We now get to the second block of The Twilight Zone, which I’ll say right off the bat is not as good as the first. That’s mainly because there’s no episode as good as ‘Replay”; instead there’s more of that middling quality I’ve come to expect from this show.

I know that’s far from high praise but if you’re reading this review you want my detailed thoughts so here goes:

Episode 5: “The Wunderkind” – A terrible episode. The setup is intriguing enough – a really shrewd political consultant tries to revive his career by managing the campaign of a 10-year-old he convinces to run for president. However, this was the latest example I’d seen of a story where something bad happens and it just keeps getting worse until the story ends.*

There is no real story arc or structure. Moreover, the bad stuff happening in this one defies logic and credibility. Also, a huge deal is made out of the kid refusing to go to the doctor and THAT GOES ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE!!! Only props go to John Cho, an actor I’ve become a big fan of since watching Searching last year (and getting his autograph!)**

Episode 6: “Six Degrees of Freedom” – At least “Wunderkind” was bad in a train wreck sort of way. This was just boring. One of the worst things I can say about a story is that I didn’t understand what the point was and, more importantly, didn’t care. At all. It was set on a spaceship; I remember that much. There was something about someone’s birthday at some point, so maybe it gets a few points for reminding me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It also loses a few points, though, for featuring Jessica Williams, whom I could never stand on The Daily Show. Worthless episode.

Episode 7: “Not All Men” – Terrific premise. An asteroid heading towards Earth seemingly makes men cave in to their most toxic impulses. It’s very gripping, with stellar performances from Taissa Farmiga, Ike Barinholtz, and the rest of the cast. Unfortunately it comes crashing down, pun slightly intended, with an ending that would be too cheesy for an Aesop fable, let alone a Twilight Zone episode. My viewing buddy Ryan put it best, saying that this became what Fox News would write as a parody of what they consider liberal propaganda.

So overall, I was not a happy man. Neither was Ryan. Oh well, moving on…

Up Next: One of the horror movie trilogies I mentioned.

Bottom line: The Wunderkind -10/100, Six Degrees of Freedom – 0/100, Not All Men – 65/100

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to comment.

*I vented about such stories at the start of this post.

**On my copy of American Reunion. As someone who graduated high school in 1999, I’ll always have a huge spot in my heart for the American Pie series.