that allegedly is magical and causes people to become forgiving when it's sprinkled over them. Of course, it's just ordinary dust, but you know anything can happen in "The Twilight Zone". I was particularly enchanted by the character of Sheriff Koch He's such a pure, emotional and sincere human being. He isn't the type of character you expect to find in a western story, and most certainly not as the town's Sheriff, but at the same time he's 100% believable. I usually like the overly sentimental and preachy episodes the least, but "Dust" forms an exception. It's a moving, recognizable and highly recommended story. Moreover, any TV-show episode that succeeds in getting the song "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas stuck in my head deserves my biggest possible support!

ONE OF THE BETTER EPISODES

[rms125a · 7/10 · 1 January 2021]

Well-acted with always topical themes of pain, guilt, forgiveness, and evil. Good mixture of drama and pathos and immediacy unlike some other episodes burdened with too much bathos or distant and undeserved menace. Thomas Gomez is particularly good as the vicious, sleazy con man, given the aptly malign surname "Sykes", who gets a comeuppance (so to speak) of his own at the end.

Magic dust

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 5 June 2021]

A good story, but lacked the effects and scifi expected from the twilight zone. Decent acting and an overall enjoyable watch, with a good ending.

Had some good interesting parts

[spenrh · 7/10 · 17 January 2021]

This is another Twilight zone western centered around a man due for a hanging, like "Execution", except this one does away with the time travel plot. It also has similarities to "I am night, color me black" with the bloodthirsty mob standing around very eager to see the condenmed man get his due punishment, except this one doesn't focus on racism so much.

The man to be hung in this episode was drunk and ran over a kid accidentally with his horse and carriage and killed him. He's getting hung for it, and the townfolk and parents of the deceased kid are more than eager to watch. The father of the offender, however, is devestated to see that his son will be hung and is desperate to see a change of heart in the town eager to see him hanged.

Enter the ample sized swindler who decides to throw dirt into a bag and sell it to the devestated father claiming it to be magic dust, then laughing evilly (the laughing, the father doesn't see). The father truly believes the dust is magic and runs in front of the people watching the hanging and tosses it over everyone crying "It's magic dust! It'll make you love again! It's magic!". The townspeople only laugh at him.

What's interesting is that then the rope breaks, sparing the condemned man from being hung. Then, the townspeople and even in the parents of the kid that was killed, where even though they're understandably grieving and heartbroken, they ultimately decide that enough is enough with any more violence. They all agree to tell the sheriff to let the man go and give him another chance. The sheriff agrees too and lets him go. The father of the now free man ends up continuing to believe that the dust was really magic and it worked, he never knows that the swindler swindled him and only sold him dirt. Before that outcome, I thought that the father would find out that the dust wasn't magic and that he'd been had, but the episode chose not to take that more expected formula and instead chose the semi-original route.

I don't know, this being the Twilight zone, maybe the fat swindler threw dirt that actually had magic dust in it into the bag, but he didn't know. Maybe another unexplained force blew into the air in the town. Or maybe, once the townspeople spent a couple moments seeing the father's desperation and despair of being about to lose his son, they then started to feel for him. The latter doesn't explain the rope breaking though. I don't know, you decide on that.

But the end result is the same, the condemned man was spared, the townfolk lost some of their hate and anger, and the father throughout the whole episode continued to believe that the dust really was magic.

One of the least predictable and most emotional Twilight Zone episodes

[grantss · 9/10 · 7 March 2020]

Set in the Wild West, a young man is about to be hanged for accidentally killing a little girl while drunk. A shady businessman sells the father of the condemned a bag of "magic" dust, said to turn people's hearts to love and empathy, rather than hate. Will it work?

A bit of departure for The Twilight Zone, and a welcome one. Usually the episodes build up to a strange twist that often can be seen a fair way off. They're often all about the plot - character development and emotional engagement are limited.

This episode is different. Yes, there is a twist but it is far from predictable. There's also great character depth and a wonderful emotional element. Moreover, it's quite profound.

One of the better episodes in the series.

Magic

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 26 October 2014]

Decidedly low key, understated episode is set in a small and poor western town where a young man named Luis Gallegos is about to be hanged for the accidental killing of a child he committed with his wagon while drunk. His father desperately tries to have his life spared, and is fooled by an unscrupulous peddler named Sykes(played by Thomas Gomez) to buy a bag of magic dust to change everyone's heart, and show mercy, but all are shocked by what happens next at the hanging... Well intentioned but unmemorable effort is certainly not among the highlights of series canon, but remains a passable tale of forgiveness.

Serling gets serious...

[Anonymous_Maxine · 9/10 · 1 July 2008]

Dust is one of the episodes of the twilight zone that deals with the very real and very scary subject of a person taking another life while operating a vehicle while drunk. It takes place in the interesting setting of the old west, rather than modern, early 1960s America (when, incidentally, Dick Cheney was first arrested for drunk driving. His second arrest was fully a year later). A humble Mexican man has accidentally taken the life of a young girl while driving his wagon through town, and is slated to be hanged in front of the angry townspeople.

A sleazy self-labeled businessman (also a drunk, interestingly enough), shows up at the jail and taunts the condemned man, berating him for his crime and taunting him about his impending death. The convicted man sits silently, clearly suffering desperate grief for what he has done.

What I love the most about the episode is that it shows all sides of the case, but still never really calls any of them right or wrong. We see the desperate fear and grief of the condemned, the unbearable suffering of the parents who have lost their child, the anger of the townspeople, represented mostly by the sleazy businessman but also by a local father who has brought the whole family to watch the execution in order to teach the children something about the real world, the horrified father of the condemned, begging for his son's life, and even the disillusioned sheriff, disappointed that all he can to do prevent crime is to inflict more violence for a killing that he couldn't stop.

The father of the condemned man gives the only real performance in the episode as he begs for his son's life in front of the crowd just before the hanging is about to take place, but the most important scene in the show is at the very end, in which we witness an unexpected bit of character change.

The strangeness of the ordinary subject matter of the twilight zone is replaced by what it seems to suggest as the human heart's wonderful capacity for forgiveness. The man committed a crime, but in this case it seems that something other than death is the best punishment. The show suggests, correctly, that someone who has inadvertently taken a life by drunken driving will suffer for the rest of their life, imprisoned or not, and they don't need further punishment, at least in the form of execution.

This is one of the more serious episodes of the twilight zone that I've seen and one that deals not with anything paranormal, but briefly (and possibly not at all) only with something as little as superstition. A case of what we now would call double jeopardy leads to the possibility that there is magic in the air or, more likely, a just punishment is inflicted, despite it not being the one intended. Excellent show.

The Twilight Zone - Dust

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 15 January 2017]

Strong moral message and passionate performances really lift this ordinary "desolate miserable impoverished town" story, as a Mexican man named Luís (John A Alonzo), awaiting his execution to hang for running over a little girl while drunk with horses is under scrutiny by locals unsettled with the crime, preparing to see him die. Thomas Gomez (of the previous TZ episode, "Escape Clause") has a memorable part as a filthy, shifty, loud-mouthed, obese trader/seller of merchandise, Peter Sykes. Peter makes sure to pass by Luís's jail cell to insult and ridicule him, making sure to rib him something fierce. Vladmir Sokoloff, an actor I absolutely love, steals the episode as this agonizing father of Luís, begging everyone in town for compassion and understanding, hoping they try to realize that his son was in pain and the only salvation he felt he could find was in a bottle. John Larch rounds out a solid cast as the tormented sheriff, gruelingly contending with town anger, hurt, and the hot sun. Having to execute a young man is not what this sheriff wants at all, recognizing the tragedy of this whole situation. Considering this is a TZ episode, you'd have to think something otherworldly might result from this whole ugly ordeal, and "magic dust" (and some supposedly strong rope) might just be the answer. Peter, never one not to seize upon an opportunity if it brings him some coins to pocket and capitalize on a tragedy, offers to sell Sokoloff's Gallegos "dust equipped with spiritual properties to bring love to those that hate his son"…Peter, in actuality, grabs a handful of dust out of the dirty street in town and fills a tobacco bag with it. Peter also sold the rope to the town to hang Luís, claiming that it is the best kind of material to meet the demands of snapping a neck and killing the convicted murderer at the gallows. So Peter is heavily invested in this execution, providing both the rope to kill and the dust supposedly to save! He couldn't possibly imagine what might happen next… Predictable conclusion doesn't undermine dedicated performances and the setting is appropriately haggard, depressing, and melancholic. That there is some compassion to arise out of what is a terrible ordeal for the parents who lost their girl for Luís proves that sometimes "enough is enough"…and Luís does suffer and will continue to do so, for which is a punishment in itself. Serling includes racism and raw emotion in the screenplay and Larch's sheriff has a powerful scene with a father who organized this trip for his kids to see what happens when a "drunk murders an innocent girl". What Gallegos goes through, spreading the dust around to a viewing public laughing at him and his unwavering belief in his son's rescue brings him such sympathy...you ache for this father just wanting others to realize that his son's not a monster.

Very sad

[ericstevenson · 9/10 · 19 July 2018]

I'm surprised the rating isn't higher. This episode tells the story of a guy in the Old West about to be hanged for killing a kid while drunk. His father tries to save him by buying expensive magic dust from a con man that obviously isn't real. The scene where he tries to use the dust is honestly very well done. I really did sincerely feel sorry for this guy. It's one of the few episodes that's completely normal.

Well, the noose does in fact break and it's implied to be a miracle of some sort. I will say there was one big fault here. After the convict is saved from execution, he's told he can go home. I admit that you should probably at least go to jail for killing someone, even if it was an accident. I actually remember when this one woman came to my school as part of some service announcement about how she was arrested for killing someone while drunk. Yeah, don't drink and drive ever. ***1/2

Too low-key to be truly great, but profound.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 20 April 2019]

Within five minutes of this quiet Twilight Zone episode, I wanted the con artist pitchman played by Thomas Gomez to be the one facing the hangman's noose, not John A. Alonzo as the doomed man suffering guilt because he accidentally killed a little girl while drunk. As the little girl's parents (Paul Genge and Dorothy Adams) march down to the Gallows to witness Alonzo's hanging, they are stopped by his family, begging for forgiveness for what Alonzo did. But the parents aren't having it, and coldly order them out of the way. Alonzo's gullible father (Vladimir Sokoloff) runs into Gomez who sells him a supposed magic dust which will either prevent Alonzo from being executed or helped him die painlessly. Sokoloff then rushes to the gallows to use it and a miracle occurs. This leads the rather cold townspeople, including the grieving parents to decide what should be done. Meanwhile, Gomez, having earlier taunted Alonzo, ponders what happened, and basically is left behind alone in the dust.

This episode certainly brings up many questions concerning forgiveness, atonement and certainly the hypocrisy of public execution. It is well-acted, and even the unlikable characters make an impact through the actor's performances. it is not one that I would probably watch over and over again considering how depressing it is, but it certainly gave me room to think about the issues that it brings up. John Larch, as the town sheriff, gives a truly great performance as a conflicted man who has only done his duty and doesn't want to see anybody else die needlessly. At the end, I like the fact that Gomez was left alone, perhaps an outcast for his never ending cruelties which makes him the one who faced the public execution, not the accidental killer.

Get a new rope.

[BA_Harrison · 3/10 · 6 March 2022]

I don't think anything in The Twilight Zone could be as mawkish as the previous episode, The Night of the Meek, but Dust gives it a good go.

John A. Alonzo plays young man Luís Gallegos, in jail awaiting the gallows, having accidentally trampled a little girl to death with his horse and cart while drunk. Slimy salesman Peter Sykes (Thomas Gomez) takes advantage of the situation by conning the condemned man's desperate father (Vladimir Sokoloff) into buying a bag of dust (hastily scooped from the ground outside the jail) which Sykes claims can turn hatred into love. As the hanging is about to take place, old man Gallegos throws handfuls of the dust into the air, but the crowd just laughs at his actions... until the lever is pulled, the trapdoor opens, and a miracle occurs.

Serling's rather preachy tale advocates forgiveness, an admirable trait, perhaps, but one can't help but think that in this case, Luis gets off lightly for his fatal recklessness while hammered: when the rope around Luis' neck breaks, the dead girl's parents decide that there has been enough death and decide to allow her killer to walk free. This is the wild west, ferchristsakes... I don't believe for a second that the mother and father would no longer want retribution for their child. I also don't swallow the closing scene, in which Sykes has an unlikely change of character and gives his ill-gotten gains to the local children. Only in The Twilight Zone, when Serling is in over-sentimental mode.

One of the Weakest Episodes

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 26 May 2018]

In a dusty town in the West, a drunken young man kills a girl with his wagon and is sentenced to be hanged. The parents of the victim and the local population join to see the hanging to be carried out by the reluctant sheriff. A nasty con man sees the chance to lure the desperate father of the young man and sell local dust as if it were an expensive magic dust capable to touch the hearts of the locals to forgive his son. What will happen next?

"Dust" is one of the weakest episodes of "The Twilight Zone". The plot is polemic since the young man indeed killed the girl and there is no discussion whether this is the punishment at those years. The nasty con man is irritating and unlikable. The conclusion is corny. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Pó Mágico" ("The Magic Dust")

Good acting in an otherwise poor outing

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 1 October 2009]

This episode would have made a fine 30 minute film, but within the auspices of a show like "The Twilight Zone", a disappointment. That's because although the episode is well written and especially well acted, there isn't really that much irony or metaphysics--you know, that bizarre twist at the end. Yes, there is a twist but not at all as satisfying as you'd expect to see in this series.

The star of this episode is Thomas Gomez--a fine character actor who did tons of TV and movies over the years. Here he plays a truly nasty piece of work--a man who is eagerly anticipating the execution--a man who takes intense pleasure at the suffering of others. While most in the town are excited by the prospect, no one takes as much joy as Gomez. Additionally, he's a loud-mouth opportunist--a guy who not only sells the sheriff the rope for the hanging, but sells the condemned man's father some "magic dust" that will make everyone love and forgive his son.

As for this son, he's a guy in his 20s who was riding about drunk on his horse when he accidentally ran over and killed a child. The show very strongly pushes the audience to feel sorry for and forgive the man, though I wonder how much we would be willing to do either had this been a guy who killed a child today while driving drunk.

I don't want to spoil the ending but I'd just like to say that it didn't feel all that satisfying. But, Gomez's acting as well as the acting of the Sheriff and the boy's father were all very good so the episode is still worth seeing. However, this is far from classic and is quite skipable.

Quite possibly the very worst episode, alongside...

[fedor8 · 8 June 2022]

Interestingly enough, both episodes are overtly political and deal with capital punishment. Suffice it to say, this is Serling at his absolute insufferable preachy worst. Social activism badly disguised as entertainment.

The episode is a blatant anti-death penalty liberal propaganda piece, plus all the other virtue-signaling kumbaya PC nonsense such as siding with the perpetrator rather than the victim, plus a "hicks and losers always hate foreigners and they're Nazis i.e. Trump supporters and I hate them so much" message that evokes the lunacy of modern-day "activists". Special Justice Warriors.

An old man pathetically, and very unconvincingly, makes the argument that the girl's killer should be spared "because he was so miserable that he had to turn to alcohol". Now, that's typical liberal logic that absolves the perpetrator from responsibility, rendering a child's demise an almost irrelevant side-effect to the REAL problem: the problem of the struggling minorities who turn to alcohol because they're so oppressed.

Yes, a disgusting episode. Also, some silly and boring dialog plus it's very slow, ponderous and with the usual serlingian pompousness and righteousness. Because when Serling switches on that "moralistic bitter speech" button, every episode sinks like a rock. A true stinker of an episode.

Magic dust that "turns hate to love". Was Serling sniffing hippy glue when he wrote this rubbish?

The message is that Twilight Zone's god is against the death penalty. And yet he gladly mentally tortures an innocent woman in "The Hitch-hiker"? Makes a lot of sense.

Nasty side of humanity

[darrenpearce111 · 6/10 · 26 January 2014]

A young man called Gallegos (Vladimir Sokoloff) is facing execution by hanging in a small western town for driving his wagon while drunk over a little girl. Sheriff Koch (John Larch) does not like the vile gloating opportunism of the 'pig' peddler Sykes (Thomas Gomez, who played Cadwalleder in 'Escape Clause',series one), or the Zeal of a father who treats the hanging as a fun-for-all-the-family day out.

The nastiness on display is all-too-human. When the father of Gallegos pleads for clemency he is hit with a stone by one of the town's folk. A plot device of magic enters the story which is not adequately explained by the end. The characters convey much truth about human nature but the story is not worth all the woe.

In series five another Sheriff Koch dislikes the rabble-rousing effect of a public hanging in 'I Am The Night Colour Me Black'. Too many executions in the Zone.

CAN'T GET ANY BETTER

[poetrew · 10/10 · 4 December 2018]

Genius is what this episode is all about to those who say the opposite is true I say you couldn't be any wronger.

Look at it not with eyes and ears only but through your heart and you will doubt its beauty no longer.

Magic.... its the power of love

[AvionPrince16 · 7/10 · 25 June 2023]

One victim was enough and yeah it was a little bit of illogical sometimes but we definitely happy for that man who will not get hanged. We can see the kindness of the victim who let the murderer get free of charge. Because it was just an accident. So yeah it was kind of magic? More important than money and justice? Pretty interesting to see anyway even if we know that thing will not really happen in real life but it bring some morality and maybe more kindness about men's problems and accident that can happen. A good episode in the twilight zone to be honest. Even if it was pretty hard to believe the same situation in real life.

Very dark and despairing episode

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 25 August 2017]

Young Mexican Luis (a sympathetic performance by John A. Alonzo) is condemned to be hung after being found guilty of running down a little girl with his horse while drunk. Sleazy and shameless con man Peter Sykes (robustly played with deliciously slimy aplomb by Thomas Gomez) decides to take advantage of the situation by selling Luis's distraught father (a strong and touching portrayal by Vladimir Sokoloff) some bogus "magic dust" that's supposed to spread love amongst the angry townspeople.

Director Douglas Hayes ably crafts a bleak atmosphere and makes nice use of the desolate desert Old West village main location. Moreover, this episodes acquires extra poignancy due to the well-balanced way it shows both sides of the dismal situation. Rod Serling's intriguing script not only has a heartfelt message on forgiveness and second chances, but also boasts an unusually low-key and thus more plausible than supernatural twist at the end. The uniformly excellent acting from the capable cast rates as another substantial asset: Besides the fine work from Alonzo, Gomez, and Sokoloff, there are sturdy contributions from John Larch as the weary and cynical Sheriff Koch, Paul Genge as the sensible John Canfield, and Dorothy Adams as the grief-stricken Mrs. Canfield. A solid show.

Explanation of Episode (SPOILERS)

[drmarlowe · 9/10 · 11 February 2018]

Tell the crucifixion of Jesus Christ ... as a Western.

Who plays each part? Pontius Pilate is easiest: a sheriff reluctant to hang the prisoner. The angry crowd calling for crucifixion: another angry mob of townsfolk eager to watch a hanging. Jesus: the most difficult role to cast (maybe the son of a father? Definitely a foreigner. His guilt is questioned. Allusions with children coming unto him.) Judas: a man who sells out Jesus for coins.

But without differences, it's the same story. What differences? Instead of miracles, maybe magic. Not a sinless Jesus, but a flawed human who truly broke the law. Gold instead of silver coins. Judas is not a betraying friend, but a merchant with mercenary morals. A rope, not a cross. Not a resurrection, but a miraculously failed execution.

Themes? Same ones: forgiveness, redemption, love of fellow man, love of Father for son, love the foreigner.

The title? A Biblical motif: dust.

Rod Serling was raised in a Jewish family and developed strong political viewpoints, actively standing against racism, censorship, and war. It is likely he did not believe the crucifixion to be a literal truth as do devout Christians. This might explain some differences in the story, especially the final moral in which he concludes: "The day of a hanging ... of little historical consequence. And if there's any moral to it at all, let's say that in any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain, first check the human heart. For inside this deep place is a wizardry that costs far more than a few pieces of gold."

Killing a child is ok if you have magic sand!

[danieln-15525 · 1/10 · 28 August 2020]

That's what this awful episode is all about. We all should forgive that criminal for killing a little girl because his father threw some sand! -Then the rope is torn and everybody's forgiving the murderer. Awful and disgusting idea. This is the point when they started understanding the side of the murderers and the criminals on television.

The Worst in Humanity

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 14 November 2008]

Minorities have never faired very well. This is no exception as a man attempts to plead for the life of his son, charged with killing a little girl with a wagon. The young man is remorseful but faces old West justice as he faces the gallows. Thrown into the mix is a fat, disgusting man, hoping to benefit buy this sad tale. First he taunts the young man, then attempts to sell a useless bag of dust to the father. The dust is supposed to prevent the death of the son. This man is disgusting in every way. He even has brought his family to witness the execution. Of course, this is the Twilight Zone and some unexpected forces take over. In the pit of this is a lack of basic human decency and racism. Also, the family of the little girl are put through a great deal. It's not a simple story and is quite well done. There is also a darkness overwhelming the setting that contributes to the sickness of it all.

Underrated

[rgxdzrybr · 9/10 · 20 February 2023]

One of the most underrated episodes of the series. The setting is a poverty stricken town in the old west and a young man of Mexican descent is awaiting execution by hanging after running over a little girl with his wagon while drunk. It seems pretty straightforward right? But it's not the young man is devastated over his carelessness. The town peddler is a shady , unscrupulous man without compassion and always willing to share opinions no one wants to hear. The Sheriff in town is thoughtfully played by John Larch who has little use for Sykes ( the peddler) and has compassion for those Sykes deems unworthy. When Sykes asks the Sheriff if has tears for the little girl he says he has enough tears for them both. The Sheriff also questions a father's parenting methods when he wants his children to see the hanging. In the meantime Sykes is determined to sell the father of the young man " magic " dust that will save his son. He also sold the rope for the hanging. The family of the little girl are quite restrained during the funeral procession despite the young man's sister and father asking for forgiveness and mercy. The old man pays for the dust with the help of his neighbors in fact it's just ordinary sand but he throws it around saying it's magic some laugh . The hanging is set but the rope breaks! There is division over of if they should try again but the Sheriff says only the girl's parents have that right. The mother says no more. The father isn't so sure the man killed their child and the mother says he killed a part of himself doing it. It's enough punishment. She sees he isn't a cold blooded killer. The end has even Sykes becoming a better person.

Dust is one of the episodes that doesn't deal with prejudices in the way it normally would but it's more subtle than say I am The Night Color Me Black and also deals with the devastation of poverty not something the show really covered in such a manner. I often think Serling was speaking through the Sheriff who also was handled much differently the Sheriff in I am The Night Color Me Black. I like that it deals with the circumstances of the town but doesn't end on a completely hopeless note.

one of the most touching surprising episode so far

[asli_l · 9/10 · 2 February 2022]

This episode is about real magic and what makes it so special in my eyes is the fact that magical events starts by the hands of the meanest character in the story which gives the message of we are as strong as the weakest link only when we deal with the darkest parts of society or even insides of us we will find the true redemption; love.