Jordan Peele’s reboot of “The Twilight Zone” struggled against some drags in his momentum in the episodes of its first season, not the least of which was his effort to pay tribute to the classic 1959 series presented by Rod Serling. , while operating in the modern world. He never got over those issues, thus preventing fans and newcomers to the franchise from tackling him.
Heaven knows some people wanted it to work, especially given how exciting Peele’s other genre work has been. Seeing his role as executive producer on the series alongside Simon Kinberg leads to an expectation of high creativity and unpredictability. But alas, aside from the excellent episode titled “Replay,” most of that first season depended on the appeal of its famous guest cast. As I read my kind review of that season right now, both in light of having seen the rest and the day the second season is available, I am moved to say it out loud and have everyone listen: “I was really being Too kind.”
I’ve been saying that phrase a lot lately, less in my work than in my personal life when it comes to listening to people who identify as progressive or who have apparently tolerated my presence as an exception. her views on people of color. (Stay with me, I promise this is related to the show). “Doesn’t all lives matter?” “But I see everyone exactly the same!”
The widespread social changes now taking place seem to be embraced by the mainstream almost to the point of turning realists into optimists, but what the public coverage and support are not talking about is the legion of a world. self-described. “family paaceniks” who would rather return to a state of blind and ignorant bliss, and only tolerate blocking the streets to accommodate their neighborhood weekend farmers markets, which are the only place to get eggs from custom-bred hens a diet of organic marigold seeds.
These people don’t wear MAGA hats and would never, not in a million years, vote for Donald Trump. However, they believe so strongly in their image of a supposedly rainbow-colored world where everything is happy and egalitarian that they would rather see no more unrest, even if that means that nothing fundamentally changes, because for them, nothing fundamentally needs to change.
“You Might Also Like”, one of the episodes of the recently released second season of “The Twilight Zone”, could well be the portrait of the aura of this way of thinking. Within 41 minutes, a relatively inexpensive run time on a series that loses points due to the length of its episodes, takes us through a window of existence into a world of premium catalog perfection. Each home is spacious and tidy, each wall is clean and white with neutral accents, except for the acceptable sparks of color in objects arranged that way.
In Mrs. Warren’s house (Gretchen Mol), a wall shelf is symmetrically lined with Delft-style ceramics, blue patterns on white. Her designer sportswear is completely white, as is the outfit worn by her neighbor, who is played by Greta Lee. This flawless existence seems to have been brought to them and to us by a device called “The Egg” that people have welcomed into their homes and somehow magically celebrates to improve their lives.
The best episodes of “The Twilight Zone” are the ones where you can’t tell what’s going on: a hallmark of the previous series adopted and developed not by this new one, but by the Netflix anthology series “Black Mirror” . The CBS All Access reboot of “The Twilight Zone” rarely surpasses the audience in the guessing games it raises, or when it does, the twist is so basic it’s hardly worth making fun of.
Of the three episodes made available for review, “Meet in the Middle” is hardly more interesting than a standard catfish case, and the trick in “The Who of You” looks bad halfway through. Each is primarily noted for its guest stars, with “Westworld” star Jimmi Simpson as the bizzarro-world jerk in one and Billy Porter appearing, only to be wasted, in the other.
“You Might Also Like,” which was written and directed by Osgood Perkins, stands out against these as an exception to the predictability rule, but as a satisfyingly chilling answer to the question of what the fantasy of a United States looks like. Supposedly “big” inside the illusion and finally stripped of it. This is what happens when people want so badly that the brutally honest voices and the painful but necessary actions around them are silent and cease so that everyone (read: the rich and the privileged) can return, without discomfort, to rest in their comfortable and carefree again.
Obviously Perkins wrote this long before the present moment arose, but there is a special, and perhaps unintended, laugh to enjoy when, at a crucial moment, what gets his results is his firm request to speak to a supervisor. Mrs. Warren’s first name is Janet; It is not officially known whether this slender misplaced blonde hairless woman has Karen’s middle name.
And while Lee’s sharp comic acting is a significant focal point of the episode, Mol is excellent in her acting and has a perfect cast. Mrs. Warren feels that something is wrong. But her main concern is that whatever is wrong seems to be out of her control.
This is the crux of America’s current dilemma in the face of “masks or no masks” or “justice for all versus peace and quiet for me,” which essentially puts our devotion to individualism against the drive to set aside personal desires for the good of the entire population Perkins did not write this episode in the content of the pandemic and the protests against police brutality and racial equality that have occurred, but all the great speculative fiction analyzes what it is and extrapolates, with precision dazzling, some wild version of a likely short-term future.
The cause of Ms. Warren’s unease is ridiculously classic both in terms of “Twilight Zone” and in science fiction in general, which only adds to the surprise and, even more so, to her decision of what to do with. the information you discover. It does not ruin anything to say that it is a typical reaction of an authorized person who does not want to give up the ease of living to join the necessary disturbance that accompanies an existential struggle. When it comes to a violent push, comfortable people would prefer everyone to be nice again no matter the cost.
“You Might Also Like” is the kind of episode that makes someone watch the updated episode “Twilight Zone” and hold on to the idea that it can get better, that someone will see the methods by which he succeeds and will say yes, more than is. It shows that there is still an unexpected spark to the classic premise, but that also doesn’t explain whether viewers have the patience to stick with the rest of the medium for the change that the series could achieve greatness again more than once or twice.
Seasons 1 and 2 of “The Twilight Zone” are currently airing on CBS All Access.
