Here's one for you: an Army major, a clown, a homeless man, a ballerina, and a Scottish bagpiper are in a round room with a high, metal wall. No, it's not a joke – it's The Twilight Zone . Actually, it's Christmas in The Twilight Zone , ringing in the holiday as only Rod Serling 's trippy anthology series can. The Season 3 episode, "Five Characters in Search of an Exit," has all the markings of the series – a surreal premise in a standalone story, one that explores an existentialist nightmare – but its ending is arguably the series' most unique, a twist that redefines what a happy holiday ending can be .

In Hell and Hopeless in 'The Twilight Zone's "Five Characters in Search of an Exit"

An unnamed U.S. Army major ( William Windon ) awakens in a large metal cylinder, with

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