I really didn't like this episode. It was so terrible that I felt I had to see if anyone shared my opinions, and when I found nobody does, I had to express it even if nobody agrees with me.
To me this episode was mean-spirited, unjustified, and ridiculous. It tries to enforce some stereotypical expectation that all women must have the same personality: meek, sweet-natured, and grateful - all things that Flora wasn't. Sure in the beginning, I sided with Harmon because it seemed she was just a terrible person who clearly wasn't brought up in an environment that fostered empathy, but as the story unfolded, I found myself sympathizing more with Flora than anyone. Harmon's brother was the real villain in this episode.
Some key facts to back up my viewpoint are as follows:
So in my opinion, this is the worst ever Twilight Zone episode I've ever seen in my life. And it really saddens me that so many people hate Flora with such little evidence to support it, even though she never even really did anything to deserve any of it except just being a little brash in the personality.
To me this episode was mean-spirited, unjustified, and ridiculous. It tries to enforce some stereotypical expectation that all women must have the same personality: meek, sweet-natured, and grateful - all things that Flora wasn't. Sure in the beginning, I sided with Harmon because it seemed she was just a terrible person who clearly wasn't brought up in an environment that fostered empathy, but as the story unfolded, I found myself sympathizing more with Flora than anyone. Harmon's brother was the real villain in this episode.
Some key facts to back up my viewpoint are as follows:
- Harmon married Flora knowing full well how her personality was, and fell in love with her. He clearly has some taste for that type of woman. If you've never heard of the term "tsundere" before, now's the time to look it up.
- Going off the previous fact, Flora may or may not have married Harmon merely for his money (it was never truly mentioned that she did, she just as well have loved him as much as he loved her and ignorant side characters never realized it), but many people seem to ignore the man's role in this situation. "Gold-diggers" as people call them are only given power when the man they're chasing accepts their advances and falls into their trap. If a man is naive or clueless enough to not realize what's happening, then that's their fault just as much as the predatory woman.
- Most of the comments Flora made seemed like harmless jabs to joke at her husband. As far as we know, that may have just been her personality type. Sure, she never seemed to realize that her jokes hurt his feelings, but I never saw him try to talk to her about it either. I get the impression that a serious conversation of "please stop making these jokes, they're hurtful" would get through to her at least a little. An example: "If we ever go to a nightclub in Egypt, you better watch out. I might run away with a mummy." This is not threatening in any way... a little hurtful maybe, but not something that most would consider a truly malicious remark.
- Harmon never once asked Flora for her opinion on whether he should take this dangerous experimental youth drug. I feel like if he had, she likely would've said 'hell no!' and that would've been the end of the story. Instead he took the unnecessarily selfish "boohoo woe is me if you don't give me the drug then I'm gonna kill myself" route.
- When Harmon's body was feeling the effects of the drug and he started aging down, Flora was genuinely concerned about what he'd done. When she pressed for details, both he and the brother shrugged her off like she was insignificant and unworthy of being told. When they brushed her off and Harmon insisted he was fine, she took it the way any normal person would: that everything was fine and just went with it, accepting her husband's invitation to go on a vacation.
- As he was asking her where she wanted to go, she continuously claimed she'd be willing to go anywhere with him, never making any demands or ridiculous remarks. This makes me feel like she was never as greedy as the story tried to make her out to be, and she really was in love with him rather than being the self-serving harpy everyone thinks she is.
- When he got worse and his brother took him to bed, she looked truly frightened and worried. Not because there was a chance she might lose all her wealth (because even if he died, she'd still inherit everything), but because she really loved him and was scared for him.
- When he turned into a child, she tried to walk out. A lot of people might consider this heinous by itself, as she's walking out on her husband who now needs her help, but everyone is missing the bigger point here. She never asked for nor agreed to any of it. Harmon took the drug entirely without her knowledge, and in the end, she was forced by the brother to suffer for the results - results she ultimately had no part of and no control over. When she turns around crying and says "It isn't fair!" the camera zooms in on her face as though to make the audience applaud for the justice imposed on her for being a greedy harpy. But for me personally, I felt truly sorry for her because in all honesty, it really wasn't fair. Nobody ever tried to have a true heart-to-heart with her to try and get her to change her attitude, so to me she was completely in the dark about all of it, assuming that everything was fine. And in the end, she was stuck in a situation she couldn't get out of that was thrust upon her with no warning whatsoever. That's the real injustice right there.
- The brother was simply a conniving, vengeful a-hole toward Flora through the entire episode. Maybe if a little backstory had been provided, it might've made things easier to understand, but without it, it just seemed like he was out to get her for no reason at all other than he just didn't like her. And that's a terrible reason to treat someone like crap - I know from firsthand experience.
So in my opinion, this is the worst ever Twilight Zone episode I've ever seen in my life. And it really saddens me that so many people hate Flora with such little evidence to support it, even though she never even really did anything to deserve any of it except just being a little brash in the personality.