Skin Deep Read online

  Hedda Hopper tried to sabotage the episode by writing venomous screeds about it and how it was another attempt by jokers and Communists to undermine American values—but it backfired, and “Eye of the Beholder” got the highest rating of any Twilight Zone that season. Rod gave her this news himself when he, his wife, and two daughters visited the pier that weekend. “The mail has been largely positive,” he said, “except for the ones that sound as if Hedda had dictated them personally. But contrary to her dire warnings, the world as we know it has not ended.”

  The episode did what was intended of it: it broke the joker blacklist. The following year Reginald Rose and Herbert Brodkin cast a joker in their law series The Defenders, in an episode that openly discussed jokers’ rights. Floodgates did not open; there wasn’t so much a rush of jokers onto TV as a slow trickle. But it was a start.

  The show had two unforeseen impacts on Trina’s personal life. One evening after her afternoon shift, Trina looked out at an empty beach—this was November, after all—and decided to chance going for a short (if bracing) swim. When she got out of the water, she was startled to see a woman and an eight-year-old boy standing on the beach, having just come from the pier. The boy stared wide-eyed at Trina’s face and she braced herself for a scream—

  But instead he burst into a big smile and asked breathlessly, “Are you the Twilight Zone lady?”

  Trina felt relief wash over her like a wave—relief and an unexpected pleasure. “Yes,” she told him, “I am.”

  “He loves that show,” the mother said. “Would you mind having your picture taken with him?”

  Where am I, Trina thought, what world is this? But she just smiled and said, “Of course.”

  The little boy came running over, wrapped his left arm around Trina’s legs, and smiled into the camera. A flashbulb popped, and Trina’s life changed forever.

  After that, whenever she was outside on the pier, tourists would stop her—“Are you the girl from The Twilight Zone?”—then ask for an autograph or a photo, and Trina was happy to oblige. She became popular enough that Irv Pinkoff—now getting on in years—asked her if she would come back to work for him, not inside the building but outside, helping him sell tickets. He thought her presence might boost sales, and he was right. Trina could live her life in the sun again and not inside the dark confines of the Menagerie.

  The other change came at the viewing party for “Eye of the Beholder.” When the episode was over, everyone applauded and congratulated Trina on her performance … including Bongo, who came up and said in the sincerest voice, “You were beautiful, Trina. You were the most beautiful one on the show.”

  Trina smiled at hearing this again. “Bongo, what is it about me you think is so beautiful?”

  He didn’t hesitate. “You have kind eyes and a sweet voice. They’re, like, windows to your soul.”

  The words were an echo, and they shamed her into looking, really looking, at Bongo for the first time. She’d always found his attraction to her so off-putting that she never really examined his face—but now that she did, she saw that he was really kind of a sweet-looking kid, with a shy, endearing smile.

  Had she been the one all along who had something to learn from “Eye of the Beholder”?

  “Bongo,” she asked, “do you have a real name?”

  Hesitantly he admitted, “It’s Harold.”

  “That’s a nice name, Harold.” She smiled. “Would you like to get some coffee later at that little espresso shack up the pier?”

  Harold’s eyes lit with surprise—and a happiness that made Trina awfully glad she’d asked. “I would dig that the most, Trina,” he said.

  What was that line of Rod’s dialogue she had spoken?

  “Skin deep? No, it’s more than that.”

  She was embarrassed that she, of all people, needed to be told this. A lesson to be learned, she thought … in the Twilight Zone.

  About the Author

  Alan Brennert is a novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. He grew up in New Jersey but moved to California in 1973. His novel Moloka’i was a national bestseller and a One Book, One San Diego selection for 2012. It also received the Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the 2006 Book Club Book of the Year. His next novel, Honolulu, won First Prize in Elle Magazine’s Literary Grand Prix for Fiction and was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Washington Post. Of his novel Palisades Park, People Magazine said: “Brennert writes his valentine to the New Jersey playground of his youth in Ragtime-style, mixing fact and fiction. It’s a memorable ride.”.

  His work as a writer-producer for the television series L.A. Law earned him an Emmy Award and a People’s Choice Award in 1991. He has been nominated for an Emmy on two other occasions, once for a Golden Globe Award, and three times for the Writers Guild Award for Outstanding Teleplay of the Year.

  Alan’s short story"Ma Qui" was honored with a Nebula Award in 1992. His story “Her Pilgrim Soul” was adapted by Brennert himself for the Alan Menken musical Weird Romance in 1992.

  His novel, Daughter of Moloka’i is a follow-up to Moloka’i that tells the story of Rachel Kalama’s daughter Ruth, her early life, her internment during World War II, and her eventual meeting with her birth mother, Rachel. The novel explores the women’s 22-year relationship, only hinted at it in Moloka’i. You can sign up for email updates here.

  Thank you for buying this

  Tom Doherty Associates ebook.

  To receive special offers, bonus content,

  and info on new releases and other great reads,

  sign up for our newsletters.

  Or visit us online at

  us.macmillan.com/newslettersignup

  For email updates on the author, click here.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Begin Reading

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2021 by Alan Brennert

  Art copyright © 2021 by Micah Epstein