This episode, about an alien in the form of Kim Greist (interestingly, I saw similarities to the Scarlet Johansson vehicle, Under the Skin) who has been sent to Earth to photograph and analyze the human race—allowing herself to be influenced by her subjects in ways that ruin the mission through their "polluting" her by embracing (reluctantly) emotion and feeling—seems more fitting for The Hunger or The Hitchhiker, but in Tales from the Darkside, "Going Native" kind of feels like a square peg in a round hole. Previously, "Mary, Mary" was sort of similar in its off-guard approach in storytelling, kind of jarring when you watch an episode like "Family Reunion", "Halloween Candy" or "Monsters in My Room" in comparison. I noticed "avant-garde" used as a description, and I guess that is just as apt as any because the approach of director Andrew Wiener (whose lone credit this episode was in that chair) and writer Ted Gershuny (director of Silent Night, Bloody Night & Sugar Cookies, both starring Mary Woronov) is to use voice-over and this monotone voice that comments on "observing the natives" while combating the urge to "join in with them". This "life therapy" group that allows people to deal with emotional hang-ups (John Aprea, who has been a fixture in soaps for ages, not to mention, television) is attended by Greist (Brazil; C.H.U.D.; Manhunter) to evaluate humans intimately. In allowing herself to get *too close*, she is seduced (so to speak) into "contact" (not just physical/sexual, but emotional). She's spoiled and I guess the ending indicates her alien will not be allowed to leave. I really liked the soft photographic look of the episode (it is quite captivating), and the use of everyday life in image (as photographed by Greist's character in observation) is effective. It is just an odd fit for the Darkside show. A great deal of narration and the plot is more melodrama with a sci-fi twist than anything remotely creepy or eerie. Nothing haunting about the conclusion, either. I can see why this is considered a potential cult episode from the series, but it just doesn't knock my particular socks off. Greist, however, is enigmatic and compelling.
6 Reviews
Alien joins a therapy group...next
Leofwine_draca17 March 2015
GOING NATIVE, episode 17 of season 4 of TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, is an odd little non-eventer. The story, if you can call it that, sees an alien visiting Earth to learn more about the human race; to which end, she joins a therapy group. Before long she finds mankind is starting to rub off on her...
While I appreciate this story is something more than the usual obvious nonsense found in these shows, while it has an intriguing idea the premise is poor. There's no incident or action to propel the story, making this a mood piece more than anything else. The director succeeds in conjuring up a weird atmosphere but for the most part this is a dud with no proper story to act as its backbone.
While I appreciate this story is something more than the usual obvious nonsense found in these shows, while it has an intriguing idea the premise is poor. There's no incident or action to propel the story, making this a mood piece more than anything else. The director succeeds in conjuring up a weird atmosphere but for the most part this is a dud with no proper story to act as its backbone.
Another strange Tales from the Darkside episode.
poolandrews15 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Tales from the Darkside: Going Native starts as an alien disguised as a female photographer named Claire (Kim Griest) joins a therapy group to try & study us humans, our psyche & what makes us distinctly human. Using her photographer job Claire makes a pictorial record of the Earth & it's people while her attempts to understand us, who we are, out emotions, our feelings & what makes us tick as a species by observing therapy sessions understandably leaves her more than a bit confused...
Episode 17 from season 4 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during June 1988, written & directed by Ted Gershuny one has to say that Going Native has an interesting & to my knowledge unique plot & central premise but with such a short amount of time the episode as a whole really doesn't add up to much. The script deals with an initially sterile & emotionless alien being who by the end has been corrupted by our culture, the way we live our lives & our influence on her/it. Unfortunately nothing meaningful or memorable is done with the idea & in the end it's not even a particularly fun way to spend twenty odd minutes. I don't really know what else to say, Going Native is just another seemingly pointless & oddball Tales from the Darkside episode that I struggle to get excited about & fail to see who it was meant to appeal to.
This episode is well made as usual but totally unremarkable, once it's over I doubt you'll remember anything about it. We never see Claire the alien in her true form, there are no special effects, no horror, no suspense, no mystery & no intrigue. The acting is alright from a much larger cast than is usual for a Tales from the Darkside episode as is the amount of locations.
Going Native is another strange little Tales from the Darkside that you feel is trying to say something profound but just doesn't work due to the length & a good central premise that ultimately goes nowhere.
Episode 17 from season 4 this Tales from the Darkside story originally aired in the US during June 1988, written & directed by Ted Gershuny one has to say that Going Native has an interesting & to my knowledge unique plot & central premise but with such a short amount of time the episode as a whole really doesn't add up to much. The script deals with an initially sterile & emotionless alien being who by the end has been corrupted by our culture, the way we live our lives & our influence on her/it. Unfortunately nothing meaningful or memorable is done with the idea & in the end it's not even a particularly fun way to spend twenty odd minutes. I don't really know what else to say, Going Native is just another seemingly pointless & oddball Tales from the Darkside episode that I struggle to get excited about & fail to see who it was meant to appeal to.
This episode is well made as usual but totally unremarkable, once it's over I doubt you'll remember anything about it. We never see Claire the alien in her true form, there are no special effects, no horror, no suspense, no mystery & no intrigue. The acting is alright from a much larger cast than is usual for a Tales from the Darkside episode as is the amount of locations.
Going Native is another strange little Tales from the Darkside that you feel is trying to say something profound but just doesn't work due to the length & a good central premise that ultimately goes nowhere.
Avante-garde episode that doesn't fit neatly within the series...
Noformica16 March 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Going Native" is not your typical "Darkside" entry. It gives you the feeling that it was filmed by a college cinema class, as the visual elements of the episode are very striking. A very human looking alien ("Claire") partakes in therapy sessions with a group of assorted individuals, aghast that "humans" are forced to re-live their tortured past. Case in point: John Aprea whacks violently at a pillow with a battering type of club as he blames his failed marriage for the miserable life he's in: ("Every time I touched you--nothing! Sick! Poison! Hateful! It made me want to tear your heart out!"). Claire's mission is simply to observe "the Humans": an alien like her finds these things called "emotions" very disturbing.
Too bad that the group has caught on that our alien is not freely associating her true feelings to the group. She photographs the comings and goings of daily life around her and spends her days contemplating the human condition while reviewing the pictures in the form of a slide show in her dingy New York apartment: as we are treated to the countless slides of daily life consisting of the homeless, prostitutes, the poor, and individuals grouped in playful situations and in violent protest, she is absolutely perplexed by the fact the SHE is now having these human "feelings"--and she can not bear to experience them. Only finally do things come a head at her next therapy group meeting....
I must say that when one thinks of "Tales..." that this is not the episode that truly epitomizes the series. Not necessarily a bad episode, it's just different from the horror/fantasy tales that we're used to. By all means it's a worthy episode all to itself, more suited to a dramatic anthology series rather than "Tales..."
Too bad that the group has caught on that our alien is not freely associating her true feelings to the group. She photographs the comings and goings of daily life around her and spends her days contemplating the human condition while reviewing the pictures in the form of a slide show in her dingy New York apartment: as we are treated to the countless slides of daily life consisting of the homeless, prostitutes, the poor, and individuals grouped in playful situations and in violent protest, she is absolutely perplexed by the fact the SHE is now having these human "feelings"--and she can not bear to experience them. Only finally do things come a head at her next therapy group meeting....
I must say that when one thinks of "Tales..." that this is not the episode that truly epitomizes the series. Not necessarily a bad episode, it's just different from the horror/fantasy tales that we're used to. By all means it's a worthy episode all to itself, more suited to a dramatic anthology series rather than "Tales..."
"Going Native" fits the definition of that term in an interesting and unexpected way...
lalumiere16 August 2015
"Going Native" means "to adopt the lifestyle or outlook of local inhabitants of a place or country, especially when dwelling in a colonial region; to become less refined under the influence of a less cultured, more primitive, or simpler social environment."
If a person who is in a foreign country goes native, they begin to live and/or dress like the people who live there.
"Going Native" is my favorite Tales From the Darkside ever.
I think those humans who don't like the episode have never known what it is to feel like an alien and a complete outsider to his or her own species, to try to fit in while not even being sure that it is even a desirable thing to do... to feel the intense need to constantly observe to learn and try to mimic one's fellow human beings in order to be accepted and to belong... while holding oneself apart to maintain that self, to keep one's own being sacrosanct and inviolate and the pain which comes with either choice..
Kim Greist as the character Claire demonstrates this so well, making us, the audience, see and feel all the things she is going through, all the things she thinks and feels and keeps a running critique of what she thinks and feels about all this, dialoguing with herself as she records and documents the images of everything around her and keeps track of them in order to make her report on the human race...
I love the story so much that even after not seeing it for long periods of time, I can go back and watch and recite the dialogue along with the characters.
I find it to be intense, moving and meaningful theater.
It may be difficult for a lot of people to watch because it pulls no punches and lays out a lot of bare unvarnished truth about humans, which may be hard to hear and absorb...
But I love it.
If a person who is in a foreign country goes native, they begin to live and/or dress like the people who live there.
"Going Native" is my favorite Tales From the Darkside ever.
I think those humans who don't like the episode have never known what it is to feel like an alien and a complete outsider to his or her own species, to try to fit in while not even being sure that it is even a desirable thing to do... to feel the intense need to constantly observe to learn and try to mimic one's fellow human beings in order to be accepted and to belong... while holding oneself apart to maintain that self, to keep one's own being sacrosanct and inviolate and the pain which comes with either choice..
Kim Greist as the character Claire demonstrates this so well, making us, the audience, see and feel all the things she is going through, all the things she thinks and feels and keeps a running critique of what she thinks and feels about all this, dialoguing with herself as she records and documents the images of everything around her and keeps track of them in order to make her report on the human race...
I love the story so much that even after not seeing it for long periods of time, I can go back and watch and recite the dialogue along with the characters.
I find it to be intense, moving and meaningful theater.
It may be difficult for a lot of people to watch because it pulls no punches and lays out a lot of bare unvarnished truth about humans, which may be hard to hear and absorb...
But I love it.
Offbeat change of pace sci-fi episode
Woodyanders3 December 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Emotionally remote and passive alien Claire (a convincing performance by Kim Griest) joins a therapy group in order to learn all about the human race. Complications ensue when the heretofore stoic extraterrestrial starts to experience anguished feelings just like the people she's been assigned to merely observe.
Writer/director Theodore Gershuny relates the compellingly oddball premise at a gradual hypnotic pace, makes neat use of still photographs to capture various aspects of the human condition, and delivers a fascinating and provocative exploration of loneliness, urban blight, the need for solitude, and, in essence, what it basically means to be human. Moreover, it's well acted by a bigger than usual able cast, with especially praiseworthy work from John Aprea as the angry, yet decent Lee, Cynthia David as compassionate therapist Amy, and Pamela Kenny as the snippy Janine. Gideon Porath's stunning cinematography provides a cool stylish look. An interesting show.
Writer/director Theodore Gershuny relates the compellingly oddball premise at a gradual hypnotic pace, makes neat use of still photographs to capture various aspects of the human condition, and delivers a fascinating and provocative exploration of loneliness, urban blight, the need for solitude, and, in essence, what it basically means to be human. Moreover, it's well acted by a bigger than usual able cast, with especially praiseworthy work from John Aprea as the angry, yet decent Lee, Cynthia David as compassionate therapist Amy, and Pamela Kenny as the snippy Janine. Gideon Porath's stunning cinematography provides a cool stylish look. An interesting show.
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