The older Zones are my favorites, and with Jordan Peele helming this third reincarnation my hopes were through the roof. I found myself trying to like the episodes more than I really did though. It's not for a lack of effort- the amount of care everyone puts into each detail is impressive and true to form. It's clear this is Mr. Peele's baby. But it's tough to get into the reboot of a show that prides itself on twist endings and mindblowing concepts when the reboot itself is predictable. Narratively, the predictability is a polar opposite to Serling's original series. Take "A Traveler" for instance- the moment we see Steven Yeun (who's successfully creepy in this role), it's pretty obvious he's an alien. It's cringeworthy that the writers continue to tease this twist, like it wasn't obvious from the get-go. Then the twist comes, and lo and behold, "A. Traveler" is an alien. Teasing a twist ending is a lot like trying to hide a sneeze. It's possible to hide two, or even three- but seven is pretty noticeable.
Ironically, the writers also don't know how to write comedy. With Kumail Nanjiani, "The Comedian" could've been a great episode if Samir's standup wasn't so blithely bad. He's pretty terrible from the start, which is understandable, but as he enters The Twilight Zone and "gets funnier", he doesn't actually get funnier. It feels like the writers wrote what they thought a stand up comedian would say. A stand-up comedian. Played by Kumail Nanjiani. In a show by Jordan Peele. But somehow... not a single funny joke.
For the most part, the show is cringeworthy and patronizing.
But at least it's still honest. Like the precursors, the episodes are hit or miss, with more misses- and out of these 10 episodes, only 2 really hit me ("Rewind", "Six Degrees of Freedom"). However, maybe that's a good sign? Maybe it means the next hit will be a real good one. I'll keep holding out, but I really hope I don't see anymore twists coming from a mile away.
Ironically, the writers also don't know how to write comedy. With Kumail Nanjiani, "The Comedian" could've been a great episode if Samir's standup wasn't so blithely bad. He's pretty terrible from the start, which is understandable, but as he enters The Twilight Zone and "gets funnier", he doesn't actually get funnier. It feels like the writers wrote what they thought a stand up comedian would say. A stand-up comedian. Played by Kumail Nanjiani. In a show by Jordan Peele. But somehow... not a single funny joke.
For the most part, the show is cringeworthy and patronizing.
But at least it's still honest. Like the precursors, the episodes are hit or miss, with more misses- and out of these 10 episodes, only 2 really hit me ("Rewind", "Six Degrees of Freedom"). However, maybe that's a good sign? Maybe it means the next hit will be a real good one. I'll keep holding out, but I really hope I don't see anymore twists coming from a mile away.