Screengrab
Best Twilight Zone episode yet! Well, of the new reboot series that is. I love a good reveal from the Twilight Zone episodes, but I also love to be entertained. The newest episode of the reboot, ‘Not All Men’, didn’t give me a satisfying twist but it was highly entertaining with moments that felt like a horror film. The premise was simple: A meteorite hits Earth and particles enter the water supply, which cause the men to start acting aggressive. It’s an episode that doesn’t offer much in a reveal, actually it is the weakest ending of any of the episodes, but it still manages to be the best episode I’ve seen.
The episode doesn’t waste any time showing the men acting aggressive. At first it just may seem that men are being men or they are drunk, but as more men start behaving strangely, people start looking for answers and turn to the meteorites as the source for all the recent violent actions. Annie (Taissa Farmiga) first witnesses her date acting strange when she turns him down after they make out at his place. He starts being hostile towards her and grabs her arm but she manages to leave and keeps the altercation to herself. When she sees more and more men acting similar to her date, she starts to believe that this is all caused by the meteorites.
This episode very much feels like a horror movie with most of the actors involved turning in creepy performances. Ike Barinholtz is usually known for his comedy roles such as Neighbors and Blockers, but he shows off his acting chops by giving a creepy and aggressive performance that made the episode give off that horror vibe. As the story moves towards the end, the men become even more violet going as far as beating random people up in the middle of the street.
The twist at the end of the episode didn’t do much for me when it was revealed that the men who were exposed to the particles in the water had a choice not to act the way they did. This is discovered when Martha, a friend of Annie (Farmiga) learns that her son was exposed to the meteorite when he was on a boat with a boy who liked him. The boy reacted much like Martha’s husband and Annie’s date did in the beginning of the episode. People were confused as to why he didn’t react the way the other men did, but he just stated that he chose not to and that was it.
That message is very relevant in today’s world, but it didn’t impact the episode or change my mind about how I felt about the episode. Most reveals make me think a lot of the episode and I can even view the episode differently, but with the ending for ‘Not All Men’ it didn’t give me much to think about.
‘Not All Men’ delivered the fun and intense moments but lacked a strong ending. If the rest of the episode was bad, this would have been one of the worst episodes ever, but the quick pacing and terrific acting made this one of the more memorable episodes.
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments below!
Share this post
