New version of The Twilight Zone to be on CBS All Access

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Shaka Zulu, May 27, 2018.

  1. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Episode 10, "Blurryman," and I watched it in black and white.

    Well, I have to say that I enjoyed this episode quite a bit for its wry metafictional introspection and well-intentioned homage. It was entertaining and suspenseful, and it made explicit the attributes that make Twilight Zone unique, both in design and in its place in cultural history. However, upon scrutiny, it didn't really illuminate so much as embody the problems that have plagued the show throughout the first season. It's intent and message are at best garbled and at worst contradictory.

    Ironically, the faux Jordan Peele, whose role as the devil's advocate I assume to be satirical, said it explicitly at the beginning of the episode when he made a remark along the lines of, "Maybe we're saying something we don't really want to say." But apparently he wasn't referring to the juvenile and naive politics of the show, but rather the very concept of wrapping a message in a story. The fictional character of the writer was there to be the defender of the Zone against the pressure of mediocrity-- and yet it was her character, not Peele's, who the Zone singled out to learn some vague and obscure lesson, while Peele is left to blunder on obliviously.

    At the end of the story, we get a wonderful scene where Rod Serling appears as the guardian and ferryman of the Twilight Zone-- literally a wondrous world of imagination-- to lead our beleaguered writer to the other side. It's very touching and very clearly meant as a loving tribute to the big guy, and it's beautiful to watch it unfold. But try to parse the journey that got her there, and there's nothing there but fragments of the Zone flung up in the air like Dada poetry.

    The writer character is depicted as the one who lives and breathes Twilight Zone since childhood, as shown not only on set but in a brief flashback-- to the exclusion of a real life, which is highlighted as her character flaw both in the past, by her father, and in the present, by her girlfriend. The main body of the story involves her running a gauntlet of randomly violent inanimate objects and assorted imagery from both the present and original versions of TZ, and being stalked by a sinister and shadowy figure, who turns out, inexplicably, to be the benign Serling, offering her an exit from the mundane world.

    So what is the message here? To get a life? Apparently not, since her obsession with the Zone was rewarded with full immersion. She was already the defender of the Zone's artistic integrity, so there was no lesson to be learned there. What, then, was the purpose of the gauntlet and Serling's menacing coyness? What benefit to the character was there to be put through that danger and fear? What was the purpose of her parents' point and counterpoint about having both an imagination and a real life, and of her nagging girlfriend, who she abandoned in the end? What was the purpose of the debate about the importance of deeper meanings when it was never resolved in the story within a story?

    Somewhere in the midst of the chaos, when the character is literally talking to herself-- another plot device used to no good effect-- she randomly shouts out that using the word crazy is no longer allowed because it stigmatizes the mentally ill. This had no internal connection to the narrative, so was the intention (of the remark and the story) to parody the awkward political correctness of previous episodes, or did the writers believe it to be significant somehow? With this bunch, it's hard to tell.

    So, after a season of good ideas presented badly and bad ideas presented badly, we were given a finale of good ideas and bad ideas and non ideas presented badly-- but, like most of the previous episodes, stylishly and entertainingly, and with a coda that tells us that the Powers That Be were at least well intentioned. But, ultimately, this iteration of Twilight Zone turned out to be land of just shadow and no substance.
     
  2. Kelso

    Kelso Vice Admiral Admiral

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    "Point of Origin" works exceptionally well in b&w.
     
  3. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Moddin' Admiral

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    I really hope that next season we can get at least one episode written by Peele, he's such a talented writer than we could get something special.
     
  4. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I must say that "The Blue Scorpion" was my favorite episode of this season. Chris O'Dowd really sold it. And the best thing of all: no politics! :beer:

    One question:

    I didn't understand the note that was left with Otis' body (Otis was Jeff's dad, who shot himself). The note said "I LOVED HIM MORE THAN YOU". Does anyone know what that meant? Was the note 'written' by the gun, or Otis? I wonder who the note was referring to...i.e. who "him" and "you" were supposed to be.

    But no matter. Still an entertaining episode. (Plus the fact that Jeff keeps running into other people named Jeff, so he doesn't know which one of them the bullet is "for", was pretty hilarious.) If Season 2 rises to this level, I'm all for it.
     
  5. kitik

    kitik Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I watched it in good old fashioned color, and you may be interested to hear that while most of the episode was normal, it faded to black and white for the final few minutes.
     
  6. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    ^^ Thanks for telling me. That was a nice touch. I thought about watching it in color and then black and white, but I just didn't have time.
     
  7. Romulan_spy

    Romulan_spy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I found this short scifi film on you tube that is very similar to Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. It's pretty well done.

     
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  8. SiddFinch1

    SiddFinch1 Captain Captain

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    Overall an enjoyable watch. Not sure I would call anybody them classic but a mostly solid effort
     
  9. JD

    JD Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    They've announced the titles, writers, and cast for at least some of the Season 2 episodes. I'm not sure if this is actually the release order, it's how IGN has them listed.
    Downtime:
    Starring Morena Bacarin, Colman Domingo, and Tony Hale, written by Jordan Peele
    The Who of You
    Starring Daniel Sunjata, Ethan Embry, and Billy Porter, written by Win Rosenfeld
    A Human Face
    Starring Jenna Elfman, Chris Meloni, and Tavi Gevinson, written by Alex Rubens
    8
    Starring Joel McHale, written by Glen Morgan
    Among The Untrodden
    Starring Abbie Hern and Sophia Macy, written by Heather Anne Campbell
    Meet in the Middle
    Starring Jimmi Simpson and Gillian Jacobs, written by Emily C. Chang and Sara Amini
    They really have gotten together one hell of a cast again this season. Did Jordan Peele or Glen Morgan write any episodes last season? Obviously Peele is a great writer, and Glen Morgan wrote some of the best episode of The X-Files.
     
  10. kitik

    kitik Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Jordan Peele is one of a couple names credited on the reimagining of Nightmare At 30000 Feet. But this will be the first one written solely by him.

    Glen Morgan wrote some of the better episodes last season. He did the one with Steven Yeun as a visitor who was locked up for a Christmas party at a police station up in Alaska. He's one of two people credited on the spaceship episode. And he wrote the Blue Scorpion, the one about the guy who found a gun at his dad's old place and goes kinda crazy.
     
  11. kitik

    kitik Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Did they say anything about when it'll be back? Or are we just assuming April/May again?
     
  12. DarthPipes

    DarthPipes Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I wish I could say I was excited for Season 2 but Season 1 was such a gigantic disappointment and I'm expecting more of the same. The show was just outright terrible, overlong and more interested in being woke than actually being good.
     
  13. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    A tad too topical and political.

    I mean, Twilight Zone was ALWAYS political and social but not this blatantly.
     
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  14. Romulan_spy

    Romulan_spy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I will give season 2 a chance. I was disappointed in season 1. I don't think the wokeness was necessarily a problem. But many of the episodes did suffer from being too long and lacking focus. The classic TZ were short allegories often with an ironic twist at the end. This new TZ did not do that effectively.
     
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  15. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    Are these new episode 1 hour long or 30 minutes long?
     
  16. Romulan_spy

    Romulan_spy Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I don't know.
     
  17. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    Nevermind, I checked. Hour Long episodes.
     
  18. DarthPipes

    DarthPipes Vice Admiral Admiral

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  19. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Why is this continuing Season 1 was abysmal.
     
  20. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    The problem wasn't that it was social and political-- I was hoping for that-- the problem was that it was so awkward and naive. Definitely the Twilight Woke for Millennials.

    Oh, that's a shame. She was a very nice lady who did a lot to keep Twilight Zone alive.