#170. A Stop at
Willoughby
The Twilight Zone, Season 1, Episode
30 |
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Ahh, another one of my favorite
Twilight Zones espousing a life of fantasy. In this one, a
stressed businessman dreams of a fantasy world at Willoughby, a stop on
his train route. It's a peaceful place where everyone lives like
children do, having fun, taking time, and enjoying life. Of
course, he is woken up to experience approaching deadlines and an
unhappy marriage but during his train ride naps, he gets to visit
Willoughby. This being the Twilight Zone, so much more happens
than I can explain, but the pleasure comes from watching someone retreat
into a fully believable fantasy world.
Conductor: Willoughby! This stop,
Willoughby! |
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#169. Mission
Accomplished
The Wire, Season 3, Episode 12 |
 |
At last, the entire Barksdale
organization is taken down, and we close out the season with probably my
favorite montage of the show so far. The media invade Hamsterdam
just in time for the politics to go crazy. Despite approving of
Hamsterdam, Carcetti is forced to denounce it to gain votes, while Royce
drops Eunetta Perkins in favor of Marla Daniels, giving Daniels Bunny's
major and Burrell the full five years. And Carcetti and Gray hold
hearings where Carcetti gives an incredible speech. Prez and
Freamon discuss what Prez was meant to do, and Bunny gives McNulty
Stringer's tip, leading to the arrests. And finally, we close the
season with Rhonda and Daniels eating in public, McNulty getting a life
(that includes Beadie Russell), Bodie lost on the streets, Donette
crying in her apartment, and Bubbles sifting through Hamsterdam.
Bernard: I can't wait to get to prison. |
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#168. The Masks
The Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episode 25 |
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During Mardi Gras, a dying old
man gathers his four children at his home in New Orleans to go over his
will. They will inherit everything of his vast fortune, but only
on the condition that they wear hideous masks until midnight on Mardi
Gras. He wears a skull mask as well, to represent his dying, and
the episode continues as they reveal their feelings about each other and
grow increasingly disgusted with wearing cruel masks while just outside,
the world is celebrating. I love these kinds of pressure-cooker
stories, simple but incredibly effective with the drama. And the
lead actor playing the dying father is amazing.
Jason: Why indeed, my loved ones?
Because you're cruel and miserable people. |
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#167. Middle Ground
The Wire, Season 3, Episode
11 |
 |
I'd felt the whole season that
Stringer's fate was sealed, but then when Avon accepted Stringer's hit
on D'Angelo, I thought that maybe they could work together after all.
But then, with Brother Mouzone, Omar, Clay Davis, and a suspicious
Brianna, I thought any number of people could end up taking him out, and
here's where it happens. It's a work of beauty, from the last
conversation between Avon and String to Omar and Brother Mouzone walking
in and trapping him to the final, "Get on with it, mother-fu--" as he
falls to the ground in a B&B building. Don't forget the great seed
planted that Stringer wanted to assassinate Clay Davis--when I heard
that, I was shocked--and Carcetti's soul-searching through Hamsterdam.
And before he goes, Stringer gives Bunny information on Avon, taking the
entire organization with him.
Avon: Dream with me. |
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#166. Eye of the Beholder
The Twilight Zone, Season 2, Episode 6 |
 |
I feel a little out of touch
with the world's reception of The Twilight Zone. By which I mean,
I assume everyone's seen this already, being one of the most famous,
classic episodes, but I don't know if that's just because I've seen it a
lot. I know we watched some in junior high English classes, but
anyway, I refuse to ruin anything even about this classic.
Basically it's about a woman getting facial reconstructive surgery, and
she grows impatient with taking off her bandages. Awesomely, her
doctors' and nurses' faces are in shadows too, highlighting her own
inability to see her own face, but when the bandages do come off, the
story really takes off.
Janet: I want to belong! I want to
be like everyone else! |
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#165. Reformation
The Wire, Season 3, Episode 10 |
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The war rages on between the
Marlo Stanfield organization and the Avon Barksdale organization, with
Omar and his crew seeking out Stringer while Brother Mouzone arrives in
town to further complicate things. Meanwhile, Bunny Colvin spills
the beans about Hamsterdam to Rawls and Burrell, immediately causing a
controversy as they scramble to act. Judge Phelan comes to help
the Major Case Unit, Cutty's gym story finally gets interesting when he
officially begins coaching, Omar stakes out the B&B funeral home on
Butchie's tip, Carcetti has an awesome campaign meeting, the co-op
delivers an ultimatum to Stringer about Avon, Marlo shoots Devonne,
Stringer has another tense confrontation with Avon, Lester and Bubbles
awesomely sell Bernard tapped burners, and Stringer mysteriously calls
the BPD.
Bunny: What I did, I did knowingly and on
my own. My men had nothing to do with it. |
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#164.
Five Characters in Search of an Exit
The Twilight Zone, Season 3, Episode 14 |
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This is just a fun, little
story that I didn't find nearly as difficult to figure out as a lot of
Twilight Zone episodes, but the idea is really cool and fun to watch
nonetheless The story is that, for whatever reason, a clown, a
soldier, a hobo, a ballerina, and a bagpiper have been put in a room
with a hole way at the top. They can't remember how they wound up
there, and they grow suspicious of each other in their attempts to
figure out why they've been kidnapped. There's also a periodic
alarm bell ringing out that they can't explain. Can you figure out
what's going on yet?
Rod Serling: We will not end the
nightmare; we'll only explain it. |
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#163. Slapstick
The Wire, Season 3, Episode
9 |
 |
There are moments each season
so far where everything on the police side of things stops. Kima's
hit in Season 1, Frank's murder in Season 2, and now, when Prez
accidentally shoots a cop. The moment where McNulty reveals his
bloody badge was great. I also loved: Rhonda's threat
against the wireless company, the television punditry of Bush vs. Kerry,
the hit on Omar and his grandma at church, all conversations between
Bernard and Squeak, Bubbles going back to work for Greggs and McNulty,
Fitzhugh coming back to help the Major Case Unit, Daniels counseling
Prez after his shooting, Gray running for mayor, Carver moving the body
out of Hamsterdam, Bunny's ultimatum for the Hamsterdam dealers, and
Brianna pleading with Avon to find out about D'Angelo's death.
Carcetti: What makes you think I'm
interested in council president? |
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#162. The Invaders
The Twilight Zone, Season 2, Episode
15 |
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This is one of the more unique
episodes, with Agnes Moorehead playing a lonely farm-woman out in the
middle of nowhere who receives a visit from aliens. She's used to
surviving on her own, living in what Rod Serling calls an area
"untouched by progress," and the story then takes on a sort of
metaphorical bent of the battle between tradition and progress.
There's almost no dialogue in the entire episode, and yet Moorehead is
captivating as she tries to survive amidst the invasion, utilizing all
her resources in order to fend them off. As the invaders drive her
crazier, the story gets more intense until the amazing conclusion.
The Invader: Stay away! Stay
away... |
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#161. Moral
Midgetry
The Wire, Season 3, Episode 8 |
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Season 3 of The Wire took a
couple more episodes than the prior two seasons setting everything up,
and once all the players were in position, the game began in episode 7
or so, when Hamsterdam began to pose a problem. But here, the
inevitable build-up, climax, and downfall of the major players begins.
Brianna visits McNulty and learns of his theory about D'Angelo's death,
Clay Davis plants the seeds to con Stringer, and Greggs and McNulty
figure out how to track the burners. The best parts:
Carcetti's diatribe against Burrell and Rawls on the crime statistics,
Avon getting shot during the attempted hit on Marlo, and of course,
after the rising tension with hawk-like Avon, Stringer's confession
about D'Angelo.
Avon: I look at you these days, String,
and you know what I see? I see a man without a country. |
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