Season 1 Episode 2: Wordplay/Dreams For Sale/Chameleon
(SPOILER WARNING)
Wordplay:
This was a solid episode. What it lacks in the way of a big reveal it more than makes up for with its themes. I've seen some people interpret the conflict in the episode as an allegory for language barriers, but while those interpretations are interesting, this episode reminded me of all the times my friends discussed topics I was ignorant of. One of my friend groups was heavily into rap and another was heavily into anime (two things I don't know a lot about). When they discussed those topics, I sometimes felt unengaged during the conversations or left out. Since Bill is stuck in a world where everyone talks the same way though, he has to adapt to those changes, especially when his son grows deathly ill. Overall, this was a fairly low-key episode and some people used to the twist endings of the original show might be disappointed with the ambiguity of this one, but I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit. It's my favorite of the three episodes.
Dreams For Sale:
This was a fairly short episode and I think some more breathing room and polish would've improved a couple aspects of it. However, I did enjoy the questions it raised on whether you can still enjoy a paradise if you know it's artificial. Given the ending, I think this episode is arguing yes, but since the woman forgot about the picnic being a simulation in the ending, this muddled that theme since her impression was that the picnic was real and that the futuristic environment was a dream. If the episode ended with her being happy to live in the picnic with the knowledge it wasn't real, this might've made for a more impactful ending. As an aside, since entering a dream supposedly erases your memory of the futuristic environment, how would she have returned to work after her remaining minutes in the dream expired? I imagine that would be pretty hard. Overall, while I enjoyed some of the themes in this episode, I didn't connect to it as much as I could've.
Chameleon:
This was initially my favorite of the three episodes, but after mulling over the themes of Wordplay, I would rank this episode in the middle. With the obvious and unnecessary stock footage of the space shuttle in the opening and the cheesy acting, you can definitely feel this episode's low budget, but fortunately, it makes up for these flaws by bringing a fair share of suspense to the table. I enjoyed how the alien kept shape shifting into different people to ask to be left out. Though this broke any ambiguity over whether the alien actually did shape shift into the scientist or if he was simply "spit back out" of whatever abducted him, I liked how this made the alien's requests ridiculous. I also found the scene where the alien shapeshifted into a bomb quite suspenseful. Finally, the ending stuck with me for quite a bit due to the parallels it established between Lockridge and the alien since both of them are driven by curiosity. Thematically speaking, this episode didn't leave as much of an impression on me as some other Twilight Zone episodes have, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
(SPOILER WARNING)
Wordplay:
This was a solid episode. What it lacks in the way of a big reveal it more than makes up for with its themes. I've seen some people interpret the conflict in the episode as an allegory for language barriers, but while those interpretations are interesting, this episode reminded me of all the times my friends discussed topics I was ignorant of. One of my friend groups was heavily into rap and another was heavily into anime (two things I don't know a lot about). When they discussed those topics, I sometimes felt unengaged during the conversations or left out. Since Bill is stuck in a world where everyone talks the same way though, he has to adapt to those changes, especially when his son grows deathly ill. Overall, this was a fairly low-key episode and some people used to the twist endings of the original show might be disappointed with the ambiguity of this one, but I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit. It's my favorite of the three episodes.
Dreams For Sale:
This was a fairly short episode and I think some more breathing room and polish would've improved a couple aspects of it. However, I did enjoy the questions it raised on whether you can still enjoy a paradise if you know it's artificial. Given the ending, I think this episode is arguing yes, but since the woman forgot about the picnic being a simulation in the ending, this muddled that theme since her impression was that the picnic was real and that the futuristic environment was a dream. If the episode ended with her being happy to live in the picnic with the knowledge it wasn't real, this might've made for a more impactful ending. As an aside, since entering a dream supposedly erases your memory of the futuristic environment, how would she have returned to work after her remaining minutes in the dream expired? I imagine that would be pretty hard. Overall, while I enjoyed some of the themes in this episode, I didn't connect to it as much as I could've.
Chameleon:
This was initially my favorite of the three episodes, but after mulling over the themes of Wordplay, I would rank this episode in the middle. With the obvious and unnecessary stock footage of the space shuttle in the opening and the cheesy acting, you can definitely feel this episode's low budget, but fortunately, it makes up for these flaws by bringing a fair share of suspense to the table. I enjoyed how the alien kept shape shifting into different people to ask to be left out. Though this broke any ambiguity over whether the alien actually did shape shift into the scientist or if he was simply "spit back out" of whatever abducted him, I liked how this made the alien's requests ridiculous. I also found the scene where the alien shapeshifted into a bomb quite suspenseful. Finally, the ending stuck with me for quite a bit due to the parallels it established between Lockridge and the alien since both of them are driven by curiosity. Thematically speaking, this episode didn't leave as much of an impression on me as some other Twilight Zone episodes have, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.