The View from the Junkyard

I had mentioned during Downtime, that it felt like the programmers of the game that we call life had a reason for preventing me from watching season 2 of The Twilight Zone until after Eric Molinsky released his Imaginary Worlds podcast on the same subject. Well, lo and behold, there just might be another reason I was delayed. I’d just finished watching Zooey Deschanel’s series, New Girl, which was utterly delightful (and a show I would never have started on my own, but am very glad my wife decided to watch it!) I finished it about 2 hours before sitting down to A Small Town. It’s significant because of the star of this episode, Damon Wayans Jr.   He plays Coach in New Girl and maintains the signature comedy style of his family. Mind you, that’s not criticism, the whole cast of New Girl is wonderful and you’d be hard pressed not to like everyone you meet, but it made me pretty convinced Wayans only has one style of acting: comedy. When I saw him at the start of a Twilight Zone episode, I had to do a double take; there was no hint of comedy and barring a lighthearted “dude” while looking at some really great artwork, he delivers a serious, dramatic performance, never once lapsing into a comedic character. He actually conveys a man with a heavy heart who finds a way to do some good in his community.
Continue reading →

Of all the episodes of Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone, this is the one that had some of the most interesting discussion between me and my group of “penpals”.  We’re a handful of friends that watch shows “together”, which is to say, separately, but we watch the same episode of a show each week so we can discuss it.  When we discussed this one, a lot of thoughts went back and forth and it’s interesting because some of those shared with me were things I’d noticed, but I am so big a sucker for the human/alien friendship, that I ignored the obvious.  This made me upset with myself because I realized I’m a prime victim for this sort of alien takeover!  Now I’m going to be more on my guard than ever before!  
Continue reading →

I’m embarrassed to say it took me until writing up this review to realize why the episode was titled 8.   In fairness, it’s a testament to the writing, acting, and directing that the title just faded into the background.  This episode had me starring at the screen without blinking for the better part of its 30 minutes. So engrossed was I, that when Jordan Peele started the end monologue, I was flabbergasted that the episode had ended.  The 30 minute format definitely works better for this series, but I actually wanted more.  Although, I imagine that’s a really good sign; for the audience to be left wanting more is what every storyteller wants.  Speaking of the story, this happens pretty infrequently but, when I watch the shows we talk about on the website, I write notes.  Within the first few minutes, I’d written 2 things down, then wrote a single two-word comment during the rest of the episode.  When it finished, I wrote 2 more things, totally 7 words.  I barely took my eyes off the screen even to make my notes.  But what’s really interesting is that if you go to Wikipedia and view the Twilight Zone episode guide, this has the meatiest write up of all the episodes.  My guess is, people really liked this one!  (I don’t read those but usually use the page to get a cast list!)
Continue reading →