'The Twilight Zone' Laces Supernatural With Political and Social Context

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Academy Award winner Jordan Peale has rebooted Rod Sterling's The Twilight Zone and it appears to be lighter fare than its original predecessor or the darker copycats The Outer Limits and Tales From the Crypt. Peale sleekly narrates these new/revisited stories in fine tailored suits sans the smoky cigarettes. 

J. C. Wheeler (Golden Globe nominee Tracy Morgan) gives Samir (Academy Award nominee Kumail Nanjiani) some wisdom.

The Comedian begins in a jarring tale about the hunger for fame, the side effect that simple wishes could bring, and how much of the self is ultimately sacrificed to achieve it. Samir Wassan is a dreadful standup comic. After a bad act, Samir meets the famous J.C. Wheeler at the comedy club bar. Wheeler advises Samir to make his act personal. With that Samir names names. During these acts, the people disappear and only he holds the knowledge of their existence. 

Didi (Emmy nominee Diarra Kilpatrick of American Koko) teases Samir (Kumail Nanjiani) quite often throughout. It is her "suck my vagina" that secures a hilarious catch phrase. 

Sure, it is a predictable morality scheme, but there are moments that must be highlighted. Diarra Kilpatrick has a bunch of hilarious one-liners as Didi Scott. It is a nice touch to show an Indian-American couple in love. As Samir and Rena's modest lifestyle bellows down the drain, jealousy, resentment, and greed taking over, Samir is forced to choose between himself and the last person he intimately knows on earth. The only vicious beast here is the human need to find the backdoor access to infamy and skip the boiling, seething hatred rejection grants everyone. Isn't that scary enough? 

Justin (Adam Scott) believes the MP3 player knows his every move before he does.

However, Nightmare at 35,000 Feet, the second episode, has that Sterling spirit soaring high above the clouds. After all, it is based on the actual William Shatner starring episode, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. PTSD passenger Justin listens to an anonymous MP3 player that sequentially narrates real-time events of his flight as they occur. Panic-stricken Justin then causes continuous ruckus that alarm the people around him, the flight attendants especially. 

This solidly illustrates a heightened terror sensibility. Up in the sky, one certainly feels the most vulnerable, powerless. The MP3 player operates both like Justin's conscious and a misleading navigator. Moreover, it suggests that, "you can't always believe what you hear." 

Nina (Sanaa Lathan) protects her son Dorian (Damson Idris) at all costs. 

Replay stars Sanaa Lathan as Nina Harrison, one of her best performances. Nina is a proud mother driving her son Dorian to college in a very nice car. Before that, they eat at a diner and a white cop is present. Their interactions with him are repeated over and over via an old camera rewind button. Every time, Nina becomes more psychologically and emotionally drained, horrified by the violent encounters. Even at her nicest (she bought the man a slice of pie), the white cop remains a threat. 

Nina (Sanaa Lathan), Dorian (Damson Idris), and Neil (Steve Harris) are backed up by the community against the brutal police force.

The true fright among the four aired episodes, this reality has affected Black mothers around the world. The ugly history of the white cop and the Black body has continued growing like an incurable disease-- the blue-eyed white cop Grim Reaper. His constant maliciousness holds up a mirror to the world and the world does not let it shatter.  It is rather brilliant that by facing her past, Nina's older brother Neil helps Nina and Dorian along in an Underground Railroad scenario to the college that temporarily puts the bullets at bay. However, the fear of losing precious time, something rare and fragile in the Black community, will forever haunt Nina and Dorian knows it. 

Pardon me, A. Traveler (Steven Yeun) brings mayhem to a small town in Alaska just around the holidays. 

A Traveler (helmed by A Girl Walks Alone at Night writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour, the only woman director so far) exhibits Steven Yeun's impressive range as the unlikely stranger mixing together contagious delight and sinister intentions. With a smile as mischievous as his Burning character Ben, Yeun's A. Traveler-- decked in a dated pinstriped suit and black hat-- buries the truth beneath the holiday spirit facade. Inuvialuit actress Marika Sila goes toe to toe with Yeun and Greg Kinear's Captain Lane Pendleton. Sila's skeptical Scully like Sergeant Yuka Mongoyak is diligent in her investigation, uncovering lie after lie. She refuses to cower in fear as the bizarre strangeness becomes unhinged. Yuka and the traveler's cat and mouse game is twisted, but not in an overtly perverted way. Yuka swallows the taste for power. A. Traveler knows her innermost desire and hope. However, he instigates doubt and doesn't physically harm anyone. At least not whilst enjoying pumpkin pie in his truest physical form. 

Yuka (Marika Sila) is not fooled by A. Traveler's feigned innocence.

So far, each protagonist must face between listening to their intuition or mysterious devices like Justin's Mp3 player and Nina's camcorder or strangers like the famous comic A.C. Wheeler or Yuka's visitor. What wins over them? The new (or old) startling thing or accepting the reality that awaits? There still remains that stretch of Sterling imagination, of finding no limitation to what lies ahead for these characters. 

Thus, Peale's The Twilight Zone stays the course of Sterling's 1960's creation, weaving modern day controversial political and social undertones and handpicking actors and actresses of all ethnicities. This resurrected series has certainly piqued and encouraged curiosity to wonder what comes next in the mythological otherworldly dimension being reopened and explored anew in 2019.