A Traveler

I felt i had to write something to defend this new take on legendary "TZ" series by Jordan Peele. Maybe times have changed, maybe i m stuck, but really i dont get the low buzz. Older B/W episodes are pioneering and unsurpassable but i think we should always keep an open mind. The pilot was great, 2nd episode so-so, 3rd was mediocre and this one is maybe the best so far. Jordan Peele seems like a crusader for the genre that i love and have been "studying" all my life and i am all-in being supportive for his intentions and ideas. I think fans of the curious/bizarre/semi science-fiction/ thriller/mystery should be on his side too. This episode stars one of the most interesting new actors around, Steven Yeun was fantastic in "Burning" (a must-see) and carries the story. Its a shame that not a lot of you can "sacrifice" an hour every week to check this new installment. I encourage you to, especially fans of the genre thats been "on the outside looking in" for so many years and Peele is surely giving it a much-needed boost

There are many things I liked about this episode, the conversation of culture alienation between Christmas and the traditions of the Inuit people, the great choice and timing of the music which strengthens each scene, and the great acting of Steven Yeun, Marika Silva, and Greg Kinnear. It was all executed well until a certain point was reached, then the narrative changed. It's like the story did a 90 degree turn just for the sake of being unexpected. All the suspense that was built up within the last 30-40 minutes just vanished, then by the time the ending arrived it left me feeling disappointed more than shocked or confused.

The episode starts with the first 10 minutes being a senseless filler that could have been narrowed down in a 2 minute sequence. Also, the mystery aspect of the narrative lacks depth, the narrative is also stretched out to the point that the episode doesnt have many highlights for great lengths of the episode. The relaunch of TZ has been an overall disappointment.

This is my first written review, so apologies.

I'd like to start off on the single positive note, I quite enjoyed the acting of most of the cast. The problem, and I'd guess this lies in the directing because Steven Yeun is a quite capable actor, that the one character this episode revolves around is done horribly.

It's hard to go more in depth for spoiler reasons, but the episode lacks any kind of intrigue or mystery. It is completely transparent to the point where it figuratively crams the last sense of questionability down your throat.

I was really looking forward to The Twilight Zone, but this episode just left me disappointed. If I could give Twilight Zone a fitting analogy, it's if you took Jordan Peele's lack of subtlety (Which is one of the few criticisms of his objectively good movies), boiled it down and created a pure extract of that.

I was intrigued by the premise of a stranger appearing in a jail cell, but then as the story unravels it gets too confusing and muddled.

The main actress is not very convincing and the dialogue is pretty awful.