The Twilight Zone
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Rod Serling didnt createThe Twilight Zonepurely out of a love for science fiction and fantasy.
But couch a similar story in fantasy, he figured, and you could get away with it.
But a slip of the finger makes Nina aware of its other properties.
The ketchup accident never happened, or at least no one but Nina remembers it.
A cop named Officer Lasky (Glenn Fleshler) watches disapprovingly.
McMurray, whose work onThe First Purgeestablished him as a director to watch, leans into such moments.
Its not a subtle visual, but its an effective one.
Nina and Dorian first encounter Lasky on a lonely stretch of country road.
Just like we always talk about: No attitude.
But it doesnt matter.
But that doesnt matter either.
The situation plays out again, only with even worse results.
And so it goes throughout the episode.
The system is set up to keep them in their place.
The episode would be relentlessly depressing if it didnt also provide an out, albeit not an easy one.
Because even though he never got out, Neil understands exactly what Ninas talking about.
They always come, he tells her.
The question is what are we going to do.
And they make it, but the final inches prove just as daunting as the miles that preceded them.
Lasky stands down and goes away.
Dorian goes to college.
Its a happy ending, made even happier by a coda that reveals his success.
But theres a dark grace note at the end.
It can only be pushed through, and even then not everyone survives the pushing.
This is the best episode the newTwilight Zonehas yet produced, and by a good margin.
With luck more will match it.
Delicious pies or not, diners remains some of the most dangerous stops in the Twilight Zone.
