Twilight Zone (2019)

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Twilight Zone (2019)

Post by fluffy »

So, I just got around to finishing the second season of the new Twilight Zone series, and I gotta say, I am loving it so far.

Season 1 started strong and ended weak, season 2 was the other way around.

Here's some mini-reviews of both seasons, no spoilers:

Season 1

The Comedian: This is a hell of a way to start the series. Absolutely fantastic, with the sort of existential-dread horror storytelling that the original series did so well at its best. Kumail Nanjiani is fantastic in it. I give this one an A+.

Nightmare at 30,000 Feet: Not quite a remake of the original episode. The original episode was great. This? Absolutely fantastic the whole way through, although the ending was a bit weak. A-

Replay: Terrifying and even more relevant in 2020 than it was in 2019. Black lives matter. A+

A Traveler: Kind of a stinker of an episode. It was along the lines of some of the goofier rubber-mask alien episodes of the original series, except it took itself way too seriously. D

The Wunderkind: Decent (if on-the-nose) premise, but executed poorly. The first half is great television, the second half is just... predictable and schlocky and too much like real life. C-

Six Degrees of Freedom: This one was pretty okay. It was more like a Black Mirror episode than Twilight Zone. Not the best, but not the worst either. B-

Not All Men: Starts strong, then gets kind of weak, but ends strong. All in all a decent episode. Could have been better, though. B-

Point of Origin: I really wanted to like this one but I felt like it clubbed me over the head with a message that I already agreed with, so it kind of fell flat for me. But it was pretty well-executed all the same, and also felt like a classic Twilight Zone episode. B+

The Blue Scorpion: This was sort of a dark modern fairy tale. It felt like a third-season classic Twilight Zone episode; the sort of story that was put on the backburner and dug up when the writers couldn't come up with anything better. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't great. Just a so-so episode. B-

Blurryman: yes we get it you love the old twilight zone so do i that's why i'm watching this show D-

Season 2

Meet in the Middle: This reminded me of a lot of the classic episodes which were trying to say something interesting but only came across as downright mean. "Time Enough at Last" but more murdery. C

Downtime: Another episode which felt more like Black Mirror than Twilight Zone, but it was a really good Black Mirror episode. I choose to also notice the understated trans theme in it, even though I couldn't get Jordan Peele to respond about it on Twitter. A-

The Who of You: I have mixed feelings about this one, but it was pretty well-executed at least. Good classic Twilight Zone feel, with a somewhat unsatisfying ending (but in a good way). B

Ovation: Hoo boy I have very mixed feelings about this one. Interesting concept but it was very frustrating to watch, and the last act could have been a lot shorter or led to a much more interesting conclusion. B-

Among the Untrodden: I thought it was okay, then I thought it was bad, then the ending? Totally worth it. B+

8 (which the All Access app calls "The Ice Shelf" sometimes?): I really didn't see the point to this one, at all. Joel McHale is also not a very good dramatic actor. I kept on expecting Brie Larson and Danny Pudi to show up. Would have gotten a C from me except the blatant Sinophobia pushed it down to a D+.

A Human Face: An interesting character study which could have been about half the length without losing anything. But I like things that subvert pessimism, so it barely gets a B- from me.

A Small Town: This one was fairly clever, and also felt very much like classic Twilight Zone, in a good way. B+

Try, Try: Okay so this one I want to talk about but talking about it would be a spoiler (although it's something I saw coming within the first 10 minutes) but just in case,
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
it's Groundhog Day but from Andie MacDowell's point of view, showing just how much of a fucking creep Bill Murray's character was when you think about it.
I loved it. Solid A

You Might Also Like: Another blatant homage to the classic series, and in fact is a direct sequel to
SPOILER
SPOILER_SHOW
To Serve Man
Unlike Blurryman this one was incredibly well-executed. Some amazing imagery and clever moments, and also has a brilliant cameo of George Takei so I can't give this anything less than an A+.
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