Amazing Stories Review: Signs of Life (Season 1 Episode 4)
Absent parents and strained relationships become the focus on Amazing Stories Season 1 Episode 4, “Signs of Life,” as a fantastic cast and the pursuit of a better life give the episode a ton of potential, but a late twist somewhat hurts what could have been a fulfilling close.
What comes before, though, is hard to fault.
The main draw of the episode is by far the relationship between Alia and Sara. Their distance is palpable on screen, from Sara pulling her hand away, the cold hugs, the disinterest in being together, all adding to this hard fact that the coma has taken too much time away from them, and it may take a long time to get it back, if it’s even possible.
Alia’s attempts to awaken her mother back to the old days, and then shifting to starting new memories, is such a sweet, kind way to take this sort of story, and it really pays off this need for Alia to rekindle what she’s lost over those six years.
The moment of watching dance rehearsal turns out to be a key scene, as it ties both entity and mother together as appreciating the human form and the connection between people as they move in sync, creating this rather beautiful moment where there can finally be a connection, even if it’s superficial with the later reveal.
It’s this feeling like progress is being made, and Alia’s joy at this feeling like a breakthrough, that makes it so potent.
The sudden shift to aliens and these particular coma patients being hosts waiting to return home is certainly jarring. If the story could have been about gaining powers from their coma, like picking up radio frequencies and superpowers due to the lapse of time changing them, it could have been a simple, effective episode.
This alien development is a little too sudden without much build-up until we’re already experiencing it during the scene. Their telekinetic powers and ways of hearing things across long distances could have been a fun little superpower story.
This isn’t to say the otherworldly revelation completely dismantles everything, but that it could have used more telegraphing. It does allow for that moment of sacrifice at the end of the episode, using the power lines to jumpstart a wounded Sarah, which is a solid moment of choosing closure over survival on behalf of the entity.
But it’s a little weak from feeling disconnected to everything that’s come before. There’s also the issue that the ending feels too similar to Amazing Stories Season 1 Episode 2, “The Heat,” where a sudden life-altering moment reawakens one of the characters and puts everything back to normal. It isn’t entirely the same, of course, but a little too similar of an ending only an episode apart.
Sasha Lane is remarkable on the episode, continuing off of her brilliant performances from films like American Honey and The Miseducation of Cameron Post by digging deep into the raw nerves of her character’s emotions and the need to make up for lost time that’s slowly eaten away at by suspicion and worry. Alia is the emotional core of the episode, and Lane rises to that occasion with great success.
Michelle Wilson is just as magnetic in her role, creating this distance that feels almost to Alia’s benefit where you can feel it’s done on purpose rather than done out of spite. Once that reveal becomes clear, it makes her performance more key to better grasping all that’s come before. Wilson is able to say so much with her body language, which also works well once the powers start to become involved.
It’s so good to see Josh Holloway again after some time since Colony. He doesn’t get to do a whole lot on the episode beyond being his unfairly charming self, but that’s more than enough to make an impression with the little he’s given. Wayne is mostly a man on a mission, and Holloway handles that with style.
Leah Fong’s writing on the episode taps into that distance and its lead characters’ strain by keeping the focus on their emotions and their hopes so that every scene of them together is this attempt for empathy but the gap in time threatens it at every turn.
Michael Dinner’s direction is steady and at times kinetic, the quickness of the earlier scenes and always moving camera really capturing Alia’s fast-paced life before her mother wakes up.
Amazing Stories Season 1 Episode 4, “Signs of Life,” digs into a familiar beat of struggling parent-child connections, but manages to find a lot of power behind its core relationship. Its performers are all excellent and add so much to the episode, and while the ending may be a little disjointed, everything before that speaks to the heart of its characters and this need for emotional closure.
The episode delivers on that front, and it’s what counts the most.
What did you think of this episode of Amazing Stories? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Amazing Stories streams Fridays on Apple TV+.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
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.