Postcards from the Zone

TZ Event in Brooklyn, NY

2007-06-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

A reader of mine has asked me to pass the info about a TZ-related event which will occur in July in NYC, and I'm happy to oblige. Quoth him...

"It's happening in Park Slope (Brooklyn, NY) - if any of your readers are in the area on July 27th we're producing an event called Noisy Film Night, and the theme for this installation (#4) is the Twilight Zone original series. For each installation we screen (and this time it's 2 yet undecided upon episodes of TZ) we shut the sound off and improvise a new soundtrack in the context of the film (there are lots of interesting effects and dramatizing in the music, so expect a very versatile sound but wholly sensitive to the story line) - there are also 2 microphones available for ANYONE to get up and add their 2 cents - Karaoke (YES THEY CAN AD LIB!!) or poetry or even choreography (dance, improv, whatever comes to mind in the context of the story). It's absolutely free, and open to creative minds of all ages."

The interested parties can check out further info at : www.myspace.com/noisyfilmnight

Greetings from the US of A...

2007-06-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well, even bloggers take holidays. Right now, I'm somewhere in the middle of a three-week trip visit to the United States, place which I kinda always wanted to visit. Hope y'all are enjoying yourselves while I'm gone and checking out the great unknown that this country is (for me, at least).

Btw, there is a fellow who reads this blog frequently, and his IP always resolves to Germantown, MD. Well guess what - I passed right by it the other day on my way to Poolesville, MD. :D

3.23 --- The Mind of Simon Foster

2007-05-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Doug Jackson
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : Bruce Weitz, Geza Kovacs
First aired : 18th of February, 1989.

Somewhere in the future, the world (well, North America at least) is enduring a large-scale economical crisis. As a result, men are being forced to pawn off their goods to get by, and scrape for every nickel to survive. Simon Foster (Bruce Weitz, Hill Street Blues) is one of such individuals. After the unemployment office informs him that there are no openings for him, he packs up his last belongings and heads off to the pawn shop.

He is greeted there by a mysterious looking mr. Quint (Geza Kovacs, Dead Zone), who offers him $50 for his goods. After a bit of haggling, the price gets to $65, and Quint, realizing his client is in rather dire straits, offers Foster an opportunity to earn something extra. He takes him to a secluded chamber behind the store, where he shows him a room designed for a new technology commonly known as "memory dipping". In essence, it works like a memory transplant - Quint describes it by saying you could transplant yourself a professional skier's best ever race and feel the thrill and jubilation he experienced. But, such transplants are flawed, and a new underground market has developed for "the real deal" - a one-time transfer in which a person is fully stripped of a particular part of his memory, so the thrill of it is much more vivid. The downside is that that piece of your mind is gone forever, but the financial compensation should make up for it.

Foster is initially reluctant, but another notice from his landlord makes him change his mind quickly. He "pawns off" the memory of his graduation and vows never to come back, a promise he fails to keep once the cash starts draining. Soon, he's a regular customer at Quint's, selling off his memories one by one.

Problems start to arise once Foster's job applications start to come through, and he begins taking interviews. All of a sudden, he is simply unable to recall any of his collegiate training, and is thus unable to get a job. He storms back to Quint, who convinces him to sell his last valuable memory - his first sexual experience. He agrees, but quickly changes his mind - he wants his memories back. In an ensuing tussle, Foster manages to grab Quint's gun and forces him to bring him back his memories. Quint explains that there is a way, although imperfect.

A little while later, Simon is back at his apartment, taking another interview. When the interviewer from the unemployment office compliments his typing skills, he proudly exclaims that he did three years of typing at a certain college, which turns out to be a women's school only ! As Foster keeps on talking about his virtues, the bittersweet truth is revealed - he is now a man sharing memories of thousands of strangers, and is doomed (or blessed ?) to go on like that in life.

***

Way to go, J. Michael ! After criticizing mr. Straczynski for a bunch of season 3 scripts which were obviously living on borrowed ideas, it is a refreshing thing to see him come up with something original - and succesful to boot. The Mind of Simon Foster is another late S3 entry which works, mainly thanks to a good, solid, original concept and the dystopian setting (which seems to be a common trait for strong S3 entries).

Acting performances are solid - Bruce Weitz does look like a shell of a man, and Geza Kovacs' smug grin is very unsettling. David Cronenberg afficionados (such as, er, myself) will recognize Kovacs from the early works of the Canadian director - he appears in bit parts in Dead Zone and Scanners, but is best remembered as the junky manservant in little-seen The Italian Machine, a episode of a Canadian TV show called Teleplay. The director at hand is Doug Jackson, who previously helmed the above-average Extra Innings.

By the way, have you noticed that almost every 70s-80s "futuristic" depiction includes vidphones ? We're in 2007. now and those things are still to become a standard...hell, they're nowhere near that point as of now even.

Blogger's Choice Awards

2007-05-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

I've registered this blog at Blogger's Choice, and it's up with the nominations under "best entertainment". Now, my dear readers, I know this is a lot to ask, but could some of you perhaps maybe go there, register and vote for this little piece of work ? You've got the banner on the right hand side of the screen, right under "my profile" and above Adsense ads. Click, vote, etc. :D

Thanks everyone.

Postcards from the Zone on MySpace

2007-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Call it caving in to peer pressure...I created a MySpace page for this episode guide. So go ahead, add me, friend me, blog me, pimp me - right over at http://www.myspace.com/newtwilightzone .

3.22 --- Room 2426

2007-05-01T02:36:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Richard Bugajski
Written by : J. Bertrand Finch & Paul Chitlik
Starring : Dean Stockwell, Brent Carver
First aired : 11th of February, 1989.

In a totalitarian state somewhere in the future, scientist Martin Decker (Dean Stockwell, Dune, Married to the Mob) is held captive in the state's most dreaded facility, the room 2426. The charge is that he accidentaly created a biological weapon capable of mass destruction, and now the he must reveal the formula for it. As he's rather unwilling to do so, he is subjected to various torture methods by the vicious dr. Ostroff.

One day, he is joined in his cell by a frail-looking fellow named Joseph (Brent Carver), who claims that the resistance sends him to help him get out of here. Martin is sceptical when he hears this, and his disbelief deepens even more when Joseph explains him that he plans to do it by "mind teleportation" - projecting them somewhere safe by sheer willpower. Martin, a scientist, refuses to believe Joseph's claims, but his mistrust is somewhat shaken when, during one of Ostroff's "sessions", he briefly dreams away that he's having a dinner somewhere on the outside, his cellmate next to him smiling.

Eventually, the torture becomes too much for Martin, and he agrees to have a go at Joseph's method. Joseph begins the procedure, Martin falls asleep hearing the words he'll be safe soon, closes his eyes...and wakes up in a safehouse, somewhere in the city ! After intentionally burning himself to find out if he's dreaming, Martin is somewhat reassured, and reveals the location of his notebooks to Joseph. But as Joseph leaves, Martin begins to suspect foul play. He opens the curtains on the windows, and finds out a prison wall with speakers wired in to provide "street noise".

Joseph, of course, is a goverment agent, and is confidently smiling along with Ostroff on the other side. Martin is now completely desperate, and all seems to be lost - until he remembers that he does believe, and suddenly, with a flash of lightning, disappears from the room ! He materializes somewhere out of town with his notebooks, only too content to burn them. His formula might be lost, but his belief and strength are regained, because, for once, he thought out of the box...

***

A strong episode appearing on the tail end of Season 3, Room 2426 is essentialy one big hot stew with all previos dystopian-themed influences melted into one. The scripting pair Chitlik - Finch throws everything into the cauldron here, and creates a script which plays greatly to the strength of director Richard Bugajski, previously of Memories, another dystopia-themed episode with interrogation thrown in it. This time, though, Bugajski, who garnered international acclaim with his controversial Polish film The Interrogation, creates a much more uneasy setting, accomplishing that by using a lot of close-ups, and intersecting the character dialogues with random shots of rats and cockroaches.

Dean Stockwell does a good job as the world-weary scientist, but the real show stealer here is Brent Carver, who excels as the double agent hell-bent on extracting information from Decker. Just observe his slightly-lunatic gaze when he explains his teleportation theory to Stockwell's character, and you'll see what I mean.

Also, it's very satisfactory that this episode was realized without any major political nods to left or right, as those stories of torture tend to be. The "state" which Decker lives is most certainly a totalitarian enterprise, but we're given no hints if it's the left or the right which runs it. The only clue is the girl reading a Polish-language newspaper during the restaurant dream sequence, as well as the Slavic-sounding name of the chief interrogator, though we can just attribute this to the fact that Bugajski is Polish and this is just his "imprint".

Worth noting that the "mental teleportation" was previously explored in season 2's Song of the Younger World, if in a slightly more different manner. I'm sure there are classic TZ eps which deal with this, as well.

TZ Trivia : Dean Stockwell is a returning TZoner, as he previosly appeared in a classic episode A Quality of Mercy, which first aired on 29th of December, back in 1961.

3.21 --- The Wall

2007-04-29T01:03:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Atom Egoyan
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : John Beck, Eugene Clark
First aired : 18th of February, 1989.

After a military scientific experiment goes horribly wrong, the Army calls in major Alexander McAndrews (John Beck, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Dallas) to investigate. The scientists were doing research in field of particle physics and wormholes, and after an accident, all that is left is a wall which hides a portal of blinding light. McAndrews is offered to go in and explore it, a mission which he accepts even after hearing that several men went in before him and never returned.

McAndrews enters the "gate", and after losing radio network within 10 seconds, stumbles and faints. He wakes up in an earth-like environment, as is amazed to meet captain Henry Kincaid (Eugene Clark, Land of the Dead), one of the soldiers who preceded him. Kincaid is accompanied by a plain-clothed woman, who informs the major that this is a relatively tech-free society, but that there is no hate, wars and such. After surveying the area and discovering that there is no way back, McAndrews realizes he'll be here for a while.

Three days after, just as he begins to relax and get accustomed to the new surroundings, McAndrews accidentaly uncovers Kincaid's radio. By listening to the taped recordings, he discovers that there is a gate back, but is only visible at night. Kincaid explains him that they were all aware of that, but they passed a vote and decided not to go back, fearing that the military would exploit this area and its people for their own benefit. McAndrews, a soldier all his life, does not abide with this, so he storms past Kincaid and enters the gate, despite the pleas from the village leader not to do so.

On the other side, McAndrews files his report to the brass, informing them that the civilization past the gate poses no threat whatsoever. After overhearing them talk about turning that place into a nuclear arms stockyard and whatnot, his conscience gets the better of him and he decides, for the first time, to defy his orders. Dropping his major star, McAndrews rushes to the gate, destroys the mechanisms which control it and flees through the portal, his life ready for a new begin.

***

An interesting piece scripted by J. Michael Straczynski (who else) and directed by the accomplished Canadian director Atom Egoyan, The Wall is an OK episode, returning the Zone to the realm of left leanings. The military is, typically for this era, portrayed as the power-hungry, arms-mad institution, more bent on possession than peacekeeping. Beck does okay as the major who's tired of army life, though there isn't much for him to do to excel here.

In a way, The Wall majorly resembles season 1's Quarantine - the hook is a bit different, but the sets of "another world" are eerily alike, and the solution (the outsider preventing the intrusion of "his kind") almost carbon copied, although this time the outsider acts of his own volition and guilt. As far as second half of season 3 goes, this one is definitely better than average.

3.20 --- A Game of Pool

2007-04-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Randy Bradshaw
Written by : George Clayton Johnson
Starring : Esai Morales, Maury Chaykin
First aired : 31st of December, 1989.

***

Reviewer's note : this air date looks suspect to me, considering that the previous episode aired in January, and the next one is somewhere in February. TV.com reports the December date - I'd love it if anyone could tell me more on this...Zicree's Companion mentions that there were legal wrangles around this piece due to Johnson not authorizing the reworking of this script, so maybe that pushed the airing date all the way to December. Or it's just a cockup by someone on TV.com.

***

Meet Jesse Cardiff (Esai Morales, La Bamba, Rapa Nui), a young pool player with great ambitions. Eversince he grabbed that cue, Jesse aspired to be the best, but is constantly being compared to the now legendary Fats Brown, a deceased pool legend who was dubbed to be "the greatest ever". As comparisons are obviously disfavourable and patronizing, Jesse is irked that nobody recognizes his skill. While going off on a tanget in an empty pool hall, Jesse exclaims that he would give everything to have just one game with Fats.

Unexpectedly enough, Fats (Maury Chaykin, Dances with Wolves, My Cousin Vinny) suddenly materializes in the room and challenges Jesse to a game, with his life at stake. Jesse is initially reluctant, but after Fats taunts him that he's too scared to put his money where his mouth is, he accepts. The balls are racked, and a tense game ensues, during which both men seem to be in balance.

Eventually, the position is reached from which Jesse needs only one ball pocketed to win the game, where Fats requires several. Distracted by Fats chalking his cue, Jesse botches his winning shot, only to be handed an unexpected second chance when Fats leaves one ball off the table. Caught up in his own gloating, with Fats questioning his modus vivendi, noting that there is life outside of pool, Jesse misses again - and the old champ seals the deal with an easy pocket.

Visibly nervous, Jesse asks Fats to get on with it, to which he just grins and drops a piece of chalk on the pool table. He explains Jesse he wouldn't kill him, but that he indeed will die and be forgotten, like all wannabes do in the end. Jesse is livid to hear this - he claims he was tricked, to which Fats just responds that you don't become a champion by not being able to handle the pressure. Remarking that "every man can be a marksman if the target doesn't shoot back", the champ vanishes from the pool hall, leaving the dismayed contender behind.

***

As many of you might know, this is a remake of a classic '60s episode of the same name, starring Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters as Jesse & Fats, respectively. The thing is, in a two-actor 20-minute piece, you can have a script out of heaven, but you're not hitting home if the performances fail. Where Klugman and Winters made a perfect pairing, Morales and Chaykin are certainly not, and that is the downfall of this updated A Game of Pool.

In the original, Klugman was most certainly a "pool nerd", but he oozed some cocksureness and had that "dicky" aura of a young hotshot - Morales delivers an overbaked performance, and looks more like someone who never played a pool game versus a human being all his life. First time watchers might feel Klugman may or may not win the game, while watching Morales, you're almost certain his nerves will get the better of him at some point. Chaykin makes a decent Fats Brown, though I was somewhat dismayed with his mood swings - he shifts from timid to vivid in a matter of seconds, Winters handled this much better in the original. Also, Winters had some sort of menace floating around him, and looked dead serious throughout. Their acting delivery is different as well - Chaykin comes off like a typical arrogant bastard, where Winters had that "champion's cool", asserting his supremacy with full confidence and calmed precision.

What is an interesting departure from the original is the choice of ending. The '60s episode finished with Jesse winning the game, but then having a "champion's obligation" to defend his crown whenever someone challenges him - even in afterlife. The title of world's best is thus portrayed as a burden as well, rather than just an tremendous honour. This ending is dropped in favour of George Clayton Johnson's original closure, the one that you see in this remake. Which one is better falls down to personal preference, though both have their own charms.

Compliments also go to the director, Randy Bradshaw, previously of The Trance. Bradshaw stages the pool game with great skill, and makes the actual cue-swinging action one of the lone parts where this remake outshines the original.

3.19 --- Something in the Walls

2007-04-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Allan Kroeker
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : Damir Andrei, Deborah Raffin
First aired : 28th of January, 1989.

Dr. Craig Mallory (Damir Andrei, Dead Ringers) has just gotten a new job at a psychiatric clinic. After reviewing all the files from his predecessor, a case of a woman who admitted herself into the facility catches his eye. His assistant Rebecca informs him that she lives in near-constant fear, and that for some reason, sleeps only in a room with plain white walls.

Mallory's curiosity is aroused by this, so he goes and visits this particular patient, her name being Sharon Miles (Deborah Raffin, God Told Me To, Sentinel). Sharon is at first reluctant to talk about her problems, but eventually opens up and explains her case. It seems that she harbours an unhealthy fear of all sorts of patterns in the walls or fabric, claiming there are faces hiding behind it. Mallory tries to rationalize this by saying how it's the way human brain functions, but Sharon is adamant that there really are faces behind the walls, and that they are plotting her demise.

Naturally, Mallory is really interested now, however it seems to him that Sharon is hiding something. During a stormy night, Sharon dreams of her first experience with the "faces" - after a power lapse, her room is besieged by human faces slowly emerging from the walls of her bedroom. She is absolutely petrified, but manages to make a run to her son's room, where the mysterious forces greet her by inscribing a "don't tell anyone" warning sign on the wall. On this note, Sharon wakes up screaming, and winds up calling Mallory, telling him that she will explain everything the next day.

What happens is something completely different. After hearing alarming reports from Rebecca that Sharon screamed all night, Mallory is caught off-guard by seeing her walking casually in the hospital corridor, sporting some checkered-patterened clothes amongst other things. She appears to be the polar opposite of the frightened woman he used to know, and claims that she's healed, and will leave the clinic soon.

Mallory is not exactly buying this, so he goes for one last visit and asks for further explanations. Sharon rebuffs him, claiming everything really is OK, but suddenly a muffled voice is heard. Mallory is certain he heard something, where Sharon feigns ignorance. As he leaves, puzzled, Sharon glances at a pattern made by raindrops on the ceiling, where a face suddenly forms, crying for help. She just grins at it, and leaves for good...

***

Something in the Walls is yet another case of "could have been excellent, wound up about alright" in the new Twilight Zone. The mere concept is fascinating (indeed, how many time did you think you saw something in that wallpaper hanging to your left ?), but very soon it becomes obvious that there is no way out of here save for a somewhat predictable, deus ex machina ending. Sure enough, it's that what we are served - a pity, considering this is one of J. Michael Straczynski's stronger scripts as far as originality is concerned.

The performances of Raffin and Andrei elevate this piece to some extent, Andrei being the perfect, clinical foil to Raffin's histrionics early on, but it's really Allan Kroeker's direction and editing which make this one stand out a bit. The flashback sequence with the walls is stuff nightmares are made off, and is good for a few light jolts. This was Kroeker's only job in the '80s revival, though he did return for the UPN series with a few episodes, including a remake-cum-sequel of It's a Good Life called It's Still a Good Life.

3.18 --- Street of Shadows

2007-04-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Richard Bugajski
Written by : Michael Reaves
Starring : Charles Haid, Shawn Lawrence
First aired : 21st of January, 1989.

Steve Cranston (Charles Haid, Cop, Nightbreed) is a construction worker out of work, and out of luck. Being unemployed for a while, Steve, along with his wife and daughter, is currently forced to reside in a homeless shelter. To make things even worse, the shelter is due to close in two days, as their mortgage expires at that date and there is no money to renew it. After another session with the social worker goes awry, Steve loses his cool and goes outside to take a walk.

While strolling around town, Steve runs into a fancy-looking house, and, for reasons unknown, decides to sneak in. It turns out that the house belongs to a renowned businessman called Frederick Perry (Shawn Lawrence), who soon discovers that someone is tresspassing. Steve, meanwhile, is calmly exploring the villa - he eventually gets to the bedroom, where he takes a shot of Fred's whiskey, and starts opening the drawers. Just as he finds a wallet full of cash, Frederick appears from the back with a gun, threatening to shoot him. Steve momentarily realises that he was doing something very wrong, so he drops the money and apologises, but mr. Perry is intending to call the cops and let them deal with this. This doesn't exactly thrill Steve, so he throws a bottle at Frederick, who in turn fires at him. As luck may have it, both of them succeed at their attempts, and hit the floor after impact.

After a while, Steve wakes up in a comfortable, spacious bed, and is taken aback when a butler wishes him good morning and serves him breakfast. He is amazed to find out that he is now Frederick Perry, and that he shot the intruder last night ! He quickly phones the homeless shelter, and upon hearing that "his" wife, Elaine, is at the hospital, rushes there. He is met by ugly glares and swearing from what used to be his family, as Elaine informs him he shot her husband ! Steve storms into the room they're standing in front of, and finds Frederick in a state of half-coma, grasping to recover from a bullet wound. Of course, the circumstances are too difficult to explain for Steve's wife, so he just leaves the hospital.

That following night, his business advisor comes to see him, as they (or, well, the real Frederick Perry and him) scheduled last night. When the counselor mentions tax shelters, Steve gets an idea - he announces he wishes to buy out the homeless shelter which his family is in. The decision is met by some disbelief, but Steve really wants to do it, so the sale goes through. The same night, before retiring to bed, Steve has a shot of whiskey...and again, things turn hazy, and all of a sudden he loses consciousness.

This time, he wakes up in a hospital bed, with his wife and daughter next to him. He is back to his "old" self, but the things are not wholly reversed - the shelter buyout indeed came through, and with enough money, the shelter owner is now ready to employ people to conduct works on the building, including Steve. As Steve remarks that it wasn't Perry, but rather him who came up with the idea, Elaine answers that in a way, it might have been him (Steve, that is ) as well.

***

Hmmm...well, we've seen this one before as well, but this time it worked out alright. It's a simple story, with a simple, fluffy resolution, yet I found it strangely captivating. Charles Haid is the centrepiece of this episode, and his performance is admirable - he is especially good in the scenes where he discovers he's a millionaire all of a sudden. I ought to note that I also am a blue-collar worker like Steve, and that I also suffered through periods of unemployment, so that might explain my affection for it.

Street of Shadows was penned by Michael Reaves, who previously made his mark with the absolutely atrocious Nightsong. Those two pieces were Reaves' only attempts at TZ type-fiction, and, needless to say, this one came out better. Director Richard Bugajski, previously behind the camera for excellent Memories, does his best as well - some scenes look rather stylish, and there is a horror-like quality to that first part when Steve sneaks around Frederick's house.

***

For some fun, check out the comments for season 1 episode, Profile in Silver (1.49). Much to my amazement, the man who wrote the script - J. Neil Schulman - chimed himself with a comment, where he explains how a crucial part toward the end got slashed off. I guess I'm getting popular, eh ?

3.17 --- Stranger in Possum Meadows

2007-03-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Sturla Gunnarson
Written by : Jeremy Bertrand Finch & Paul Chitlik
Starring : Benjamin Barrett, Steve Kanaly, Laura Press
Fist aired : 14th of January, 1989.

Danny (Benjamin Barrett) is a little boy, living in an isolated home near the woods with his mother (Laura Press). One day, while playing in the nearby Possum meadows, he runs into a middle-aged man dressed in white, who calls himself Scout (Steve Kanaly, Dillinger, Dallas). Scout and Danny soon become friends, and Danny invites him to dinner, an act which somewhat enrages his mother who believes her prepubescent son shouldn't talk to strangers.

Scout appears at their home next evening, and after a brief conversation, Danny's mother lets him in. They enjoy a meal, and Scout reveals that he's prospecting at Possum Meadows, for a large business corporation. He refuses to clarify exactly for what is he prospecting, saying that it's a matter of utmost secrecy. He leaves, and Danny gives him a flashlight to find his way in the dark. Danny and Scout agree to see each other tomorrow so Danny can show him around the meadow, but Danny's mother ultimately vetoes the idea, feeling something is not just right here.

The next day, Danny returns home from school and finds his dog Biff missing. He is greeted by Scout, who tells him he talked with his mother and that it's OK for two of them to go, as his mom - and Biff - will join them for dinner at his place. A bit later on, Danny's mom (she has no name in the script, so really, this is the only term I can use to describe her) returns home to find both Danny and Biff missing - she does see a flashlight Scout returned on the veranda, and rushes to the woods to look for her son.

She stumbles into Scout, who claims he never saw Danny today, and that he was already gone when he brought back the lamp. He sends her downstream to look for him, and makes his way to his makeshift home...which turns to be a spaceship collecting lifeforms for alien investigation ! Scout, in reality, is an alien conducting research for his home planet, and he brought several fine examples to go with him, including a prepubescent boy named Danny. During the conversation with his homeworld, he asks how is his family doing, and learns they miss him a lot.

Danny's mom is meanwhile on a wild goose chase through the woods, which ends once she sees a bright flash of light disappear in the sky. She immediately suspects it's Scout leaving with Danny, only for Danny to suddenly materialize in a cloud of mist surrounding the nearby creek. It seems that Scout is a generous type after all, as his own memories of his wife and child could not allow him to harm a family in most horrid way.

***

Tell you what, this wasn't a half bad episode. A low-key chiller capably directed by onetime Oscar noinee Sturla Gunnarson, this episode shines mostly thanks to some effective acting by all three leads, especially Barrett as Danny, who is one of the best child actors in the Zone this side of Billy Mumy. Steve Kanaly is equally good as Scout, whose behavioral patterns and strange, coherent speech give something away, but you just don't know what.

Special effects also look good here, with the spaceship departure a high point. Pity for that comical scratch on Scout's face, that one looks ridiculous. All in all, well worth viewing, and another alright effort from the Chitlik-Finch partnership.

To Live and Die in the Twilight Zone

2007-03-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Work is slow the past few days, so I had some time to sit down and watch a few movies (and TZ episodes, obviously). Today, I sat down to check out To Live and Die in LA, a crime thriller from'85. about a pair of secret service agents trying to apprehend a major counterfeiter. And before I catch you asking why am I telling you all this, well, get this - this movie is, quite easily, the biggest congregation of 80's TZ actors this side of a legit TZ episode !

I'll go straight to the point and tell you who's who here.

William Petersen is the first-billed actor in the film, playing the lead role of detective Richard Chance. You remember him from Need to Know (1.51) , where he also fulfilled lead duties.

His girlfiend-cum-informer is portrayed by Darlanne Fluegel, a name which sounded familiar the moment I read it on the credits. Then I remembered - she plays the little boy's mother in Gramma (1.44).

Veteran actor Dean Stockwell is another major player, playing the corrupt lawyer who aids both sides. Dean featured in a season 3 episode called Room 2426 (still to be reviewed), as well as in a classic piece A Quality of Mercy.

Robert Downey Sr. also appears as the police captain, Petersen's superior. Robert directed two TZ episodes, namely Children's Zoo (1.07) and Tooth and Consequences (1.41). He also appears as an actor in Wordplay (1.03). Dwier Brown, cameoing as a doctor, also appears in Wordplay - ditto Anne Betancourt, who both here and there plays a nurse. And we also have Brian Bradley to add to this tally, who has a minor part either way.

Michael Greene plays Petersen's ex-partner, who gets waxed by the bad guys early on. He has a brief role in Kentucky Rye (1.08), I believe as Jeffrey DeMunn's business associate.

Another corrupt lawyer in the movie, another TZ alumnus. This time it's Christopher Allport, to be spotted as one of the parents in Examination Day (1.14).

Bobby Bass, playing an FBI agent here, is to be seen in Nightcrawlers (1.11).

Thomas F. Duffy, briefly appearing as a credit card counterfeiter, plays a minor role in Night of the Meek (1.30). His partner in crime in the film is Gary Cole (appearing uncredited), one of the lead parts in Her Pilgrim Soul (1.28).

And who directed the movie ? William Friedkin, also behind the camera in the aforementioned Nightcrawlers.

The movie ? Oh, wasn't bad I guess.

***

The DVD, the moving pictures, source of modern entertainment for every man in this 21st century. A man like Miloš J., who thought that this afternoon in front of his TV would be just an ordinary excursion into the realm of celluloid fantasy. But, as he discovers, some things just stay with you, and haunt you until the end of your life. File this one under "t" for "trivia", in the long hallways filled with cabinets, filled with useless information...in the Twilight Zone.

3.16 --- The Cold Equations

2007-03-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Martin Lavut
Written by : Alan Brennert (story by Tom Goodwin)
Starring : Terence Knox, Christianne Hirt
First aired : 7th of January, 1989.

Thomas Barton (Terence Knox, Tour of Duty) is a rescue mission pilot, currently shuttling over some medicines and supplies to a colony somewhere far away in another galaxy. His ship is fitted with enough fuel and materials to last one journey, a fact which becomes a nuisance once Thomas discovers there is a stowaway aboard the ship, whose mass makes the trip impossible to finish.

The stowaway is a young girl called Marylin (Christianne Hirt), who boarded the ship in order to visit her brother who is stationed at the planet Thomas' ship is flying to. The problem, though, is that as noted above, the ship can't reach its destination with that much extra mass on board. The solution is even more ugly - standard procedures call for a quick execution of the stowaway, with the ejection into outer space the final act.

Marylin is shell-shocked upon hearing this, and Thomas isn't exactly at ease himself, knowing that either she dies, or both of them, as well as the numerous colonists awaiting the medicines onboard, die instead. Thomas tries to reduce the ship's mass by gathering all excess weight he could find into one pile, but their dash of hope evaporates upon finding out that the assembled goods are not even half the neccesary weight.

It is becoming obvious that Marylin will have to "take one for the team", so she asks if she can speak with her brother through the vidphone before condemning herself. After some delay, her brother phones in, only to hear the horrible story himself. He is devastated by the news, but Marylin comforts him, saying she will always be with him in some shape of form. Her conversation finished, Marylin announces she's ready and steps into the airlock. Thomas reluctantly ejects her, then walks back to his cockpit, where emotions finally overflow him as he begins to cry.

***

"The Crime and Punishment" through the Twilight Zone, one might say. The Cold Equations is universally regarded as one of the rare season 3 highlights, and while I do admire the story, which has a lot going for it, I just didn't really think it was a great TZ episode. In essence, it was a pretty straightforward story, with the only "twist" mailed in somewhere around the third minute - the rest deals with Marylin coming to terms that she'll be dead before the ending credits. Of the two leads, Hirt leaves a better impression - Knox just feels too distant, and his tears in the end wind up looking forced and stilted. The sets and special effects aren't too shabby, which is a bonus considering the shoestring budget 3rd season was shot on. Overall, I rate it "good", not "great".

This episode caused quite a ruckus back in the day, as CBS freaked over the ending, finding it horribly inappropriate Marylin offs herself. According to Alan Brennert (via Zicree and his companion), the studio heads offered alternative solutions, ranging from "Marylin cuts off her limbs" to "Thomas shoots her in cold blood", but the production team stood its ground, and CBS finally backed off.

Season Three awards : part 1 of 2

2007-03-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

Yep folks, it's that time of the year. As this season has 30 episodes, we're halfway there before the finish line, so it's time to recap what we saw so far.

Admittedly, the first half of third season wasn't all-out bad, but its worse bits were the pits alright. There were a couple of real worthy episodes, but a fair amount of howlers as well. The awards, thus, are...

The Golden Rod award for Twilight Zone excellence goes to : Extra Innings, Dream Me a Life, Memories, The Hellgramite Method, The Call, Acts of Terror, The Trunk

The Silver Rod award for valuable addition to the Twilight Zone canon goes to : The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon, The Trance, 20/20 Vision, There was an Old Woman

The Bronze Rod award for good effort goes to : The Crossing, The Hunters, Our Selena is Dying, Appointment on Route 17

Agree, disagree ? Leave a comment, it's open for debate...

3.15 --- Appointment on Route 17

2007-03-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Directed by : René Bonnière
Written by : Haskell Barkin
Starring : Paul Le Mat, Marianna Pascal
First aired : Saturday, 31st of December

Tom Bennett (Paul Le Mat, American Graffiti) is a shark-like businessman, known for devouring competition and general ruthlessness. However, his personality seems to have changed after a heart transplant operation - he seems more mellow, and his tastes suddenly veer more towards the blue collar. After taking a beach walk with a female colleague, Tom spots a lonely girl (Marianna Pascal) who he thinks knows from somewhere.

The next day, Tom instinctively drives away to have lunch at a place he's never been to before, where the girl from the beach is one of the waitresses. He seems to be attracted to her, but he can't quite pin why. Mary Jo - that being her name - is a tough customer though, refusing all of his advances. Later, Tom learns she recenly went through a heartbreaking spell, as her boyfriend died in a car accident. Tom asks her for his name, and finds out it's "Jamie Adler".

As coincidence might have it, that is the same Jamie Adler whose heart now beats in Tom's body, and thinks suddenly make more sense. Encouraged by this, Tom opts to go for it one more, final time and try to win Mary Jo over. He talks to her, and opens up completely, saying that he wasn't such a nice guy before, but that he was given one more chance and that he is willing to wait for her, as he feels she is an integral part of his future. Upon hearing his plea, Mary Jo relents and leaves Jamie behind in her memories, saying he told her he would always be with her. Tom smiles, knowing only too well what that means.

***

It started off somewhat alright, but it turned out in a disaster in no time - this is the only proper way I can describe Appointment on Route 17, the title probably referring to the highway where Jamie bought it. This episode is odd due to its unusual climax ; Tom never fesses up to Mary Jo her boyfriend's heart is in him, he resorts to playing silly riddles and acting stupid. Why, I can't quite understand. Neither did the rest, I believe. I could of course say I was taken by surprise with the fact Tom never owes up, but in this case this is not a positive. Not to mention the solution is telegraphed midway through the episode (anyone who felt genuinely surprised upon hearing Jamie's heart is in Tom now should stop watching any television or cinema).

Hammy acting doesn't help this episode either. Le Mat is going in and out of what I suppose should be a Texas accent, Pascal is even worse in her dialectical yo-yoing, and she also throws some overacting in for good measure. Director René Bonnière (previously of The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon) acquits himself alright, though the same can't be said for writer Haskell Barkin, whose previous Zone scripts - Act Break, Tooth & Consequences - were miles better, and funnier to boot.

3.14 --- The Trunk

2007-02-23T15:10:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Steve DiMarco
Written by : Jeremy Bertrand Finch & Paul Chitlik
Starring : Bud Cort, Lisa Schrage
First aired : 24th of December, 1988.

Willy Gardner (Bud Cort, Brewster McCloud, Harold & Maude) is a quiet, solitary manager of a rundown hotel. He leads an uneventful life, with a stray cat for his only friend, and a gang of local thugs constantly making fun of him. Among the hoodlums is a girl named Candy (Lisa Schrage, Prom Night II), who takes great pleasure in teasing him.

One day, while doing the hotel round, Willy stumbles upon an empty room, with only an antique trunk in it. The trunk turns out to be empty, prompting Willy to wish out loud how he would be rich if he only had a quarter for every piece of lost luggage he finds. Out of curiosity, he opens the trunk again, and lo and behold - it's full of quarters (or nickels, I forgot what he asked for) !

Realizing he is now in sole possesion of a rather exquisite little gimmick, Willy throws a party for everyone, hoping it would improve his social standing. He certainly catches Candy's attention, who offers herself as his girlfriend, but he sees through this façade and recognizes her real, money-hungry intentions. Slightly discouraged by this turn of events, Willy returns to the party and gives all his stuff away to the guests, wishing only for a real, flesh and blood someone who would accept him and love him as he is.

Not everyone is ready to leave him, though. Soon after the party's finished, Willy is ambushed by the three thugs who want to "get their cut" of whatever big money he's hoarding. He manages to distract them enough to run away, locking himself into the magic trunk. The goons find nothing and bolt, but suddenly, the trunk stays locked - leaving him inside.

Fast forward to another place, another time. A young woman is talking to her mother on the phone, lamenting the lack of a real man who would love her and take care for her. As she hangs up, she decides to check out her latest acquisition - an old trunk. Swinging it open, she's amazed to see Willy jump out of it - and it seems like love at first sight, too.

***

Whaddayaknow, an original episode. After a bunch of rehashes, we're treated to this neat little piece by the now-familiar duo Jeremy Bertrand Finch - Paul Chitlik, previously of Aqua Vita and The Hunters. The script is more reminiscent of the old series, which almost always had some sense of cosmic justice getting its due - this time, the good guy gets the girl, if not exactly in the most usual manner.

Two things make this episode above average. First, the presence of Bud Cort, an accomplished actor, who is just perfect as the bookish Willy. Second, Steve DiMarco's direction is pretty good, and he adds some extra flair to the story by cranking up the pace in a few scenes, along with some neat tracking shots. DiMarco went on to direct many episodes of many different TV shows, but this was to be his only TZ entry. For shame.

3.13 --- There was an Old Woman

2007-02-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Otta Hanus
Written by : Tom J. Astle
Starring : Colleen Dewhurst, Zachary Bennett
First aired : 17th of December, 1988.

Hallie Parker (Colleen Dewhurst, The Cowboys, Annie Hall) is an aging children's book writer, ready to leave her home and move to Arizona. On her last day at the local library, where she signs books, she laments the fact that children are too reliant on videogames and TV nowadays, and that there is a lack of young readers. As she readies herself to leave, a young mother visits and asks an autograph for her ill son, Brian. Hallie, moved by her plight, asks if she could visit Brian and deliver him the signed book in person, a proposal which is warmly welcomed.

Brian (Zachary Bennett, Cube Zero) is overjoyed when he sees his favourite writer in flesh, and asks her if she could read him a story from his favourite book, "Creatures in the closet". The old woman and the dying boy share an emotional moment while reading, but Brian seems to be upset with the fact Hallie is moving away to Arizona, as he would like her to come visit again.

After this experience, Hallie's life takes a turn for the weird. At night, she starts hearing children's voices in her house, and keeps finding loose toys scattered around - a thing which seriously hampers her prospects of selling her house. To top it off, doors start to open and close at random, and other eerie things spring about.

After failing to impress a couple of buyers, who feel that the neighbourhood children are too much of a problem, Hallie decides to confront the voices, and starts looking around the house for them. What she finds is the signed copy of the "Creatures" book she gifted to Brian, lying in a rocking chair in her living room. She immediately phones Brian's parents, thinking that someone stole it from him, but hears the sad news instead - Brian passed away, and was buried that morning...along with his favourite book.

Realizing some other forces are at work here, Hallie follows the laughter of children to her study on the first floor...where she finds the ghost of Brian, who is surrounded with other prematurely deceased children. Brian implores her to stay, as they need her stories. Hallie agrees, and starts reading them her stories, relieved that there still is an audience for the fruits of her imagination.

***

I hate to repeat myself, but we've seen this one before yet again. This time around, the direct ancestor seems to be an old TZ episode called The Changing of the Guard, in which the late, great Donald Pleasance plays an aging professor who fears that his work was all for naught, only to be convinced by the ghosts of his students that he's worth something after all. Colleen Dewhurst, who starred with John Wayne in a couple of his latter-day vehicles, does a credible job as the retiring storyteller, but this is such a bland episode that nothing possibly could make it stand out. The blandness is reaffirmed by the direction of Zone newcomer Otta Hanus, who had the great opportunity to make the episode at least a bit spooky with those children voices - instead, he fluffed it up and we wound up with a something best described as a "family fairytale".

Not that I have something against rehashes and updates (see The Call, for example), but if you're gonna tread familiar grounds, you might as well try and better the previous efforts. There was an Old Woman does not, and as such, is rather...average.

TZ Trivia : Alf Humphreys, who plays Brian's dad here, returned to the Zone fourteen years after this episode, appearing in the UPN episode Found and Lost.

The big 50

2007-02-13T07:53:00.000-08:00

No, I haven't turned half a century...it's another jubileum, which is a bit stale by now. Postcards from the Zone has now served 50,000 visitors, and is just growing on and on. Congratulations to all involved - that is, me, and you. Keep on reading, coming back for (in)frequent updates, and, er, that's it I guess :)

As of today, it's 52,000 and some change. But hey.

3.12 --- 20/20 Vision

2007-01-29T05:30:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Jim Purdy
Written by : Robert Walden
Starring : Michael Moriarty, David Hemblen, Cynthia Belliveau
First aired : 10th of December, 1988.

Timid bank loan office clerk Warren Cribbons (Michael Moriarty, Q, Return to Salem's Lot), known to his colleagues as "the human calculator", is a fellow particularily good with digits and decimals. His boss, mr. Cutler (David Hemblen, Short Circuit 2, Brainscan), is satisfied with his work and promotes him to chief loan officer. On his way back to his office, Cribbons accidentally stumbles into an attractive bank clerk Sandy (Cynthia Belliveau, Family of Cops), who breaks his glasses during the collision.

After putting on his broken glasses, Cribbons discovers he gained the ability to see into future - a feat immediately tested by his premonition of another colleague accidentally dropping a banknote into a dustbin. Soon enough, Cutler orders Cribbons to start cracking down on some farmers late with their payments, and if neccessary, proceed with foreclosure. His first client is Vern Slater, a stubborn farmer reluctant to sell land. Cribbons is ready to pull the plug on him, but after putting on his glasses, he sees a ruined man in front of him, surely a vision of things if foreclosing became fact. He delays his decision and opts to visit their farm.

Once there, he tries convincing Vern to sell, only to have another premonition, this time of a ruined farmhouse. Realizing that it is he commanding the destiny of those people, Cribbons has a change of heart - especially when "foreseeing" the fact that Cutler is intentionally pushing for foreclosure as he has inside information of a new state highway passing through Slater's property. After consulting with Sandy, he immediately approves a personal loan to Slater from his own savings, and thus saves him and his family. He also experiences another vision - Sandy falling from a ladder and badly hurting herself.

This doesn't sit well with Cutler, who immediately fires him. Cribbons goes back to his office to pick up his stuff, and sees Sandy fixing a office sign while on a ladder. He rushes to her and catches her fall, just as she was on the verge of getting really hurt. The collision was not victimless though, as Warren's glasses are now broken for good. But, he disposes of them, saying he doesn't really need them anymore, and on that note, leaves the bank for good.

***

Another adventure from the Xerox Zone. Visibly short on ideas, the season 3 staff opted to do another uncredited remake, pilfering the classic A Penny for Your Thoughts episode, which originally aired 3rd of February, 1961. Penny for Your Thoughts featured also a bank clerk as the protagonist, with a "magical" coin replacing the glasses gimmick. The main difference between the two is that Warren Cribbons is a good-natured, conscious type, where Hector B. Poole from the original uses his "gift" for personal gains. Comic relief is also notably absent from the colour entry.

Moriarty, who I personally loved as the bumbling ex-con in Q, is excellently cast here, and he conveys the troubled loan officer persona effortlessly. Hemblen and former beauty queen Belliveau are decent support, but there's not much meat to this script or story to make it better than average.

Festive greetings

2006-12-24T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...I'm still alive, as you can see. I haven't had any chance for an update because my line of work tends to get rather busy from mid-november on - people buy a lot of flowers for christmas - so I was busy logging 50hr weeks through and through...

But that doesn't mean that I forgot about this. I will have to remove the original deadline of finishing the works in 2006, but, that's not a bad thing. Because, I have certain plans for this thing to go beyond what it is now, and you'll just have to wait and see. ;)

Meanwhile...this thing tallied 40,000 visitors and more now. And, someone - I thank him publicly - even bought TZ boxsets using the ads on this blog. I bow to you, sir (or ma'am).

Lull in work is upcoming...so expect more postcards posted on this blog. And a very merry christmas to all of you who celebrate it on 25th.

-- Milos

3.11 --- Acts of Terror

2006-11-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Brad Turner
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : Melanie Mayron, Kenneth Welsh
First aired : 3rd of December, 1988.

Louise Simonson (Melanie Mayron, Missing, My Blue Heaven) is an unhappy woman living with an abusive husband, Jack (Kenneth Welsh, Four Brothers, The Fog '05). She ekes out a miserable existance by catering to his every need, while the only form of gratitude she gets is a new bruise every now and then.

One day, Louise receives a package from her sister. It turns out to be a porcelain figure of a dobermann, seemingly a birthday present. Some time after, Louise again receives a beating because she accidentaly burned Jack's breakfast. While she's weeping in silence, Jack is assaulted by a rabid dog just before leaving on a fishing trip. Louise is unaware of what's happening, and Jack dismisses it as a stray dog on the loose.

The night after, Jack is back from his trip, and the Simonsons are having Louise's sister and her husband over for dinner (note : at this point, I'm really uncertain if the couple which visits them are friends or family, even though the only other credited female in the episode is "sister"). Accidentally, Louise overhears Jack's conversation with Phil, the husband of Louise's sister, where he basically confesses that his fishing trips are just an excuse for something else. Louise is rather angry with this, and she gets on with cooking in order to calm herself down somehow. Meanwhile, Jack gets again threatened by a dog - and this time, in his own garage.

Police is summoned to the house, but they find no dogs anywhere nearby. After their visitors leave, Louise confronts Jack angrily about the "fishing" trips. Just as he readies himself to use the force again, the same dog appears behind him, growling. Jack tries to escape, but a dog seems to be hiding behind every corner. He is soon forced to retreat to the garage, where he loses a fight with the growling dobermann.

At that point, Louise comes in and realizes it is her own anger which unleashes the hounds, triggered by the statuette she received. She doesn't want them to keep on attacking her husband, but she can't help it, as she just doesn't love him anymore. Jack makes a desperate lunge at her and manages to break the porcelain dog, which makes the dobermann disappear. Still, Louise gets angry again, and the animal is there again - they seem to be psychically linked. She finally calls the attacks off, unable to deliver the finishing blow.

The next day, Jack is woken up by the sound of Louise packing and leaving. He threatens her to not to dare run away, as he will chase her down, but Louise just retorts he won't dare...a claim which is backed up by the barking dog who's suddenly on the passenger seat.

***

The Zone returns to the realm of social awareness. After battling discrimination, alcoholism, bigotry and whatnot, the TZ writers directed their ire towards spousal abuse. J. Michael Straczynski's probably strongest effort to date (he just keeps getting better, doesn't he ?) deals with this subject efficiently, with the ending pointing out that the liberation comes from the inside, rather than outside.

Apart from good performances by Mayron and Welsh, the star of this show is arguably the director, Brad Turner. This piece was one of the first assigments in his career which would later expand to directing many episodes of several acclaimed TV shows (24, Stargate SG-1, Prison Break, Jeremiah, La Femme Nikita), and he's quick to show his talent - observe the quick cuts in Louise's carrot chopping scene, as well as the nice pan shot when her sister and her husband arrive. Turner would return to the Zone some 14 years later, directing several UPN Zone episodes.

Overall, a rather sound episode.

3.10 --- The Trance

2006-11-17T14:06:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Randy Bradshaw
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski & Jeff Stuart
Starring : Peter Scolari, Neil Munro
First aired : 26th of November, 1988.

Leonard Randall (Peter Scolari, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids : The TV Show) is a "channeler", a sort of a medium whose body gets possessed by other personalities from the past. The person who "visits" Randall regularily is Delos, a 10,000 year old warrior from Atlantis, who acts as some sort of sage answering people's questions on, oh, just about everything. Naturally, this "gift" is a source of hefty income for Leonard and his partner Don (Neil Munro), as they market Delos in every shape of form, from audio tapes to books etc.

And of course, this is all a scam. Delos doesn't exist, and both Leonard and Don are making a fine buck off his Atlantic wisdom. But, things start to turn for the worse when Leonard suddenly begins to channel someone else - and for real. The unknown guest almost derails their partnership after irritating a TV producent, and also manages to irritate a known psychiatrist, who was hired by Don to "help" Leonard calm down.

Don manages to iron out the differences with the TV station, so the interview witht Leonard can go through after all. However, it's an unmitigated disaster - right in the middle of it, Leonard begins channeling and the voice from beyond confesses it's all a scam, while unleashing a subdued barb-wire speech about the low values predominant in today's culture and people being too quick to idolize the unworthy. Of course, this causes an unfixable rift between the two partners, and Don decides to just leave Leonard on his own devices, without money, career, or anything else for that matter.

Still, it's not all lost for him. The voice which ruined him reappears, and explains his purpose - while he was "channeling" Delos, he claimed he was there to bring wisdom to the world and that he was sent from the universe. Well, it seems that universe took notice and decided to imbue Leonard with real wisdom - a process which is certain to change our protagonist...for better or worse.

***

Well, here's an interesting concept - a fake medium/sage suddenly being turned into a real medium/sage. Obviously, J. Michael Straczynski (this time assisted by Jeff Stuart) is having such a blast recycling previous Zones, so he didn't stop with The Call, he went on and "reimagined" Alan Brennert's The Healer and came up with, well, The Trance.

Even though, with Healer being an obvious influence, The Trance is original enough to stand on its own, and is not half bad. Straczynski & Stuart even manage to weave in a slight critique of the modern society, which he perceives as too TV-reliant and prone to rash judgement. Peter Scolari's (who looks eerily like Christian Bale) performance is rock-solid, especially as Delos, and he's generally fun to watch. Director Randy Bradshaw's style is somewhat reminiscent of his more famous compatriot David Cronenberg - the "channeling" sequence in the beginning echoes Scanners, while the room where Leonard and Don discuss business matters is pure Cronenberg interior. Summed op, a rather fair entry this one.

Healer trivia : when Don announces his departure, he informs Leonard that "there is healer waiting for him down in Panama". Well, at least Straczynski doesn't shy away from his influences.

***

Postcards from the Zone has been visited a staggering 2000 (and counting) times in the past two days. The reason for this traffic spike is the linking to this blog on the Straight Dope (dot com) forums. Thanks for reading, guys.

3.09 --- The Call

2006-11-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Gilbert Shilton
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : William Sanderson, Julie Khaner, Dan Redican
First aired : 19th of November, 1988.

Norman Blane (William Sanderson, Blade Runner, Fletch) is a timid desk clerk, living a solitary life in a small apartment. One night, he falls asleep while watching TV, and awakens just in time to hear an ad for a classical music compilation. Being a keen fan of those tunes, Norman writes down the number as heard on the commercial and immediately dials it. However, he seems to have dialed a wrong number - his call is answered by a female voice (Julie Khaner, see Hellgramite Method) who is obviously not the person he's looking for.

Or is it, then ? The woman on the other side - Mary-Ann being her name - seems to be as lonely as Norman, and the two casually engage into some small talk. Next day at work, Norman is unusually loquacious, a fact which slightly ticks his silence-loving colleague (comedian Dan Redican) off. He tells Norman that he should ask her out on a date, and get over with it.

After a three-and-a-half hour phone session which ensues next night, Norman gathers the courage and asks her out. Surprisingly, she refuses, saying that all she wants is "phone friendship". Norman is shattered, but there is a glimmer of hope - his co-worker (quite a man that fellow) suggests him to check out her number at the phone company, and grab an address that way.

Turns out, the calls are coming from the local art gallery. Browsing around, Norman finds nobody named Mary-Ann, so he secretly dials the phone number from inside the gallery and then follows the ringtone to its source. Eventually, he finds a remote phone somewhere far from entrance, in the room which, amongst few exhibits, contains a life-sized sculpture of a young woman. As he gazes into the statue, a passerby informs him it was the last work - a self-portrait - of a young artist who commited suicide. Her name ? Mary-Ann Lindeby.

Norman can't quite believe what's going on. Next evening, he dials Mary-Ann, who tells him she saw him visiting. He loses it and slams the receiver, refusing to come to terms with the obvious. Seconds later, he phones her again, only to hear she can't do this anymore and bid him farewell.

Norman is not giving up easily, though. He again visits the gallery, and delivers a heartfelt speech to Mary-Ann's sculpture, a gesture which, amazingly enough, draws tears from the lifeless bronze face. Norman returns home, and this time, it's his phone which rings - it's Mary-Ann, who is also in love, asking him to come to her. He obliges, realizing this is his "now or never".

In the gallery, Norman approaches the bronze Mary-Ann, who now openly talks to him. They profess love to each other, and vow to stay forever together. He touches her hand, and transforms into a bronze statue himself, bound to his lover for eternity.

***

Escapism, be it existential or romantic, is an concept often found within the Zone, both young and old. J. Michael Straczynski treads familiar ground with The Call (season 2's Song of the Younger World is the most recent example, while classic episode Miniature seems to be a direct ancestor), but the episode rises itselfs above the average thanks to several factors.

The Call might be Straczynski's best script so far. A TZ fan to the core, he meticulously implemented those influences in his writing, pacing the episode just right and striking the fine line between just outlandish and too corny. If you do wind up believing in a love story between a consummate loser and a bronze statue, the writer did his job.

Straczynski couldn't do it all on his own though. William Sanderson, oh so memorable as the handyman-cum-replicant aide in Ridley Scott's cult sci-fi epic Blade Runner, gives an excellent performance as the low-key desk clerk with no life or prospects of it. Everything fits here, from his confused face, his speech pattern which echoes his lack of social contact, to his declaration of love to the late Mary-Ann, voiced by Julie Khaner. Sanderson's turn is complemented by Dan Redican, who is delightfully smug and condescending as Norman's colleague.

Overall, a touching little episode, and two-for-two for director Gilbert Shilton, who also, just like Khaner, previously worked on Hellgramite Method.

3.08 --- Our Selena is Dying

2006-11-14T15:02:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Bruce Pittman
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski (story by Rod Serling)
Starring : Terri Garber, Jennifer Dale, R.H. Thompson, Charmion King
First aired : 12th of November, 1988.

Debbie Brockman (Terri Garber, Toy Soldiers, Dynasty) is a young woman suddenly summoned to the home of her aunt Selena (Charmion King), who is on her deathbed. As she arrives to her family house, the dying Selena clutches her hand quite firmly, leaving a odd looking spot on it.

Soon, Debbie starts feeling ill, while Selena, who the local doctor (R.H. Thompson) already wrote off some time ago, is suddenly revived and reasonably healthy. The doctor can't quite fathom it, but when Debbie develops certain signs of premature aging, and Selena - and her protege niece Diane (Jennifer Dale) - just keep on getting better, he starts to suspect foul play. His suspicion is aroused even further when the deaf servant Orville shows him some excerpts from the family diary, which reveal the fact that Diana's now catathonic mother Martha is supposed to have a burn scar identical to Diana's.

The following night, doctor sneaks into the Brockman home and examines Martha's arms, finding that she has no scars at all. As Diane interrupts them, he figures it all out - Diane and Selena are some sort of witches, who can replenish life by "leeching" off younger people. Obviously, Diane is just Martha kept alive by leeching off, while Martha is real life Diane at her real age, which is furtherly proven by the colour of her eyes.

Doctor storms to Selena's room and urges her to release Debbie from her curse, a plea which falls on deaf ears. A struggle ensues, and Martha (er, Diane) joins in, accidentally breaking a gas lamp and setting the whole estate on fire. In the aftermath of it all, doctor survives, Debbie returns to her normal age, and Diane (er, Martha) manages to escape with serious wounds by jumping through the window.

At the hospital, she is registered as Jane Doe with heavy burns, and no chance to survive whatsoever. That is, until we see a young nurse complaining about a sudden rash which looks like a burn on her hands...which accidentally appeared after contact with the new patient.

***

A tremendous mess of an episode, Our Selena is Dying is the weakest link of the third season so far, going even lower than The Crossing or The Hunters. A twist given away at the very beginning, a cast of cardboard characters, weakish acting, those are just some few of the flaws which plague this piece. Not even the fact that the original outline was conceived by the great Rod Serling helps its credentials - J. Michael Straczynski's script makes no attempts to clear up any mysterious about the dark family powers of the Brockmans, and uses lame excuses such as mother/daughter switch to advance the plot. Not to mention that the original premise is not highly original to begin with.

What takes the cake is an absolutely atrocious faux-gothic horror soundtrack, which only amps up the ineptitude factor. Worth watching only perhaps for the reasonably attractive Terri Garber, otherwise, avoid it.

Happy Armistice Day

2006-11-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

Or Veteran's Day, however you call it worldwide. I'll be in Germany with wife and family for the weekend (no relation to the actual holiday, although it's oddly fitting), so don't expect any updates by monday. Have fun y'all.

EDIT : I also switched to the new version of Blogger. For better or worse, I guess.

3.07 --- The Hellgramite Method

2006-11-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Gilbert M. Shilton
Written by : William Selby
Starring : Timothy Bottoms, Leslie Yeo
First aired : 5th of November, 1988.

Miley Judson (Timothy Bottoms, Johnny Got His Gun, The Last Picture Show) is a seemingly ordinary person. He has a job, a wife, and a young child. But the things are a bit more complicated than they seem - Miley is an alcoholic, and his disease is in the latter stages. He can't kick the drink off, and it's threatening to destroy his life, piece by piece.

One night during a bar binge, Miley is approached by a man who offers to light his cigarette, then gifts him the matchbox, which bears an anti-drinking commercial. Faced with all sorts of problems in his personal life, Miley decides to try this newest method offered to him, so he makes his way to the address given late at night. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the same man who gifted him the matches - dr. Eugene Murrich (stage veteran Leslie Yeo) - welcomes him in.

Dr. Murrich informs Miley that the treatment is infallible, should he stick with it. He does warn him that there is no way back once the treatment begins, a warning which Miley takes somewhat too lightly. He initiates the producedure by swallowing a simple red pill, then goes home, with the instructions to call in a couple of days.

Strange things begin to happen during the next pub crawl - Miley, regardless of what (and how much) he drinks, cannot get drunk. After downing two dozens of double scotches, it occurs to him it might be the new "method" he's trying that's messing with him. He quickly visits dr. Murrich, who then tells him the horrible truth. The pill he swallowed contained a hellgramite tapeworm larva, which feeds on alcohol. All the booze Miley drinks now will go straight into the worm, which in turn will grow...until he grows big enough to kill him from the inside. Miley is simoultaneously furious and frightened, but there is a way out. If Miley goes cold turkey right away, the worm will be laid dormant. This will incur horrible pains, however, once the worm is asleep the host is free of all problems - unless he drinks even a drop again. If that happens, the worm reawakens, and too many of those tend to kill.

Realizing that it's now or never, Miley decides to go for broke. He sends his wife and son away for a week, and begins his clean-up act. What ensues is a period of sheer hell - hallucinations, temptations, and all sorts of naughty issues threaten Miley, but he manages to weather all storms with success (excess pain which he goes through is a whole 'nother story). Still, the whole ordeal becomes just too much for him, and he eventually starts ransacking the whole house, looking for at least one shot of liquor to retrieve his sanity. After a lengthy search, he finally finds a little bottle of whiskey...

Some time later, a bar patron at Miley's usual watering hole is having troubles lighting his smoke. A stranger offers his help, and as the man turns around, we see it's Miley who's holding the match. He gifts the fellow his matchbox with the hellgramite method ad on it, and after squaring his tab with the bartender, goes out, starting a new chapter in his life.

***

The Hellgramite Method holds a special place in my heart. Of all the episodes I saw when I was a kid, this one left the biggest impression on me. For years, I would associate the whole colour TZ with this episode, always remembering Miley's plight as he wrestled with the alcohol-guzzling worm. With that in hindsight, I was sort of dreading to rewatch this one - was I just clinging to yet another hazy childhood memory ?

The answer is a resounding no. The Hellgramite Method is, by all means, a supremely chilling tale of alcohol abuse and ultimate redemption, and it completely held up after all these years. While William Selby's script, in itself, is nothing entirely special, the execution of it is nothing short of majestic. Reminding us that he's more than just a succesful George W. Bush impersonator, Timothy Bottoms delivers a bravura performance as the tortured alcoholic, faithfully translating all stages of abrupt drinking rehab in space of mere ten minutes. Looking like he's fighting the devil himself, Bottoms is ragged, sweaty, and ultimately almost out of his mind, his blood-curdling screams ringing in your ears. Leslie Yeo lends support as the well-meaning, yet nefarious doctor Murrich, but his turn is completely overshadowed by Bottoms' thespian schizophrenics. Simply put, this episode does not work without him.

It is also interesting to notice how the Zone took a slightly more lenient stance towards the evil of alcoholism. In Kentucky Rye, there is no redemption for the sinner. Here, the boozer gets a shot at salvation, but it's not an easy one to achieve. Perhaps we need more of those liquored-up topics to explore, as they always tend to spawn an excellent episode...

Template changed...

2006-11-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

As promised, the new design is here ! I found a three column template over at Thur Broeders' site (check the bottom of the left sidebar), tinkered with it, and finally adjusted it. I also widened the range of amazon ads, so now you can order almost all Twilght Zones that there are by using the links on this page.

Feedback is, naturally, appreciated.

3.06 --- Memories

2006-11-07T07:28:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Richard Bugajski
Written by : Bob Underwood
Starring : Barbara Stock, Nigel Bennett, Alan Rosenthal
First aired : 29th of October, 1988.

Mary Mc Neal (Barbara Stock) is a psychotherapist, specializing in discovering people's previous lives. She has great success with her clients, but one person she can never delve into is, suprisingly, herself. Every night, she goes to bed with her audio tape on, which is supposed to initiate her into her "remembrance", and every morning she wakes up with no answers.

After another unsuccesful attempt, Mary heads to one of her next clients, and is truly amazed to hear from her that she remembers her previous life - just like that ! She returns to her office, and is equally puzzled when finding out it's a goverment welfare office now. Social worker Jim Sinclair (Nigel Bennett, Legends of the Fall, Skulls) offers to help her, but upon knowing that she can't recall any of her past lives, dismisses her. Upon her departure, he phones someone and tells him that "their man" might have arrived.

While walking through a slum, Mary stumbles upon a dying hobo woman, who wants to end her life in order to be reborn as someone new. Mary's helpful hand is declined, as the woman says that it's legal to choose death if you want to, and that she'd rather move on into another life, another body. Mary coaxes her into choosing life instead, but just as she tries to summon help, she is intercepted by Sinclair and his associates, who drug her and take her away in a van.

She awakens in an abandoned warehouse, with Sinclair and another man (Alan Rosenthal) poised to interrogate her. Initially, the two men think that Mary is lying about her past life (the inability to remember your previous lives is deemed highly irregular in this society), concluding that she was probably some mass murderer or tyrant. They drug her in order to get more results, but all she remembers is her current life.

Realizing they're not getting anything less recent from her, Sinclair and his friend realize that she is the person they were waiting for - the savior. Mary is befuddled with this statement, but the men soon explain her - she has the gift of ignorance, and she can help the world forget. With everyone's memory stretching centuries back, the today's world is hell-bent on revenge and atonement. Instead of enjoying their lives, people are spending an eternity resolving past matters. Realizing that knowledge of past lives is a curse rather than a gift, Mary accepts, and gets a job which is a polar opposite of what she used to do - she hypnotizes people...into forgetting their past.

***

An imaginative, well-written episode, Memories is the strongest season 3 entry so far. The "lead character wakes up elsewhere" hook might be a TZ staple, but this episode took some different paths towards ending, and the end result turned out proper. The exploration of "past lives", if they existed at that, always seemed like an interesting subject to me, and here it's cleverly explored. As they say, "ignorance is bliss" indeed.

Polish-born director Richard Bugajski is a known name to Euro-cinema enthousiast - his 1982. film Interrogation is critically acclaimed as one of the stronger studies on Stalinist regimes in '80s eastern Europe. Noone particularily shines from the actors (the script doesn't really call for it, either), but Nigel Bennett leaves the best impression of the bunch.

Ads !

2006-11-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

I have opted to include some ads on the site - namely, I joined Google's Adsense program, and have also enlisted as an Amazon associate, hence the TZ links on the main page. By clicking them/buying things from Amazon, you support my poor starved self, etc etc. Ah, you know the drill.

I'd like to hear some feedback from you though - do you think this deters from the blog as a whole ? I'm also pondering a design change with three columns (as opposed to two now), where ads would occupy the right hand side (with menus and other stuff on the left). Let me know what y'all think.

-- Milos

3.05 --- Dream Me a Life

2006-10-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Allan King
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : Eddie Albert, Frances Hyland, Barry Morse
First aired : 22nd of October, 1988.

Roger Simpson Leads (Eddie Albert, Green Acres, McQ), a cantankerous old man whose life seemingly stopped three years ago when his wife died, is having recurring nightmares in which an old woman beseeches him not to unbolt her door. The nightmares only reinforce his bad mood, and in turn his friendly relations with old pal Frank (Barry Morse, Asylum, The Changeling) only deterioate further.

What takes Roger by surprise is the appearance of a new retirement home resident, a cataleptic lady called Laura Kincaid (Frances Hyland), who just happens to be the very woman from his nightmares. When the bad dreams continue, Roger decides to confront Laura, and, in a fit of rage, just begs her to leave him alone. As Laura, who's wheelchair-ridden, didn't speak for a decade since the death of her husband, his request seems to fall on deaf ears.

The following night, Roger is in another nightmare, with the same scenario. This time though, he decides to make an end to it - he opens the jammed door, despite Laura's cries that what's inside will kill her. As the door swings open and smoke around it clears, we learn that the person inside is actually Laura's late husband. He approaches his wife and tells her it's time to let go of him, and continue her life. Roger is uncertain why was it that the spirit picked him for this mission, but the late mr. Kincaid retorts that "he knows", and walks away.

Next morning, Roger again decides to talk to Laura, but this time in a more pleasant tone, telling her that he can wait for her reaction, and that he knows why was he summoned. Laura finally responds, and two of them head for breakfast - their broken lives finally mended.

***

Not a half bad episode which deals about loss of loved ones, and recovery from grief, Dream Me a Life is a decent season 3 entry, bolstered by strong lead performance by TV veteran Eddie Albert. Albert, one of pioneers of TV acting, gives his all as a tortured old man - Barry Morse is a perfect foil as the more mild-mannered, sarcastic Frank.

Director Allan King is also on good form here, with the nightmare sequences, shot in distorted, grainy, black and white (see screen cap), a definitive standout. As season 3 goes, this one is gold.

TZ Trivia : Barry Morse is a returning TZoner, having played in a classic '60s episode A Piano in the House (16th of February, 1962.).

3.04 --- The Hunters

2006-10-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : Paul Chitlik & Jeremy Bertrand Finch
Starring : Louise Fletcher, Michael Hogan, Les Carlson
First aired : 15th of October, 1988.

While walking through some remote grasslands which are soon to be developed into residential area, a young boy scout accidentally discovers a cave with prehistoric drawings. After a brief inspection by the local sheriff (Michael Hogan), a renowned archeologist dr. Klein (Louise Fletcher, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Firestarter) is summoned to investigate things further.

Dr. Klein certifies the drawings as authentic, and is determined to dig further, but her progress is being blocked by the land owner Jim Hilson (Les Carlson, Videodrome, The Fly). While two obviously do not get along, as Hilson would like that piece of land developed rather than excavated, Klein also thinks that Hilson is behind the minor vandalisms which happened at the site - namely, a sheep carcass was found nearby, and the doctor interpreted that as a sure "get the hell outta here" sign.

Soon enough, strange things start happening. More livestock goes amiss in the region, and sheriff discovers that all blood-and-wool trails lead straight to the cave. More interestingly, the cave paintings seem to change on the whim - dr. Klein notices that the "hunter" stickmen are suddenly appearing and disappearing on the cave walls in different positions. She shows this to sheriff, who tries to convince her to go and take a brief rest from the project and continue further. His suggestion is refused, and she decides to spend the night in cave, certain she'll catch the perpetrator.

Strange sounds awake her in the middle of the night, and the first flash of light brings another uneasy fact to life - the stickmen are now all gone from the walls, and rumbling noise and grunts are suddenly all around. Something - or someone - is obviously zeroing in on the good doctor, and before you know it, a loud scream rings out of the cave, waking up the sheriff outside, who spent the night in his jeep. He runs down to investigate, and finds Klein dead - with a spear in her back ! He is then confronted with the same noises the doctor heard before her demise. His answer is gunfire, but after emptying his six-shooter into the darkness, he notices the doctor's body is gone. A brief glance to the cave wall explains it - not believing his eyes, the sheriff notices an animated figure of stickman dragging a carcass with a spear in its back away from the scene. Which would be somewhat alright, if not for a whole roving band of stickmen approaching the "cave" painting from the other side...

Realizing it's his life at stake here, sheriff decides to act in an unusual manner - with a help of some water and brush, he tries to scrub away the stickmen from the walls. His ploy succeeds, as he just "deletes" away a nasty looking caveman who was looking to spear him from the back, saving his life. The cleanup done, sheriff leaves the cave, probably deciding that it's best to let some things just forgotten by the history.

***

We've seen this all before, haven't we ?

This time, the Zone plunders itself rather than something else, and basically rehashes a weak season 1 episode, Still Life. The difference, there you had a bunch of amazonians come to life from a set of old photographs - here you have a bunch of cavemen come to life from a set of cave drawings. The end result slightly favours The Hunters though - director Paul Lynch is capable as ever, and he, along with the decent cast, spearheaded by the Oscar winner Louise Fletcher, make this just about watchable.

But good it ain't. The script, by Paul Chitlik & Jeremy Bertrand Finch (previously of Aqua Vita) is shallow, and the whole thing is redeemed purely by acting and direction. Worth noting I saw this one when it aired 16-17 years ago, and even then didn't know entirely what to make of it. The fact I didn't really love it now just makes me feel good about myself.

Whole month passes...

2006-10-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yeah, another one of those stupid "blog posts" ;)

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking, but that the whole "day job" routine is taking away from my TZ time. Soon enough, I'll break into another watching/blogging routine, and finish this project so the world can enjoy.

Amazingly enough, I still get consistent visits from new and old readers. I guess that's a sign my writing is half-decent after all.

Again, thanks everyone for comments, kind words, etc. This blog would be a bitch to do without so many readers.

-- Milos

The 30,000 jubilee !

2006-09-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Hello folks.

Yes, I'm on a sort of a mini-hiatus as of now, but I wish to inform you all that Postcards from the Zone recently had their 30,000th visitor, which is a cause for minor jubilation. Or a major, well, depends how you look at it.

Expect a new review as early as somewhere within the next 48 hours...and again, thank you for reading this. We're making the 1/1/07 deadline !

3.03 --- The Crossing

2006-08-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : Ralph Philips
Starring : Ted Shackelford, Gerard Parkes
First aired : 8th of October, 1988.

Father Mark Cassidy (Ted Shackelford, Knots Landing, Dallas) is an overworked catholic priest, working hard to finish raising funds for a children hospital wing which he initiated some time ago. His friend monsignor Perrault (Gerard Parkes, Fraggle Rock, January Man) is advising him to take a vacation, a notion which Mark soundly refuses, saying that there is work to be done.

Suddenly, Mark starts seeing a mysterious red car, which always takes a turn into the nearby forest, steers off-road and crashes into a valley below, burning in flames. He is convinced it is a real event, but noone seems to see him apart from him. As the incident repeats itself, he manages to take note of the driver, a young, black haired woman. He immediately remembers, and realizes this is a sin of his past which came to haunt him.

As it turns out, she was his friend, or something to that extent (it's never really clarified -- rev. note), who died in a horrid car crash. Mark could have saved her by dragging her out of the burning car, but he panicked and ran away. The remembrance of this event affects Mark deeply, and he gets even more stressed, even to the point of not being able to deliver a speech upon the completion of his hospital fundraiser. Perrault approaches him soon afterwards and relays him the bishop's message, which is that he is to take an immediate leave and relax a bit.

The next morning, Mark again spots the same car through his window, and decides to confront his guilt. He walks slowly towards it and takes the driver's seat, driving straight into certain death. Cut to his funeral, where the whole parochy is in grief - as well as the mysterious black haired woman, who puts a solitary white rose on his coffin and walks away.

***

An underwritten, somewhat misfired episode is the best I can come up with for this one. Paul Lynch, who directed some genuine classics in season 1, can't do much with Ralph Phillips' limited script, which is cliched, yet still incomplete in many places. How did Mark die, what was that woman to him, and what's the meaning of the silly funeral coda ? We'll never find out, I guess. In one scene, Mark is talking to himself in the confession booth, asking if this was enough to atone himself for past sins - this somehow gives his character a shady edge, as if he did all the good because he was afraid for his place in Heaven. Not sure if that was needed either, as Mark struck me as a sympathetic character up to that point.

Ted Shackelford is not half bad playing Mark, as he looks genuinely stressed and tense throughout the episode. Supporting cast is fine as well (I liked Bunty Webb as father Cassidy's assistant), but ultimately, this is a lesser piece in the TZ canon.

3.02 --- Extra Innings

2006-08-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Doug Jackson
Written by : Tom Palmer
Starring : Marc Singer, Tracy Cunningham, Amber Lea Weston
First aired : 1st of October, 1988.

Ed Hamler (Marc Singer, V, The Beastmaster) is a former Detroit Tigers player currently living in dire straits. Retired due to his crippling leg injury, Ed is torn between his love for baseball and the inner child in him, and his wife Cindy (Tracy Cunningham) which is trying to make him move on in life, and set him up with a computer sales job. Marc's most faithful friend is a 12-year old girl named Paula (Amber Lea Weston), who visits him regularily and is a baseball player herself. One day, she brings him a peculiar baseball card from 1909. - a fellow named Monty Hanks, who bears more than just a passing resemblence to Ed. Ed is intrigued, and after doing some research he finds out that Monty lasted only two years in the majors - he was killed by a pitch which hit him straight in his face - and, interestingly, had the same stats his rookie year just like Ed did - a discovery which his wife meets with usual dose of cynicism and scorn.

That night, while asleep, Ed is awaken by some sudden noise, and is amazed to see his Monty Hanks baseball card come to life. It forms a portal-like entrance, and Ed is transported to 1909., right into the midst of a Washington - Philadelphia series which decides the pennant winner. The first pitch he faces plunks him viciously to the face, but Ed/Monty gets up quick, and after discovering his leg is suddenly alright, moves on with the game. The next morning, he tells all of that to Paula, saying that he stole two bases, scored three runs and hit a homer. Paula finds all this difficult to believe, but when Ed shows her that the stats from the baseball card changed - another homer is now credited to Monty's totals - she's a believer. Two of them use the card to travel to 1909. again, and have a great time at the ballgame, Washington winning another one.

Ed's life is now drastically changed, although he, along with Paula, seems to be the only one to appreciate it. After missing a job interview in order to see Paula's little league game, Cindy brutally derides him for being immature and irresponsible, pulling a hell of a guilt trip on him and saddling him with a task of holding a motivational speech for the company where he's supposed to get employment. Ed reluctantly agrees, knowing that he has a more important assigment coming before that - a deciding game in the WAS-PHI series, with a trip to the World Series at stake.

However, the things don't work out all that perfect. Due to prolonged futility of both teams, the game goes to extra innings, and Ed is late for his appointment. He tries to bail out claiming his wife will leave him if he doesn't bolt right away, but the coach confronts him and tells him that the World Series should be his priority right now, and that he can't leave his teammates just like this. At that point, something breaks in Ed and he agrees to stay - a decision not appreciated by Cindy, who finds him gone with his tuxedo untouched back in the 80s, and starts burning his baseball cards from sheer depression.

She is caught doing this by Paula, who can't quite tell Cindy what is happening to Ed, but still manages to save the Monty Hanks card from going into the fireplace. As Cindy tells Paula that Ed is just a loser who wasted his life away on a childish game and that she can't do anything for him now, Paula comes to a great idea and tears the Monty card in half - leaving Ed forever in the "other" dimension. Just as she does that, Ed/Monty hits a walkoff homer, and Washington qualifies for the world series. Seconds after, Paula joins the two halves of a torn card and looks at its backside, stats filling up year after year, forming a succesful career...and the frontside changes too, now featuring Monty in a more self-assured pose, along with the title of a batting champ.

***

It's hard to dislike this episode. As a long-suffering Cubs fan, and someone who, just like Ed Hamler, is desperately in love with baseball, I thoroughly enjoyed those 22 minutes of Zone. This piece just pulls all the right strings and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, maybe not on the Field of Dreams level, but it's still remarkably decent.

Marc Singer plays his role just right - he is not awfully bright, giving away his "jockability", and still not dumb as rocks, which gives him credible depth. All the baseball lingo was carefully recreated, as well as the classic baseball scenes from the early 20th century, with staggering level of authenticity. Tracy Cunningham is rather vile as Ed's wife, and you really grow to hate her guts by the end - which is a good sign, as she was written in that mould. All in all, a real home run of an episode...if you'd excuse the cliché.

Ballgame trivia : just in case someone cares, the real 1909 World Series was won by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who vanquished the Tigers in a tense seven game series. This means that the Washington - Philadelphia series was complete work of fiction, considering Detroit qualified for the WS as the AL team.

3.01 --- The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon

2006-08-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Directed by : René Bonnière
Written by : Haskell Barkin (story by Haskell Barkin & J. Michael Straczynski)
Starring : Harry Morgan, Cedric Smith
First aired : 24th of September, 1988.

Dr. Jeremy Sinclair (Cedric Smith, Road to Avonlea), a psychiatrist (or a psychologist, one of the two anyway), has an interesting problem ahead of him. He is to investigate a case of certain Edgar Witherspoon (Harry Morgan, MASH, How the West was Won), who, according to his landlady and niece, went slightly mad. Edgar has been seen rummaging through garbage, collecting odd trinkets such as paper clips, dolls, and old music instruments, and is generally speaking a proper nuisance to the neighbourhood.

Sinclair pays Edgar a visit, who simply brushes him aside without letting him in, but not before acquiring a blonde doll head from a big closet in the hallway and uttering something about preventing a major disaster in Santa Barbara. This brief discourse makes Sinclair believe that he is rather harmless to the community - an opinion not shared by the abovegiven ladies, who convince Sinclair to return and have him evaluated at the psychiatric clinic. Jeremy is reluctant, but after hearing on the radio about a minor earthquake at Santa Barbara, he visits mr. Witherspoon again.

This time, he manages to convince him to get in, and is amazed at what he sees. Mr. Witherspoon has constructed an unique machinery, consisted of all sorts of odd things such as dolls, playing cards, teapots, and whatnot, and seems to be genuinely busy around it. When asked to elaborate on all this, Edgar explains to Jeremy that one day he heard a voice, which bestowed him with a task of keeping the Earth in balance. In order to do so, he constructed this machine, which needs constant tinkering - per "voice"'s instructions. This is more than enough evidence for dr. Sinclair, who is now certain that Witherspoon, in fact, is a loony old coot, and he has him dragged to the mental hospital. On his way out, he accidentally pushes down some chains, which Witherspoon interpretes as certain destruction for a small Pacific island of Tatoa. Before he is carried out from his cellar apartment, Witherspoon yells to Sinclair that at exactly 3:17pm, an island nation of Tatoa ceased to exist because of him.

Later that day, Witherspoon is in his office listening to the news on the radio, and is startled to find out that an island called Tatoa indeed perished, as a result of a giant tidal wave. After phoning the news agencies who confirm him the disaster indeed happened at 3:17, he realises the folly of Witherspoon's imprisonment and has him directly released. He then rushes himself to Witherspoon's cellar, and is just in time to prevent the landlady from destroying the Earth-balancing contraption. In order to fend her off from snooping, he sells her some story of needing this machinery for further medical research, and offers to pay Witherspoon's rent, which she accepts.

Soon after, Witherspoon arrives and informs Jeremy that the voice spoke to him while at hospital - and told him to retire ! When dr. Sinclair asks who will take care of the worldly balance, Edgar informs him that someone would be chosen for the task. Before even finishing the sentence, Jeremy instinctively takes a teapot and evens out a scale on the machinery ... realizing that the duty is now his, and that he must care for the world's destiny. Edgar bows out with a smile, telling Jeremy that he will grow to like this job, leaving the poor doctor frantically looking for a tambourine which might just prevent some distant disaster...

***

This amusing, lighthearted episode was chosen to bat leadoff for Season 3, and it's a pleasant enough experience. Harry Morgan is amusing as the old codger taking care of the world, with Cedric Smith a worthy enough antagonist who eventually understands his woes. Not a half bad piece, yet I would have preferred this done in a more serious manner, and if possible without the vaudevillian music cues.

The story itself was provided by Haskell Barkin, who previously penned Season 1's Tooth and Consequences. Another TZ veteran, J. Michael Straczynski (What are Friends For ?, Season 2), helped out with the writing chores - Straczynski was also one of the pivotal Season 3 figures, assuming the post of story editor previously held by the O'Bannon - Brennert - Ellison - etc. consortium.

Blighty trivia : at one point, Witherspoon asks dr. Sinclair if he has ever been to England, and gets a positive response. Cedric Smith was born in England.

Serling trivia : Harry Morgan is a veteran of one Night Gallery episode, namely The Late Mr. Peddington.

Season Two awards

2006-08-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

Due to the fact that season 2 only had 21 episode (season 1 had a whopping 59), I opted to present the awards as a one-off post at the end of the season. Sadly, the overall feeling is that season two never really rose to the high standards set by its predecessor, save for a few occasions which I celebrated in those past few months of reviewing. But, worry not - I set myself a task to finish the blog (well, the 80s part of it - the crowd wants me to do UPN as well, so I'll oblige once I find those discs) by the end of 2006. ... and that I shall do. But, enough with this, on to the awards ceremony !

The Golden Rod award for Twilight Zone excellence goes to : The Once and Future King, The Toys of Caliban, The Road Less Traveled, The Card, Shelter Skelter, Time and Theresa Golowitz and Voices in the Earth.

The Silver Rod award for valuable addition to the Twilight Zone canon goes to : A Saucer of Loneliness, What are Friends For ?, Aqua Vita, The Storyteller, The After Hours, Lost and Found, The World Next Door, The Convict's Piano, The Junction, Private Channel and Song of the Younger World.

The Bronze Rod award for good effort goes to : Nightsong, Joy Ride and The Girl I Married.

As you can see, season 2 wasn't all-out bad (though Nightsong is probably the worst Twilight Zone episode I've seen, period) - just consistently average. Among the pile of Silver Rods, some were nearer to Gold (Aqua Vita, The After Hours, The Convict's Piano), some were nearer to Bronze (What Are Friends For?, The Storyteller, The World Next Door), and some were just plain average (The Junction, Private Channel). What has to be pointed out though is that the good ones - especially The Toys of Caliban, The Card, Shelter Skelter and Time and Theresa Golowitz are real good, so this wasn't a massive waste of time after all.

As many of you are aware, CBS froze the Zone after the season 2 fiasco, and revived it only when in dire need of syndication package. The third season was produced and shot in its entirety in Canada, and due to labour laws all directors and majority of actors were Canadian, with all the writers being American. Also, a lot of old friends from the first two season left the production at this stage - most notably, story/creative consultants Rockne S. O'Bannon and Alan Brennert, along with the executive producer Phil DeGuere and narrator Charles Aidman, who were replaced by Robin Ward, J. Michael Straczynski and Mark Shelmerdine, amongst others.

Amazingly, despite all the tumbling up and down, season 3 turned out quite proper, and some of my favourite episodes are here (most notably The Hellgramite Method). Do bear in mind I'm writing this purely from my childhood memories, so don't be disappointed if I start dishing out Bronze for those entries. At any rate...we're off to another 30 episodes of science fiction and fantasy.

And a big thanks to my loyal readers, who stuck with my irregular summer posting. You're the best.

2.21 --- The Girl I Married

2006-08-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Philip DeGuere
Written by : J.M. DeMatteis
Starring : James Whitmore Jr., Linda Kelsey
First aired : 17th of July, 1987.

Ira (James Whitmore Jr., previously of Nightcrawlers) is a succesful corporate lawyer, married to Valerie (Linda Kelsey), who works as the aerobics instructor. While both are rather good at what they do, both also feel a strong nostalgic feeling towards the freewheelin' sixties from which they sprang to this world. Ira, in particular, can't let go of one old photo of Valerie in her hippy outfit.

While driving to a meeting one day, Ira suddenly spots the very same Valerie from his photo frolicking in the park. Almost rabidly, he stops and rushes out to meet her, finding out she's real. Ira initially thinks that this is his Valerie dressing up, but after phoning to her work, he discovers that this is the old Valerie who somehow materialized in his world. He informs the "real" Valerie he won't be home 'till late, and goes off with the "photo Val". After a lengthy lovemaking session, Valerie is however sad to find out Ira became a "suit", and just disappears.

Ira comes back home, where he finds Valerie reading Hesse's Siddhartha, a book he held dear years ago. He is intrigued by this, but Valerie interrupts the scene by saying she phoned his work and found out he never came back after the lunch break. She doesn't seem to buy his excuse about a short notice meeting either, and leaves the room.

The following day, Ira again hooks up with "photo Val", and after a fun day of reviving the sixties, two of them decide to confront the "new Val" and tell her the truth. They arrive at Ira's home, only to find the real Val going at it...with the 60s version of Ira, right from the photo Val treasures ! The "new" and the "old" engage into a verbal confrontation, from which the new Ira & Val come out triumphant thanks to their pragmatism and realistic approach, saying how love is not just a fluffy feeling, it's a commitment. As the hippies disappear into thin air and morph back into the photographs, Ira and Val take a moment to reassess their life, and plan ahead.

***

It's only fitting to have a mediocre episode finish a mediocre season. Sure, there have been some highlights during season 2, but this just isn't one of them. While not being as bad as, say, Nightsong, The Girl I Married is just plain - and boring. The twist at the ending is somewhat improbable (I kinda expected the "romantic" ending with the 60s brigade winning), and I could have really, really done without Phil DeGuere attempting to emulate Norman Jewison in The Thomas Crown Affair with all those splitscreen shenanigans 15 minutes into the episode.

On to season three thus, which, as far as I remember from the original airings, featured some better bits than this one. Next up, the TZ awards for season 2.

Been a while

2006-08-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, how's things ?

It's been a while since my last zonal update, and the only excuse is that I'm enjoying the summer vacation and am using all my spare time to watch all the movies I backlogged during the past year. Just wanted to give you a shout and say that I haven't forgotten about this - I'm still dedicated to the idea of making this blog into web's most concise TZ revival guide that is.

Some positive news as well - I will be able to acquire UPN TZ series, so you can expect them on this blog as well, in due time of course.

Also, I ought to note we're past 25,000 visitors as of today...which is great, and still somewhat unexpected. Thanks everyone for your support.

Expect updates sometime this week.

2.20 --- Song of the Younger World

2006-07-21T07:18:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Noel Black
Written by : Anthony & Nancy Lawrence
Starring : Peter Kowanko, Jennifer Rubin
First aired : 17th of July, 1987.

America, 1916. Tanner Smith (Peter Kowanko), a young stablehand, is in love with the beautiful Amy (Jennifer Rubin, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Screamers), whose ultrareligious father disapproves of such relationships. Both Tanner and Amy are avid readers, and Tanner is especially fond of Jack London's book, as well as anything with wolves in it.

Problems arise when the two of them are caught in the hay, and Tanner is beaten by Amy's father. Amy is warned by her old man that she would be severely punished if she's caught with Tanner again, and this revokes the will to live in her. An old vagrant called the Hoakie is the link between two young lovers, convincing both that there is hope.

Tanner and Amy soon meet at the library, where Amy shows tanner an ancient book of magic which allows you to transplant your soul into another plane. Tanner does not understand what's she on about, but when she tries it, she manages to transport herself via the imaginary gate described on one of the pages. Her father is gravely unsettled by this and confiscates the book from her, forgetting that there are more copies in the library.

Amy has now made her plan - she informs Hoakie that she will commit suicide, in a way that she would "transport" her soul into the better world while leaving her body behind. She then meets Tanner one last time and tells him to listen to Hoakie's instructions, but Tanner is still confused about the whole issue. When he goes to visit her next morning, he finds her dead, and in a fit of rage decides to attack her father. The assault fails, and Tanner is thrown into the dungeon, laced up in a sort of straitjacket.

Hoakie manages to reach him and show him the piece of paper Amy sent to him, just in time as Amy's father decides to take matters into his own hands. He shoots Hoakie, but is too late to stop Tanner, who succesfully decyphers the magical writ Amy left him...and joins her in another dimension, in a form of a wolf.

***

A neat little tale of freedom achieved through unusual ways, Song of the Younger World is a well-directed, well-acted episode off the tail end of season 2. I enjoyed the concept, and the piece was above the Season 2 average standard, but no classic. Which, I guess, is not too much of a bad thing.

If there are any occult-savvy readers here, I'd love it if someone could tell me which book are Tanner and Amy consulting in their "witchery". I couldn't recognize it, and they don't mention its name anywhere.

Robert Blossom, previously seen in The Burning Man as the raving roadside lunatic, is fine as the zealot father, his part fitting perfectly with the liberal ideas often expressed within this series. Director Noel Black is another holdover from season 1 - he directed the marvelous To See the Invisible Man.

***

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the whole of western Europe is beset by a ginormous heatwave of unseen proportions - it's 30+ celsius with ghastly humidity every day, and I don't find the energy to write as much as just to drone off in my chair watching something.

2.19 --- Voices in the Earth

2006-07-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Curtis Harrington
Written by : Alan Brennert
Starring : Martin Balsam, Jenny Agutter
First aired : 10th of July, 1987.

In the distant future, an expedition lead by professor Donald Knowles (Martin Balsam, see Personal Demons) and Jacinda Carlyle (Jenny Agutter, see Last Defender of Camelot) arrives on a now-desolate Earth to determine if there is any life left. If not, the team has a clear task of unleashing the mining robots, and finishing the planet off, salvaging every mineral it can take. Turns out, the forefathers of astronauts brought Earth to this porous state, and left for outer space and other greener pastures once life got difficult on the mother planet.

Knowles, who still has feelings for the old planet, wanders aimlessly around city ruins, and is drawn to a remains of a café by voices. When he enters, the voices turn louder, and he's amazed to see that the place is full of spectres. One particular ghost addresses him, saying "not to forget them", and disappears.

The next day, Knowles is back there, and the spectres reappear, talking to him. They are the souls of their forefathers, the people who didn't flee the Earth when life started dissolving. The leader of the ghosts pleads with Knowles not to raze the planet in search for minerals, a message which he relays to Jacinda. The female commander has no ears for his plea, so Knowles takes her to the place where he met the lost souls. They, however, refuse to appear when he asks them out loud, and Jacinda simply deducts Donald lost it, leaving the place.

Back at the ship, with everyone asleep, the leader ghost possesses Donald's body, takes a crowbar and decides to destroy the command table, hoping to prevent the destruction that way. He is stopped just in time by the rest of the crew, who understandably dismiss professor's theories that he was manipulated from within. Jacinda takes pity on him and arranges him a medical leave, but Donald takes matters into his own hands and decides to confront the spectres again.

In a tense encounter at the abandoned café, Donald accuses the ghosts of manipulating them, to which they answer that he is their only hope of leaving this place - they cannot survive hyperdrive travel on their own, so they would use him as a channel. Donald refuses flatly, and calls the ghosts out on behalf of cowardice, saying that it was them who brought the planet to its knees, that they never tried to fix anything, and that they deserve no better fate than this. He angrily returns to ship and makes amends with the fact Earth is getting razed, but just before they lift off to dispatch him to an outpost for "medical treatment", a miracle happens - rain starts falling, and ship sensors start picking up lifeforms in the ocean. Earth is saved after all, and Donald exits the ship and greets the surface, yelling out that they will be back, one day.

***

A neat little episode with an ecological message, Voices in the Earth ranks above average in the middling world of second season, not quite as good as, say, The Card, Shelter Skelter or Toys of Caliban, but not quite as abominable as Nightsong and such. It was pleasure seeing Martin Balsam contribute to the Zone again, and he is the episode's highlight as the gentle, yet proud guardian of old traditions. Worth watching, this one. And yes, Jenny Agutter is still smokin'.

Apart from Balsam's performance and Agutter's sexappeal (yes, yes, I am a raving fanboy), another eye-catcher is the quality of sets (I loved the ruins and the abandoned café, as well as the desolate city landscapes) and special effects, both above average for the series.

Balsam and Agutter aside, there are two more TZ holdovers here. Tim Russ, playing one of the ship officers, previously had a bit part in Kentucky Rye, and Eve Brenner, here shown as one of the spectres, appeared previously in Monsters !.

Trivia : coincidentally, this review is written and published on the 19th anniversary of the first airing of this episode.

Happy birthday to...

2006-07-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

...me. I turned 26 exactly 2 hours and six minutes ago, well, in CET timezone at least.

Expect review for Voices in the Earth as early as monday.

2.18 --- Time and Teresa Golowitz

2006-07-04T17:39:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Shelley Levinson
Written by : Alan Brennert (story by Parke Godwin)
Starring : Paul Sand, Gene Barry, Grant Heslow, Gina Gershon, Kristi Lynes
First aired : 10th of July, 1987.

Broadway composer Bluestone (Paul Sand, The Hot Rock, The Main Event) has a slight problem - namely, he's freshly deceased without even realizing it. This unfortunate turn of events is explained to him by an elderly fellow who calls himself Prince (Gene Barry, Forty Guns, War of the Worlds), who makes him an interesting offer. Bluestone is certain to go to what they call "topside", but if he would agree to spend some time at the "lower decks" - where they reportedly love his music - he can travel back (or forth) in time and relive any event which he might fancy. Bluestone realizes that this "prince" is actually an emissary from the devil, but nevertheless agrees, and chooses to be back in 1948. at a senior party, as the only thing he really misses is having a go at the class beauty Mary Ellen Cosgrove.

Before he knows it, he's back in '48., and he's again Binky Blaustein (Grant Heslow, True Lies, The Scorpion King), a nerdy piano player. He enters the party at Mary Ellen's place, but is dismayed with the fact Mary Ellen looks nothing like he remembers - he finds her more of a child, not a lust object. He strikes conversation with an old friend Laura (rather young Gina Gershon), who he soon finds out to be partially possesed by the Prince in order to help him out.

As Blaustein complains to Laura/Prince how this is not at all what he expected, he spots a solitary looking girl stumbling around the room, looking for company. He recalls her name - Teresa Golowitz (Broadway actress Kristi Lynes) - but doesn't remember whatever happened to her. Laura tells him that she comitted suicide this very night, out of pure depression as she was extremely unpopular within her peers. Blaustein is gravely distressed with this fact, so he approaches Teresa and starts chatting with her, only to be dragged to a piano by the local jock, Mary Ellen's boyfriend.

Blaustein starts playing a Broadway tune, and out of the blue Teresa joins in, singing it with much passion and gusto. As she finishes, Blaustein remarks it was wonderful, only for Laura to counter that it was meant to be her requiem - her swansong. Teresa leaves the party, but Blaustein catches up with her and tries to convince her to meet the next day so they can rehearse together. Teresa is not really sold on all this and leaves, and all what is left for Binky is to endulge into what he originally came here for.

He enters Mary Ellen's room and sees her quarreling with her jock boyfriend, who is trying to convince her to have sex. She rebuffs him with help of Blaustein, who really cannot bring himself to approach her intimately - she's just too young and innocent. Dismayed, he leaves the party, only to find Teresa still there. She reconsidered his decision and decides to do meet him tomorrow and work together. Blaustein is elated, but has to leave - his time in the past is up.

Back to the present, and Blaustein/Bluestone regains his consciousness while holding a handsigned record by Teresa Golowitz, now one of the world's most famous singers. He quickly realises what was this all about - Prince coaxed him into this, feeling that this world would be a much poorer place without her singing talents. Bluestone is now ready to depart this Earth, but there's a catch. Topside people are not so hot on altering history, so Bluestone must spend a couple of years "laying low" in the lower decks before the dust settles. Initially, Bluestone is less than happy, knowing this was another part of Prince's plan, yet he accepts his destiny in the end - the lower decks, according to the Prince, look somewhat like Queens, and that can't be all that bad...

***

Time travel AND deal with the devil in one Twilight Zone episode might be pushing its luck, but man, does this episode work. Easily one of the most succesful TZ contraptions when it comes to time-bending, Time and Teresa Golowitz is a wonderful piece which hits all the right spots. From Gene Barry's subtle turn as the harvester of souls to Kristi Lynes' singing, there is really little here not to enjoy. I'm not familiar with the hebrew tradition of fantastic stories, but this has to be one of the best jewish fairytales I've ever seen or heard of (which is, well, not many evidently).

On a sidenote, the actress who plays Mary Ellen, Heather Haase, previously appeared as the lead female in The Shadow Man. And, I have to say, with Alan Brennert doing the teleplay for this, I somehow expected Prince to say that the lower decks looked more like Newark or Atlantic City.

Oddly enough, the original story by Parke Godwin first appeared in Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone Magazine back in 1982.

TZ Trivia : Wallace Langham, who plays Binky's friend Nelson, returned to the Zone in the UPN episode Mr. Motivation. He costarred there with another 80s Zone alumnus, Christopher McDonald from Aqua Vita.

The 20,000 jubilee, and some odd stats

2006-07-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

I'll admit it - I love watching the stats from this blog. Just as I got started with writing, I implemented a Statcounter invisible util which gives me in-depth data on my visitors. It's always fun reading how people come from this or that referrer (usually Wikipedia or John's TZ Page), or just which google searches have they used to reach here.

Today, I'm proud to announce that Postcards from the Zone had its 20,000th visitor, a digit which by far and away exceeded any expectations I had before starting this project. I'd like to thank everyone who read anything on this blog, left a comment, or feedback via email. I really appreciate it, as I'm working hard to make this the definite colour TZ resource on the internet, and I hope you're all enjoying it.

Speaking of stats, here are some interesting bits I learned from Statcounter. These are the episodes which people google for most :

-- Examination Day ... by far and away the most popular one.
-- A Matter of Minutes ... this is no surprise either.
-- To See the Invisible Man ... just shows my readers have good taste.
-- Her Pilgrim Soul & A Message from Charity ... next popular hits, but not nearly as frequent as Examination Day or those two above (sorry mr. Brennert ;) ).

And here are some odd google hits which bring unsuspecting surfers to this page :

-- Danica McKellar ... hot commodity of late.
-- Elan Oberon pictures ... no, I'm serious. Many a poor soul stumbled upon my panning of Opening Day looking for the photos of this fine ma'am.

There have been other "insert actress name here"+pictures google queries which got people to my blog, as well, but I'm just too tired to remember them now. It's 4AM in the morning after all, and I bid you farewell for now...look for the review of Time and Teresa Golowitz soon - Alan Brennert lists it as one of his favourite season 2 entries, so it should be good enough.

2.17 --- Private Channel

2006-07-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Peter Medak
Written by : Edward Redlich
Starring : Scott Coffey, Andrew Robinson
First aired : 21st of May, 1987.

Keith (Scott Coffey, Lost Highway, Mullholland Dr.), an obnoxious teenager, is not a happy camper. After boarding a flight, Keith is informed by the stewardess that he cannot use his pocket radio, and is generally advised to keep his behaviour in check. Midway through the flight, Keith sneaks into the bathroom to listen to some anyway, but all he can catch is some country station.

Just as he's busy doing it, a bolt of lightning strikes the airplane and Keith stumbles, dropping his radio into the sink. When he puts it back on, he can't hear any music - instead, he hears a voice begging him to leave the toilet as it's urgency. He storms outside and confronts the older lady standing in front of the door, but she claims she never said a thing. Minutes later, Keith "overhears" a young girl studying biology, where in fact she's not saying anything. It shines on him that his radio is not a radio anymore - it can tap in people's thoughts.

A fact which just saved his life, as the fellow sitting next to him (Andrew Robinson, previously in Profile in Silver) is planning to blow the plane up. Through his headphones, Keith learns mr. Williams - that's his name - is righteously pissed because his wife and child died in a plane crash, and negligence was cited as the reason. Keith tries to talk him out of it, but Williams, while completely shocked the kid knows his story, decides to go for it anyway and stands up, revealing he's strapped with explosives and ready to push the trigger.

Moments before he does so, Keith sneaks behind him and puts him his headphones on, and Williams is confronted with the thoughts of all the passengers streaming into his head. He is struck with remorse, and gives up his mission. As people walk through the cabin, many of them step on Keith's radio left on the floor...which he doesn't seem to mind.

***

A neat little short bookending this unusually spread out airing, Private Channel is probably the best of season 2 shorts, but still far away from the glory of its season 1 counterparts. Coffey is amusingly snotty, if looking a bit overaged (he's supposed to be 16, as the narration states), and Robinson is standardly good...though I could have done without his Khan-esque "noooo !" at the end of the episode.

Private Channel also marked the last time Peter Medak would direct a Twilight Zone episode. Medak, one of the more prolific Zone directors, had his high points with Grace Note, Dead Woman's Shoes and Ye Gods, but also helmed underwhelming Still Life and Button Button. You be his judge - I personally liked his style, even in weak pieces.

Worth noting that mindreading is a rehashed concept within the Zone - George Clayton Johnson's classic episode A Penny for Your Thoughts is of similar ilk.

2.16 --- Shelter Skelter

2006-06-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Martha Coolidge
Written by : Robin Love & Ron Cobb (story by Ron Cobb)
Starring : Joe Mantegna, Jon Gries, Joan Allen
First aired : 21st of May, 1987.

Meet Harry Dobbs (Joe Mantegna, Bugsy, The Godfather pt. III), a full-time right winger and survivalist par excellence, and a part-time husband and parent. Harry's big secret is that he, in his basement, has constructed a complete fallout shelter, with food, air, and all that jazz enough to last him and his family a whole year if it need be. His wife Sally (Joan Allen, Manhunter, Face/Off) is not enamored by this hobby of his, but Harry is adamant that it will eventually come handy.

As Sally takes their children for a trip to her sister, Harry is visited by Nick (Jon Gries, Men in Black, Napoleon Dynamite), a timid fellow who works as the sales clerk in Harry's gun shop. As the TV brings recent news about a new middle eastern crisis and president being evacuated from the white house, Harry and Nick get comfortably drunk, and Harry decides to let Nick in on his secret, taking him on a "shelter tour".

Down there, Harry brags with all his survival gear, and is especially proud to showcase the communications system, with a buried antenna which can force its way out under piles of debris. He props the antenna up as a demonstration and turns on the TV, only to hear the shocking news - Russian cities are getting evacuated, and an all-out nuclear war is imminent. Harry dashes to make a phone call to Sally and tries to convince her to drive home, but Sally shrugs this off as just another one of his paranoia assaults. The moment he hangs up the receiver, everything around him starts dissolving in a blaze of light - it started. Harry quickly runs to the shelter, and manages to save him - and Nick, still sitting there - from a certain demise.

Six weeks pass by, and radiation levels outside are still the same. The communication system is broken, as the antenna stayed on the surface during the assault, so the survival duo can't make any contact with the rest. Nick soon overhears people talking through the door and decides to call for help, but Harry stops him, convincing him it's the scavengers on the outside.

A year later, Harry is still optimistic world will change for better, but Nick is getting sick of it. In act of desperation, he flees the shelter, only to return some time later wholly contaminated and dying. Harry, who assumes from his ravings that a nuclear winter reigns outside, refuses to let him in, arguing that they would both die from radiation poisoning.

Finally, with supplies exhausted, Harry cracks up, and readies himself to leave the shelter, fully armed and wearing war paint. As he steps out, we are shown the desolate images of his little town wasted...only to be quickly intercut with normal flora and fauna of the functional human world ! We learn that the little town Harry lived was pulverized by an accident - a bomber taking off from a nearby airbase had its nuclear bomb detonated while taking off, and the blast levelled the whole town. The death of everyone was not in vain though, as the world leaders realized the folly of nuclear war, and gave up their intentions to obliterate themselves. To prevent radiation spread, the whole of town with its ruins was encapsuled in a big radiation-proof dome, which became an anti-war monument.

Sally and her children, still alive thanks to that fateful trip, are just happening to be visiting the monument, and they lay flowers to the mass grave of people who died there. Asked by her son if this is where their father is buried, Sally briefly confirms and hugs the both of them, looking at the dome.

***

A very strong episode exploting the 80's cold war frenzy, Shelter Skelter is one of the more solid season 2 entries. A strong cast, spearheaded by excellent Mantegna, helps this one work to its full potential.

Mantegna's Harry Dobbs is a character which is just over the top repulsive. He completely ignores his daughter, mistreats his wife, and teaches his son how to use a gun at the age of seven. He is completely obsessed with the nuclear war, even thinking it might be a good thing, ridding the world of all the "filth" such as "rock stars" and "pornography". But the filth in the end turns out to be him, as he's left buried alive within the walls of the "peace dome". Jon Gries, who many of you might remember as Uncle Rico from 2004. indie hit Napoleon Dynamite, acts as the excellent counterpart to Mantegna's Harry - initially timid, but getting progressively more "out there" as the fallout wears on both of them.

The director, Martha Coolidge, seems to have a knack for nuclear war stories, as she previously handled another antiwar standout, season 1's Quarantine (as well as Night of the Meek remake). All in all, a delight to watch - very somber throughout, with a neatly incorporated twist at the ending I really didn't see coming.

TZ Trivia : two holdovers here - Danica McKellar, of Wonder Years fame, previously appeared in Her Pilgrim Soul as the infant version of Nola. And Geoff Witcher, briefly appearing as the TV anchor, is to be seen in A Saucer of Loneliness ... playing a TV anchor.

Odd trivia : the title "Shelter Skelter" is obviously inspired by the Beatles song "Helter Skelter", which in turn inspired Charles Manson to do his thing. Oddly enough, Jon Gries appears in a '76. movie dealing with the Manson trials called Helter Skelter. And who plays Manson in it, you may ask ? Why, it's Steve Railsback, who you might remember as the conscious trucker from Dead Run. Ah, IMDB is such a wonderful thing !

2.15 --- Joy Ride

2006-06-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Gil Bettman
Written by : Cal Willingham
Starring : Rob Knepper, Brooke McCarter
First aired : 21st of May, 1987.

Alonzo (Rob Knepper, Wild Thing, Prison Break), Greg (Brooke McCarter, Thrashin', Lost Boys), Adrienne and Deena are four youngsters looking for some fun on an ordinary night. Alonzo comes to an idea which is a surefire winner - they head to a garage from a recently deceased man, Pete Taylor, and take his classic 50's car for a little ride.

But once in a car, the streets look nothing like the streets they know, the cars out on the road are all cars from the 50's, and Alonzo is acting more and more erratic. His crazy behaviour climaxes when he shoots a patrol cop who pulls them over, using a gun which he found under his seat. The cop was looking for people who held up a store some time ago - and for some reason, Alonzo thinks he's the culprit.

A wild chase with the police force starts, and Adrienne and Deena soon bail by jumping (or being pushed) out of the car, but as they hit the ground, they see they are back to their normal time. Greg is the last one to leave, and he returns to a scene of fire brigade prying the car doors open so they can pull Alonzo out of it. The fireman just manages to save him, seconds before the police catches up with the car (in the alternate dimension, that is), and everybody's safe.

Stunned Alonzo tries to convince the firemen and policemen present that he shot a cop with a gun he is still clutching, but the policeman tells him the gun is long rusty and unusable. After hearing from the same officer that this car is sort of a urban legend, as it was reportedly used to rob a store 30 years ago, Greg opines that this was probably the old man Taylor's manner of posthumous confession.

***

Know what I miss most from season 1 ? Shorts. That season was nicely peppered with shorts, and for every "heavy" piece in one airing you'd get brightened up by, say, Lost and Found or something like that. Season 2 sadly is "short on shorts", and when they do come, they're not all that flash - as witnessed by Lost and Found and this one.

Loosely described as "Christine meets the time travellers", Joy Ride is an average piece, with actors well into their 20s portraying freewheelin' teenagers (or, as you might call it, the Beverly Hills 90210 syndrome). The story does make some sense, but feels awfully rushed and squeezed into the 11 minute slot, and could have done with some elaboration. Average at best, and the stock 80's music really grates.

***

As you can judge by the airing dates, season 2 really got inconsistent at this period, and the New Zone was basically living on the edge of the knife. It would be a couple of more episodes before CBS canned the show, only to resurrect it with a new season and a syndicated package in late '88., which was produced in Canada with majorly Canadian directors and cast.

The heyday of the new TZ was definitely season 1, but do stay with me till the job is done - there are many more worthy S2 and S3 entries ahead.

2.14 --- The Junction

2006-06-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Bill Duke
Written by : Virginia Aldridge
Starring : William Allen Young, Chris Mulkey
First aired : 21st of February, 1987.

John Parker (William Allen Young, Jagged Edge, Lock Up), a coal miner working at the local mine, is about to have his rough day become even rougher. After spending a night on the sofa and perilously approaching divorce thanks to his adulterous fling, at work he is sent way deep into the mine in an old junction to prospect for reported coal reserves.

John arrives to the junction along with a couple of coworkers, but soon they realize they took a wrong turn somewhere on the way, and decide to split, two of them going back to phone surface. As John and Charlie, the remaining two, start checking about, the ceiling suddenly collapses and seals John off deep into the junction.

Screaming for help, John is delighted to hear someone's answering his calls - but that someone is on his side of the rocks ! Searching the area, he finds another miner (Chris Mulkey, starring in many, many B-movies) with his leg broken, lying under a wooden girder. As he removes the girder and immobilizes the man, he slowly starts realizing that he comes from another era - Ray, that being his name, is amazed to see modern helmet lights, lighters, wrist watches and such things. Two men strike conversation, and Ray states he was born in 1877, and that the year right now is 1912 - for him at least.

Out there on the surface, the local reverend is reminded by an old lady that there is a letter for Melissa Parker, John's wife, which was supposed to be delivered yesterday. The letter, it seems, has been sealed in the church's vaults since 1912., and noone knows what's in it. The reverend agrees to deliver it, and leaves the church. About that time the alarm bells in the mine ring, and the community faces the terrible truth - there has been an accident down below.

Meanwhile, John and Ray are running out of air, and are using their last breath to strike casual conversation. John laments to Ray about his extramarital affair which might have ruined his life, but Ray consoles him, saying that there is always light at the end of the tunnel (heh, heh). On the surface, Melissa gets the letter, opens it and reads - it is a letter from Ray, urging her not to send her husband to the mine on 16th of September, 1987 ! She rushes to the mine foreman, certain she can save her husband, as the letter has the exact coordinates of his whereabouts.

Back in the mine, John is relieved to hear the noise of picks and shovels, and soon light appears from above and men drag Ray out, leaving him behind. Ray is saved, however he can't stop raving about the man who saved him, despite everyone saying he was the only man missing. His wife doesn't believe him either, but Ray convinces her by showing her a photo of John's wife, and devises a way to help him - all he needs is a pen and some paper.

20th century again, and John is saved from the pit - it's all good. His redemption is complete when Melissa embraces him again, in no small measure influenced by Ray's letter, who closed his plea by saying how John is a good man and deserves a second chance.

***

Time travels and The Twilight Zone - will I ever learn to accept it ? At times they are good, at times they are awful, but this time it's plain average. The Junction, oddly enough directed by Bill Duke who you might remember as Mac from Predator, is a story good enough to pass time, but brings nothing new, or exciting. The opening was promising enough, and after John gets sealed off I hoped for a The Thing-esque claustrophobic setup with some shocks and thrills. I got a routine "future meets past" story instead, so yeah.

While Young is reasonably charismatic as John Parker, Mulkey is somewhat limper in his turn as the old miner from the turn of the century. Two of them never strike any significant chemistry, and Mulkey's lines - especially the end plea to his wife - come off awfully contrived and hokey ("Honey, this man's from the future !"...sure). But this is more of a scriptwriter's fault, really, and as it won't either lower or raise its overall grade, let's just leave it standing like that.

Trivia : Karen Landry, who cameos as Ray's wife, is actually married in real life to Chris Mulkey.

2.13 --- The Card

2006-06-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Bradford May
Written by : Michael Cassutt
Starring : Susan Blakely, Virginia Kiser, William Atherton
First aired : 21st of February, 1987.

Linda Wolfe (Susan Blakely, The Towering Inferno, Airport '79.) is a wife and mother of three, who also happens to be a compulsive spender. After having every credit card known to man withdrawn from her, she is invited by the mysterious "The Card" agency, which makes her an offer on a new credit card via sly-looking miss Foley (Virginia Kiser, Poltergeist). There is one catch - the minimum payment must be made within a week rather than thirty days, a fact which doesn't bother Linda who only too easily signs the terms, before even bothering to read them.

A week later, Linda is late on her first payment, and is stunned to find out her cat Boris is gone. Not only that, but neither her kids, nor her husband Brian (William Atherton, previously of Night of the Meek) seem to remember they had a cat in the first place. Linda finds this all very suspicious, but shakes it off as a weird prank by her family. Linda and Brian proceed to buy an expensive new fridge, but when Linda is late on her payment again, her dog - Scoobie - disappears as well, with similar effects. The kids not only not remember any dog, Linda's behaviour completely freaks them out, and Brian is suggesting she sees a psychiatrist. Still, she's convinced this is someone's weird idea of humour, and shrugs those things off.

After promising Brian she won't use the credit card anymore because she was late on the payment again, Linda's car crashes in the middle of the road and she is forced to pay for the expenses with the card again. A rash decision, which she realizes once back home - her children are gone, and Brian is now positive she's cracking up, as he maintains firmly they had no kids at all ! In a half-rabid state by now, Linda desperately searches for her sons all around the neighbourhood, until finally realizing that it might be this new card of hers behind the problems.

First thing in the morning, Linda drives off to the "The Card" offices, and is in complete shock when she sees her children behind a glass wall walking into another room. Miss Foley soon takes her in, and casually informs her that they are behind all of it, and that her kids had their minds reprogrammed so they could be "dispersed" to other good families. Linda is at the end of her wits now, so she tries to buy her children back by writing a check which draws from the joint account she and Brian have.

But that's not the end of her problems. Brian, obviously failing to understand the wisdom of such action, meanwhile called the bank and canceled the check - an action which turns out to be fatal for everyone. Linda hurries for the phone, but as she's dialing the bank number, things around her just start to disappear - from Brian onwards ! She goes for one more desperate solution and cuts the credit card in half with a pair of scissors, but it's too late - her house, and her, vanish into thin air without a trace.

***

Now you're talking. A completely brutal and malevolent episode, The Card is, along with The Toys of Caliban and The Road Less Traveled easily the best episode of the second season so far. Writer Michael Cassutt, who previously contributed to the new TZ with season one's Red Snow, really surprises friend and foe with the final twist, and is not too shy to hammer his message straight into the unsuspecting audience. There is simply no redemption for the sin of overdraft, regardless of how benign it might sound to you.

The episode wouldn't be half as good without Susan Blakely, who is positively superb as the shopper in distress. With her range going from "ordinary mother" to "pandemonium parent", she is the main ingredient which makes the script and this piece work to its maximum potential. Evenly good is Virginia Kiser in her role of the soulless credit card representative, and the scenes in which her deadpanning meets Susan's hysteria are one of the show standouts.

A good word has to be put in for the special effects, which are astonishingly good towards the end of the show - the disappearing thing doesn't look dated at all to me. All in all, a classic, in my opinion.

Trivia, or is it ? : sharp eyes might have spotted the fact that in the last seconds of the episode, Susan's card says "Linda Wilson" instead of "Linda Wolfe" on it. While you might initially judge this to be a cock-up on the side of the staff, think again - by this time, husband Brian also went poof, so the card is addressed on her presumedly maiden name. Big props for the Zone folks for being this punctual in covering every detail of the story.

***

The World Cup sucks this year, so I decided to watch more TZ and say "screw football" for once. Hope you didn't miss me too much. ;)

Holi-day !

2006-06-05T16:38:00.000-07:00

I'll be off to the lovely Zilvermeer (or "Silver Lake") near Mol (which in turn is near Antwerp) for the following few days, so don't expect any updates until Friday. And on Friday, the World Cup starts, which means I'll have to watch Twilight Zones between casual binges of alcohol and football (or, soccer, as you Americans might prefer it).

While I'm gone, have a think at this...this blog will eventually outgrow itself, in a way that soon I'll run out of episodes to review. As reviewing and rewatching classic TZ's is out of question (plenty have done that before me, and dare I say, better), would this crowd maybe continue reading the blog if I had a go at the 2002 UPN Twilight Zones ?

Well, you can direct any feedback to the email address I provided, or just drop a comment here. Anything works.

2.12 --- The Road Less Traveled

2006-05-31T13:41:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Wes Craven
Written by : George R. R. Martin
Starring : Cliff DeYoung, Margaret Clenck
First aired : 18th of December, 1986.

One particular evening, Jeff McDowell (Cliff DeYoung, The Hunger, F/X), while watching TV with his wife Denise (Margaret Clenck, Hard Choices), is disturbed by their little daughter Megan, who comes down from her bed believing there is a man in her room. Jeff escorts her upstairs to reassure her there is noone there, encourages her to go to sleep, but a flick of the light switch brings Jeff a vivid vision of warfare. He is shell-shocked to say the least, however the vision disappears with another flick of the light, and he dismisses it as a one-time thing. Denise does notices he is under stress, though.

Next morning, we learn why Jeff is so tense. Through conversation with Denise, Jeff mentions that he dodged the Vietnam draft and fled to Canada - a decision which still haunts him to this day. Just before they serve lunch, Megan appears from upstairs and mentions the "man" again. Denise takes her to the bathroom above to wash her hands, and is shocked to see that there indeed is a strange man in their house - a scruffy looking fellow in a wheelchair. Jeff rushes upstairs to check it out, but all he finds is another vision of war, this time even more livid : he suddenly finds himself in the middle of a swamp, dodging bullets with fellow soldier. He awakens on the floor crying from terror, with Denise having to calm him down.

The second vision makes Jeff certain that he is the cause of these troubles, and that the man in the wheelchair, whoever he is, is there to haunt him and trouble him. He decides to leave home for a while so his family can be safe, but Denise rebuffs him, saying that they went to Canada together and they should face it together. Jeff agrees, and no sooner than he turns to embrace her is struck by another Vietnam recreation. This time it's too much for him, and he flees to the car and drives away.

The following day, Denise receivs a phone call from Jeff, sounding strangely distressed, who asks her to return home to see him. Minutes after, Jeff walks into her office, and is amazed to see the secretary saying how she forwarded his call (which he never placed) and how Denise left to see him ! He storms out, but it's too late for Denise, who finds the secret on her own - the man in the wheelchair is Jeff...or, at least, what Jeff would have become if he went to Vietnam. The "real" Jeff arrives to the scene a bit later, and is equally shocked. Slowly, the wheelchair Jeff unveils his story - according to him, in 1971. when Jeff fled to Canada, they separated as personalities. While one had a good life afterwards, the other went to NAM, got his legs blown off by a landmine, his Denise died in a motorcycle accident, and is currently dying in a hospital
. As he was resting on his deathbed, he thought long and hard how would life be if he made a different choice, and by sheer willpower morphed himself in Jeff's real world. He reassures Jeff he has no intentions to hurt anyone - he was just curious.

Jeff is engulfed with guilt and sorrow, and wants to help "himself" share some memories he would have had if he never went to war, believing that the flashbacks he suffered go both ways. The other Jeff denies, saying that if they touched their hands he would inherit all the Vietnam nightmares. But the real Jeff agrees, knowing that in some way it was his fate. They touch hands and tap into each other's minds, one reliving the terrors of battlefield, the other his marriage and other happy things. As the magical seance winds up, wheelchair Jeff's legs have grown back, and he stands up and embraces his counterpart...with them morphing back together into one person. Learning the value of life they had so far, Jeff and Denise hug themselves.

***

Wes Craven, how have we missed you. Absent since season 1's brilliant Dealer's Choice, the 80s master of terror returns to the Twilight Zone, delivering what was possibly his finest Zone entry - a tale of sorrow and redemption of one Jeff McDowell.

Carefully conveying George R.R. Martin's thoughts onto TV screen, Craven creates an unpleasant atmosphere in the first two thirds of the episode, as the McDowell family is struggling to find out who/what is this thing which haunts them. The final third is where the redemption part kicks in, as Cliff DeYoung slips into the skin of his alternate self, a dying cripple. DeYoung's performance is exceptional in both roles - as the dodger Jeff, he looks awfully discomforted and traumatised by memory. As the veteran Jeff, he looks as good as Tom Cruise's Ron Kovic, his creaky voice adding an extra chilling effect.

I'll let you know that the recap above might not be as accurate as it should - this is my vision of story (the script leaves it somewhat open for interpretation). I don't think I'm too far off, though. At any rate, the past few episodes of this generally sorry second season were at least entertaining, so I'm hoping this run of success continues.

The Trivia from Another World : in the opening scene, Jeff and Denise are watching The Thing from Another World on TV. Apparently, the new TZ staff really loved this Howard Hawks classic, as this is like the third or fourth plug it receives on the show - on previous occasions, we heard the line "Watch for the skies" make is entrance, and now the film itself is shown in the episode. Can't blame them though - that's one great movie.

***

In case you wonder why are there no TZ awards, I'm saving them for the end of season 2. Only 21 episodes here.

2.11 --- The Convict's Piano

2006-05-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Thomas J. Wright
Written by : Patrice Messina (story by James Crocker)
Starring : Joe Penny, Norman Fell, Tom O'Brien
First aired : 11th of December, 1986.

Rick Frost (Joe Penny, Jake and the Fatman), a wrongfully imprisoned piano player, is having troubles adjusting to the life behind bars. After hurting his hand in a playground tussle, he is relocated to another prison wing, where he meets Eddie O'Hara (Norman Fell, Bullitt, Three's Company), who spent the last 50 years at this place.

Eddie is busy with redecorating the prison chapel, so he asks Rick to help him, mentioning that he could also play "Ave Maria" for the prison mass. The two of them dig out an old, dusty piano, which was a special gift for Eddie by the infamous 20s mobster Mickey Shaughnessy. Turns out, Mickey and Eddie used to be good friends, but when they butted heads about one girl, Mickey framed Eddie with a murder and let him rot inside the state penn. Ever the joker, Mickey even sent him a piano, which used to belong to his "Shamrock" club in Chicago.

Rick sits down and starts playing an old song from 19th century, and is amazed when after a few bars he is transported back in time. Suddenly, he is playing a piano in some sort of a garden with a band, with people outside having fun. A girl approaches him and wants to give him a firecracker, but the moment he reaches out for her and gets his hands off the piano, he transports himself back to prison.

Intrigued by the idea, Rick experiments further - playing a song from 1917. gets him back to 1917 Chicago, this time inside a bar. While chatting with a young fellow who is presumingly ready to go across the Ocean and join the allies in fight against the Germans, he spots a box of matches carrying the "Shamrock club" insignia, which he tucks away in his pocket. Again, though, he loses concentration enough to lift both hands off the piano, and so returns to present.

Realizing how he can help Eddie even out his old score and release himself from unjust incarceration, Rick finds a piece from the late 20s, drags Eddie with him to the piano room, and starts playing. Now, he's at the Shamrock club, and Mickey Shaughnessy himself (Tom O'Brien, The Big Easy, The Accused) approaches him, fuming about his choice of music. When he requests George Gershwin's "'s Wonderful", Rick fakes ignorance, so Mickey sits down and starts playing himself - while Rick's hands are still on the piano. Carefully, Rick stands up and lets Mickey finish, who then lifts his hands...and materializes 50 years later at the state penn, where Eddie gives him a warm welcome in a shape of a swift punch to his teeth. Rick, on the other hand, is freed from all his problems, and his life can start anew - although in another decade.

***

Another time-travel story in The Twilight Zone, but this time with few original touches. There's the concept of a magical piano, which is additionaly enriched by the fact it will transport you back to an era related to the song you're playing. Joe Penny, while obviously faking his piano playing (check those hands), is nicely cast as the young con, though Norman Fell's Eddie reeks of stock "in it for life" prison wise man characters which tend to populate every movie/series located behind bars. At any rate, this episode is nothing special on the grand scale of TZ, but is still well over season 2 average so far. Good fun - that's about it.

Odd trivia : here's some Zone coincidence. Back in the 60s, Norman Fell had a role in an obscure Lee Marvin vehicle called Sergeant Ryker. Co-starring in that film was Charles Aidman, the man who provided narration for the first two seasons of the new Twilight Zone. And finally, the movie was directed by Buzz Kulik, who directed 9 classic Twilight Zone episodes. Fell and Aidman also appear together in Lewis Milestone's Korean war epic Pork Chop Hill.

2.10 --- The Toys of Caliban

2006-05-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Thomas J. Wright
Written by : George R. R. Martin (story by Terry Matz)
Starring : Richard Mulligan, David Greenlee, Alexandra Borrie
First aired : 4th of December, 1986.

Meet Toby Ross (David Greenlee), a mentally handicapped boy living with his parents Ernest (Richard Mulligan, Little Big Man, The Big Bus) and Mary. Upon first sight, Toby does not differ too much from other kids his age, sans the handicap obviously. But, this vision is dispelled the moment we see him bring a toy unicorn to life from simply observing its picture - obviously, Toby is a bit more special than one might imagine.

After materializing too much donuts for his poor stomach, Toby is rushed to the ER for food poisoning treatment, and has to spend the night there. Ernest grudgingly agrees, under condition that they stay with him, and his seemingly spartan treatment of his son summons him a visit from the local social worker, Mandy Kemp (stage actress Alexandra Borrie), who drops by the following morning. Mandy tries to politely inform the Rosses of the benefits of special education classes, but Ernest adamantly rejects her overtures and angrily leaves the hospital.

Back at the Ross family home, Toby, alone in his room and feeling bored, "brings" ("bring" is the word he uses when reproducing things he sees in pictures) the scientific magazine his father took away from him at the hospital, purely from memory, and lets his imagination go wild. Later that day, Mary arrives to her room and, after seein Toby in a corner with his hands drenched in blood, suffers a fatal heart attack - Toby saw pictures of a human heart, and "brought" one for him to play.

Some time later, Mandy visits the remaining Rosses, and again tries to convince Ernest that an institution is the right way to go. Seeing he possibly can't rebuff her with simple rhetorics, Ernest unlocks a cupboard with books and gives Toby an encyclopedia of medieval weaponry. When he "brings" an authentic dagger, Mandy thinks it's a simple magic trick - when he recreates a medieval knight's armour, however, Mandy is a believer. This only seems to reassert her tendencies though, as now she believes even more he should be helped by experts. Ernest is still not backing down, and as he explains Mandy Toby can't "bring" anything living - all the humans/animals he "brought" came out dead - Toby snatches a photo of his late mother and, ignorant of his power, materializes her rotting corpse in a sofa. This is a bit too much for Mandy, who flees the scene.

Left to his own devices, Ernest buries Mary in his back yard, which served him as a mortuary for all Toby's mishaps over the years. While digging, he hears the police sirens wailing, and realizes the time is come. He returns inside, takes another book from the cupboard, then sits together with Toby and they start browsing it together. As he whispers his last words of love to his son, Toby sees - and "brings" - a vivid image of fire engulfing a house, which burns them both alive...seconds before Mandy arrives backed up with the local police.

***

It took them 10 episodes, but the season 2 finally produced a dependable - if horribly downbeat and unsettling - classic. Based on a story by Terry Matz, The Toys of Caliban is a thoroughly somber and dark episode, backboned by a very strong performance by Richard Mulligan (last seen playing a santa wannabe in season one's Night of the Meek). Do not come into this expecting a happy, or even just (to some level) ending - this one is a real, although brilliant, downer.

David Greenlee is pretty solid as Toby, and stage actresses Borrie and Anne Haney (playing Mary Ross) add extra flavour to this piece. Still, it is Mulligan's tormented parent who leaves the biggest impression here, torn between the love for his offspring and conventional way of life he sorely misses. The episode also raises the question of treating mentally challenged people, and the system seems to be vilified through the character of Mandy, with Matz and Martin sympathising with the parental side (although an exaggerated example is used). Credit also goes to the director Thomas J. Wright, who, aside from an odd Hulk Hogan vehicle No Holds Barred, stuck mostly to helming different episodes of various television shows - the scene in which Toby plays with a pulsating heart was disturbing on so many levels (just look at his shadow on the wall to see what I'm talking about).

Shakespeare trivia : "Caliban" from the title seemingly refers to the likewise named character from the Bard's The Tempest, a deformed prisoner of his own father Prospero.

2.09 --- The World Next Door

2006-05-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : Lan O'Kun
Starring : George Wendt, Bernadette Birkett
First aired : 18th of October, 1986.

Barney Schlesinger (George Wendt, Cheers), a likable fellow who has inventor's aspiration, is going through a barren patch of his life at the moment. His wife Katie (Bernadette Birkett) is losing her patience with his hobby which she thinks it's useless, and on top of it he's been having weird dreams about being someone else in another world.

One rainy night, Barney returns home only to find out Katie will take none of his sloppiness no more. She sends him down to his basement workshop, and threatens him with couch unless he cleans it all up. While working, Barney hears distant laughter from beyond the walls and thinks he's losing it. But, after accidentally triggering an earlier "invention" and blowing a hole in the wall, he finds a sealed door which leads to...

...another dimension, in which he is Barney Schlesinger - famous early 20th century inventor ! Climbing up the stairs, Barney is flabbergasted to see a luxurious reception given for his guests, in honour of his latest invention - new type of fuel which will optimize the usage of cars and will make them run whole 60 miles per hour. Barney celebrates the occasion with a shot of vintage wine and a dance with his partner Milton, enjoying the evening throughout.

After the party finishes, he is interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. It turns out it's a damsel in distress - a lady whose carriage broke so she's forced to look for shelter in this horrible weather. Barney is amazed to recognize his wife Katie (or, her parallel universe alter ego), and immediately takes her in. They share a drink, and when it's time to say goodbye, Barney sneaks behind the basement door to retrieve a mechanical orchid he designed in his "previous" life. Getting there, he sees the "other" Barney making peace with modern day Katie - seemingly, two Barneys just exchanged places, and are very happy with their new lives. Back in the early 20th century, Katie is very pleased with her mechanical orchid...and Barney feels his real life has just began.

***

The World Next Door is another white collar escapist fantasy, not unlike some earlier TZ episodes (ie. A Stop at Willoughby), and is hence relegated to the "been there, done that" pile of Zone material which just keeps stacking higher in this second season. It would be wholly unfair to call this a bad episode though, as George Wendt is positively charming in his double role of Barney Schlesinger - the dance sequence with Jeffrey Tambor (remember him from Dead Woman's Shoes ?) is a hoot, and so is his coming to terms he has a butler (Jeeves...? Morgan...? Henry...?). Worth seeing once, but that's about it.

Worth noting I'm just freely estimating that the other Barney lives in early 20th century. The news snippet about cars running up to 60mph made me think that. I might be, obviously, very wrong.

Where everybody knows your trivia : oddly enough, Bernadette Birkett is also a Cheers cast member - it's just she never appears in it ! Birkett's role is limited to Norm's often-mentioned-but-never-shown wife Vera, who cameos a couple of times as a voice on the other side of the telephone. Neat touch from the Zone producers thus, who paired Norm and Vera in flesh on the small screen.

2.08 --- Lost and Found

2006-05-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Gus Trikonis
Written by : George R. R. Martin (story by Phyllis Eisenstein)
Starring : Akousa Busia, Cindy Harrell
First aired : 18th of October, 1986.

Jenny Templeton (Akosua Busia, The Colour Purple), a young political sciences student, is visibly distressed when she discovers her trash mysteriously empty, and her mug in which she keeps her pencils missing. She hears a noise from the closet, and after checking it out, is convinced that there is someone in it. Her roomie, Kathy (Cindy Harrell), thinks Jenny is imagining things, but when she swings the closet door open she finds out that there are indeed two persons in there !

The "closet people" are in fact time travellers, coming from future to bring Jenny her mug back. As they casually address her as "president", they apologise for distressing her and promptly disappear. Before doing so, the male time traveller mumbles out that she will eventually become the very first president of earth, to be nicknamed "the great peacemaker". And this was just enough incentive for Jenny to stop her studies, and see that her future lies elsewhere.

***

A five-minute short which reunites teen scream queens Busia and Harrell (after starring together in The Final Terror), Lost and Found is a rather uninspiring piece which significantly diverts from the original course as thought by the storywriter Phyllis Eisenstein. In the original story, Jenny is a chemistry student, the time-travellers drop a hint she eventually graduates anthropology, and there was no further hints about "president of Earth". George R. R. Martin discards these elements in his adaptation, switches Jenny to political science, and gives us no clue where does she go next, or indeed, what does one study to become "president of Earth" (somehow, political science does seem appropriate for such a function).

But since it's only five minutes long, it's easier to observe it as a mere curiosity, than just simply condemn it. And let it be so.

2.07 --- The After Hours

2006-05-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Bruce Malmuth
Written by : Rockne S. O'Bannon (original story & teleplay by Rod Serling)
Starring : Terry Farrell, Ann Wedgeworth, Ned Bellamy
First aired : 18th of October, 1986.

Marsha Cole (Terry Farrell, Star Trek : Deep Space 9), an attractive young lady in her 20s, is fanatically rushing to the nearest mall, as she wants to buy a particular doll for her landlord's son. She gets there just as the place is closing, but she manages to convince the security guard to let her in for just one quick errand.

She finds the toy store and gets the doll, and strikes a random conversation with the shopkeeper, a middle-aged lady looking casually like a witch from old Disney cartoons (Ann Wedgeworth, Bang the Drum Slowly, Dragonfly). While the shopkeeper is away fetching her doll, a mother and her son bump into Marsha, and the little boy addresses her by name, asking her openly if she can take him on her way out as he's "ready". Marsha doesn't have a clue what's this about, and both the boy's mother and the shopkeeper dismiss this as a minor incident.

The shopkeeper soon starts asking Marsha questions which she can't seem to answer. Amazingly, she can't remember anything which didn't happen past last month - she can't tell where's she from, or who are her parents, or how was life before that last month in general. As the shopkeeper starts turning more sinister, Marsha decides to run for it, and quickly enters the elevator. She's not alone there, as one of the security guards who let her in (Ned Bellamy, Being John Malkovich, Saw) follows her and also tries to apprehend her.

Marsha is now running for her life, but wherever she appears, a drowning noise of voices coming from the mall plastic mannequins seems to haunt her. Eventually, the shopkeeper and the security guard corner her and tell her the truth - everybody walking after-hours in the mall is actually a mannequin, and for the last month she had the chance to experience the "outer" world, as all mannequins can do occasionally. Marsha tries to run away, but her limbs betray her - her arms and legs morph into plastic, and she's back to her mannequin self again.

***

A reimagining of the Rod Serling original, The After Hours is an interesting, well-acted and well-directed episode which is one of the choice cuts of the second season so far. Serling's original had a bit more complex plot, involving phantom mall floors, and the main character of Marsha remembering her "plastic" roots in the end. Rockne S. O'Bannon, who adapted Serling's story for the 80s Zone, takes a different, more up-tempo route - O'Bannon's Marsha is in constant denial, which creates a more tense atmosphere and a chase reminiscent of 80s slasher films, complete with one downright nightmarish scene when the protagonist locks herself up in a mannequin repository.

Sadly, what could have been a real hair-raiser is ruined by whoever's decision to score this piece with an obnoxious loud carnival-like music, which seems more suited to those antiquated "houses of horrors" you might run into at your local fair. Pity, as this takes it down a full notch.

***

On a personal note, the lack of updates can be attributed to the Italian mother's day. I work in the floral industry, and we had a massive shipment of azaleas heading to Italy last week. On a more positive note, I made a mental commitment to review at least one episode every two days, so my audience can be sustained. My apologies again.

2.06 --- Nightsong

2006-04-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Bradford May
Written by : Michael Reeves
Starring : Lisa Eilbacher, Antony Hamilton
First aired : 11th of October, 1986.

Andrea Fields (Lisa Eilbacher, An Officer and a Gentleman, Beverly Hills Cop), a young DJ working late nights at a local radio station, is seemingly drifting through life without anything to live for. She continuously spurs off all advances from her DJ colleague Ace, who, thinking that it might cheer her up, buys her a record of her ex-boyfriend who disappeared five years ago.

Slightly amused by that, Andrea plays the record, and Simon Locke, her ex (Antony Hamilton, Nocturna, Howling IV), mysteriously appears outside the DJ cabin. Andrea greets him with a slap on his face, and after an angry tirade in which she voices her discontent about him just becoming MIA without letting her know, throws the Nightsong record at him. Simon disappears, but reappears later outside the radio station, and saves her life by tugging her away from an oncoming motorbike.

They start talking again, however Andrea is not ready to open old wounds, and flees. Back at her place, the Nightsong album appears out of nowhere on her turntable and starts playing - and with it comes Simon, convincing her that he means no harm. They start kissing and everything seems to be alright, until Simon breaks it up and confesses he has to show her something.

Simon drives Andrea far out to the coast, and tells her the truth - five years ago, when his record was due to be released, he got afraid of success and drove to this place with a motorbike. Suddenly, he lost control and died - but his spirit was revived when someone found his record. Andrea cries that she loves him, and Simon says that he knows, which is why he saved her from that motorbike - which was in fact him, coming after her. He shows her his skeleton from the bike crash, and disappears. Some time later, a listener calls and requests Nightsong to be played - Andrea, somewhat relieved, agrees.

***

So far, this is the pits of season 2. While What are Friends For ? and The Storyteller got close to being just bad without respite, Nightsong got there in a hurry. It kicked off somewhat interesting, but the solution was telegraphed the moment Locke appears (props to director who seemingly wanted everybody and their sister to know he's dead before it's revealed), and the twist so muddled and nonsensical that even that little credibility built to that point collapsed like a house of cards. Lisa Eilbacher tries hard, but her effort is completely offset by unneccessary hammy Antony Hamilton, who delivers his lines in a faux-Shakespearean manner, as if he's performing in some grand scale theatre play. Not to mention he looks a lot like Dolph Lundgren, too. Avoid this.

Nightsong trivia : Simon Locke's Nightsong is actually performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the song appears on their 1988. reunion album American Dream. Worth noting that that song is arguably the best part of this episode.

2.05 --- The Storyteller

2006-04-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : Rockne S. O'Bannon
Starring : Glynnis O'Connor, David Faustino
First aired : 11th of October, 1986.

While visiting her niece, Dorothy Livingston (Glynnis O'Connor, Jeremy, Melanie), a retired schoolteacher, accidentally stumbles upon a man who she thinks is someone she knows from long time ago. As the man, a gray-haired gentleman with glasses and a rather visible scar, enters a cab, Dorothy and her niece decide to tail him. On the back seat of their own taxi, Dorothy's story starts to unravel...

The year is now 1933., and Dorothy, just fresh out of college, is assigned to a teaching post during the summer somewhere in West Virginia. The outgoing teacher tells her all should be smooth, but makes a note that a certain youngster called Mica Frost should have library accessible at all times. Dorothy soon meets Mica (David Faustino, Married...with Children), who seems to fill time at school by just manically scribbling things in his notebook.

Dorothy finds this behaviour rather peculiar, so she asks Mica if she can see his parents. When she is informed that his parents are dead, she asks to see his grandfather who takes care of him, but Mica denies her that in furious manner, and bolts the playground. Later that day, Dorothy decides to spy on Mica in his house, and sees him telling stories to his grandad. While leaving, she makes a loud sound and Mica, alerted, runs out and catches her red-handed.

Rather than angry himself, Mica patiently explains to Dorothy that he writes stories every day...so he can keep his grandfather alive ! Dorothy can't believe this, but Mica says that this man is not his grandfather - it is his grand-grand-grand-grandfather who was born in 18th century, and the family was keeping him alive for generations by telling stories. The catch is - the stories must end on a cliffhanger every night, so he would have something to return to tomorrow.

Some time later, Mica is involved in an accident - he falls of a tree in the schoolyard, and is incapacitated for one day. His arm is broken, and he spends the night at the village doctor's house, against his wishes. Realizing that it's up to someone to keep the old man alive, Dorothy heads to his home after school and reads grandpa Frost a story of his own. When Mica comes back the next morning, he's overawed his great ancestor still lives, thanks to Dorothy and her effort.

Fast forward to present, where Dorothy and her niece speculate that Mica's great granddad might be 200 years old now - if Mica's still reading him stories that is. They cautiously follow Mica, follow him to the second floor...and as the door swings...

...we suddenly hear Dorothy narrating the story...to her own mother ! The old woman seems to be following the story with great interest, and would really love to know how it ends. To which, Dorothy casually replies that she will tomorrow, and leaves.

***

Well, well, well...what do have here ? An 80s Twilight Zone with slightly conservative leanings ! The main story arc is interesting, if somewhat flat and predictable, but what really catches one's attention is the discussion Mica and Dorothy have on the front porch. When Dorothy simply asks Mica if it ain't a crime to keep an old man alive for so much, Mica retorts that men should live as long as they are clear-headed and capable. Clear-headed he was, but "capable", hell, he was stuck in his bed the whole day. Twilight Zone speaking against euthanasia ? There's a slight possibility...obviously, I might be ways off, but that line of dialogue was somewhat too pointed to slip by me.

Other than this curiosity, this is a run of the mill episode, with some decent acting by young Faustino and O'Connor, but I doubt I'll be revisiting this one soon. The twist at the end is minor and somewhat forced, however the idea and execution are decent enough to keep this episode away from Bronze Rod category. One potential blemish - O'Connor's makeup in the present scenes...she looks nowhere near 70-something she should be.

Inside Trivia : at the very beginning of the episode, Dorothy mentions to her niece how she really should visit them back home in Beaumont. No prizes given for guessing who's this line of script referencing.

2.04 --- Aqua Vita

2006-04-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

Reviewer's note : yep, we're at it again. This one is 2.04, The Storyteller is 2.05, and Nightsong is 2.06.

Directed by : Paul Tucker
Written by : Jeremy Bertrand Finch & Paul Chitlik
Starring : Mimi Kennedy, Joseph Hacker, Barbara Horan, Christopher McDonald
First aired : 4th of October, 1986.

Christine (TV actress Mimi Kennedy), a succesful TV anchor, has just turned 40 and is on a downslide. She doesn't feel as young anymore, and as an added bonus, the network plans on replacing her as the ratings are down. Her colleague and friend Shauna (Barbara Horan) teases her about her looks, but what's really strange is that Shauna, while being a few years older than Christine, looks like a 20-year old. When asked how is that possible, she produces a hip flask of ordinary water.

Christine doesn't quite buy into it, however, she gets desperate soon enough and decides to install a water tap from that special company - called "Aqua Vita" (or, "the water of life" if you'd please) - in her own flat. The delivery boy (Christopher McDonald, The Boys Next Door, Thelma & Louise) warns her that the first delivery is free - but the rest will be charged.

After mere glass of water, Christine is amazed when she looks into the mirror - she looks at least 10 years younger ! Rejuvenated, she heads out for a vacation with her boyfriend Marc (Joseph Hacker), and all runs smooth until she sees the sideffects of the magic drink. After a certain time, the recipient rapidly ages for another 30 years. Shauna explains that this nasty "glitch" lasts only until the next drink.

Things take a turn for the sour when Shauna asks for a two-thousand dollar loan to cover her water expenses, and Christine's next water delivery rings up at five grand. Marc, worried about Christine, looks Shauna up and finds her during her "cold turkey" - she looks at least 80 years old without the water. He returns to Christine, who is now in absolute panic because she broke a glass with water, and convinces her to kick off and stay as she is. Christine agrees, but tells them that that would also mean the end of their relationship - they look way too disparate to be seen as a couple. Hearing that, Marc opts for drastic measures - he takes a drink of Aqua Vita, and "ages" himself, thus saving their relationship.

***

Written by Jeremy Bertrand Finch and Paul Chitlik, Aqua Vita comes relatively close to recapturing some of the season 1/old series spark. What works in this episode are the good performances of the leads, as well as the well-done makeup which increases the dramatic effect. What doesn't work is that the story has been somewhat done before (Serling's classic TZ episode The Trade-Ins seems like an obvious inspiration for both the basic concept and finale), and that in general, you never really feel "grabbed" by your collar and sucked into the plight of Christine and Shauna. I did praise good acting up there, but the principal characters are somewhat shallow written.

I really ought to single out Christopher McDonald here, as he's absolutely devious as the Aqua Vita delivery boy. He easily steals those two scenes in which he's given time, and gives the episode a bit more of a lively colour.

So far (and further, as you'll see with my review of The Storyteller which I wrote ahead of this one, then realized this episode came before that one), Season 2 is yet to produce a dependable TZ classic. The pieces so far have been entertaining, if a bit short on inspiration, and at very worst, this season kicked off at leisure pace.

TZ Trivia : Christopher McDonald returned to the zone in 2002., in an UPN episode Mr. Motivation.

2.03 --- What are Friends For ?

2006-04-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Gus Trikonis
Written by : J. Michael Straczynski
Starring : Fred Savage, Tom Skerritt, Lukas Haas
First aired : 4th of October, 1986.

Alex (Tom Skerritt, Alien, The Dead Zone) and Jeff (Fred Savage, The Wizard, The Wonder Years) Mattingly are a father and son who have freshly moved into a cabin in the woods. Jeff is less than enthousiastic at the prospect of being isolated from all the attractive things that a kid his age usually does, but Alex encourages him to make up things on his own - something he used to do when he was young and bored.

Soon, Jeff strikes a friendship with a local kid called Mike (Lukas Haas, Witness, Last Days), and the two of them seem to be having a great time. Problems arise when Alex tries to integrate Jeff with other kids - he's just too attached to Mike, and likes to play with him only. During their next adventure out, Jeff asks Mike to meet his dad - he refuses, and feeling suddenly a bit more malevolent, lures Jeff into a mud hut, and then quickly flees it in an ethereal way (as in, ghosts out of it non-corporeally) just before it collapses, leaving Jeff trapped under the ruins.

Alex arrives just in time to save Jeff, and afraid for his safety, prohibits him from playing with Mike. The next day, while on the phone with his ex-wife, he spots Mike running outside of his house and gives him chase. When he finally catches up with him, he's astounded to find out that this Mike is actually his old imaginary friend Mike, who he used to play with ages ago. Realizing that continuous friendship with Mike might strain Jeff's ability to develop normal relations with actual living people, Alex asks Mike to leave his son alone. Mike initially refuses and disappears, but Alex, thinking he will be obeyed, pleads with Mike to listen to him.

Some time later, Jeff is again playing with the kids of Alex's friends, and they again start squabbling over silly things. Agitated, Jeff runs away to the woods and looks for Mike, who appears and angrily sends him home, saying how he never liked him in the first place, thus honouring Alex's plea. Jeff is heartbroken, but he resolves to work on his social skills and makes peace with the other kids - something that Alex certainly can appreciate...as well as Mike.

***

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, What are Friends For ? is neither an original, nor exactly a well-executed episode, though it tries hard enough. Tied around the basic premise of a parent losing his child to a supernatural force of some sorts which previous Zones exploited ad nauseum, this episode unravels as expected, with no bizzare twists towards the ending or anything to keep the viewer too interested. Without accusing mr. Straczynski of anything, I thought this episode borrowed rather liberally from some previous installments - the impassionate plea that Alex delivers in the woods is reminiscent of that speech from the classic TZ episode Long Distance Call, for instance.

Not even a very strong cast can lift this one from mid-obscurity - Skerritt basically sleepwalks through his role of a concerned parent, while Arnold and Haas are servicable as "cute kids gone astray". None of the principal players are given much meat to chew on, to be fair, as there are hints of character depth in the script, although nothing concrete. It would be rather harsh to bill this one as a waste of airing slot, but it certainly doesn't offer anything new for the seasoned Zone fan...or the casual fan even. Middle of the road, and I'm being mild.

TZ Trivia : Lukas Haas apparently liked the Zone, so he returned to it fifteen years later - appearing in an UPN Zone episode Harsh Mistress.

Saved by the Trivia : yes, that is indeed Mark-Paul Gosselaar, better known as Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell, as one of the kids which eventually gets friendly with Jeff.

2.02 --- A Saucer of Loneliness

2006-04-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Directed by : John Hancock
Written by : David Gerrold (story by Theodore Sturgeon)
Starring : Shelley Duvall, Richard Libertini
First aired : 27th of September, 1986.

Margaret (Shelley Duvall, The Shining, Popeye), a quiet, shy, solitary waitress living with an abusive mother, suddenly has her whole life turned upside down when she encounters a flying saucer on an LA beach in broad daylight. The saucer picks her out of the crowd and, in front of the TV cameras which were accidentally there, seemingly stalks her, but after cornering her it suddenly disappears. And while everyone believes this is a matter of alien invasion, Margaret is adamant that the message was personal and private, and not to be shared.

People being people however, they don't want to get off her back easily. She tries to convince the psychiatrist that she's not crazy, her mother, embarassed by her, throws her out of the house, and people on street harass her with questions. Locked up in her hotel room, Margaret fills a bunch of bottles with handwritten notes, and throws them into the sea. When a TV reporter who also saw the saucer asks her out for a dinner, things seem to be looking up a bit, but when it turns out he's only interested in the message, she leaves, furious. In complete agony, she decides to go to the beach and drown herself.

She is saved from certain death by a stranger (Richard Libertini, Days of Heaven, Fletch), who claims to know the saucer message. What he recites to her, however, is not what the saucer said - it's what Margaret sent in the bottles. Relieved that there is someone like her out there, she shares the saucer message with him, and they leave the beach together.

***

Aired as the second half of the second season opening doubleheader, A Saucer of Loneliness is a fine little elegy dedicated to all the lonely people out there, designed to give them hope and patience in their quest for social acceptance. Duvall is marvellous and wholly believable in her performance, and the piece is worth watching only for her if nothing - you wind up really caring for her character and sharing her plight. Director John Hancock (previously of Kentucky Rye and The Library) aptly leads us through Margaret's despair, with one neat trick along the way - when Margaret's loneliness reaches its zenith, we are shown a shot of her surrounded by empty liquor bottles. But, she's not drinking herself to death - she is merely using them as method of delivery for her messages. Nice touch there - got me fooled.

The episode is dedicated to the loving memory of famous American sci-fi writer Theodore Sturgeon, who was believed to have greatly influenced much more famous writers such as Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut et al. To the mainstream audience, Sturgeon is probably known as the man who invented the Vulcan mating ritual in his original Star Trek script "Amok Time", as well as the guy who brought us the clad blue workers in A Matter of Minutes.

TZ Trivia : Nan Martin (Margaret's mother) loves the Zone so much, she appears in it for the third time - after the original episode The Incredible World of Horace Ford, and season 1 If She Dies. The contrast of roles between If She Dies and A Saucer of Loneliness only shows her real range - in the former, she is a benevolent nun, in the latter, a brutal sadistic mother figure.

2.01 --- The Once and Future King

2006-04-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Directed by : Jim McBride
Written by : George R. R. Martin (story by Bryce Maritano)
Starring : Jeff Yagher, Lisa Jane Persky
First aired : 27th of September, 1986.

Gary (Jeff Yagher, an accomplished TV actor) is an Elvis impersonator, with the added touch that he incredibly resembles the King himself. He is stuck playing smaller venues, until his manager, Sandra (Lisa Jane Persky, The Big Easy, When Harry Met Sally), informs him that he's been booked for a string of Vegas shows. Gary is however unexpectedly downbeat - he sees Vegas as the career factor which killed Elvis, and is reluctant to accept the offer. After Sandra casually informs him that she met Elvis once in Vegas and he gave her a scarf as a memento, Jeff bolts the room and hits the road. While driving in the middle of the night and listening to Chuck Berry's Maybellene, Gary is forced to swerve for his life when a drunk driver enters his lane from the other direction. He avoids the direct impact, but crashes off the road into the bushes.

After some time, he wakes up, strangely unharmed, and decides to pick up his guitar and continue through hitch-hiking. The first car which stops to him is a 50s-looking pickup truck...driven by Elvis Presley himself (Yagher in a dual role) ! At first, Gary can't quite believe it, but then he sees on the newspaper that the date is 3rd of July 1954. - just one day before Elvis historically went to the Sun studios and cut his first record - he is positive that he went back through time. Elvis is amazed that Gary knows he booked studio time for 4th of July, and after his boss mistakens Gary for Elvis' brother, Elvis starts believing that Gary is actually Jesse, his twin brother which died at birth. Seeing this as his opportunity to work together with Elvis, Gary lies that he is Jesse, and the two agree to meet each other after work to exercise some material.

Alone in the abandoned warehouse, Gary and Elvis find out that they have some creative differences - while Elvis is favouring some old-style ballads, Gary wants him to play real rock'n'roll. After bursting into a sequence from That's All Right Mama, Gary is shocked to see Elvis, looking aghast, wholly disapproving of that "immoral" stuff. Few rough words later a tussle ensues, and ends with Elvis impaling himself on a broken guitar neck. Gary is devastated, but while burying Elvis, he comes to an idea - he's gonna take his place and become the King...and nobody will notice ! The next day, he heads off to Sam Phillips' Sun Records studios, casually plays That's All Right Mama during a break...and the rest is history.

Fast forward to the 70s, as Elvis, now fat and aged, is pacing around his hotel room talking to somebody how he isn't himself, and how he owes a life to somebody. His correspondant is a young fan - remember Sandra from the opening ? - who he gifts a white scarf just before ushering her out as he prepares for his next Vegas performance. As Sandra exits, Elvis/Gary takes a seat and sorrowfully looks into the distance...with Are You Lonesome Tonight ? gently echoing in the background.

***

Season 2 of the 80s Twilight Zone kicks off with this elegiac piece of alternate history of rock'n'roll, or to be more precise, the King of it - Elvis Aaron Presley. Directed by Jim McBride, previously of Breathless with Richard Gere (english language remake of Jean-Luc Godard's classic A Bout de Souffle), who later also directed Jerry Lee Lewis' biopic Great Balls of Fire and a vastly underrated crime thriller The Big Easy, this is a fine TZ episode, working on an interesting time-travel concept concocted by writer Bryce Maritano.

Yagher, while not being a incredible Elvis lookalike everybody seems to think, is just fine in his dual role, managing to draw a line thick enough for the viewer to clearly separate one from another. The rest of the cast are all bit-players, though it ought to be noted that Sam Phillips, Scotty Moore and Bill Black all look their part. Overall, in the world of Elvis fiction, The Once and Future King takes a good 2nd place with me - right behind Don Coscarelli's gem Bubba Ho-Tep.

Graceland trivia : Red West, who plays young Elvis' boss at the truck company, was in real life an actual friend of real Elvis Presley. They attended the same highschool in Memphis, and West later became first his personal driver, and eventually his bodyguard as well.

Conversations with Alan Brennert, part 1

2006-04-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

So, as I might have bragged earlier on, I have recently got in touch with mr. Alan Brennert, a very important figure in the history of 80s Twilight Zone. Mr. Brennert served as the executive story consultant on the 80s Zone, generally keeping himself busy with the show throughout, contributing several stories and teleplays, the most memorable probably Her Pilgrim Soul. Mr. Brennert, who outside of the Zone is a novelist, was kind enough to answer a few fanboy questions while being busy with writing of his newest novel...so here you go folks - some inside stuff from our favourite show !

First of all, I had to ask if something was cut from Nightcrawlers. To this date, I find the sudden "bonding" between the waitress and Price oddly paced and awkward...

Alan : As far as I can recall, there was nothing major left out of the air version of "Nightcrawlers." Maybe there was a line in the script in which Price said his name and it got inadvertently cut, but I don't have a copy of Phil's script handy for reference.

Ever wondered why Alan used a pseudonyme in The Healer, then ... ?

Alan : We were so unhappy with the final film that we did lots and lots of recutting to minimize the damage, but in the end I felt like the finished product fell so far short of what I'd hoped for (in what would be my first original TZ episode to air) that I just took my name off it out of sheer embarrassment. The continuity glitch (I wondered how comes only Eric Bogosian felt the inverse effects) you cite might have been the result of the recutting, I can't recall; I do remember having to change the ending (in which Vincent Guardenia winds up becoming the unlucky recipient of all the diseases the healing stone took away from others) because of atrocious makeup, which admittedly we should've caught before it ever got before the cameras.

Whose decision was it, to remake the episodes which were remade ?

Alan : The thinking at first was to select stories that we thought could be interestinglly changed or improved upon: the sex-switch in "Dead Woman" gave it a new twist, while "Night of the Meek" was originally shot on videotape and looked a little visually rough because of it, so we thought we might be able to do it a little more slicker, visually. "Shadowplay" I think was one of Jim Crocker's favorites and he wanted to do it. "After Hours," I have no idea!

Remember me wondering why the hell does a set in Quarantine get replaced with that cheap-o matte shot ?

Alan : Boy, you got me. It was a full-blown set, I was on it and have photos of it -- why they cut to a matte for that last shot I have no idea. It was either Phil's idea or Martha Coolidge's, and alas Phil is gone and Martha I'm no longer in touch with.

And finally, yours truly gets set straight over what both he, and John from tzone.the-croc.com, thought was a ghastly error...

Alan : I'm afraid you're dead wrong about "The Star." In the scene inside the asteroid, when Captain Durant enters she says, "There's a computer secion on the fourth level...language equivalents, too. We're finding datafiles that seem to contain their entire history as a people. From what we've deciphered so far..." Etc.

"Language equivalents" in the computer section -- in other words, a computerized codex to the alien language, which is exactly what the guy in "To Serve Man" didn't have. And she says they've already starting translating some of the material. So they have plenty of reference to the alien language and culture available to their computers, and the poem at the end doesn't come about "magically," it's all been set up in the previous scene. I don't know how it could be clearer!

***

Well, that's it for this edition...I'm sorry it took me so much, but expect a beginning of season two reviews somewhere within the next 24 hours ! Thank you still for reading, as I'm getting visits overall, and again, many thanks to mr. Brennert for making this feature possible.

On a sidenote, Alan passed me the info that both Rockne S. O'Bannon and Patrice Messina have read and enjoyed this blog. So that's even more Zone celebrity points for me. :) Keep on reading folks, I'll finish this baby up...mark my words. Onwards, season 2 !

Just a small note from me...

2006-03-19T02:26:00.000-08:00

So, yours truly got entangled in some fulltime working activity, and it was rather busy last week - to put it this way, I would leave home at quarter to seven in the morning and come back at half past eight in the evening. My apologies for failing to update, but expect something today and/or tomorrow - at very least, I'll be posting the snips from my email exchange with Alan Brennert. So, sorry again for the lack of updates - but no worries, I'm not giving this thing up !

Season One awards : part 4 of 4

2006-03-06T15:16:00.000-08:00

And here we are at the end of first season, dishing out the last quartal awards. As you might notice, I thought the tail end of this batch of TZ episodes was rather strong. Yes, we had our first clunker in a while in Devil's Alphabet, but we also had some very, very strong entries, such as Dead Run, Profile in Silver, Shadow Play etc.

But enough with that, let's move to the awards themselves.

The Golden Rod award for Twilight Zone excellence goes to : Cold Reading, Dead Run, Profile in Silver, Need to Know, Take My Life...Please !, The Library, Shadow Play, Grace Note, A Day in Beaumont, The Last Defender of Camelot

The Silver Rod award for valuable addition to the Twilight Zone canon goes to : The Leprechaun-Artist, Button Button, Red Snow

The Bronze Rod award for good effort goes to : Devil's Alphabet

As you can see, eleven episodes got the golden honours this time around - an absolute record. And from the average ones, Button Button could have been great, and Red Snow was agonizingly close to greatness...but hey. Shadow Play is the first remake to earn the golden Rod, as well.

Comments, questions ? You know the drill - or contact me at my newly opened email, which is up there in the top left corner of this page (right under my profile).

Up next : a brief introspective.

1.59 --- The Last Defender of Camelot

2006-03-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Reviewer's note : as yours truly is watching this without subtitles, there is a distinct possibility that some of the dialogue in this episode got "lost in translation" while crossing the short distance from my speakers to my ears. If anyone of you thinks I botched the synopsis, go ahead and correct me.

***

Directed by : Jeannot Szwarc
Written by : George R. R. Martin (story by Roger Zelazny)
Starring : Richard Kiley, Jenny Agutter, Norman Lloyd
First aired : 11th of April, 1986.

London, 1986. As an older gentleman (late, great stage actor Richard Kiley), rushingly makes final preparations to leave for Cornwall, he is jumped by three punks who want to take him with them. Surprisingly, he effortlessly repels their attacks and captures the third one, asking him to take him to their leader. They arrive at a seedy room where a mystic-looking female with her face shadowed resides. Moments later, we find out the surprising truth - the older fellow is none else but Lancelot, knight of the round table, and the woman is his arch-old nemesis, Morgan LeFay (Jenny Agutter, Logan's Run, An American Werewolf in London). Both of them were damned to live forever.

Morgan reveals Lancelot why was he in such a hurry to reach Cornwall - he is being summoned by Merlin (Norman Lloyd, Dead Poets Society), who has hibernated all these years. While Lancelot is eager to find out what's Merlin's fancy, Morgan is rather cautious - in her opinion, Merlin was a vile old fool who manipulated everyone in Camelot to his own liking. To ease his quest, Morgan teleports Lancelot, along with the punk who brought him along, Tom, to the cave in Cornwall where Merlin is sleeping.

After exploring the cave, Lancelot finds Merlin and revives him with a magic elixir stored nearby. Merlin, fresh for centuries of sleep, turns out indeed to be a vile old manipulator - he wants to bring back the king to the throne of England, and alter the future of humanity to his liking. He takes Lancelot and Tom outside, right to the ancient druids gathering place of Stonehenge. There, he plans to sacrifice Tom in order to fully restore his power.

Lancelot won't have any of it though, and realising he might be the mankind's only hope, challenges Merlin to a duel. He is to fight the ghostly armor which watched over Merlin while he was asleep. Not intending to miss this spectacle, Morgan herself appears out of nowhere, an event which only firmly irates Merlin who dubs Lancelot "the traitor of Camelot". He creates a black armour for Lancelot and gives him the sword, but something's not right - Lancelot does not move like an old man anymore. It seems that Lancelot had a trick of his own up his sleeve ; while Merlin was not watching, he took some of his revitalizing elixir himself, and so is placed on even footing with the shadowy knight.

A fight ensues, in which Lancelot seems to be winning. Merlin decides to play dirty and cheat a bit, but Morgan enters the fray and delays him in his intentions. She eventually succumbs to his magic power, but her sacrifice was not in vain - Lancelot wins his battle and corners Merlin, breaking his magic wand in two by his sword. He, however, refuses to kill him, citing again how he gave up warfare long time ago, and Merlin simply disintegrates himself - suddenly much older than he looked like.

Before dying, Morgan informs Lancelot and Tom that they will be back in London if they take the right road at the forking. As they walk back, Tom takes the right road, but Lancelot spots a shiny castle to the left and wanders off there - and after a brief hesitation, Tom decides to join him, and spend the rest of life as his squire.

***

First season is brought to an end with this original, inventive episode, which works effectively on both levels. You can, of course, observe it as a pure fantasy with a twist, as the good wizard Merlin is a far cry from what you might remember from Disney's A Sword in the Stone. But, it is probably more interesting as another liberally-slanted metaphor of the differences between the "old" and the "new", the warmongering conservative Merlin failing to adapt to the new, more open society and times. And this time, I won't begrudge the writers - it was done rather tastefully, without too obvious jabs (which plagued, say, Red Snow).

Acting in The Last Defender of Camelot is just sublime. I was nothing short of amazed when I found out that the only actual Briton in this cast was Jenny Agutter - Kiley and Lloyd don't just act out their roles magnificently, they both look the part, Lloyd donning a rather exquisite wizard costume, Kiley somewhat reminiscent of Sean Connery in his prime. My compliments to the casting director here.

Finally, the script, well, what could you expect when you have one fantasy heavyweight (George R. R. Martin, best known for his A Song of Ice and Fire series) adapting a story from another fantasy heavyweight (Roger Zelazny, The Chronicles of Amber and many more) ? I'll just say you get your money's worth here.

Serling trivia : neither Kiley nor Lloyd are TZ veterans, but both of them have a Night Gallery credit to their name - Kiley appearing in the original three-episode pilot, and Lloyd in an episode called A Feast of Blood.

Trivia : spotter's badge to everyone who recognized Anthony LaPaglia as one of the punks who gets it on (har har) with Lancelot.

***

Well folks, that was the first season. The next entry will be a retrospective one, with some polls thrown in for good measure, and the one after will contain some fun trivia I was made aware of during my email conversations with mr. Alan Brennert. Tune in soon (I promise, it'll be posted in two-three days tops).

***

PS. Jenny Agutter is smokin'. Sorry, couldn't end the entry without joyously exclaiming this. Now, forgive me while I find my copy of that werewolf movie...

1.58 --- A Day in Beaumont

2006-03-01T17:22:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Philip DeGuere
Written by : David Gerrold
Starring : Victor Garber, Stacy Nelkin
First aired : 11th of April, 1986.

1950s, America. Dr. Kevin Carlson (Victor Garber, Sleepless in Seattle, Titanic) and his girlfriend Faith (Stacy Nelkin, Halloween III : Season of the Witch) are busy fixing their car just a little outside of a hamlet of Beaumont, when they spot a meteor crash behind a nearby hill. Investigating the scene, Kevin and Faith are amazed to find out that this isn't a meteor - rather, it's a flying saucer from outer space, and its crew, consisted of ant-headed aliens, has everything but friendly intentions ! Avoiding their laser beams, the couple flees to Beaumont, intending to notify the authorities.

Once there, Kevin rabidly recounts his story to the local sheriff, who somewhat calmly convinces him it's an army jet which crashed. Moreso, he adds that such crashes are regular occurence in these parts. He agrees to accompany them to the crash scene, where they indeed run into a bunch of military personell overseeing the crash site.

Sheriff introduces Kevin to the army officer in charge of this operation - an ordinarily looking fellow, except for the odd handshake method which gravely unsettles Kevin. When a photo camera flash reveals that those aren't humans but aliens, Kevin and Faith carefully withdraw to their car and drive back to Beaumont. Kevin tries to convince the local telegraphist H.G. Orson to wire the incident to the AP, but Orson refuses, claiming the story is insane and that nobody would believe him. When Kevin spots that both Orson and the owner of local diner have their pinky similarily displaced like the aforementioned army guy, he bolts the diner and with Faith in tow, decides to escape Beaumont and warn the world himself.

It's not gonna be easy though. The aliens give chase, and eventually tractor-beam their car to their ship. There, we learn the truth - they are all aliens who are only simulating an invasion scenario, and dr. Carlson was their lab rat, along with Faith. They are both reprogrammed, and suddenly, we cut to the diner from the beginning - a young man frantically runs into it to warn the sheriff of a meteor which crash landed nearby...but the sheriff now is dr. Carlson !

***

A delightful episode honouring the sci-fi writers and shows and movies of yesteryear, A Day in Beaumont is a rousing success from start to finish. From script, intentionally bloated with 50s dialogue and romantic corniness, via the numerous references, obviously hammy acting (Garber is a riot, especially towards the end) to DeGuere's direction, mimicking old sci-fi shows complete with that famous "slant shot", there's little not to enjoy in this one. Lighthearted fun at its best, this is another good late 1st season entry.

Trivia : boy, where do we begin. Beaumont is obviously a reference to sci-fi/horror writer Charles Beaumont, a regular scriptwriter for the original Twilight Zone. H.G. Orson is an amalgam of H.G. Wells and Orson Wells, and the "Bradbury rays" which aliens shoot at Kevin's car are hommaging Ray Bradbury. Additionaly, at the end of the episode when the roles are recast and scenario reset, the settlement is not called "Beaumont" but "Matheson" - a tribute to who else but Richard Matheson, another regular Zone contributor.

TZ Trivia : two TZ veterans appearing in this one - Jeff Morrow (H.G. Orson) previously appeared in Elegy (19th of February, 1960.), while Warren Stevens (Major Whitmore) acted in Dead Man's Shoes (19th of January, 1961.) - incidentally, both of those episodes were scripted by...yep, Charles Beaumont.

***

Now, I'm proud to announce you this. I recently got into touch with mr. Alan Brennert, who served as the executive story consultant on the New Twilight Zone, and has teleplayed a number of scripts, as well as provided some of his own (Her Pilgrim Soul, to mention one). Mr. Brennert, currently busy with research for his newest book, was so kind to dedicate me a little bit of his time to answer some of my fanboy questions about the behind-the-scenes stuff which happened during Zone production, and has given me his blessings to compile the answers he has given me and publish them right here. So, after I wrap the first season with the upcoming Last Defender of Camelot, expect a series of entries which will be filled with some trivia and odd data about the Zone provided by mr. Brennert.

I'll use this opportunity to publicly thank mr. Brennert for his time and kindness - seriously, writers who answer fan questions out of the blue are rather rare, and Alan not only took his time to write back, but left himself open for my barrage of inquiries about the show and took the time and effort to answer them all so far ! A class act if there ever was one.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes !

2006-02-26T20:03:00.000-08:00

Let it be known that I'm a man who cares about his audience. In order to ease the new readers in, and make browsing for everyone easier, I spent a whole hour battling HTML jibba-jabba so I could set up that nifty episode listing menu on the left hand side of your computer screen. A great web-designer I ain't, but this, in my opinion, makes everyone's life a little bit easier - especially for those new readers who come to this page via John's page or Wikipedia, and have to dig through the archives to find a specific episode.

I also ought to announce that I cracked 4000 (yes, that's four thousand) visits on this blog. I just might send out this link to the publishers after the work here is done, maybe compile a whole new "Companion" a la Zicree. Hey, it's not that far-fetched. ;)

Hope you're having as fun time reading as I'm having fun time watching and reviewing all those episodes.

1.57 --- Grace Note

2006-02-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Peter Medak
Written by : Patrice Messina
Starring : Julia Migenes, Sydney Penny
First aired : 4th of April, 1986.

New York City, 1966. Rosemarie Miletti (Julia Migenes, Carmen) is an aspiring opera singer, who is running out of time to make her big break. One reason why is she lagging behind the schedule is her terminally ill kid sister Mary (Sydney Penny, All My Children), whose leukemia just went out of remission. Mary is adamant that Rosemarie will make it big as an opera singer, which her big sister doesn't believe in. While they're alone in Mary's room, Mary spots a shooting star and makes her wish.

Next day, Rosemarie returns home and is greeted by a message to quickly get to the hospital. Fearing the worst, she is just in time to see her sister still alive, but Mary says she has something for her. She instructs her to follow the sound of music, which Rosemarie does. As she walks down the hospital corridor, she is taken 20 years to the future - a fact she realizes by reading a newspaper headline once outside.

Realizing what this might be about, Rosemarie hails a cab and goes to the Metropolitan Opera...where she is performing in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata ! She is amazed to see herself as a big opera star, beloved by everyone in the crowd. At the end of a show, she sneaks backstage and catches herself, along with the older version of her other sister Dorothy, reminiscing about Mary.

Just then, Rosemarie (the "past" version of her, that is) hears Mary's voice asking her to go back. She rushes back to the hospital and runs down the same corridor...returning to 1966., just in time for her sister's last breath. As she's about to die, Mary presents Rosemarie with a farewell birthday gift - an amulet with her photo in it...the very same amulet Rosemarie saw herself wearing in the future. Mary dies, and Rosemarie is crushed - but at the same time, she realizes her destiny is set.

***

A legit tear-jerker from the pen of Patrice Messina, Grace Note represents most likely director Peter Medak's strongest colour TZ entry so far. Medak, one of the more talented directors from the 80s TZ crop, directs his wife and a real-life soprano Julia Migenes in this poignant story of endings and beginnings, peppered by some great classical music throughout. Migenes, who starred alongside the great Placido Domingo in the movie adaptation of George Bizet's Carmen, is perfectly cast as the opera starlet in making, and Medak shows off his directorial skills with a few deft touches here and there - namely that nifty time-travel hospital walk, which looks pretty good still. Medak seems to have a flair for tracking shots ; just remember the opening for Dead Woman's Shoes, or the hide-and-seek part of otherwise pretty bland Still Life. Thankfully enough, this time he doesn't have to resort to theatrics in order to make the episode work.

I have to say, the on-air pairing of Shadow Play and Grace Note is probably one of the strongest ever from the first season, along with Examination Day/A Message from Charity and some other standouts.

Trivia : keep your eyes peeled for the late, great stage actor & director Kay E. Kuter, appearing here as Rosemarie's opera tutor.

1.56 --- Shadow Play

2006-02-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : James Crocker (original teleplay by Charles Beaumont)
Starring : Peter Coyote, Guy Boyd, Janet Eilber
First aired : 4th of April, 1986.

Adam Grant (Peter Coyote, Southern Comfort, E.T. the Extraterrestial and a whole bunch more) is in a tight spot. He is found guilty of murder by the jury on his trial, and the judge sentences him to death by hanging. One thing does not fit however - instead of calmly accepting his punishment, Adam insinsts that all of this simply isn't happening. The whole trial, and every person in it is just a part of his recurring dream, or better said, nightmare.

Assigned to his death row cell, the rest of the inmates laugh with him as he still sticks to his theory. In order to convince them that this is no joke and that he is for real, Adam explains to the rest how does it feel to be executed by hanging. His story, full of details which sound wholly authentic, frightens the convicts. Meanwhile, the D.A. on the case, Mark Ritchie (Guy Boyd, Streamers, Flashpoint), is ill at ease at his home. He believes something is wrong, but can't quite pin it. He is soon paid visit by Adam's defense counsel Erin Jacobs (Janet Eilber), who only reinforces his fears. Erin, also thinking Grant might be on to something, points out the facts that there were no big crowds in the courtroom and that there was no press coverage - an unusual thing for a big murder trial.

Spurred on by doubt, Ritchie visits Adam in his cell, who is clearly expecting him. Not only that, but Adam consistently lip-syncs all the words Ritchie says - just like he heard them before ! Furthering his effort to get himselfs saved and thus save all of them, Adam asks Ritchie when was he convicted and which day is it today. As he hears today is Sunday, and that all executions happen on monday 12:01 AM, Adam remarks that no court does business on sundays. Ritchie is still in denial, and when Adam casually explains him how his wife is called Carol and that in real life she is his sister which he hates, and then recites him the lines she used minutes ago verbatim, he loses his cool and storms out of the cell.

Back at his place, Ritchie is torn between pulling the plug on the execution or letting Adam hang. When Erin Jacobs finds out that neither Mark or Carol Ritchie can remember when were they married, for how long were they married or if they were even married in the first place, Mark decides to go for broke and phone the governor after all.

It's in vain though. Adam is already visited by his father, who in this nightmare has the role of a priest. Adam pleads with him to stop this nightmare, wondering whatever did he do for this to happen, but his father/priest just keeps playing his "part". Adam is taken to the execution room and hanged - but when the noose drops, there is no body hanging from it. Just as that happens, things start disappearing at the Ritchie household - the old clock, the phone, then Erin, then Carol, and then finally Mark. Lights dim, and when they are lit again, the setting is one from the beginning - a courtroom with Adam awaiting the verdict. Some actors have switched roles - the black fellow from the death row is now Adam's lawyer - but the story is all the same...and the nigthmare continues.

***

In the shadowplay, acting out your own death, knowing no more,
As the assassins all grouped in four lines, dancing on the floor,
And with cold streel, odour on their bodies mad a move to connect,
But I could only stare in disbelief as the crowds all left.

-- Joy Division, Shadowplay

Another old TZ remake, Shadow Play, just like Dead Woman's Shoes did, takes a Charles Beaumont script - and improves on it. The old Shadow Play, with Dennis Weaver as Adam Grant, was pretty effective and thought-provoking. The new Shadow Play, though, is even better. James Crocker, who adapted Beaumont's original teleplay, fleshes out Grant's character a little bit, adding the element of sister/father who he possibly did wrong previously, hinting that this is some sort of comeuppance - an element which I believe wasn't there in the Beaumont script (I will admit it was a while ago since I saw original Shadowplay, so don't take this for granted).

Another slight script tweak is the manner of execution - Beaumont had Adam Grant fried on the electric chair, while Crocker prefers hanging. From the directorial point of view, I would have preferred the chair ; it would set up a neat coda, chair switching on, lights going off, a second to ponder if maybe that call got through, then lights turning back on...and your disappointment / surprise to see all is same. Still, I can't say this bothered me too much, if at all.

Coyote, a former counter-culture activist turned actor, is rather convincing in his role of Adam Grant. Character actor Guy Boyd is providing good support as the doubting D.A., but Janet Eilber's defense lawyer is the weak link - her performance is too nervous for her own good, and suffers from slight overacting.

To conclude, I believe (and again, I might be wrong) that it was François Truffaut who said that they shouldn't remake good films, they should remake bad ones until they get 'em right. Normally, I would agree, but Shadow Play takes good material as a source, and makes it even better. And there's no shame in that.

TZ trivia : A pair of TZ veterans appear in this episode. William Schallert, of Mr. Bevis (3rd of June, 1960.), appears as the priest, while George Petrie (In His Image, 3rd of January, 1964.) is there as well. In addition to that, Schallert also appeared in Twilight Zone : The Movie.

1.55 --- The Library

2006-02-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Directed by : John Hancock
Written by : Anne Collins
Starring : Frances Conroy, Uta Hagen, Lori Petty
First aired : 28th of March, 1986.

Ellen Pendleton (Frances Conroy, Scent of a Woman, Six Feet Under), an aspiring writer looking to earn some money on the side, gets a job at a private library ran by Gloria (Uta Hagen, The Other, Boys from Brazil). Ellen soon finds out that this is no ordinary library - the books in it actually contain people's lives, updating with every moment. Gloria warns Ellen not to even look into the books, as that is something firmly prohibited by her masters.

When she gets home and is disturbed by the noise of the neighbours, she decides to have a little revenge. Next morning, she re-writes a chapter in the book of her neighbour to be a priest, and therefore not marry the woman from downstairs who caused all the fuss. But when she gets home, she finds her sister Lori (Lori Petty, A League of Their Own, Tank Girl) consoling that woman - Carla - who is on a verge of nervous breakdown because of loneliness.

Decided to fix this one as well, Ellen rewrites her book to be happily married to another neighbour, Doug. That indeed happens, but now the problem is that Doug is bankrupt from buying all those gifts for Carla. Ellen then fixed Doug with a real estate wealth, only to find out that he is now her landlord, and that her sister is staging a protest against him raising the rent !

Thinking a relocation will solve her problems once for all, Ellen rewrites her own book, setting her and Lori to live in a house by the sea. And even though that sounds fairly innocent, she returns home to find her sister nearly dead, as she drowned while attempting to save a little boy. She dashes back to the library and is caught by Gloria, who is incensed when she learns books have been tampered with. She quickly orders Ellen to gather all the books she rewrote and ushers her out of the library.

Much to her amazement, Ellen is met outside by Lori, looking alive and well. She rings the doorbell of the library, but the door is answered by an unknown fellow, claiming to be living there for the past ten years. Convinced now that things are in order, Ellen leaves with Lori.

***

The bad aftertaste left by Devil's Alphabet didn't last long, as The Library is a good, sound TZ entry bolstered by some strong acting. Celebrated stage actress Uta Hagen exudes calm when present, and Conroy and Petty have good chemistry as on-screen sisters. The supporting cast is also pretty good - there's Joe Santos (The Rockford Files, Panic in the Needle Park), Alan Blumenfeld, Candy Azzara, all proven veterans of TV productions.

The only flaw was that the scene in which Ellen finds out what the books are about looks and feels awfully contrived - it's one of those "lightbulb" scenes, as in character suddenly gets a heavenly revelation and discovers everything around him/her in one breath - but that's just a minor complain. This episode is good stuff, pure and simple.

Al Pacino trivia : now get this : a bunch of people who appeared in this episode have, in one way or another, worked with Al Pacino in some capacity. Frances Conroy appears in Scent of a Woman, Joe Santos in Panic in the Needle Park, cameoing Jay Gerber in Dog Day Afternoon, and Uta Hagen gave young Al acting lessons back in the 70s. Twilight Zone case ? Perhaps. Me reaching for the stars in order to write another trivia piece ? Most certainly.

1.54 --- Devil's Alphabet

2006-02-19T13:22:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Ben Bolt
Written by : Robert Hunter (story by Arthur Gray)
Starring : Ben Cross, Hywell Bennett, Wayne Alexander
First aired : 28th of March, 1986.

In 19th century England, a group of Cambridge students form a society known as "Devil's Alphabet". On the eve of what was supposed to be their very last meeting, they agree to meet every year on 2nd of November. But the agreement isn't a simple one - Grant (Hywell Bennett, The Virgin Soldiers, Percy), one of the members, proposes an odd clause : that everybody, alive or dead, will attend the yearly meetings.

Twenty years later, Deaver, one of the Devil's Alphabet members, kills himself and the meeting must go on without him. But, the rest of the group is amazed to see that his signature is there on the agreement, and that his wine glass, just filled, is now empty. Twelve months after that, another member hangs himself, and the meeting is called off. Grant defiantly decides to attend on his own, and is taken care of by vengenful spirits of deceased members. Meanwhile, another two members find their way to death, being torched to death in a flaming carriage which was supposed to take them home.

Another year passes, and only two members are still alive - Frederick (Ben Cross, Chariots of Fire, Exorcist : the Beginning) and Cornelius (Wayne Alexander). The tension is too much for Cornelius, who offs himself, so everything is now up to Frederick. He enters the meeting chamber and is surrounded by the spirits of his dead comrades, to who he suggests to break off the agreement in order to save their souls. Everybody agrees, and Devil's Alphabet society ceases to exist.

***

Well, you knew it that this run of excellence couldn't last. After no less than 28 episodes in a row worth something (or more than that), Devil's Alphabet proudly represents the first, and long overdue, clunker since back to back ineptitude of Opening Day and The Beacon.

So what precisely went wrong here ? Simply put, the episode starts from nowhere - and goes nowhere. We have no clue what for a society this Devil's Alphabet is, and why is everybody so mysteriously dying around it, neither does anyone bother to explain us. By the time everybody, alive or dead, gathers to disband it, your interest is long gone. A waste of solid cast and better-than-average special effects (those green spectres are quite cool) if there ever was one.

Trekkin' trivia : and yet another TZ alumnus goes on to become an important Star Trek character. This time it's Ethan Phillips (here portraying Deaver, one of the alphabetians), better known as Neelix from the Voyager series.

1.53 --- Take My Life...Please !

2006-02-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Gus Trikonis
Written by : Gordon Mitchell
Starring : Tim Thomerson, Xander Berkeley
First aired : 28th of March, 1986.

While driving home from his latest national TV performance, star comedian Billy Diamond (Tim Thomerson, Trancers, Near Dark) is suddenly forced to fight for his life as another comedian, Dave (Xander Berkeley, who appeared in just too many hi-profile movies to list some), is holding him at gunpoint from the back seat where he was hiding. Dave's issue with Billy is that Billy stole his prime time act, and now he wants cash payment for it as it ruined his own comic career. Billy decides to try and overpower him, and starts manically swerving left and right in order to bring Dave off balance. He eventually succeeds, but hits the truck while doing it and dies on the spot.

He suddenly finds himself "up there", in a long, ill-lit hallway with parading extras and a sleazy looking guy introducing himself as his manager. He escorts him to a stage, where he is supposed to give a performance to the crowd whose reception will determine for which afterlife is he fit. Thinking this should be an easy job, Billy struts out on the stage in high spirits.

However, he soon finds out this crowd is not particularily receptive to what Earthlings would consider "usual" jokes. Billy is nearing despair, when a heckler from the shadows urges him to retell a sordid story about beating up a hooker. Unwillingly, Billy recounts that foul experience - and the crowd explodes ! Egged on by the heckler, Billy shares more sleazy personal details with the audience, who eventually send him off with a standing ovation.

Off-stage, Billy complains to his new agent how he had a horrible time out there, but is met by a puzzling look - he was a rousing success, and is booked for the forthcoming two eons to entertain the denizens of hell, three nights a day, seven days a week. As his agent wanders off chasing a skirt, Billy is left alone in the hallway, wondering if he maybe could have been a bit of a better citizen in his earthly life...

***

After thoroughly entertaining me with Cold Reading, Gus Trikonis returns with Take My Life...Please !, an even better viewing experience. Basically, this is a one-man show by Thomerson, who, not surprisingly, came into the acting from the standup scene. Trikonis is a dab hand at showing Thomerson labour through his hellish comedy act with his use of close-ups and angle shots - Thomerson himself responds by looking increasingly anxious and cornered, having to retell some of the worst moments of his life. Along with Dead Run, Need to Know and Profile in Silver, a definite standout in this 4th quarter of the first season.

Van Halen Trivia : is it just me, or Thomerson's character is majorly echoing David Lee Roth ? First of all, there is a striking physical similarity between the two, then there is the nickname/stage name "Diamond", and finally the guy from who he steals the jokes is called Dave. Not to mention that both are grade A jackasses. Hmmmmmm...

***

Hey you, my frequent (not to say loyal) reader from Japan - identify yourself, man ! Leave a comment ! I'm curious !

1.52 --- Red Snow

2006-02-14T11:33:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Jeannot Szwarc
Written by : Michael Cassutt
Starring : George Dzundza, Barry Miller, Vladimir Skomarovsky, Victoria Tennant
First aired : 21st of March, 1986.

Colonel Ilyanov (George Dzundza, Deer Hunter, Salem's Lot), a high-ranked party officer on his way down, is sent to the heart of Siberia, beyond the arctic circle, to investigate the deaths of some party officials. Arriving there by train, he is greeted by the current party responsible Provin (Barry Miller, Saturday Night Fever), as well as the enduring darkness which lasts from october to march.

Ilyanov and Provin are assisted by the town major Titov (Vladimir Skomarovsky, 2010), who seems less than enthousiastic about the whole deal. After scouring the files for suspicious things, Ilyanov finds nothing even remotely fishy, but his curiosity sparks up after seeing a familiar looking woman called Valentina Orlova (Victoria Tennant, LA Story) on the street. He checks up on her in the files, and sees that she has been exiled by Stalin...50 years ago. He is rebuffed by Provin, who says that this woman is just a descendant of that other one. Ilyanov still finds it an odd coincidence, and decides to investigate further.

Checking out the bodies of slain officials, Ilyanov discovers that their corpses are strangely enough bloodless. He demands to be taken to the crime scene, and finds an old church which is considered abandoned, yet has footsteps in the snow walking from and to. Suddenly, a wailing wolf in the distance interrupts their search, and Ilyanov rushes to the woods to check the situation. What he finds leaves him in a state of shock - the aforementioned Valentina feeding off wolf's blood, while sporting a pair of vampiric fangs ! Ilyanov runs back, but someone knocks him out cold with a big chunk o' wood.

Awakening in his room, Ilyanov is told by Titov that he just ran into a low branch and lost consciousness. The canny old komisar believes none of it, and demands that Titov takes him to that old church, convinced that those were vampires out there. At the church, he finds all the coffins empty...which is because the welcoming committee was set up for him - turns out that there is a whole colony of bloodsuckers there, and Provin is one of them !

Titov then explains the whole situation to Ilyanov - those vampires are all refugees from the various parts of Russia, some exiled by Stalin, some coming here by choice to stay safe. Over the years, their community has expanded, and the town struck some sort of a deal with them - the vampires would protect them from wolves and criminals, and the villagers would keep them safe from prying eyes. Party eyes turn to be particularily prying though, and Ilyanov soon finds out he's the next course on their menu. Titov argues that he should be let alone, and Ilyanov uses this moment of confusion to flee the church.

Running away with Titov, two of them are soon assaulted by a pair of wolves. The chasing vampires are just too late for Titov, whose throat is slit by a wolf, but Ilyanov survives, and is now in a tight spot. He accepts his fate, telling the vampires he is as good as done anyway, and how the old Soviet values he fought for are not there anymore, how he's useless now. Valentina informs him that there might be a way for him to fight back, in the name of the people, and regain some strength and dignity he lost.

Back in Moscow, Ilyanov informs his superior of a job well done - Titov was a rotten apple, a traitor and a disgrace, while comrade Provin helped him immensely during his investigation. His boss congratulates him on a job well done, and leaves the room saying how he wished he had more men like him...to which Ilyanov silently replies, "you will, comrade, you will", and smilingly reveals his new pair of fangs.

***

A neat little vampiric mystery piece concocted by the screenwriter Michael Cassutt, Red Snow remains interesting, if a bit leisurely-paced, from start to finish. Dzundza is not only a decent actor here, he more importantly looks the part, completely resembling one of those stock KGB types from the cold war era.

The writing, though, suffers from some overweight politicking - Ilyanov, a staunch party supporter, making a cross sign across his chest when first meeting a vampire is the first sign of suspect intentions - Valentina's and Titov's "throw the communism down" speeches at the end are just unneccessary. What on Earth were they thinking having vampires bitch about party politics - was the supposed message "hey kids, commies are evil because they abuse the undead" ? The ending twist is good, but considering the fact Soviet Union did collapse few years after this episode aired, you get the feeling that the makers wanted to insinuate bloodsuckers tore down the iron curtain.

Still, acting, mystery, and above average sets bail this one enough to just dismiss the abovegiven antics as "sign o' the times". And oh, hands up all of you who thought Chris Nolan was so dashingly original to make a whodunit set in a place beyond the arctic circle...

1.51 --- Need to Know

2006-02-10T18:46:00.000-08:00

Reviewer's note : you know what those mean, don't you ? This is 1.51, and Red Snow is 1.52.

***

Directed by : Paul Lynch
Written by : Mary Sheldon (story by Sidney Sheldon)
Starring : William L. Petersen, Frances McDormand
First aired : 21st of March, 1986.

When the population of a small town starts going crazy out of the blue, the local senator sends Edward Sayers (William L. Petersen, Manhunter, CSI : Las Vegas), a top flight biologist, to investigate the situation. Once there, he teams up with Amanda Strickland (Frances McDormand, Darkman, Mississippi Burning), who fills him in on the current affairs.

Sayers first interrogates Strickland's father, freshly insane since that morning. From him, he is being lead to mrs. Hotchkiss, who also is a loon - after talking some random drivel to them, she attempts to kill them with a cutting knife. At the lab, Sayers can't find any bacteriological cause to this occurence, and Amanda suggests that it might be a disease, as it moves between people in contagious fashion.

Amanda soon figures out that all the cases of insanity trace back to a certain Jeffrey Potts, an university professor recently back from the far East. Sayers drives off to visit him, and meets Potts alone inside his house, being busy with some sculptures. Potts them tells him that he discovered something wonderful - the secret to meaning of life, God, devil, and other things. He approaches Sayers in order to whisper it to him, but is rebuffed - Sayers realizes that this might well be the source of madness. When Potts joyously exclaims he will spread the message through the radio, a struggle between the two ensues and Sayers is knocked out unconscious.

He wakes up after 20 minutes, and immediately drives back to Amanda, managing to destroy her radio seconds before Potts reveals "the truth". But he's late - it spread to Amanda too, and she whispers it to him as well, condemning him to a lifetime of lunacy.

***

Adapted from a short story by Sidney Sheldon by Mary Sheldon (no idea if they're related), Need to Know is an intriguing episode which leaves a LOT open for imagination. Part of its appeal is that we indeed do not know what sort of a message is it which makes people stark raving mad, and can only guess. Charles Aidman's opening narration suggests it might be something trivially simple - yet again, it's not unheard of that people went mad after hearing something horrendous. You be the judge.

Starring roles are handled well by a rather young William L. Peterson and Frances McDormand - neither really excels, but the episode doesn't call for it, either. Director Paul Lynch again delivers a winner here, and that shouldn't surprise you if you have followed my blog so far - he was the man behind the camera for A Message from Charity, Examination Day and Wong's Lost and Found Emporium, all upper echelon colour TZ pieces.

Serling Trivia : no TZ veterans here, but Ray Ballard, who appears in the prologue, appeared in one Night Gallery episode - namely, The Phantom Farmhouse.

1.50 --- Button, Button

2006-02-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Peter Medak
Written by : Logan Swanson (story by Richard Matheson)
Starring : Mare Winningham, Brad Davis, Basil Hoffmann
First aired : 7th of March, 1986.

Norma (Mare Winningham, St. Elmo's Fire, Georgia) and Arthur (Brad Davis, Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire), a bickering couple, receive an unexpected package one day. Inside the package is a weird-looking box with a button on it, shielded by a plastic dome, and a note that they will be visited that day at 8pm. As Arthur works at night, he can't be there for it, so he convinces Norma to stay home and see what's it about.

At 8pm straight Norma is visited by Steward (Basil Hoffman, Ordinary People, Night Shift), a tall man in black suit and a hat. He gives her the key to the box, informing her that she can push the button if she wants. If she does, two things happen - someone neither she or Arthur know will die, and they will receive $200,000 tax free in cash.

Saddled with the dillema, Norma can't sleep or think straight. Arthur comes back from work, and as Norma explains him what's it about, he vehemently objects to her lobbying to push the button and trashes the box, claiming that the whole story is probably phoney. That doesn't help Norma stop stressing however - while they're asleep, she sneaks out of the bed and retrieves the box from the dumpster. Arthur is less than pleased with Norma again fiddling with the box, but decides to leave her alone. Hours pass and Norma finally succumbs and pushes the button - an act which Arthur doesn't like one bit.

Next morning, they are again visited by Steward, who comes to pick up the box and brings a briefcase with $200,000 in it. As he leaves, he informs the couple that the box will be reprogrammed and given to somebody else...somebody they don't know.

***

Rod Serling's old Twilight Zone aide Richard Mateson returns to the series with this story, which promises plenty but ultimately delivers very little. I found the basic premise pretty interesting, but the execution was mellow - first of all, Mare Winningham is borderline unwatchable. I know, I know, her character is supposed to be a bit of a bitch, but Christ, she is really hard to digest with her lethal combination of overacting and PMS manners. Brad Davis, God bless his soul, is saddled with a similarily whiny character, yet he pulls an infinitely better job and delivers a fine performance. Both are easily upstaged by Hoffman though, who reminds me a lot of young Sir Alec Guinness in this one.

Second, Arthur's character is awfully uneven. Initially, he doesn't believe the box will do anything. Then he accuses Norma she's committing a murder by pushing it. Then he dismantles the box and sees nothing is in it. Then again, he thinks it's immoral. Then he lets Norma push it, and finally, after she did, he is angry at her. Norma's character might be horribly overplayed, but her contures are more outlined, as she is genuinely confused and nervous. Arthur, on the other hand, is just daft.

By the time the twist comes, you're probably rooting for Norma to be a random death if someone else pushes the button. If we were given two genuinely struggling characters who thought long and hard the whole night and then finally succumbed, we could have felt for them. A missed opportunity.

Oh, and by the way, the teleplay is credited to "Logan Swanson", who is actually Matheson himself.

Remake Trivia : apparently, Eli Roth (of Hostel fame) is due to make a feature-length film out of the short story used for this episode. Richard Kelly, known to many as the director/writer behind Donnie Darko, is slated to script it. Good luck to them both - I am wondering how much padding will it take to get this one to 90+ minutes.

1.49 --- Profile in Silver

2006-02-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Directed by : John Hancock
Written by : J. Neil Schulman
Starring : Lane Smith, Andrew Robinson, Louis Giambalvo
First aired : 7th of March, 1986.

Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald (Lane Smith, My Cousin Vinnie, Air America), a Harvard professor, is upon first sight a very ordinary person living in the 60s. But, the reality is completely different - dr. Fitzgerald is a historian from the future, who travelled back in time in order to research his celebrated ancestor John F. Kennedy, including his assasination in Dallas.

Joseph teleports himself to Dallas in order to shoot the incident on camera, but emotions overwhelm him and he manages to prevent the murder, yelling towards the president to duck. President Kennedy (Andrew Robinson, Dirty Harry, Hellraiser), thankful that he's still alive, invites Joseph for a dinner at the White House - they are escorted by the secret service agent Livingstone (Louis Giambalvo, Bonfire of Vanities).

However, things turn out to be rougher than anticipated. While on board Airforce One, the president receives information that the Soviets invaded Berlin and are holding all the westerners hostage. Joseph can't believe Khruschev would do such a thing, and president informs him that he didn't - he was assasinated today. Realizing what he has done, Joe retrieves an old silver coin with JFK on it, piece of family memorabilia, and starts randomly flipping it in order to calm himself. His clumsiness and nerves make him lose the coin, and Livingstone catches it, immediately smelling foul play after seeing what for a coin is it.

At the White House, Livingstone informs the president about the coin and a rather odd camera he also found within Joseph's belongings, and Joseph is soon cornered by the two of them, urged to give an explanation. He tells them that he is from future, and that the president was intended to die today - all the events which are happening now would not happen if Kennedy indeed got killed in Dallas.

Considering the fact that, according to calculations from the future, an all-out war would ravage Earth for centuries if the Kennedy administration is not immediately terminated, the president decides to "rewind" the time with Joseph's help and sacrifice himself. Joseph agrees, but his idea is of different kind - he assumes the role of president and gets shot, while the real JFK returns to the future.

***

Time travel is an interesting subject to explore, if not an overly easy one to deal with - in other words, it's very easy to screw up what could have been an interesting concept and botch the whole episode (or film) because of one slight miscalculation. Profile in Silver, thankfully, is one of the stronger time travel efforts I've seen - J. Neil Schulman's script is high on interesting material, and low on plotholes, so this episode is a success.

Contributing to it are above-average special effects (for this series at least) and impressive set pieces, with the Kennedy murder immaculately recreated for the occasion. Andrew Robinson, a legit hi-profile name, gives an inspiring turn as the late president, and Lane Smith, who recently passed away, is also pretty good in his role. Recommended viewing, but the ending could have been stronger, and there was no explicit need for yet another liberal plug towards the end (Smith's quip how war, poverty and so on have been eliminated in the future). I'm no conservative myself mind you, it's just that you have to have some measure with your agendas on a show which is non-political by nature.

Also worth noting that time travel in order to prevent a presidental suicide is a rehashed topic within the Twilight Zone - Back There (13th of January, 1961.) dealt with a man from "our" time trying to save Abe Lincoln.

TZ Trivia : Barbara Baxley, here playing dr. Fitzgerald's colleague from the future, is a returning TZoner, having already appeared in a classic TZ episode Mute (31st of January, 1963.)

LBJ Trivia : actor Jeff Hardin, who briefly cameos here as Lyndon B. Johnson, actually played in a LBJ biopic later in his career, a made-for-TV feature called LBJ : The Early Years, starring Randy Quaid as the former president. Hardin became famous only years later though, with his portrayal of The X Files' shadowy figure Deep Throat.

Go ahead punk, make my trivia : as many of you might know, Andrew Robinson was on the receiving end of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry persona in Harry's first cinematic venture, playing the villainous Scorpio. He is, however, not the only Dirty Harry veteran in this episode - Louis Giambalvo would later appear in the very last Dirty Harry movie, The Dead Pool.

1.48 --- Dead Run

2006-02-04T18:18:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Paul Tucker
Written by : Alan Brennert (story by Greg Bear)
Starring : Steve Railsback, Barry Corbin, Ebbe Roe Smith
First aired : 21st of February, 1986.

After his umpteenth traffic cockup, Johnny (Steve Railsback, The Stunt Man, Lifeforce), a hapless young trucker, is freshly out of work. He inquires about job possibilities with Pete (Barry Corbin, Dallas, WarGames), who is initially reluctant to take him on, but eventually relents and invites him for the initial run.

The following day, Johnny is amazed to find out what sort of a run this is going to be - Pete is actually shuttling sinners to hell. After picking up a fresh batch of damned souls at the arranged checkpoint, the two truckers proceed down to road to hell. During a break at the roadside inn, they overhear there were some disturbances "down there" and are advised to be cautious.

Arriving into hell, Johnny and Pete stumble upon full-scale riot staged by the damned. Johnny gets into the thick of it, and winds up rescued by Gary Frick (Ebbe Roe Smith, Turner & Hooch), former "company" trucker who died and got to hell himself, who explains him that hell is, right now, in a state of anarchy. He informs Johnny that the selection process is not being overseen by "the boss" (God, that is), and begs Johnny to try and make the difference, as there is a bunch of undeserving people getting tossed into hell for no good reason. He also reveals him the location to "the high road" before the hell security intervenes. The security officer finds the whole incident suspicious, and sends Johnny to the "manager".

The manager, a youngish looking fellow who only recently got this position, is a man of stern beliefs and principles. He tells Johnny that God indeed is too busy to bother himself with such trifle work as eternal damnation, and that he is in charge of hell as it stands. His mission : to banish all souls not conforming to his age-old standards. After listening to his sermon, Johnny decides to keep the job - but not for the reasons his boss might suspect.

On his very next run, he stops after the first checkpoint and starts randomly querying the
damned, and is surprised to find that within this batch of condemned are an elderly librarian who fought for freedom of speech, a junkie, a draft-dodger and a homosexual. He escorts them from his trailer and shows them the high road, saving them from eternal damnation, explaining them how he will continue to play this role and therefore reverse the injustice done to the undeserving.

***

As I mentioned before, the new Twilight Zone occasionaly had a political agenda. Dead Run, adapted from a short story by Greg Bear by Alan Brennert, is probably the most powerful of new TZ's "message" episodes so far, tackling at the time a very ticklish subject of opposition to vocal conservative majority.

Steve Railsback's Johnny is basically a clueless, but good-hearted character, who finds salvation in his work and decides to take a one-man crusade against divine injustice. An episode which is pro-gay would probably be enough on its own - however, Johnny also absolves a draft-dodger who fled to Canada, a liberal librarian and a drug addict of their sins, as Bear & Brennert really go for the jugular here.

Dead Run made a definite impact, and was commended by the Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Artists. And even though its message was broadcast 20 years ago, it still, it seems, didn't become fully accepted by some. For shame.

TZ Trivia : Gertrude Flynn, very effective in her portrayal of the tormented librarian, is a veteran of classic Twilight Zone episode Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up ? (26th of May, 1961.). It's probably also worth mentioning that Rod Serling would likely hate this episode - according to the folks in the know from the TZ Café forums, Rod was an old-school homophobe.

Enterprise Trivia : did the cast of The Next Generation meet on a TZ set, what ? After Jonathan Frakes in But Can She Type ?, not one but two TNG'ers appears in Dead Run - John de Lancie, oh so memorable as Q, is the mean right wing manager of Hell, Inc., while Brent Spiner, better known as the mortally pale android Data, appears in the role of the condemned draft dodger.

1.47 --- The Leprechaun-Artist

2006-02-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Tommy Lee Walace
Written by : Tommy Lee Walace (story by James Crocker)
Starring : Cork Hubbert, Bradley Gregg, Joey Green, Danny Nucci
First aired : 21st of February, 1986.

An Irish leprechaun (Cork Hubbert, Legend), vacationing in the United States, is spotted and caught by three young boys, Richie (Bradley Gregg, Stand By Me), J.P. (Joey Green) and Buddy (Danny Nucci, Alive, Crimson Tide). The leprechaun informs them that they can all have one wish, and Buddy picks first. His wish is to have x-ray vision.

Next morning, he is amazed to find out he can really look under girls clothes. But when he focuses more, instead of seeing them naked, he sees their internal organs ! When J.P. and Richie turn to talk to him, he sees their skulls instead of their faces. Obviously, it was not the best of wishes, and the leprechaun, seeing Buddy learned his lesson, reverses it.

J.P.'s wish comes next, and he wishes for all of their parents to do only what they tell them. When Buddy makes his folks bark like a dog and sing the national anthem, it looks like a job well done. Until, that is, they discover the wish was too literal - they have to tell their parents everything, including how to cook and drive home after dropping them off. The leprechaun reverses it again, and now they have one last wish to request.

Extra careful after the last two experiences, Richie asks for a state-of-the-art "hot" car, with a driver who has a mind of his own. The leprechaun grants it and disappears, and the boys are amazed to find a neat white limo with a chauffeur waiting for them. But again - it's a trick. The driver does "have a mind of his own", and when the cops start tailing them for driving too fast, he tries to outrace them ! They eventually come to a standstill - the driver disappears, and the boys are taken to the precinct.

There, they have to explain what were they exactly doing on a back seat of a stolen car ("hot", remember ?). They are lost for words, but suddenly, they spot the leprechaun in the room, smiling. He reverses this one as well, and the boys, having learn their lesson, merrily run out of the station unharmed.

***

While not exactly a great piece of work for TZ standards, The Leprechaun-Artist is a pleasant, well-told story with a swallowable moral to it. Again, we have a non-Irish actor hamming it up like your average paddy (see The Little People of Killany Woods for further reference), but Cork Hubbert sells his act pretty good, and the kids are all pretty watchable.

The main concept, while adapted from a short story by James Crocker (who previously wrote Chameleon and A Little Peace and Quiet), is hardly original though - Serling did this in the original series not once but twice, with The Man in the Bottle (7th of October, 1960.) and I Dream of Genie (21st of March, 1963.).

This was also Tommy Lee Wallace's third and last directing job on the new Twilight Zone.

***

On a personal note, sorry for the recent lack of updates. Real life can be pretty annoying at times. No worries, I'm not giving up on this ;)

1.46 --- Cold Reading

2006-01-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Gus Trikonis
Written by : Martin Pasko & Rebecca Parr
Starring : Lawrence Poindexter, Dick Shawn
First aired : 14th of February, 1986.

Milo Trent (Lawrence Poindexter), an aspiring radio drama actor back in the '30s, is invited as a last-minute replacement to a famous weekly show "Dick Noble, the African Explorer". The show is a creation of famous writer Nelson Westbrook (Dick Shawn, The Producers), who often does rewrites on the fly while in the studio with the actors.

But, when Westbrook accidentally wishes for realistic special effects while holding an ancient voodoo artifact, he gets what he wanted - and more ! As the actors in the studio read out their lines, the exact things happen to them - first there is a storm (inside the studio), then african tribesmen appear, followed by monkeys, parrots, rifles in the distance etc. Realizing very well that their safety is in peril, Westbrook feverishly rewrites the show so nothing drastic happens, writing around a plane crash and an earthquake amongst other things.

With all hazards averted, the cast brings the show to an ending and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. The relief turns out to be a rather premature one, as you can imagine what happens when the show host announces next week's episode : Dick Noble and the invaders from Mars !

***

Fourth quarter of first season opens on a high note, with an amusing little comedy directed by Broadway dancer turned TV director Gus Trikonis. The period detail is faithfully recreated, and Dick Shawn's over-the-top character adds extra flavour. The downfall of this episode could have been, again, special effects, but this time disaster is averted - all the gags are rather well executed, including the rousing finale. Job well done, I'd say.

Zone fans are everywhere !

2006-01-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

I gotta say, when I was starting this blog, my primary idea behind it was to purely jot down my own thoughts on this show, so I could read them later on when I feel I'm forgetting something. I am thus positively amazed to see that within those 45 days I'm doing this I received staggering 2000 visits, with only a small percentage coming from random blogging. Not half bad for a little blog whose only plugs are at John's TZ page and The TZ Café forums. I'll just use this occasion to thank John again for his help.

What's even better, I have visitors logging in from everywhere. Sure, the bulk of my auditorium comes from USA, but there is a select crowd of Canadians, some Britons, Irishmen, even one guy from Brussels, and one Croatian. Lest I forget, someone from Tokyo is a returning reader since my early days.

And what I really found flattering is that one of my readers is a French dude who reads my writing through Altavista translator service. A big "merci beacoup" to that fellow, and that's all - despite me living in Belgium, I plead guilty to not speaking French...I'm but a mere expatriate, and Dutch is all I could manage. I live in the Flemish part of the country anyway ;).

I hope y'all are enjoying the blog so far. Keep on reading, as there's 60+ more episodes in store.

Oh, and thanks. Nothing quite as touching as finding out you're being read across the globe.

Season One awards : part 3 of 4

2006-01-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

And just as you know, after every 15 episodes it's "that time of the month". Amazingly enough, there will be no Bronze Rods this time. This batch also has no surefire classics, minus maybe To See the Invisible Man and A Small Talent for War, but is also the steadiest one so far. Only one episode came close to condemnation - Still Life - but got ultimately bailed by good direction. On to the show thus...

The Golden Rod award for Twilight Zone excellence goes to : The Misfortune Cookie, A Small Talent for War, The Elevator, To See the Invisible Man, Quarantine, Gramma

The Silver Rod award for valuable addition to the Twilight Zone canon goes to : But Can She Type ?, The Star, Still Life, The Little People of Killany Woods, Monsters !, A Matter of Minutes, Tooth and Consequences, Welcome to Winfield, Personal Demons

The Bronze Rod award for good effort goes to : ...

Now that you mention it, Welcome to Winfield and Personal Demons tickled the lower edge of Silver Rods, but were still too good for that category in my opinion. As usual, you're welcome to comment.

1.45 --- Personal Demons

2006-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Peter Medak
Written by : Rockne S. O'Bannon
Starring : Martin Balsam, Joshua Shelley
First aired : 14th of February, 1986.

Famous screenwriter Rockne S. O'Bannon (Martin Balsam, Psycho, Cape Fear and about five dozens of Italian mob movies) is currently suffering from writer's block. He complains about this to his neighbour, saying how the last original idea he had was 20 years ago. His neighbour (Joshua Shelley) recommends retirement, but Rockne says not before he finds that one last original story.

A bit later, he's walking around his neighbourhood, and is amazed to see a strange-looking dwarf on the street running towards him. He escapes it, only to find more of them thrashing his car the same night. He realizes soon that only he can see those peculiar little creatures, and in order to avoid them, he barricades himself inside his apartment.

The little buggers are persistant however, so after a lengthy siege they finally break into Rockne's apartment and corner him near his typewriter. He asks them what do they want from him, and one of them simply retorts that all they desire is to be written about ! Rockne obliges, realizing this is his last original idea, and the dwarfs start disappearing, one by one.

***

A neat little in-joke of an episode, this one probably served as an exorcism of sorts for mr. O'Bannon, Zone's regular contributor, who fittingly enough wrote it himself. If this is an exactly original story though, I don't know - the little imps who torment Rockne look strangely similar to killer midgets from David Cronenberg's Brood, which predates this episode by a few years.

All things included, a neat little episode, and Martin Balsam is, as always, fun to watch.

TZ Trivia : Martin Balsam is a returning TZoner, appearing previously in two classic TZ eps - The 16mm Shrine (23rd of October, 1959.) and The New Exhibit (4th of April, 1963.).

1.44 --- Gramma

2006-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

Reviewer's note : And again...Gramma is 1.44, Personal Demons 1.45, and Cold Reading 1.46.

***

Directed by : Bradford May
Written by : Harlan Ellison (story by Stephen King)
Starring : Barrett Oliver, Darlanne Fluegel
First aired : 14th of February, 1986.

Little Georgie (Barrett Oliver, The Neverending Story, D.A.R.Y.L.) is mortally afraid of being left home alone with his grandmother. When his mother (Darlanne Fluegel, Eyes of Laura Mars, Once Upon a Time in America) leaves for an afternoon, Georgie is adamant he won't get scared.

His self-assurance lasts exactly five minutes, until he hears grandma's ghostly wail asking for tea. He fixes her some of it and brings it to her, but her sudden jerk move scares him and he spills it all over the floor, fleeing away. Driven by curiosity, he returns to the place where he spilled the tea and finds a secret stash under the floorplank, where he digs out some books.

The books turn out to be Necronomicon (yes, that Necronomicon), and grandma's personal diaries, from which Georgie concludes grandma was a witch. He returns to her room, and finds his grandmother dead. Leaving the room, he forgets to cover her face with the sheet. He goes back there again, but grandma is all of a sudden alive, and she snatches Georgie into her bed, slowly dragging him towards her as he's kicking and screaming.

Some time later, Georgie's mother return, and Georgie, sitting at the table with a sad expression, informs her gramma's died. She hugs her little boy, telling him that he shouldn't worry, as she will always be with them - a statement which rings closer to truth than she can imagine, because all of a sudden Georgie's eyes don't look all that human anymore...

***

On a select number of occasions, this new Twilight Zone went off its beaten path and well into Tales from the Darkside / Tales from the Crypt territory. Sometimes, like in Teacher's Aide, it was awful. Some other times, like in The Elevator, and now, Gramma, it was pretty good.

First thing one notices while watching this episode is that the Harlan Ellison script is based on a short story by Stephen King, arguably world's most famous horror writer. Let this not fool you or give you false expectations - the plot is paper-thin, and the twist is predictable (probably because there are only three characters involved, and the third one is away for the whole duration of the show). King might be hogging the credit, but this is purely director Bradford May's show - May's direction, coupled with a great performance by youngster Barrett Oliver (now an accomplished photographer), makes an otherwise dull story well-worth watching, and delivers a few scares and creepy bits as well. Particularily entertaining are Georgie's internal dialogues, in which his scary self is being confronted by his more adventurous self. The wit of those "exchanges", along with May, really carry this one.

Gramma herself, played by Frederick Long, sadly looks like a wrinkled up muppet once revealed. It would have been better if they stuck with showing her hand only (which is legit creepy).

1.43 --- Quarantine

2006-01-22T18:58:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Martha Coolidge
Written by : Alan Brennert (story by Philip DeGuerre and Steven Bochco)
Starring : Scott Wilson, Tess Harper, Larry Riley
First aired : 7th of February, 1986.

Matthew Forman (Scott Wilson, The Exorcist III, The Last Samurai), a military engineer specializing in combat satellites, is awakened from his cryogenic sleep three centuries after being frozen in, due to inoperable cancer. The world he finds outside, however, does not look futuristic at all - horse carriages, simple housings and clothes, a setting eerily reminiscing Israel from biblical myths.

His perception of the future drastically changes once he's "operated" on - a team of four citizens, led by Sarah (Tess Harper, Amytiville 3D, The Jackal), succesfully removes his tumours without instruments or anything. Sarah explains that the human race is now much more advanced, and that they possess telephatic and shape-changing skills.

After recovering from his surgery, Matthew is introduced to Joshua (Larry Riley, A Soldier's Story), leader of this community, who takes him to the "computer" room - a cryogenic chamber with genetically mutated simians who store all the information in their enlarged brains - in order to explain him why was he unfrozen. There, Matthew is informed that a meteor is heading to Earth, and would cause huge trouble if it would hit. Joshua is estimating that some of Matthew's armed satellites are still up there, and that maybe he could destroy the big rock before it hits. Matthew also learns that the world as he knew it got destroyed in an all-out nuclear war 20 years after his freezing, and that the remaining humans - now mere 200,000 of them - decided to shun technology for good.

Matthew agrees, and the citizens assemble him a ragtag computer, parched together from last remaining pieces from centuries ago. He manages to connect to one of his satellites, and sets it up to blast the rock. But when the rock nears atmosphere, it changes course and deaccelerates. Matthew is at first amazed, however he soon realizes he has been tricked. The "scanner", Irene, reveals him what's really up there - a space shuttle, bearing USA flag on it, on its way back from deep space.

Joshua explains Matthew that those are the people who started the war in the first place - politicians, military personell, etc., and are carrying nuclear warheads with them. Matthew refuses to believe into that and tries to cancel their destruction, but Sarah quickly removes a key chip from his computer, and the satellite blows the space shuttle up. The ensuing explosion reveals the fact that there were, indeed, nukes on board, and Matthew is relieved. With the dirty work done, he can begin his life anew, and the first thing he does is something he longed to do all his life - explore the universe, thanks to Irene, who telepatically transmits him the images of it.

***

Made in the 80s, right in the middle of Reagan administration and Cold War shenanigans, The New Twilight Zone was somewhat of a liberal stronghold on primetime TV. Many episodes so far had leftie leanings, but none quite this much as Quarantine, a strong, potent story of nuclear fallout and dealing with it. Writers Philip DeGuerre and Steven Bochco, along with TZ regular Alan Brennert who adapted their story for this teleplay, waste no time branding the politicians and army chiefs worst scum ever. This is only reiterated in words of Joshua, who simply condemns them as criminals. And contrary to 98% of all sci-fi stories, Earth in 24th century looks more like Earth in 24th century BC.

Scott Wilson leads a solid cast, who all perform on a decent enough level. What does harm this episode somewhat are occasionaly dodgy special effects - most notably, the simian chamber, which initially is presented as a complex set with realistic looking "pods", only to be replaced by a oh-so-obvious matte painting. Why, beats me. Also, how did Sarah, who never saw a computer in her life and minutes before struggled to recognize what is a light pen, knew exactly which chip to remove in order to stop the cancellation ?

Those are all minor gripes though. Quarantine's message is still ringing today, and this is a good episode, worthy of the "Twilight Zone" name.

1.42 --- Welcome to Winfield

2006-01-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

Reviewer's note : yes, the guidewriters got it wrong yet again - this one is 1.42, and The Quarantine is 1.43. You're welcome.

***

Directed by : Bruce Bilson
Written by : Les Enloe
Starring : Jonathan Caliri, Gerrit Graham
First aired : 7th of February, 1986.

Matt (Jonathan Caliri), a young man in hospital who is inevitably nearing death, suddenly awakens from coma and begs his girlfriend to "save him". She immediately shuttles him away from the hospital room, seconds before Griffin St. George (Gerrit Graham, Demon Seed, Used Cars), an agent of death, catches up with them.

Matt eventually winds up in an old, uncharted hamlet of Winfield, which apparently never advanced past the wild west era. Soon, St. George arrives as well, and is astounded to see such a backward community. When Weldon, the town drunk, accidentally flaps out that he's turning 150 soon and that there is a young "pup" seeking shelter in town, St. George starts suspecting foul play.

The townspeople, led by their major, are willing to protect Matt, so they lie to St. George, telling him they never saw the boy. On his way out, St. George spots Weldon and decides to pick him up with his shiny white Mercedes, driving him out of town to a nearby lake. There, Weldon spills the beans - people of Winfield struck a deal with the previous agent of death, a Chinaman named Chin.

St. George drives back to Winfield, where he finds Matt, ready to surrender. However, it's not all that easy - he would have to take the whole of Winfield along, as their number is long overdue. The people of Winfield are willing to strike a deal with St. George, suggesting he takes themall in exchange for the boy. Matt can't accept this, saying it's unfair all those folks die for him. Caught in a whirlwind of self-sacrifice, St. George finally relents : after consulting with Chin through the phone, he leaves both Matt and the Winfielders be, and goes away.

***

Welcome to Winfield offers a somewhat unique spin on the whole "death harvests souls" concept. Here, the whole dyin' business is presented as a pyramidal scheme, with Death himself being the head honcho, letting his minions do the dirty work. And in the best 80s fashion, the agent of death is a snazzy-dressed arrogant dude, pretty well played by Gerrit Graham (who previously scripted Children's Zoo, Opening Day and Still Life in collaboration with Chris Hubbell).

The vibrant country soundtrack, composed by long-time Jerry Garcia friend and colleague Merl Saunders, provides a good backdrop for this episode, and the supporting cast - with names such as Elisha Cook Jr., Alan Fudge and Henry Gibson, all experienced veterans of both small and silver screen, involved - does a pretty good job, but still, this is pretty "ordinary" stuff. By no means bad, it's just nothing spectacular, that's all.

1.41 --- Tooth and Consequences

2006-01-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Robert Downey
Written by : Haskell Barkin
Starring : David Birney, Kenneth Mars
First aired : 31st of January, 1986.

Dr. Myron Mandel (David Birney) is a hapless dentist, unable to deal with the stress of his calling, as well as with less-than-desirable public reputation dentists enjoy. After seeing his umpteenth receptionist quit and a beautiful young woman reject his advances, he decides to finally pull the plug on his own life and hang himself.

He is saved by the tooth fairy (Kenneth Mars, The Producers, The Parralax View), who is a tall, bearded man, rather than a classic fairy. Myron, certain he's hallucinating, wishes for recognition and love of mrs. Bixby, and to his amazement both are soon granted - mrs. Bixby is madly in love with him, and he just can't shake off new patients coming in.

But now a different problem rises - he can't deal with his newfound popularity ! He escapes the raging mob of his fans-patients and boards the first train out of town, finding himself in a cargo wagon with a bunch of hobos. Turns out, the hobos were dentists too - all forced to live elsewhere thanks to the tooth fairy.

***

A funny little episode directed by Robert Downey Sr. (last seen directing Children's Zoo), Tooth & Consequences is good fun, but ultimately nothing special. David Birney is most pleasant to watch, and pay close attention to the scene when he and mrs. Bixby fall in love - Downey directs that one in full operatic fashion, with both actors hamming it up with real grandeur. Oh, and the actress who plays mrs. Bixby, Teresa Ganzel, uncannily resembles Britney Spears (the fact that mrs. Bixby's character is a bit of an airhead helps, too).

TZ Trivia : both IMDB and Marc Scott Zicree credit Mitzi McCall, here appearing as one of patients, with a role in classic TZ episode The Hitch-Hiker (22nd of January, 1960.). The crowd over at TZ Café forums begs to differ - with some rather knowledgable fellows claiming this could very well be a phantom credit. The truth, as they say, is out there.

1.40 --- To See the Invisible Man

2006-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Noel Black
Written by : Steven Barnes (story by Robert Silverberg)
Starring : Cotter Smith, Karlene Crockett
First aired : 31st of January, 1986.

In near future, one of the worse crimes a man can commit is being heartless and incompassionate. Mitchell Chaplin (Cotter Smith, K-9, X-Men 2) is the latest recipient of such punishment, and his sentence is one year of public invisibility. And to make my point early, he's not made invisible a la H.G. Wells, he is just branded on his head - and everybody must ignore him.

At first, Mitchell is rather thrilled with the prospect of this, but he soon starts to feel remorseful about it. Unable to strike conversation with anyone, even a blind man, he starts to crack up from loneliness. Even fellow invisibles are barred from talking to him. One night, few months away from the end of his sentence, he is mowed down by a car on the street. Mitchell is in incredible pain, however, he is denied medical service.

Time passes, and the day finally arives - he is relieved of his sentence, his mark of invisibility lifted. Four months later, he's a man reformed, back at work and loved by everyone. Walking back home from work, Mitchell is suddenly confronted by the "invisible" girl who he met during his sentence (Karlene Crockett, Dallas) - she is still punished, and he can't talk to her. But, having tasted isolation himself, Mitchell is now too good - he breaks down and hugs the girl, and in turn condemns himself.

***

While not incorporating any frightening critters or serial killers, this episode tickles perhaps one's deepest fear - the fear of isolation. And not only that, but it also touches the fear of losing your civil liberties, and makes this already good episode even better. Also, the finishing touch reminded me of A Clockwork Orange, minus the "redemption" part.

Cotter Smith is excellent in the title role, his downfall from smug jerk to good samaritan thoroughly believable. I would also like to single out the score for this episode, composed by Craig Safran. Mainly performed by futuristic sounding synths, Safran's work perfectly accompanies Mitchell's plight, reminiscing the score Tangerine Dream did for Kathryin Bigelow's stylish modern vampire story, Near Dark. And if you haven't seen Near Dark, well, consider this a recommendation.

1.39 --- The Elevator

2006-01-18T16:53:00.000-08:00

Directed by : R.L. Thomas
Written by : Ray Bradbury
Starring : Stephen Geoffreys, Robert Prescott
First aired : 31st of January, 1986.

Will (Stephen Geoffreys, Fright Night) and Roger (Robert Prescott, Bachelor Party) break into their dad's research facility one night, determined to find out more about his "secret" project which is supposed to solve the worldly hunger problems. Once inside, they see trails in the dust, but they're only going one way.

Following the trail, the brothers run into a bunch of overgrown dead animals - rats, cats, dogs, each one larger than the other. After turning on the light, they also discover the "food" matter which presumably made those animals huge. Will, who is now seriously frightened, deducts that the rats probably got in first, with cats and dogs following, but Roger remarks that something even bigger must've in turn killed them.

As their father is nowhere to be seen, Will and Roger decide to try looking for him on the upper floors. They approach the elevator which soon comes, but when the doors for it open, the brothers realize what happened to the other animals - they were eaten by the giant spider, which will now have them for dinner.

***

Hats off to Ray Bradbury, who for the second time in this first season succesfully creeped me out. While his previous adaptation, The Burning Man, worked more on psychological levels, The Elevator is purely visceral, with fright being induced by the scary environment and the inevitable big monster. I will note that this episode probably lost a lot of its punch outside the original airing slot - if you watched this when it aired, you probably expected the brothers to climb to the second floor first and got pleasantly shocked. This way, watching on DVD, the timer feature tells you clearly something is gonna happen as they call the elevator mere seconds before the episode ends.

Due props go to director R. L. Thomas, who directed this piece with the flair and technique of a veteran horror director...which he wasn't.

Brokeback Trivia : the Twilight Zone has a long-standing reputation of serving as a springboard for young acting, writing or directing talent. Stephen Geoffreys is no exception - it's just that he made his name in gay porn industry instead, participating in 20-ish such movies in the late 90s. Yee-haw.

1.38 --- A Matter of Minutes

2006-01-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Sheldon Larry
Written by : Rockne S. O'Bannon (story by Theodore Sturgeon)
Starring : Adam Arkin, Karen Austin, Adolph Caesar
First aired : 24th of January, 1986.

Michael (Adam Arkin, Full Moon High, Chicago Hope) and Maureen (Karen Austin), a young married couple, are awakened one morning by some horrible noise which they can't quite identify. A glance at the alarm clock unveils the fact they slept in, which Michael soonly refutes by checking his wrist watch. They shrug off the incident as the alarm clock simply dying on them, but are startled when the noise from outdoors moves into their house.

Investigating the situation, Michael and Maureen are amazed to see that their house is suddenly flooded with clad-blue construction workers, who have no face and don't speak. Running around their neighbourhood, they see the situation is universally the same, so they head downtown. Things aren't too much different there either - one distinguishable fact however is that all clocks are jammed at 11:37 AM.

While snooping around downtown, the couple runs into a fellow who seems like the foreman for this working crew (Adolph Caesar, A Soldier's Story). He explains them what happened - by accident, they slipped through a loophole and landed four hours ahead of their own time, and the workers they see are "the time brigade" (my words, not his -- rev.note), who construct every minute in time. The foreman then informs them that they cannot return, a fact to which Michael and Maureen don't take lightly. Not quite ready to spend the rest of their days in a timeless void, they flee while the foreman is busy signing some papers.

A chase through the city streets ensues, and the couple loses their chasers by hiding in a ticket booth of a nearby cinema, deciding to stick there until the "real" time evens out with the minute they are stuck in. They exit the booth 30 seconds before impact, just enough to grin victoriously at the foreman, who escapes into the void. The clocks match, and Michael and Maureen are back in the normal world. After another minute passes and they are convinced they are still where they should be, they leave for home, feeling happier than usual.

***

Well ladies and gentlemen, here it is : the infamous "clad blue workers" episode. If you would round up 250 people who saw this series during the original airing and never again, for some reason, around 200 - at least - would find this episode the most memorable one.

How memorable is this one though ? Well, the premise and initial execution of it are great. However, the script goes nowhere exotic, and the result is a interesting, yet rather bland episode - no twist, no nothing, just a neatly wrapped little story. For shame, as there could have been more intriguing ways to finish it.

While it's fun to see Arkin before he porked up for Chicago Hope, the real show-stealer here is Caesar, who sadly died from a heart attack months after this one first aired. Caesar, who got some Academy lovin' for his portrayal of the brutal, sadistic sgt. Waters in A Soldier's Story, is given little time to excel, but his rat mug is hard to forget.

Trivia : the movie theater downtown, whose ticket booth is used by Michael and Maureen as their hiding place, is showing Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. How appropriate.

1.37 --- A Small Talent for War

2006-01-15T17:52:00.000-08:00

Directed by : Claudia Weill
Written by : Alan Brennert & Carter Scholz
Starring : John Glover, Peter Michael Goetz, Stefan Gierasch
First aired : 24th of January, 1986.

When an alien ship lands at United Nations, a total commotion ensues. Alien ambassador (John Glover, In the Mouth of Madness, Payback) teleports himself to the UN assembly room, and informs the council that his race planted life on Earth millions of years ago, coming now back to evaluate things. The evaluation, however, is negative - the aliens are displeased with Earth's "small talent for war", and says that the Earth, along with its population, will be promptly exterminated. He does grant the Earthlings one day to try and fix everything and prove him wrong, though.

Hearing this, the US ambassador (Peter Michael Goetz) rallies the council, pleading with the Soviet ambassador (Stefan Gierasch, The Hustler, Carrie) for cooperation. In record time, the UN council draws all sorts of peace resolutions, accomplishing, for the first time in history, global peace.

Alien ambassador arrives back tomorrow, and is visibly surprised to see the turn of events. But after sharing a hearty laugh with the present diplomats, he informs them his message was misunderstood - his race breeds warriors, and Earth, as he said, has small talent for war ; worse yet, Earthlings have always had peaceful aspirations. As he disappears, the rest of the alien ships enter Earth's atmosphere, ready to finish the job.

***

A right relief after the needless headscratching induced by Monsters !, A Small Talent for War is basically an upgraded Examination Day - this time, the twist is not as easily smelled, and is not carelessly given away, either. It's a thankless job grading actors based on a seven-minute short, but I have to say Glover was fabulous as the alien ambassador...though somehow they made him look too much like David Bowie (I guess he patented the stock "alien" look after The Man Who Fell to Earth).

If there is something negative to be said about this episode, it's the woeful quality of special effects - the alien ship in the opening sequence looks good, but the ones from the later scenes resemble spray-painted miniature Death Star stations from Star Wars. Oh and, why the hell is Ukraine having an UN ambassador in the middle of the 80s, with USSR still alive and kicking ?

Horror trivia : alien ambassador warns the diplomats to "keep watching the skies", thus making a The Thing from Another World reference - again, back-to-back at that.