The Twilight Zone Season 2 Review: Second Time’s a Charm

The return of The Twilight Zone last year from Simon Kinberg and Jordan Peele has somewhat come and gone, some episodes leaving strong impressions while others find themselves sorely lacking.

This second season looks to correct that by staying true to its roots and delivering solid, dependable stories that touch on the human condition while offering some surprises along the way.

The first season’s stumbles mostly come from overworking its budget and from the episodes not always clicking with their main theme; these two issues are not apparent on these three episodes reviewed.

This season looks to capitalize on a more focused storytelling that balances theme and message. These three (of the season’s ten) are exciting and easy to invest into, as they seek for empathy in worlds where it can be sorely lacking.

One episode is “Meet in the Middle,” a story about the difficulty of meeting people and trying to find a connection. Starring Jimmi Simpson and Gillian Jacobs, the smaller tale manages to strike a tone similar to 2013’s Her while playing with the audience’s perception. Simpson makes a compelling and complex lead for the episode, matching compassion with a darker side.

“The Who of You” is a more conventional episode of The Twilight Zone, which finds Ethan Embry as a man facing an identity crisis when a chance for more money and fix his relationship goes wildly wrong. This one touches on perception and desire in fascinating ways, coming out as a rather impressive episode for the show.

The third episode reviewed is “You Might Also Like,” which finds Gretchen Mol stuck in a world where consumerism and privilege run rampant and strange occurrences are pulling her, quite literally, from a mostly idyllic life. This episode veers into silliness, however, though still lands most of its intentions. 

This episode is written and directed by Osgood Perkins, his directing style and fascinating shot choices working wonders on the blindingly white surfaces of the house that occupies most of the episode’s runtime.

One thing that The Twilight Zone has not faltered on is bringing on fantastic performers that fit well to their stories. Peele returns as the Narrator, this time with more of a tongue-in-cheek introduction and epilogue compared to the ominous version of the previous year that fits much better now.

The others mentioned above, Simpson, Embry, and Mol, bring such different vibes and energy to their respective episodes, but always match the material and bring something fresh to their characters.

With the writing tighter and more focused, the show makes up for a lot of the previous season’s shortcomings.

It’s certainly possible the remaining seven episodes not available for review don’t match up, but these three make sure to never lose sight of their ideals and the reason why we’re there.

We’re there to see something strange, unique, and to have our curiosity peaked. The Twilight Zone remains special because of its inventiveness and dedication to social messages that are sometimes timeless, or speak to the here and now while delivering characters that reflect the stranger or darker parts of our humanity.

The second season does just that, and does so with much better success this time. There’s this renewed sense of excitement and discovery that possesses these characters and episodes, a deep curiosity that can only be met by confident storytelling. These three episodes possess that, very much so, and provides a strong start to a new season of infinite potential.

 

What did you think of this season of The Twilight Zone? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Twilight Zone is now available on CBS All Access.

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