Season One Discussion

[Guest]

Discuss all episodes of Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone here.

[VCRTracking]

Free look at the "The Comedian" starring Kumail Nanjiani:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19GO8-Rrn0g

[Fairlily26]

I loved this. 

Spoiler

Reminded me of the Julie Newmar and Bergis Meredith episodes where they play different versions of the "devil" or evil genis. There was another one where no matter what the couple chose to wish for, there were also consequences, but I can't remember the name of that one.

I'm all in though!

[Annber03]

I enjoyed it, too. I really loved the updated take on the "Nightmare" story, and the ending was a real "...oh, shit..." moment. I also loved the little nod to the original episode with the one item lying on the beach :D. 

The "Comedian" story was a little more predictable, and I feel it could've been cut down from nearly an hour's length, but I did like the general concept, and I really felt for Samir with the way it slowly dawned on him what was happening, and his struggle of how to deal with it. The whole thing of targeting people he didn't like/felt deserved it was a particularly interesting touch, and one I wish they could've delved into a little more.

But I loved the bittersweet nature of everything with Samir and his girlfriend (that scene in the restaurant was poignant), and I loved his banter with Dede. The ending was a nice touch, too.

Also, Peele fits into Serling's narrator role very nicely, and I love what they've done with the opening and closing credits. I can't wait to see what's next!

[VCRTracking]

7 hours ago, Fairlily26 said:

I loved this. 

  Hide contents

Reminded me of the Julie Newmar and Bergis Meredith episodes where they play different versions of the "devil" or evil genis. There was another one where no matter what the couple chose to wish for, there were also consequences, but I can't remember the name of that one.

I'm all in though!

It's called

Spoiler

"Nick of Time"

[ottoDbusdriver]

Looking at the shape of that plane in the lagoon, I'm kind of curious how EVERYONE survived the actual crash, or the fact that while they all looked a little roughed up everyone else was dry.  Or why the stony beach with logs at the base of the treeline that Justin woke up on was suddenly not much of a beach at all, and minimal debris from the plane crash could be seen but there were way more logs on what beach there was.  
 
Even weirder, from the beach level view the main island appeared to be connected to the large rock but in the pullback view the large rock was clearly isolated from the main island.

I'm also more than a little curious where the MP3 player came from.  And who the podcaster's voice was ?

ETA: Or what the significance of 1015 was ?  Flight date, flight number, departure time, code for the cockpit door -- why 1015 ?

Edited April 2, 2019 by ottoDbusdriver

[Princess Sparkle]

I thought the update to Nightmare was fantastic. They should've made that the premiere episode IMO (and the one available for free); I think that would've enticed more people than The Comedian. 

The Comedian was "eh", but could've been shortened to 30 minutes. 55 felt plodding, and I could tell that was the episode that wasn't written by Jordan Peele. 

[SHD]

20 hours ago, Annber03 said:

The "Comedian" story was a little more predictable, and I feel it could've been cut down from nearly an hour's length, but I did like the general concept, and I really felt for Samir with the way it slowly dawned on him what was happening, and his struggle of how to deal with it. The whole thing of targeting people he didn't like/felt deserved it was a particularly interesting touch, and one I wish they could've delved into a little more.

But I loved the bittersweet nature of everything with Samir and his girlfriend (that scene in the restaurant was poignant), and I loved his banter with Dede. The ending was a nice touch, too.

Also, Peele fits into Serling's narrator role very nicely, and I love what they've done with the opening and closing credits. I can't wait to see what's next!

This is probably the only episode I'll see since I don't subscribe to CBS All Access. I completely agree that it was too long and would've benefited from being closer to 30 minutes. It was well filmed and acted, but I wish they would've trusted the audience's intelligence more. We didn't need Samir to keep muttering "Oh, because he/she never existed, then..." the first few times. Once was plenty to get the concept.

I feel like JP is doing too much of a Rod Serling rhythm in that episode's intro/outro.

Edited April 3, 2019 by SHD

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Princess Sparkle said:

The Comedian was "eh", but could've been shortened to 30 minutes. 55 felt plodding

Agreed. Way, way too long for such a thin premise and a payout that I could see coming a mile away.

I'll sign up for the free trial to watch the updated Nightmare but if it's no better than The Comedian, CBS isn't getting my $5.99. In fact, maybe I'll wait until they're all online before starting it and binge watch the series. I have no interest in any of their other shows and, as of right now, really don't have much interest in this.

[Princess Sparkle]

12 minutes ago, SHD said:

This is probably the only episode I'll see since I don't subscribe to CBS All Access. I completely agree that it was too long and would've benefited from being closer to 30 minutes. It was well filmed and acted, but I wish they would've trusted the audience's intelligent more. We didn't need Samir to keep muttering "Oh, because he/she never existed, then..." the first few times. Once was plenty to get the concept.

I am really baffled as to why they made this one the free episode; the consensus from most people seems to be that Nightmare is the stronger episode. You'd think they'd want to pull people in with that one.

[LoneHaranguer]

44 minutes ago, Princess Sparkle said:

I am really baffled as to why they made this one the free episode; the consensus from most people seems to be that Nightmare is the stronger episode.

It might have had something to do with the political commentary in the episode.

[Scout Finch]

I can't help it, I was really looking forward to the gremlin on the plane wing! While I like Adam Scott, I was disappointed that it completely deviated from the original premise.

[Princess Sparkle]

1 hour ago, LoneHaranguer said:

It might have had something to do with the political commentary in the episode.

Do you mean the one line of second amendment jokes? I wouldn't really take that as political commentary, especially because they set it up as that material bombing. I took the first episode as being a commentary on egoism and hubris more than anything else.

[LoneHaranguer]

3 hours ago, Princess Sparkle said:

Do you mean the one line of second amendment jokes? I wouldn't really take that as political commentary, especially because they set it up as that material bombing.

I took it as political commentary the writer was sneaking in (which seems to be happening on a lot of shows). It went on for over a minute at the start of the episode, with some repetition later, and didn't make the same story sense you'd see in the original series (which tended to avoid political issues). In any case, I didn't see this as a good choice to get anyone to sign up, although it seems like they understood some of the aspects of the original series better than with the last reboot.

[Penman61]

1. The original The Twilight Zone was DEFINITELY political.
2. And even if it wasn't, this reboot could be and that would be fine.
3. I don't see how anyone could argue that "The Comedian"'s use of the Second Amendment did anything but show the comedian being a failure trying to use "politics," i.e., the commentary the episode made was that hamhanded use of "politics" makes for shitty comedy. It was literally the shorthand to set up showing the comedic failure that motivated the comedian's deal with the devil.

My own opinion is that it's ALL politics, and people say they don't want "politics" in their "entertainment" only when they disagree with the "politics." IMHO, the absence of ostensible "politics" is itself deeply, deeply political (e.g., implicitly approving the status quo, empowering the empowered, keeping the marginalized marginalized, et al.)

Anyway: Wow, Kumail Nanjiani can act.

[ottoDbusdriver]

The magazines at the newstand in the airport had Samir from the first episode on the cover of magazines on the top row.

Hard to make out the title of the magazine -- <something> Weekly -- and there was a reference to comedy on the cover.

[Scout Finch]

41 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

1. The original The Twilight Zone was DEFINITELY political.
2. And even if it wasn't, this reboot could be and that would be fine.
3. I don't see how anyone could argue that "The Comedian"'s use of the Second Amendment did anything but show the comedian being a failure trying to use "politics," i.e., the commentary the episode made was that hamhanded use of "politics" makes for shitty comedy. It was literally the shorthand to set up showing the comedic failure that motivated the comedian's deal with the devil.

My own opinion is that it's ALL politics, and people say they don't want "politics" in their "entertainment" only when they disagree with the "politics." IMHO, the absence of ostensible "politics" is itself deeply, deeply political (e.g., implicitly approving the status quo, empowering the empowered, keeping the marginalized marginalized, et al.)

Anyway: Wow, Kumail Nanjiani can act.

1

Especially, the episode "He's Alive." It's so depressing to hear the same exact lies and demonization of minorities expressed in this episode still being spewed several decades later. Rod Serling at the end of it: “He's alive so long as these evils exist. Remember that when he comes to your town. Remember it when you hear his voice speaking out through others. Remember it when you hear a name called, a minority attacked, any blind, unreasoning assault on a people or any human being. He's alive because through these things we keep him alive.” Sadly, some things never change.

[xaxat]

I'll be the contrarian. I thought the first episode was, by far, the best. I thought they did the "you don't know you are bargaining with the Devil" plot really well. And Sumire's last set/twist was great. (In addition, at one point, you can see the mannequin used by Cliff Robertson in his old school TW episode.).

ETA (You want to see a good comedy set about guns?)

31 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

The magazines at the newstand in the airport had Samir from the first episode on the cover of magazines on the top row.

Spoiler

One of the magazines also appears to reference the kid president we have seen in some of the promos.

Edited April 3, 2019 by xaxat

[Brn2bwild]

I can't seem to find the full episode of Nightmare.  All I see is The Comedian.  Where is it?

[ketchuplover]

28 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I can't seem to find the full episode of Nightmare.  All I see is The Comedian.  Where is it?

Try scrolling down at CBS All-Access

[benteen]

Unsatisfying.  That's how I would describe both episodes and I'm surprised they went with these choices to start off the show with.

There was stuff I liked, of course and the premise of The Comedian is definitely interesting.  But to me, they both suffered from a couple of things.  First, the length.  The original Twilight Zone episodes were 25 minutes long.  Even at that relatively small length, the show never felt like they were leaving anything out.  It was almost always the right amount of time to tell their story and they did it well.  That doesn't mean every episode of the new TZ has to be 25 minutes but still, it's not a bad thing to consider.  I don't mind episodes being longer if the story dictates it.  The one hour episodes of the 4th Season of The Twilight Zone aren't remembered well for a variety of reasons but there were a number of really good episodes there.  But TZ works better when the shows are quicker in length.  But both these new TZ episodes really could have benefitted from tighter editing.

Secondly, it felt like their wasn't much of an explanation for what was going on.  Granted, the original TZ didn't always explain what was going on but you would often get an idea.  This doesn't give you anything.  It sets up premises, doesn't bother to explain how they got there and then when we see the payoff, they rush to the ending.

I didn't particularly care for the way these episodes were lit either and it seems next week's episode will lit/shot like that too.

The episodes themselves...

The Comedian:  It might have helped if any of the jokes had been, you know, FUNNY.  Seriously, you would think that no one in this show was involved in comedy or the comic scene if you watched this episode.  I get that maybe that was point about Samir's routine but when a show about comedians isn't funny at all, there's a failing there.  Dede was annoying.  It was nice to see Tracy Morgan pop up although you don't know where he was coming from with his offer.  Again, some interesting ideas for sure but it would have benefitted from tighter editing, actually funny material and a little more explanation.

Nightmare at 30,000 Feet: Again, we have no idea how things got to where they are.  How does everyone survive the crash?  If everyone survived, then don't they know about ex-pilot who got his way into the cockpit and crashed the plane?  Wouldn't the pilots he somehow overpowered remember him?  Seriously, how did Justin find out about the override number?  Why was Justin permitted to walk up and down the plane constantly?  Why was he allowed to sit wherever he wanted?  Interesting payoff with the passengers killing him but again, rushed.

Also, I'll add that I liked the way Peele appeared on the television screens in Nightmare.

I don't mind the adult language.  Twilight Zone is an adult show and I do truly believe this is the way Rod would have written the dialogue if he were doing the show now.  He wrote three short story collections where he adapted 19 of his stories and the language there was a little more adult too.  Not like these episodes of course but still.

Not a good way to start off this show.  But anthologies do tend to be hit or miss by their nature.  The original Twilight Zone is my favorite episode so I'm here for the long run.  Hopefully they will improve.  I've seen both Get Out and Us recently so I truly believe Jordan Peele is the right person to do a new Twilight Zone.

On The Twilight Zone being political, as stated, the show was always political.  Rod did it because he knew he could do stuff in sci-fi that he couldn't on a regular drama.  He did it very well.  Twilight Zone is political but not every episode was political.  Sometimes it was just plain creepy (often) or fun or occasionally funny (though the show was usually hit-or-miss with its comic episodes, particularly if Rod was watching it).  I have no doubt that the  political nature of his show will be one-sided though.

On the above video of Jim Jeffries...I used to be a Jim Jeffries fan (who can be a legitimately funny as hell comedian) until he became convinced he was a social justice warrior.  It's laughable that he picked up that mantle as he was one of the most un-PC comics imaginable and just comes off as sounding ridiculous.  That being said, he's often incorporated material on the Second Amendment and usually does a pretty good job with it

Edited April 3, 2019 by benteen

[ellenr33]

I think one of the things that really worked with the old Twilight Zone was that they were in black and white so they just seemed eerier that way (not that they had any choice of color in those days). I thought the comedian was a clever idea. I just wish that his jokes were actually funny. I do agree that Nightmare at 30,000 feet was the far superior episode. I liked that it was a podcast. I also really like Adam Scott so I was very upset that they killed him off. Did they ever mention why he had a previous mental breakdown?

[Joimiaroxeu]

I like that JP pretty much didn't change the classic intro and outro. Wonder if that's a part of being allowed to use the Twilight Zone licensing?

Updating the original Nightmare episode to be a flight to the Middle East seemed a little on-the-nose to me. It didn't really affect the plot but still.

I really appreciate JP's attention to detail. I usually end up wanting to watch his stuff more than once to pick up the little offhand references I missed.

Looking forward to seeing how this series proceeds, especially after Black Mirror has been such a success.

[LoneHaranguer]

14 hours ago, Penman61 said:

My own opinion is that it's ALL politics, and people say they don't want "politics" in their "entertainment" only when they disagree with the "politics."

You can also agree with the POV, but be annoyed by the poor way it's being argued, as in this episode, even if the character had been smoother and funnier. But, mostly you just want something else most of the time. 

[oldCJ]

4 hours ago, Joimiaroxeu said:

Looking forward to seeing how this series proceeds, especially after Black Mirror has been such a success.

I think Black Mirror’s success is why I was so disappointed by both episodes in comparison. They didn’t bring anything new to the table, and they weren’t tense or eerie in the least. 

As everyone has already mentioned, Comedian was too long and repetitive and downright predictable once the dog disappeared. And Nightmare didn’t have nearly the level of tension needed to make it interesting. I would have rather rewatched the original or movie versions. It’s a shame because I really liked Get Out and Us, and I know Jordan Peele can do better. 

[Joimiaroxeu]

Quote

I think Black Mirror’s success is why I was so disappointed by both episodes in comparison. They didn’t brin g anything new to the table, and they weren’t tense or eerie in the least. 

Black Mirror hasn't been forced to face comparisons to source material like this latest iteration of Twilight Zone has been and will continue to be. Therefore, I'm not quite judging the two shows the same way even though they're both in the sci-fi anthology realm. I have faith in Jordan's vision and skill--until we see what else he delivers, anyway.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Joimiaroxeu

[2727]

I mostly wondered how Samir managed to remember the names of so many "they done me wrong" people all the way back to high school. Either my memory sucks or I wasn't bullied enough.

My instinct would have been to disappear a few dictators and such.

[wanderingstar]

I really loved "Nightmare at 30,000 Feet." From the use of the true crime podcast as a narrative vehicle to that ending, this episode really worked for me. I thought Adam Scott was great.

Didn't really like "The Comedian," although I did like the ending, and I thought Kumail Nanjiana and Tracy Morgan both did really well.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Gillian Rosh

[tennisgurl]

I grew up watching old Twilight Zone episodes with my parents, and will still stick on a classic every once in awhile or watch the New Years marathon, so I was wary about excited about this show coming out. This was a bit of a mixed bag, with some good and some meh, and with a lot of potential. 

If people start complaining about this show being "too political" I will lauph so hard my head could explode. One of the reasons that Rod created the OG TW is because he wanted to talk about the social issues of his time (poverty, racism, red scare, etc.) but the networks wouldn't let him do the straight up drama he wanted to do. Then he realized that he COULD do commentary...if he added some kind of supernatural twist. Not every episode was topical, some were just creepy or funny or sad or were about the human condition in general, but he certainly knew how to spin social issues into a speculative fiction of magical lens. I mean, The Monsters are Due on maple Street is still a classic parable of paranoia and fear of the other, and is just as relevant now as it was in the 50s. 

"The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own; for the children, and the children yet unborn."

Anyway, onto these episodes. I thought "The Comedian" was too long, and could easily have been cut down by about twenty minutes, but while I saw the ending coming, I thought it was a strong finish. Kumail Nanjiana gave a really strong performance, especially in the diner with his girlfriend, and at the end. And while I saw The Shining shout out coming, it was still a spooky closer, and I would almost be disappointed if we didnt get that ending, after seeing the wall. And Tracy Morgon was surprisingly creepy but charming as the vaugly devil type character. Its really a classic TWZ set up. A deal with the devil, a careful what you wish for story, a power corrupts thing. Not amazing, but serviceable. 

"Nightmare at 30,000 Feet" was definitely the stronger episode, it had a creepy vibe to it, and the claustrophobia felt by Adam Scot was really palpitate. Maybe its because planes kind of freak me out, but I really felt for him, and the ending was quite sad for me. I mean, the original episode actually had a pretty happy ending, but this was just super dark. I think it was implied that Justin had PTSD from being a journalist in a war zone, and thats why he was having so many issues. I do kind of wish the episode had just ended with the plane going down, and without the ending on the island. Like, did the crazy pilot die? Did the passengers kill him too? He was certainly more to blame than Justin was. I also liked the true crime podcast as the thing that is speaking to him and telling him the future, its a nice update to the show, and the original story. I am always a sucker for those "oh crap I tried to change the future/past and I accidentally created the thing I was trying to prevent! Opps!" stories. And of course, loved seeing the gremlin doll. I do wish we could have had a gremlin. I want my silly puppet gremlin!

[ellenr33]

Oddly I was introduced to The Twilight Zone when we had a substitute in 6th grade science. My first episode I've ever seen was Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. And then I read an article about the top 100 TV episodes and watched It's A Good Life!

[xaxat]

20 hours ago, 2727 said:

I mostly wondered how Samir managed to remember the names of so many "they done me wrong" people all the way back to high school. Either my memory sucks or I wasn't bullied enough.

I just wrote a post about NBA all time great Michael Jordan who is notorious for  remembering everyone that even remotely slighted him. And he publicly called them all out during his Hall of Fame speech. Had Tracy Morgan got to him earlier, The NBA would now be missing a big chunk of its history.

[benteen]

The first time I watched The Twilight Zone was with my grandparents during a 4th of July marathon.  I've been a fan ever since.  My only regret is that I've watched every episode of the original show and have no new ones from that show to watch.

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, ellenr33 said:

Oddly I was introduced to The Twilight Zone when we had a substitute in 6th grade science. My first episode I've ever seen was Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. And then I read an article about the top 100 TV episodes and watched It's A Good Life!

Yeah, the first time I ever saw the show was in school, too, in my 9th grade English class. We watched two episodes-"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" and "Valley of the Shadow". And then from there I started catching episodes when my dad would watch them on the Sci-Fi channel, and I got hooked. 

[deirdra]

The original 30-minute shows were more tightly written and left things for you to think about after the show was over and that lasted more than an extra 30 minutes, often for days or years. Also, with no ability to rewind, you started to wonder if you really had seen what William Shatner saw out that airplane window. JP should consider doing shorter shows rather than battering viewers over their heads until there is nothing left to the imagination.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

Why didn't Samir try to joke about J.C. Wheeler (Tracy Morgan's character) and see what happened?  Might have been worth a try.

[Princess Sparkle]

Wow, the most recent episode really got me. The acting was top notch, there were nice little easter eggs and touches from the original series (some are listed here), and the social message was right in line with the kind that Rod Serling tried to do with the original Twilight Zone. A+ episode all round.

The only thing I wished was more Steve Harris, because he's a great actor and we didn't get enough of him.

[Joimiaroxeu]

Damon Idris does a good American accent. His character here seemed like an  alternate timeline version of the guy he plays on Snowfall.

Amazing. Taking the modern version of the Underground Railroad to try to get to college safely.

[Annber03]

Damn, that scene with Nina at the morgue. That was heartbreaking. I had tears in my eyes and was right there with her begging for the rewind to work. Such good tension with her and the cop throughout, and all the different and unsettling ways he kept showing up. I got all nervous when her son went out to get the ice cream, and that ending monologue from Peele with the flashing lights on Nina's face was eerie.

On a happier note, that showdown on the college campus was all kinds of badass. I loved the exploration of the mother/son dynamic in this episode-the bit with Nina "guessing" the lottery numbers and Dorian's reaction was adorable and fun. And I liked how he and Neil were on board when Nina told them about what was happening with the camcorder, too. Not often somebody in the Twilight Zone gets people believing them right away :p. 

Yeah. This was a really good, very moving episode. 

(Also, side note, Nina's whole outfit was really cute.) 

Edited April 12, 2019 by Annber03

[ursula]

The latest episode gave me chills. I'm now going to watch the first two.

[whitesand]

Just saw the latest episode and seeing something else too.  Here is a screenshot.

That looks like a UFO.

[cdnalor]

I was hoping she'd rewind far enough to buy a ticket after getting the lottery results.  Twenty million dollars would go a long way to make a bad cop's life difficult.

[Annber03]

9 hours ago, cdnalor said:

I was hoping she'd rewind far enough to buy a ticket after getting the lottery results.  Twenty million dollars would go a long way to make a bad cop's life difficult.

Agreed. 

[tennisgurl]

Poor Nina, and poor Dorian. Always take care of your magical time traveling recording devices! Very moving, interesting episode. It seemed exactly like the kind of story that Rod would tell on the original show. Using something supernatural to talk about a current social issue. While the camera was a fantastical element, the real story was how racist jerks who abuse their power within a system that allows them to keep doing this will just keep on being awful, no matter what people do. Nina tried over and over to be tough, to appease, to run, but the only thing that saved her son was reconnecting with her family and having backup from other members of the African American community. I just really hope the ending wasnt implying that Dorian would still end up getting killed by the police, just ten years later. 

Nina telling him off at the end was so badass, and very satisfying. Really good episode, this show is really picking up steam.

[ursula]

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

I just really hope the ending wasnt implying that Dorian would still end up getting killed by the police, just ten years later. 

I think the end wasn't saying what literally happened to Dorian as much as it was implying that there's no gaurantee that the story of a black man in America will have a happy ending. 😔

[ottoDbusdriver]

On 4/12/2019 at 2:00 AM, whitesand said:

Just saw the latest episode and seeing something else too.  Here is a screenshot.

That looks like a UFO.

In a view from a different perspective about 30 seconds later, you can clearly see the pole that streetlight is attached to.

[Soup333]

I watched the first episode and episode three last night and I think that’s enough for me. Not really a fan. Nothing wrong with the first except it could have been shorter. 

The third episode was moving but at some point it stopped being a twilight zone episode. 

[benteen]

I wasn't crazy about it.  The plot device was good and there was a lot of tension but I found the cop to be so completely over-the-top that it undercut the story.

Three episodes in and I'm not impressed with this new Twilight Zone.

[non sequitur]

I was really looking forward to this reboot, but so far it's just disappointing. 

[meatball77]

Yeah, not feeling this one at all. . . . .

[Annber03]

Hm, kind of an even darker version of "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?" in some ways, this one. Some gorgeous scenery shots throughout-loved the Northern Lights in the background, too.

Also really liked Yeun as the mysterious traveler. He was clearly having a lot of fun making his character as eerie and unsettling as possible (also, that hat and suit were working on him). And I liked the tension between Pendleton and Yuka throughout as well. 

I do still think some of these stories could be cut down to more of a half hour length, though.