Sometimes you have Twilight Zone episodes that are intense like William Friedkin's "Nightcrawlers" while other times you have more comedic and charming ones like "Welcome to Winfield" about a young dying man's "escape from Death", his girlfriend driving him into a sleepy western town known as Winfield where the average age of the every citizen is 112—yep, the locals of this western town are also dead, "hiding away" from Death as well. Gerrit Graham, always a treat, is Death, the Grim Reaper as you have never seen him, white suit, tie, even his car, and he is looking for "the boy". Will the town (which includes the wonderful Henry Gibson and scene stealing character actor legend Elijah Cook Jr. (who cannot hold a secret if it he tried, missing teeth, just a blabbermouth the town try to keep quiet, like that is possible)) be able to hide him from Death or is it just a matter of time before he figures out where the young man is being held? Delightful casting is the reason to watch "Welcome to Winfield", because, to be honest, this episode is just an amusing diversion, not particularly powerful or impactful as other Twilight Zone stories had a tendency to be during the 80s revival—not every episode is designed to make your heart race or cause you to contemplate its meaning afterward. Can you cheat Death? This episode has a funny solution with the town appealing to Death to "look the other way" and let them alone, after a failed, but valiant, effort to keep their secret from him. 7/10
"Quarantine" has Scott Wilson (the excellent character actor who was always amazing emphasizing emotion) being awakened by telepaths (led by Tess Harper) to help them "shoot down an asteroid". Wilson was a "builder of machines, satellites, buildings, computers, and weapons" and so he has capabilities the telepaths don't: he's from the "world of war" and they need his expertise in preventing a catastrophe. When he realizes that the asteroid can move on its own, there's something fishy about this whole ordeal. Wilson confronts his past and where he fits three hundred years later when everything is farming and livestock instead of skyscrapers, pollution, foot traffic, and honking vehicles. But what his satellites would actually need to keep from entering the Earth's atmosphere, influenced by the telepaths in order to do their will, certainly has him shaken to the core: the past and present collide in a big way! Wilson is just so unappreciated an actor, but Walking Dead helped a new generation realize just how good he is. Here you see the anguish of being awakened in a time so alien to your own and wondering if would ever be able to fit in. The modern man opposite the primitive way of life: Wilson shows how taken aback his character is and that realism in his performance just resonates. Hell of an actor. Tess has this angelic face and quality about her: her character uses a soft touch to gradually bring Wilson down from the precipice. The chicanery their telepathy attempts to conceal certainly puts a monkey wrench in bringing him into the fold! 8/10
"Quarantine" has Scott Wilson (the excellent character actor who was always amazing emphasizing emotion) being awakened by telepaths (led by Tess Harper) to help them "shoot down an asteroid". Wilson was a "builder of machines, satellites, buildings, computers, and weapons" and so he has capabilities the telepaths don't: he's from the "world of war" and they need his expertise in preventing a catastrophe. When he realizes that the asteroid can move on its own, there's something fishy about this whole ordeal. Wilson confronts his past and where he fits three hundred years later when everything is farming and livestock instead of skyscrapers, pollution, foot traffic, and honking vehicles. But what his satellites would actually need to keep from entering the Earth's atmosphere, influenced by the telepaths in order to do their will, certainly has him shaken to the core: the past and present collide in a big way! Wilson is just so unappreciated an actor, but Walking Dead helped a new generation realize just how good he is. Here you see the anguish of being awakened in a time so alien to your own and wondering if would ever be able to fit in. The modern man opposite the primitive way of life: Wilson shows how taken aback his character is and that realism in his performance just resonates. Hell of an actor. Tess has this angelic face and quality about her: her character uses a soft touch to gradually bring Wilson down from the precipice. The chicanery their telepathy attempts to conceal certainly puts a monkey wrench in bringing him into the fold! 8/10
