The Twilight Zone Review: Blurryman (Season 1 Episode 10)
Sometimes, meeting your heroes can lead down horrifying paths, as proven on The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 10, “Blurryman.”
It can also, sometimes, not work as intended as an episode.
An episode going meta can live and die by its intentions. Breaking the wall down leaves so many open questions of what came before and what will be there ahead (since the show has been renewed for a second season).
Are all episodes now to be seen as “episodes” inside this narrative, or is this a one-off for the sake of telling this story? It’s a lot of unintended consequences, a series of threads the episode, perhaps, doesn’t wish to answer.
The opening, of Seth Rogen as a writer creating a doomsday based on changing his story around, actually sounds like a nice little idea. For it to turn into a fake-out is a little disappointing, as what comes after is a lot less interesting than that story. It’s also the only time Rogen is utilized beyond standing around.
Sophie (Zazie Beetz) and Jordan Peele’s interactions have their intriguing pieces. Peele’s character (as himself) has a firm grasp of what makes The Twilight Zone so impactful, while Sophie struggles with it. Based on the twist at the end where she spent so much time inhaling the show as a child, it’s a bit of a strange reversal, as she should be the one who knows it like the back of her hand.
Also worth noting: Peele’s endless popcorn supply. That seems like a good situation.
Blurryman becomes a Slenderman stand-in, marching slowly toward you and messing with objects in your vicinity. An enemy growing endlessly closer is certainly a terrifying image, but his modus operandi seems to be hanging out in the background of shots, lessening his fear factor when he doesn’t really get close enough to cause any real concern.
The middle of the episode is stuffed to the brim with aimless wandering without much in the way of fulfilling terror. The time could have been better used to tie all of the ten episodes together, as it does a little here and there, to tip its hand of where the story is heading.
Instead, it’s left to Sophie mostly shouting at nothing in particular on mostly empty sets and tripping over dolly tracks, and occasionally hearing her own voice dominate over the proceedings.
The ending, therefore, does not feel earned. The shock of finding yourself in the Twilight Zone, when it is the lifeline of your past and what kept you moving forward when socially cut off, should have led to using old episodes as a way of defeating the enemy, and earning CG Rod Serling to come and take you away.
A disembodied narration that Sophie hears as her calming point leaves it to be a flipping of the switch, rather than something the character learned and earned over the episode.
Does Sophie really know the true meaning of The Twilight Zone now, because she managed to survive the terror and quickly accept it? Perhaps not, as it comes across as an acceptance of her breakdown and exhaustion, rather than accepting she’s being tested.
CG Rod Serling is an awkward image to close the episode on. It’s not great, unless in screenshot form and not in movement, and given Peele’s better understanding earlier on the episode, feels like perhaps a passing of the baton between Narrators is more appropriate.
The Twilight Zone Season 1 Episode 10, “Blurryman,” is a blurry and messy episode. It’s trying to go big, but doesn’t have the tools or the story thrust to get to its ending. Peele is rather fun as a less-than-interested Narrator waiting for the right lines, and Beetz does have her moments (she is way more fantastic on Atlanta), but the episode finds itself one of the lesser of the season, and a disappointing closer for the season.
What did you think of this episode of The Twilight Zone? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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The Twilight Zone streams Thursdays on CBS All Access.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.
3 comments
I Loved it!
MY GOD… IT’S FULL OF STARS!!!!!!
That was F***ing INCREDIBLE!!!
From the moment Jordan stepped out of the normal episode flow to become a fictionalized version of himself within a story taking place within the actual series itself, I was totally blown away.
It was a Twilight Zone episode that was aware of itself AS an episode of the current Twilight Zone.
Telling a story set within a ‘fictional’ episode of the series we were actually watching was…..
PURE DELICIOUSNESS!!!
The episode had me from that moment and for the Blurryman to be Rod Serling himself wasn’t just the icing on the cake,…. it was the party that the cake was meant for in the first place!.
What a treat to watch, pure imaginative enjoyment with a clear message..
Imagination is soooo important and such a powerful gift.
Well done, Jordan Peel and co, WELL DONE!.
Utter rubbish.
From the poor acting to the terrible CG of RS.
But it’s not like the rest of the series wasn’t complete tripe. CBS has yet again given us eye trash.
Nice that Zakkari felt it necessary to cut and paste his drivel and post it on every site he could. Bravo. With this episode, one of the worst I’ve ever seen of any show, this iteration of The Twilight Zone not only jumped the proverbial shark, it actually ate itself.
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