Harry, An unsuccessful actor, down on his luck, on the outs with his girlfriend, and on his last dollar makes the desperate decision to rob a bank for cash, but gets more than he could have ever imagined when, in the heat of the moment, he discovers that he can jump into the bodies of other people. From there, Harry frantically tries to escape with his ill-gotten gains, jumping from body to body to escape the police and a very astute detective who figures out what he can do.
Although still uneven, this new season of The Twilight Zone is so much better than last season. This story, for example, is just a load of fun. It introduces a rarely-used and yet familiar science fiction story set up and then spends an hour delightfully playing with it, sending a narcissist careening through other people’s lives and bodies like a wrecking ball.
What’s more, the episode builds a lot of tension as the episode rightfully and smartly has his detective antagonist figure out what is going on where another show probably would have just spun its wheels with the authorities refusing to believe any of the Twilight Zone malarky. This not only gives our antihero a worthy foe, but also a ticking clock as the detective gets closer and closer using, I believe, darn fine detective work.
The episode was darkly humorous, a pleasure to watch, effectively paced… this is exactly what a Twilight Zone reboot should look like.
I have to praise the absolute heck out of Ethan Embry for this episode. The guy had to play so many different characters from old women to children and had to play them at the height of emotional trauma and the guy did it so convincingly that it looked practically effortless. Definitely one of the highlights – if not the definitive acting highlight – of the show so far.
Suffice to say, I enjoyed this episode immensely. It might not have been a novel concept, but it was a concept that was executed beautifully and more than held my attention for an hour. Bring on more like this, please.
Jason Gaston 