Tag: jordan peele

Okay, I’m way behind on these, given that Season 2 is out now! I’ve avoided spoilers and stuff so when I get around to picking in up on Blu-Ray, I’ll review just like I’m doing with Season 1 on here. Speaking of which…

We’re all immigrants in an intersectional space called… The Twilight Zone.

We’re at a point in time where the privileged are openly showing their asses in public — just the kind of folks that would’ve been a ripe target in the classic TZ era. Easy pickings for Jordan Peele, who I think has a little extra glint in his eyes as he gives the intro to this one. But we don’t just see the outward oppression by the privileged. We see its more insidious sides: the way the rules don’t apply to the privileged, feeling good about doing something illegal that you don’t feel should be, when you assume all your problems will go away as long as you play by those same rules. It’s a good life for the protagonist, which is why it’s such a scary thing for her to lose.

There are some pretty strong callbacks to classic episodes like “The Obsolete Man” and, if you look carefully and manage to spot it, to “Eye of the Beholder“. And if I’m not mistaken, a dialogue callback to “The After-Hours“. Here are some other takeaways…

• “Matheson” charter school, get it?
• Yay for the illustration of Asian collaboration in oppressive systems.
• “It could expose us, and them”
• Gotta keep the children innocent (in their privileged bubble).
• That way the kids can concentrate on knowing how to use the technology better than you do.
• And now we’re in the world of The Obsolete Man.
• You know, I think there’s a certain suspension of disbelieve that producers bank on when you throw in the name “Twilight Zone.” It works sometimes… but not always.
• It’s so good to see you again.” “You don’t remember who you are.” — just like “The After-Hours.”

The Jack Elam Score for “Point of Origin” (out of 5):

1: “And this lemon-sucker here…”
2: “Ain’t nobody been exonerated yet, that’s for sure!”
3: “Sharp boys, real sharp boys!”
4: “A regular Ray Bradbury!”
5: “CHECK ‘EM FOR WINGS!!!”

As if men needed another reason to be horrible… in The Twilight Zone.

If there’s a message in this one, it’s a little lost on me. But I think it’s hard to see the forest for the trees because the trees are pretty damn compelling. This TZ iteration gets the societal dark side of the human condition almost note perfect (In this episode: women who feel weird saying “no,” white knighting as a pretext, men who don’t take no for an answer, etc.), in the way that the original series never could — that is, under network and advertiser scrutiny. It makes me wonder how much further “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” or “The Shelter” would go if they were made today.

The difference is, a lot of those original episodes were about a turn. There was at least an illusion that your neighbors maybe weren’t paranoid or racist or would turn on you, which a strange occurrence would then dispel. But even though tiny meteorites are as good a catalyst as aliens manipulating the power grid or a nuclear false alarm, there’s no surprise in “Not all Men.” There’s no shock as “Not All Men” reveal themselves.

I almost rated the episode lower than I did until I realized: Maybe that’s the point. Maybe this is THE TWILIGHT ZONE of the 21st century, where the real shock is that there wasn’t that much illusion to dispel after all — which makes it poignant on its own terms! On the other hand, I didn’t rate it higher because even if I’m right about the point, I still feel like I had to reach a bit to get to that conclusion.

Other takeaways:

• “The Martians might be coming.” — not the Venusians?’
• Calling someone “a jobsworth” is definitely something worthy of a Serling script.
• All the acts of violence men do, great and small, are all compressed and on display in one episode.
  • Patronizing men. And the women who enable it.
  • No surprise that Zeke the Geek is an asshole, “He used to be so bullied.”
  • “It’s just assholes being assholes.” Boys being boys.
  • “I guess I gave him a confusing vibe.”
  • “I just didn’t say anything.”
  • “At least the men are just as aggressive to each other, too.”
  • Yes, even the gay men.

The Jack Elam Score for “Not All Men” (out of 5):

1: “And this lemon-sucker here…”
2: “Ain’t nobody been exonerated yet, that’s for sure!”
3: “Sharp boys, real sharp boys!”
4: “A regular Ray Bradbury!”
5: “CHECK ‘EM FOR WINGS!!!”

Five astronauts in search of an exit… out of The Twilight Zone.

Definitely another original series mash-up of every episode with: astronauts, a catastrophe, obvious throwback references, and more importantly, a meta examination on the nature of reality. It was simple and straightforward, but still compelling. But just because I don’t have a lot to say about it, “Six Degrees” is one of those really solid episodes that I’d expect to see if this new series lasts long enough to get its own holiday marathons. Other impressions I had…

• Featuring The Bradbury won’t necessarily get this episode a “4” rating, now…
• Oh, TINA is talky — is it going to go H.A.L.?
• I’m gonna be pissed if this whole thing is just someone’s delusion.
• Otherwise, this would be a great pilot for a sci-fi TV series.
• I swear, the astronaut who loses his shit is THE TWILIGHT ZONE’S answer to STAR TREK:TOS’s redshirts.

Okay, so while this episode does feature The Bradbury…

The Jack Elam Score for “Six Degrees of Freedom” (out of 5):

1: “And this lemon-sucker here…”
2: “Ain’t nobody been exonerated yet, that’s for sure!”
3: “Sharp boys, real sharp boys!”
4: “A regular Ray Bradbury!”
5: “CHECK ‘EM FOR WINGS!!!”

An assimilated people still have a line in the sand against a colonial oppressor. It’s just pushed far back. For some though, that line is set all the way… into The Twilight Zone.

I’m sure I didn’t get them all, but just in this single episode there were actual or thematic references to every original TZ episode where…

• …someone is in a jail cell
• …it’s all police can do to just keep a grip on WTF is going on
• …people get paranoid and shit gets crazy
• ::that Giorgio Tsoukalos meme::

And this reminds me of another strength of the original series. I think part (a small part, to be sure) of the reason people say stupid things like, “Why can’t modern SF/F be apolitical like THE TWILIGHT ZONE?” is because a lot of the stories were crafted to sink its speculative hooks in you so deeply that it practically enabled a shallow viewer to miss the deeply political stuff. Now, I don’t recommend that kind of viewing for “A Traveler,” because you’d miss out on its commentary on colonialism. But hey, you do you!

Other thoughts I had as I watched…

• This is the Christmas episode, but I get the feeling it’s not going to be “Night of the Meek.” Will we ever get an episode like that in this 2019 iteration?
• Sure keep showing the Gremlin, Talky Tina, the Mystic Seer — I like merch! But I don’t know… I don’t think the alien with the bling and a Sherpa hat is going to be a thing.
• Jesus, Steven Yuen dressed like Ross — fucking awesome
• “Quallinat Christmas sucks”… but as long as you get turkey and pie…? Hey, I’m Fil-Am, I’m not judging!
• Again, a good depiction of the low key everyday racism that I experienced. (Heh, “experienced.” Past tense… it’s a joke, get it?)
• Dummy Christmas wrapping
• A. Traveler.” HAHA I like it.
• Aggro travelers are a thing…??
• Love the rotary phone with buttons
• Oh, now we have some “Monsters are Due” shit going on here?
• Mayor “Matheson” — okay, I think by episode 4, new viewers know how Richard Matheson is by now!
• I was fully expecting Greg Kinnear to the be a racist dumb-ass. No, just a bigger egotist than racist.
• “What the actual what?” is a nice callback to “Wet… what’s, ‘wet’?”
• “My people are going to intercept them.” What… from Venus?

The Jack Elam Score for “A Traveler” (out of 5):

1: “And this lemon-sucker here…”
2: “Ain’t nobody been exonerated yet, that’s for sure!”
3: “Sharp boys, real sharp boys!”
4: “A regular Ray Bradbury!”
5: “CHECK ‘EM FOR WINGS!!!”

A stand-up comedian gets advice for advancing his career, which works out about as well as you can expect… in The Twilight Zone.

Here it is — my first in a series of reviews of Jordan Peele’s TWILIGHT ZONE! I’ve purposely avoided having too much information about this series. The only things I couldn’t avoid gleaning were (a) there are homages galore to Rod Serling and the original series and (b) the show intends to shy away from direct remakes of old episodes. Fair enough. Here are my impressions…

• The first thing I thought of when I saw this episode’s title was, of course, the PLAYHOUSE 90 special of the same title that Serling did in 1957. Hey, if Mickey Rooney can play the role of a comedian dramatically, why can’t Kumail Nanjiani?
• Tracy Morgan upholds the tradition from classic TZ episodes like 1961’s “A Game of Pool” where comedians like Jackie Gleason play creepy.
• I thought the episode went a little overboard with the camera work, but probably no more in 2019 than was considered overwrought in the 50s and 60s.
• I wish the original series was this sweary.
• I loved the reference to 1962’s “The Dummy.”
• I forget how simple the old Twilight Zone-y elements are, but this episode leans on that simplicity: a comedian who wants to open his mouth and change the world…
• …which of course, in this case, leads to the classic TZ trope of someone abusing the messed situation they’re in.
• The episode was a little padded, IMO and I totally called the ending. Still, though, an awesome start!!

The Jack Elam Score for “The Comedian” (out of 5):

1: “And this lemon-sucker here…”
2: “Ain’t nobody been exonerated yet, that’s for sure!”
3: “Sharp boys, real sharp boys!”
4: “A regular Ray Bradbury!”
5: “CHECK ‘EM FOR WINGS!!!”