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The Twilight Zone reboot has officially arrived, and I couldn’t be more excited. I loved watching The Twilight Zone growing up and have fond memories of Rod Serling explaining what a new episode was going to be about. I was born in the 90s, so obviously I didn’t get to watch the episodes as they were released. My grandmother would take me to the library, and I would rent DVD collections and binge them over the summer. Another great memory I have of The Twilight Zone was the thrilling ride, The Hollywood Tower of Terror at Disney’s California Adventure. When I heard Jordan Peele was going to host the new reboot of the show, I thought it was a perfect pick since Get Out was a huge success for him and Us was set to be released as well.
The Twilight Zone reboot has released two episodes so far, ‘The Comedian’ and ‘Nightmare at 30,000 Feet’. The new episodes air on CBS All Access, and the first episode was available on YouTube for free. I will be including my review of both episodes as well as my thoughts on Jordan Peele as the host at the end.
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The Comedian
Kumail Nanjiani leads this episode as a struggling comedian, Samir Wassan, who meets Wheeler, played by Tracy Morgan, after a show and he gives him what he wants, success, but it comes at a hefty price. Samir’s jokes never have been a hit at the club he performs at, but once he started using people’s names, everyone finds it funny. The problem with these bits is that anyone he mentions in his show, they are written out of Samir’s life, bringing a literal meaning to killing it on stage. It starts small with Samir’s dog and his nephew, but it quickly spirals out of control since he is using many different people’s names in his show.
The first episode of the new Twilight Zone reboot is about 50 minutes long and was available free to watch on YouTube. I think this was a perfect episode to start the new series and casting Nanjiani was brilliant. Nanjiani is no stranger to stand up comedy as that is how he met his wife, which was later turned into the movie The Big Sick. Samir is written as a struggling comedian who is trying to find out what works for him on stage. He thinks jokes about government are what people want to hear, but soon realizes that people want to hear jokes about other people. His new abilities that were given to him by Tracy Morgan’s character allows for him to use people’s names in his bit to draw in laughter. He finds it successful and does it for every show. Every time he does it though, that person disappears. As the show progresses, Samir starts using names of criminals and people who wronged him in the past to fill his bit. I enjoyed this episode because Samir’s obsession of becoming popular was paced out well and it allowed for Nanjiani to be a familiar environment, even if the jokes were intentionally bad.
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Nightmare at 30,000 Feet
Adam Scott leads this episode as a passenger on Northern Goldstar Flight 1015. While on the flight to Tel Aviv, he finds an mp3 with a podcast called ‘Enigmatique hosted by Rodman Edwards’. The podcast isn’t just a group of people talking about movies or music, it is a podcast that states the plane he is on has gone missing and starts accurately stating what Justin Sanderson sees on the plane. Edwards states that something could have stopped the plane from disappearing and Justin tries to discover what that is with the help of a passenger and former pilot, Joe Beaumont.
This is my favorite episode of the two that have aired so far, and it is also the shortest. I love mysteries in small spaces and airplanes are perfect for a storyline like this. This reminded me of the movie Non-Stop starring Liam Neeson, which was also a mystery on a plane. This episode is only 30 minutes long and starts its suspenseful moments quickly. As the show progresses, the intensity level rises on the plane, which makes the mystery even more interesting. Justin’s paranoia on the plane led to the twist and Adam Scott did a great job in the show. I’ve been binging Parks and Recreation, so it was weird to see him in a comedy and then going to a thriller, but I loved him in the role.
Host Jordan Peele
Jordan Peele was excellent on the show, even if he moments were brief. With typical Twilight Zone ashion, Peele set up the episode and ended the episode explaining the twist. Both of his appearances on the show so far were integrated nicely into the setting, allowing for the audience to still feel his presence. Of the two episodes so far, my favorite appearance of him was the second episode where he was shown on the screens on the plane. As for hosting, he has a calm but serious demeanor going for him which added to overall tone of the show. Peele comes from a comedy background, but with his most recent film successes, he is quickly transitioning to a more dramatic side for entertainment.
Conclusion
This was a terrific start to an already beloved television show. From the host to the writing, the show has already impressed me. I loved watching The Twilight Zone as a kid and I can’t wait to continue watching this new reboot. Both episodes managed to keep me entertained as well as intrigued throughout. As of right now, I am ready for more Twilight Zone episodes.
What did you think of the premiere? Tell us in the comments below!
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