Trivia / The Twilight Zone (1959) S5E31: "The Encounter"

• Missing Episode: This was one of five episodes not syndicated until the early 1990s. This was due to anger from Asian advocacy groups over the language used and the (fictional) revelation that there was a Japanese-American traitor aiding the Pearl Harbor attack. Time has since led to the episode being praised for its message of how hatred can linger and cause harm years later. George Takei also defended the episode, which helped it become available again.
• Reality Subtext:
  • George Takei spent three years of his childhood in U.S. Japanese-American relocation centers during World War II. His impassioned performance is definitely informed by that experience.
  • Neville Brand was a WWII veteran who earned several medals, just like his character Fenton. However, Fenton served in the Pacific and Brand served in Germany.
  • Rod Serling was also a WWII veteran who earned a few medals... in the Pacific, fighting and being repeatedly wounded both on Leyte and during the Philippines campaign, including the street fighting in Manila. He neither wrote nor directed this episode, but his signature remains on it; compare "The Purple Testament". Rod himself certainly wasn't a rampaging racist like Fenton but he equally certainly knew veterans who were.

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