‘I Am the Night - Color Me Black’: Season 5, Episode 27
Published August 21, 2026
Trigger Warning: This episode discusses hate, racism, the death penalty, and lynchings, with brief mentions of depression and suicidal thoughts. The episode does not visually depict any of these topics. Please watch the episode and read this article at your own discretion. This article contains spoilers.
Another Warning: I am very against the death penalty, and I imagine that bias will appear in this article.
Getting in the Zone is Not Always Easy
Throughout this series, I have discussed how politically potent and ahead-of-his-time Rod Serling was with this show. I Am the Night—Color Me Black is an especially electric example of that. I mean, this was the 1960s…the content of this episode could easily be considered “too extreme” for the typical Cold War family. Plus, it tickled the very racist problem society was complacent in at the time.
Rod Serling sums up what we need to know right from the get-go with his opening monologue:
Serling: “Sheriff Charlie Koch on the morning of an execution. As a matter of fact, it's seven-thirty in the morning. Logic and natural laws dictate that at this hour there should be daylight. It is a simple rule of physical science that the sun should rise at a certain moment and supersede the darkness. But at this given moment, Sheriff Charlie Koch, a deputy named Pierce, a condemned man named Jagger, and a small, inconsequential village will shortly find out that there are causes and effects that have no precedent. Such is usually the case - in The Twilight Zone.”
This episode’s commentary on the darkening sky is fairly repetitive and predictable, so I am choosing to leave it out of my analysis—mostly.
One of the hardest episodes to watch of The Twilight Zone, but still tame compared to modern content, this episode is heartbreaking, frustrating, and sobering.
There is much to unpack, so buckle up — it’s time to get in the Zone!
People vs. Humanity
The idea of embracing humanity is reflected in the very definition of humane: “characterized by tenderness, compassion, and sympathy for people and animals, especially for the suffering or distressed.” In society, we often associate being human with being inherently good. Anne Frank herself famously wrote, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.” It almost feels immoral to disagree with Frank—but I do, and this Twilight Zone episode makes a compelling case for why.
The first thing we witness is Sheriff Koch get ready for the day, while his wife, Ella, chooses to remain in bed because it is so dark outside. Sheriff Koch is exasperated by the cavalier way his wife discusses the day's heavy topics.
Ella: “Charlie?”
Sheriff Koch: “Go back to sleep Ella, it’s early…it must be 3 or 4 in the morning.”
Ella: “I think you’re crazy to get up now. What’s so special about hanging a little —”
Sheriff: “Go back to sleep Ella! … Bring us breakfast over about 8:30.”
Ella: “What time do they string him up? You know what I mean.”
Sheriff: “He gets executed at 9:30. I hope the whole town doesn’t turn out. When I see a whole bunch of cold-blooded gawkers getting their jollies from seeing a man die, I just… bring us breakfast at 8:30.”
Ella [smugly]: “Oh Charlie, how does he like his eggs?”
Sheriff: “Edible. They’re the last ones he’s going to eat, so make em’ edible.”
There is nothing humane or good about Ella’s attitude, what she says, or how she says it. The ironic thing is that many people in their town probably consider Ella to be a good person…Then again, the town is filled with people just like Ella because just as the Sheriff expected, they come out to gawk and “enjoy the entertainment.”
Here is another conversation of interest between Sheriff Koch, the Deputy, and the Newspaper Editor about the death penalty case at hand.
Editor: “Now, you are well-versed in all things regarding law and order, Sheriff Koch. What’s your thesis?…As a point of interest Sheriff, is Jagger innocent?”
Sheriff: “Mr. Colbey, that is a matter for a jury, public opinion, and God, and that thank the Lord has nothing to do with me.”
Editor: “So, let us all praise God for the morning’s impartiality.
Deputy: “And for justice being served deluxe style.”
Sheriff: “Deputy, why don’t you shut your mouth?”
Deputy: “I got a right to an opinion.”
Editor: “Indeed, you have Deputy, but there’s just a few disturbing facets about this case. One, the murdered man was not a decent man, he was a cross-burning, psychopathic bully who attacked the man in there [Jagger]. Two, Deputy Pierce here saw it happen and then perjured himself. Perjured is the the word, Deputy. Now, you said that Jagger shot him from across the room. No such thing. The murdered man had powder burns all over him. Now this might not have proven self-defense, but it would have pointed to it and maybe helped it. And you, Sheriff Koch, you saw the body, but I didn’t hear any comments on those powder burns when you gave your testimony…And your courageous editor here in covering the trial didn’t see fit to include this insignificant addendum, though he also knew at the time he was being very selective about what truths he was writing about and what truths he wasn’t. You’re right Deputy, justice is being served…on a platter with it’s tongue cut out, just like the carcass of any dead animal.”
I am going to fast forward a little bit to show you more of their continued conversation.
Deputy to Sheriff: “He says I perjured myself, I says lied. And he wasn’t throwing no bouquets at you either.”
Sheriff: “Maybe I don’t deserve any. You were right, you know. I saw the victim, he did have powder burns, but when a committee of townspeople came to me and said there’d be no autopsy, I just bent my head and I nodded. We all got little axes to grind, don’t we? I want to be re-elected Sheriff, you keep wanting to sell newspapers, and Deputy Pierce here likes to feel important. He likes to be popular. Likes to stay on the good side of people. Here we are gentlemen, treading water in a sewer.”
Treading water in a sewer…gosh Serling had a way with words. Also, do you see the complex range of complacency, hate, and greed? Let’s continue.
The editor goes in to speak with Jagger, and asks him for a comment on whether he considers himself innocent or guilty.
Jagger: “I’m guilty, Mr. Colbey, does that take you off the hook?”
Editor: ‘That is supposed to mean what?”
Jagger: “That is supposed to mean you’re on the popular side, Mr. Colbey. You see, there are good guys and bad guys. That’s the nature of man. Well, I’m a bad guy, I’m worse than a bad guy. I’m a town kook. I’m a neurotic. I’m the one with the causes and the banners. I’m the village idiot who tries to be his brother’s keeper…Do you understand Mr. Colbey? The man I killed was the White Knight. He did what his other pals in this town wanted to do and didn’t have the guts. He was the cross-burner, a bomb thrower, he handled the whipping of some poor, scared, colored guy.”
Editor: “Jagger, the man you killed was no saint, but we don’t dispense life or death just because somebody offends us. That’s the distinction between men and animals.”
Jagger: “Well, that’s very well said Mr. Colbey, you tell that to the man who is going to fix my rope. You tell it to the Sheriff and his Deputy. You tell that to the townspeople who are going to stand around and watch my eyes bulge out and enjoy my agony. You tell them. You tell them about the difference between men and animals. But you better be ready to draw pictures because this language they just don’t dig!”
People vs. The Divine
The town is gathered to watch the execution, including the Reverend, who is a man of color. The Reverend is trying with all his might to speak with Jagger in the midst of the crowd. Their conversation is thought provoking to say the least.
Reverend: “All right, I don’t want to waste your last minutes, Jagger. Now, you and I a different faith and obviously a different color, but you stood up for me and mine. You spoke for us, and God help us, you killed for us. I feel you deserve some measure of peace. I want to give you some.”
Jagger: “That’ll give me some peace. I don’t need any words Reverend. No quotations in or out of the Bible.”
Okay, maybe the Reverend is better than the people of his town. Maybe he is the only one who is humane…or is he?
Reverend: “When he came at you, Jagger... did it feel good to you then? … When you aimed that gun at his head... that wasn't such a bad moment, was it? … When you killed him, Jagger... when you blew his head off... there were no regrets then, were there? You enjoyed that, didn't you?”
Jagger: “You know it!”
Reverend: “Yes. Yes, I... I know it now. Now I know it too well. You're guilty.”
[turns to the crowd]
Reverend: “This man is guilty.”
Jagger: “It's important to get with the majority, isn't it? That's... oh, that's a big thing nowadays, isn't it, Reverend?”
Reverend: “That's all there is, is the majority. The minority must have died on the cross, two thousand years ago.”
Wow… even the Reverend is complacent. His questioning is his means of trying to find some small justification for standing with the majority, even though he knows that the very Savior he serves would not stand with them.
After the execution, the town, filled with radio listeners, hears something startling:
Radio Announcer: “...and still the phenomenon remains unexplained, except for the reports that now come in of similar occurrences here in the United States and elsewhere. At two o'clock this afternoon, a dark cloud suddenly appeared over a street in Dallas, Texas. The mayor of West Berlin verified the fact that a rectangular area over the Berlin Wall has suddenly gone dark. In Budapest, European newspapermen passed over censorship an article about several square blocks, including a political prison, which were suddenly thrown into darkness early this morning. In Birmingham, Alabama... an area in Shanghai... the entire northern section of Vietnam... a section of Chicago, Illinois... the darkness continues to make itself known.”
What else could this be but the Divine, standing up for the side of the minorities, exposing the darkness that lies in the majority's souls. Truth and love spread light; hate and lies spread darkness. The presence of light or darkness determines the presence of real justice. May that be a lesson for us all.
Serling ends the episode on this note:
Serling: “A sickness known as hate; not a virus, not a microbe, not a germ - but a sickness nonetheless, highly contagious, deadly in its effects. Don't look for it in the Twilight Zone - look for it in a mirror. Look for it before the light goes out altogether.”
May we all be protectors of peace, advocates of truth, and generous givers of love.
I hope my writing conveyed the intense emotions and tensions of this episode, there is something to be said for watching it yourselves. I invite you to do so by clicking here.
PS: Here’s a fun fact: the man who plays Sheriff Koch in this episode, Michael Constantine, plays Gus, Toula’s father, in My Big Fat Greek Wedding.