#twilight zone best episodes

[thhecaptainschair]

Listen, I know The Twilight Zone doesn’t take place in the world of Magnus, but how can I watch “To Serve Man” and not see the Flesh? Or an avatar of the Eye in the man who always knew exactly what a person needed? How about Maple Street descending into madness because they thought aliens were among them? Sounds like the work of the Stranger to me

[l0s3rd0wnt0wn]

One step, two step, three step, ow! Part 2: Oliver starts taking the reader out on father-daughter dates, and Ollie goes all out (flowers, sweets, cute baskets of things, etc.). The others and Bruce realize this when they try to invite the reader to a family movie night, but she's busy going to Star City to watch a movie with Ollie and Dinah.

I didn't know so many people loved this one, lol. But I'm glad you all enjoyed it so much.

Oliver will honestly spend his time with the reader because the Batfam sometimes forgets to invite you to family events like movie nights, games, or anything really. So, your next best thing is to call up Ollie and spend the day with him, playing board games, destroying Ollie at Uno, and singing with Dinah. The bats will be so confused about where you are, only to find you doing archery lessons with Connor. You'll ask Ollie to take you to school dances, thinking that Bruce is too busy and doesn't care, only to discover he cleared his whole schedule just to find Ollie spending time with his little girl and dancing with him at some silly school dance. It drives the press crazy, and it drives Bruce crazy too. Oliver is stealing his daughter without even trying; he's picking you up for daddy-daughter dates. Bruce is growing more gray hair, and you're already replacing the Batfam with the Arrow family. Damian's rivalry with Connor will skyrocket; the beef they will have will be so one-sided. Like, how dare he steal my older sister, just for Connor to want to hang out with you at the arcade? It starts getting real bad when there’s a picture floating around Twitter of Ollie picking you up in the air while you laugh your face off. This leaves Bruce in shambles for a good few weeks until he literally bans Oliver from picking you up and taking you anywhere, same with Dinah—no, you guys can't bake cookies together It’s finally a night where you were never invited to family night before—no, but you are now—and they'll make you the center of attention, which makes you a bit scared. You're not used to everyone being so nice. It’s like you're on an episode of one of those prank TV series where the camera crew walks out and tells you it's a prank, but there's no camera crew and no boom mic hitting you in the back of the head. There’s no director saying "action." It’s just you guys in this big living room that feels cramped for some reason in front of this big flat-screen TV. Why is everyone looking at you play? Why is Tim pretending to be bad at Tekken 8? He’s a god at Tekken! What’s happening right now? Are you in an episode of the Twilight Zone? 'Cause why is it your turn, and why the hell are they playing to your whims like puppets on a goddamn string? Someone call Roy and get you the hell out of this house before they start gaslighting you into clearing your plans for the day and hanging out with them.

[transboyswitchytales]

And Everybody Loves You

Agatha All Along Week!

First day is Jealousy Prompt!

Agatha x Reader x Rio

Agatha is chronically jealous! How do her girlfriends handle it?

Mention of Smut but no Smut (sowy) / Cute fluff / BELTANE (Celebration) / Billy being their son moments / Polyamory / Missing Nicky / Hickies / Jealousy of course / Cuteness / Depression mentioned / Rio should sing to Reader all the time / Snacks / Witchy fun / Coven Found Family Moments / Lilia is the absolute best and I'll fight you if you disagree / Are these even warnings anymore ?

MDNI

Happy AAA Week guys!!!

My Masterlist

Jealous. 

Polyamory was something you’d experienced before. You’d dated in threes a few times in fact, centuries ago.

Agatha Harkness, a centuries-old witch, had not. And it showed. 

And more importantly, Agatha had never learned how to share. I don’t just mean in a relationship. I mean that if you put your witch girlfriend in a sandbox, she’d probably bite a kid, again.

So when Rio and you, on a Saturday morning, when a sleepy Agatha was grumpy and didn’t want to get up, you went to a local bakery early. 

You came back to an even grumpier agitated Agatha. Rio set her keys down in the bowl and started in on Ags.  

“Oh my god, you are ridiculous. We brought you a dirty chai with pumpkin, even though you swear you hate pumpkin spice. ANNNnnnd we got you a chocolate donut detective!” Rio waved the white bag and the drink at Agatha. Who didn’t budge, but she reached for the cup. 

Rio pulled it back and shook her head. Agatha’s smirk emerged, and she leaned in and kissed Rio in gratitude, and only then did Rio give your grumpy girlfriend her breakfast. 

These moments happened a lot, which was silly because you all worked hard to communicate, ok, you worked hard for everyone to communicate.

 But you all wanted to have equality and no one left out. You had rules and things you didn’t do without each other.

One of those things was not watching your TV shows without the other person. You’d learned this the hard way. 

You and Rio had been watching Twilight Zone reruns, you were drawing and Rio was being your big spoon. 

Agatha came in from the basement where she’d been working on magic. She eyed the screen before you or your girlfriend could welcome her back into the land of the living. From being in the basement for hours. But Agatha turned hurt cold in her whole being. 

“You're watching TV without me?”

“They’re from 1959, Ags, these episodes are all reruns.” Rio teased, which wasn’t the right thing in that moment because Agatha’s lips pursed, and she glared at Death. 

“I was a little busy in the 50s! I missed them. You are watching TV without me! That’s against the rules!” Agatha would never like to be considered a person who whined, but that was exactly what was happening. 

“What? No way! This isn’t one of ‘our shows.’” Rio threw back, and that started the argument for an hour. 

You realized in that moment it wasn’t a matter of what show it was, it was being left out. 

Agatha was chronically jealous. 

The TV was no longer something you and Rio did without Agatha. Which was hilarious because Agatha didn’t even want the TV in your home. And now she owned it, like a kid who licks a cupcake to own it. No one else could touch it.  

You could name a million times these tense times came into view. 

Agatha was a control freak, and Rio and you just kinda understood that it wasn’t actually about Twilight Zone or baked goods. Agatha hadn’t been wanted by her own mother. 

And she forgot sometimes that you and Rio wanted her more than anything. 

So you and Rio would wordlessly communicate through the space and make little changes to keep Agatha’s safety. 

You were hunched over in the backyard picking vegetables from the garden you and Rio tended to. The sound of the sprinklers in the neighbor's yard and crickets starting up before the sun even set. 

That’s when you felt the depression bug creep in. You pushed it down. 

You pushed it down as you three made a large dinner. Working hard to fake it until your mind would catch up to the new idea. You got a few long glances from Agatha and Rio but you worked hard. 

Two days had passed and Rio had to work, so you and Agatha were going on a walk. 

You were doing ok, not great, but ok. 

And then you saw a kid who looked like Nicky. Your heart dropped.  

You calmly asked Aggie if you two could go home. Your girlfriend wasn’t stupid. But she laced your fingers together and walked you home. 

You took off your outside clothes and dove into the bed. And you stayed there for the rest of the day, and the night, and the next morning, and that afternoon. 

Agatha brought food and endless mugs of tea. She held you, and kissed your head. She tried to get you out of bed. But you were glued, you didn’t want to worry, Agatha. 

But you just couldn’t try anymore. 

You didn’t have the fight. 

The black dog had won, and you were letting it feast on your bone marrow. 

Around 3pm, you heard the door open again, Agatha hadn’t really left your side except to maek you tea. But she’d gone downstairs an hour ago and not returned. 

And when the sound came from teh floorboard you hated yourself for her worry. And you tried to pretend you were sleeping, knowing it would never work. But the bed dipped, and you flinched. You didn’t want to keep feeling this way and you didn’t want the unending shame for the look on Agatha’s face. 

But you felt another set of hands. One you’d known for a long time too. 

“My love, my sweet carino, it’s one of those days, huh?” Rio says, and you flip over and grab her shoulders. Rio lies down with you. And you cry from deep inside, and Rio doesn’t shy away, doesn’t tell you that Nicky is gone. Doesn’t remind you how long it’s been since he died. She just holds your body, like it’s sacred. 

When you finally stop sobbing, you pull back to look at her eyes. 

“You got here fast. Did Agatha tell you to come home?”

“I was in Mississippi, a guy got eaten by a tractor, blood everywhere. He kinda looked like a tube of toothpaste splattering.” Rio tells you, and you laugh at her dark humor. You put your face into her neck, and she rocked you. 

Rio whispered a song to you, one she’d sing to you when she dropped her work to come home. You’d played it one day, and Rio had told you it’s how she felt when she knew you or Agatha needed her. 

She’d drop her work and get to you two as fast as she could. So when she sang it, your heart broke in two. 

‘Cutting through the country, on my way to you

Runnin' out of Reds, comin' up with truths

I'm cutting through a cornfield, talkin' to myself

Hookin' up with strangers, askin' them for help

You reveled in Rio’s voice and her tender touch, and your body relaxed for the first time. Since you’d been on your walk. 

Waitin' for forever, waitin' for your call

I know it sounds crazy, we could have it all

If you needed someone, if you needed proof

I'm cutting through the country, I'm on my way to you

You bit your lip, and Rio kept singing to you. Knowing that you needed to hear it, needed to hear her. Need her.

I'm cutting through the country, listenin' for you

Someone I could trust, wishin' it was us

Yeah, nothin' lasts forever and everybody dies

I don't wanna leave, unless it's here with you tonight

And I'm pullin' from a bottle, flippin' on my phone

Lookin' for a life, lookin' for a home

Cutting through the country, call me when you're up

Nothin' lasts forever, but I'm not in a rush

Every day's a movie and I've already seen

I'm cutting through the country, I might fall asleep

Wake up in a cartoon, fallin' through the earth

Give me somethin' real, babe, and nobody gets hurt’

She stopped when you turned to look at her once more. 

“Agatha really called you, huh?”

It felt strange because Agatha was so good at soothing your frustration. But Nicky was a hard thing for any of you to talk about. You wondered what drove her to ask Rio for help. Because she couldn’t mourn with you? No, Agatha had mourned with you plenty. 

“Ags may be chronically jealous. But she loves you more than anything, Sweets. She’d give up her powers forever if it meant you didn’t feel another moment of pain. She knew you needed me, too. She can’t always communicate the right thing, hell I fucking can’t either. But you are so important to us. So I’ll always drop everything, and Agatha will break her pride and call me.”

Rio told you, and your bottom lip wobbled, and Rio’s face softened even further as she hugged you back to her chest.

You got out of bed that night and ate dinner at the table with your girlfriends. You sat on Agatha’s lap as Rio picked a scary movie. Agatha’s hands held you tightly, and you knew she wanted to say a million things. But her hands worked against your skin and you didn’t need her to speak a word.  

It was quickly Beltane, time the only thing that was constantly passing. 

And you were loving going to this huge witches' gathering. You knew the coven was too, but Billy had never been to a Beltane celebration. 

So you pulled him into little witches' booths and bought him cobbler and new rings. Explaining the fruit in it was important for Beltane and the whys. Lilia was running a tarot booth, and you’d brought her iced tea and poppy lemon cake. She’d kissed you and given you a big hug. Wishing you a happy, fruitful Beltane. 

Rio and Agatha held hands and walked behind you as you gushed over the history of Beltane to Billy. Who was just as bubbly, he’d bloomed this year into a more confident witch. Agatha told you it was because of you, but you didn’t take the compliment at all. 

But Billy had sort of adopted you three as his parents now. 

And you tried not to cry every time he asked to stay the night, or called you when he was upset. He’d ask you questions about how to have a healthy relationship, he loved Eddie. You talked for him for hours.

But he also adored Agatha for all her faults and sharp edges. Sometimes he’d come over and sit with Agatha and they talked into the wee hours of the morning. She taught him more magic, and he was respectful and eager to please her. Agatha always tried to hide her pride but you saw it. 

You also saw how Rio warmed to your favorite teen.

 It started small, she’d noticed he loved tomatoes. She had some in the garden, no big deal. But when you walked into the yard one day and noticed five new tomato varieties being planted, you knew Rio loved him. 

Slowly, Billy stopped being afraid of Rio too. Instead, he learned from Eddie how to make his Nonna’s family traditional tomato sauce. And he jarred it and brought it back to Rio. Who had never received a gift from a child before. She’d been worshiped by deities and you and Agatha had bought her thoughtful things over the years that she cherished and kept. 

But a child had never looked at her without fear, except one. And now here was Billy, looking at her with big eyes and dark curls. And she swore to protect him in that moment. 

And he kept bringing her things. A comic book with a lesbian in it, a button that had a skull on it, a bunch of taco’s from a taco truck he followed online. And in turn, Rio started to talk to him more and more. It was a gorgeous thing to see. 

You grabbed Billy’s hand in the sunshine and guided him into the next book. Jen wasn’t working it, but it was her company. You eyed the candles, and you and Billy sniffed each one and decided which one was the best. 

You looked over your shoulder to see Rio calmly talking to Agatha. Who was anxious, you eyed them, but knew that Rio could handle whatever had upset your girlfriend. 

The sun dipped down quickly, and you’d all eaten so much good food. The maypoles were being put away, and the bonfire was being built. Children were blowing bubbles and they floated like fairies in the sky. 

“So do we have to be naked?” Billy whispered to you, and you laughed at him and his blush. You were sitting on a log together as Rio and Agatha found some fun alcoholic floral drink that was being served in celebration. Nothing like drunk witches before a bonfire. Witches were throwing logs on the fire, and you two watche,d waiting for the rest of your coven to come join you.  

Jen and Alice were probably fucking in their car. But Lilia had gone in search of a ‘gift’, and you weren’t sure who it was for. 

“No, honey, we don’t have to be naked. We’re just here to celebrate. Witches aren’t here to judge each other, they’re here to give tribute to new beginnings. Beltane is to ask for new things, but to celebrate the coming of spring and a fruitful land. We are here to give back.” You explain to him, and Billy drops his head against your shoulder. He’d become way cuddlier in the last few months. And your heart ached for him. Wanda would be so proud. 

“Who are you going to give tidings to?” He asked, and it reminded you so much of Nicky and his first Beltane. You let yourself feel the overwhelming love for both of your boys. 

“Well, I always start with my sweet girl, Death. But Flora naturally and I never forget, no matter what time of year, to give a gift to Hecate. What about you?” You ask him, and his eyebrows scrunch, and he thinks hard before responding. 

“Belenus,” Billy said, the Celtic god, and you loved that he had such knowledge now. 

“That’s a great choice.” You tell him, and you hear Agatha and Rio before you see them. Rio plops down next to Billy, and Agatha sits next to you. Her hand goes to your thigh, and it’s a claiming touch. 

Rio reached across the teenager to hand you a pretty purple drink. You took it, thanking her and taking a sip. It was good very sweet and strong, and you made an appreciative noise. Agatha kept on hand on you as she sipped her own a little faster than you were. 

“Can I have one?” Billy eyed how Rio was double fisting two drinks. 

“Absolutely, when you are twenty-one, I’ll take you out and buy you shots. Until then, you can drink water or the kids made lemonade.” Rio answered like the Dad, and you felt warmth at the domesticity of it all. You and Agatha didn’t even step in, Rio ha,d and it was adorable. 

“Not even a sip?” Billy tried again. 

“Pet, if you keep this up you won’t get the strawberry funnel cake,” Agatha warned him, and she sounded so much like a mom. And Billy didn’t fight it anymore, but you saw him experiencing the love in her words. Someone to watch out for him, to tell him no. It was a beautiful thing. 

Alice yelled across the way to Billy she had two strawberry soft-serve ice creams in waffle cones. Billy hopped up out of the seat and ran over to her. She handed him one and then affectionately brushed his hair out of his eyes. He needed a haircut from Jen soon. 

You all loved him. 

Agatha’s nails dug into your thigh a little, and Rio scooted to close the distance between you two. Both girlfriends sandwiching you in the middle. Much like they did every night in bed. 

“Aggie, what’s wrong, baby?” You asked and took a sip of the strong drink.

Agatha’s face fell into your neck, and she stayed there, inhaling you. Agatha wasn’t worried about people seeing you two cuddle. You were life long partners.  

“Someone’s a little touch starved for you, you’ve been paying a lot of attention to the coven today. And I think our witch is feeling a little needy.” Rio whispered so other witches walking by wouldn’t hear. A few stopped to look at you three, obviously aware of your reputation. No one knew who Rio was, which was always annoying and hilarious. 

But you and Aggie, were witch killers. And after all this time you still got dirty looks and snide remarks. But Agatha hadn’t told you no on coming to this event. Knowing you loved to celebrate the old holidays. 

But her hands ached for your body. 

Setting your drink down between your barefeet. You ran a hand through Agatha’s dark locks and kept her in your neck. 

“Do you wanna follow Jen and Alice example and go fuck in the car?” You asked, and Agatha snorted in your neck. Rio’s eyebrows raised in intrigue, and she hoped Aggie was about to say yes. 

Nicky had been conceived on Ostara, you’d not carved runes. You’d said no spell and no incantation. He’d been born from love. Having your nose and optimistic attitude, Rio’s dimple and mischievous nature, and Agatha’s brilliance and her ability to love deeply. 

Nicky was perfect. The best of all three of you. 

You were a little nervous to fuck on a holiday, especially one for fertility. But if Agatha needed you, you’d never deny her. Agatha’s nose brushed against the sensitive spot on your neck, and you shivered. 

“You don’t want to leave Billy for too long,” Agatha answered, and you knew that wasn’t what she wanted to say. There was a whole coven here for him. 

“If my witch needs my fingers, you only need to accept my invitation.” You tell her, and Agatha takes a minute before nodding. You three stand, grabbing your drinks, you excuse yourself. 

It takes about two hours, not what you’d planned but your body is thoroughly fucked. Agatha steps out of the car first and she uses a pencil to put her hair up. Big love bites clearly scattered over her neck and chest. You weren’t much better; you had more bites, and they were already dark purple. 

Rio wiped her mouth on the back of her hand to get all the evidence off. She reached into the back of the car, grabbing four sweaters and handing you and Agatha each other’s clothes. You wore Aggies deep purple sweater, and she wore your dark maroon cable knit. Rio pulled it over her baggy dark fern colored sweater on. It had frayed over the years and bits of yarn stuck out. She looked gorgeous. They both did. 

You all walked back into the cool night air. It had gotten dark while you were….busy in the car. 

When you came back to the outdoor venue, you saw Alice and Lilia holding Billy as Jen worked with the kid's corner to make sure that baby witches were grounded during all this energy play. 

Rio put a hand on Billy and he turned and grinned at her in greeting. She thoughtfully handed him one of her baggy sweaters, it was a dark blue and it had a few white sigils for warming in it. You loved that sweater so much, there was something so parental about Rio keeping the teenager safe and warm. 

Walking up to your fortune witch and grabbing Lilia’s shoulders, she turned to you and kissed your cheek affectionately. 

“Wondered when you three would finish.” She teased and then bent down and took out a flower crown from her bag of goodies. She placed it onto your head, and you had to bend down because she was so short. But she curled your hair behind your ear and then beamed at you. Lifting your chin up so she could look at you.  

“You are one beautiful witch, doll.” Lilia complimented you and you felt it warm your body. 

“Lilia-”

“Hush, you look fantastic. The giant bruises on your neck look like you’ve been fighting a vampire. But besides that, you are…gorgeous inside and out.” Lilia grabbed both your forearms and leaned in like she was telling you a secret passed down for centuries. 

“Thank you.” You whispered back and turned to see Agatha and Rio beaming at you. 

The flowers in your crown were a mixture of Nicky's favorite wildflower to pick in the forest, Agatha’s secret ingredient in her perfume orchids, and Rio’s water hemlock, a poisonous plant that she planted in every home you’d ever lived. And your favorite big Alaskan daisies that’s stems weave through each flower. 

Lilia was good. 

Your girlfriends both came over and kissed each of your flushed cheeks.

You all sat as the celebration began, and people danced in all ways around the fire and chanted. It was gorgeous, and a glow illuminated off their bodies. Lilia and Alice were explaining what was happening to Billy. 

You weren’t watching the witches now, your eyes were up at the full moon. You were watching as the magic of all these witches did what it did in Old Salem. They were ‘drawing down the moon.’ So it looked bigger and bigger, like La Luna wanted to dance with the witches herself. 

Agatha was watching you and one of her hands brushed your hair to the side, and she held the back of your neck and you closed your eyes at the sensation of her fingers. She was leaning in to kiss you or whisper something and someone cut your moment short. 

“Hey! You are fucking gorgeous wanna come dance naked with me?” This witch asked you, and she was very beautiful. Her red hair was wild, and little braids were in between her thick locks; they had baby’s breath in their strands and feathers. She was already naked, and the curtains did match the drapes. Her large rune tattoos framed her muscular arms. 

“She’s fucking taken, go find a loose witch that’ll lift her dress for you silly hag.” Agatha snapped and snarled like an animal, and the poor witch froze for a minute in fear. Before making a great imitation of Thumper and running like a rabbit back into the night. 

Before you could say anything, the coven erupted into laughter. 

“She had no idea she’d just hit on Agatha Harkness, woman!” Alice cackled out as Billy grabbed his sides, and Lilia’s laughter made people turn and stare. Rio’s hand fell over her mouth as she found it hilarious as well. 

“I don’t see the humor in this!” Agatha chastised her coven which was erupting at the seams. Perhaps it was all the energy in the air, the magic, you told yourself. But Agatha glared at them and you moved further into her embrace kissed her long and slow. 

“I like you jealous. I’m yours, though. I didn’t wanna dance with her, I only want to dance with you and Rio.” You tell her, and Agatha softens like butter under your words and gentle touch on her body. 

It’s dawn by the time it all ends, and you are sobered up enough to drive your girlfriends home. You offer to take Billy, but he’s asleep on Jen’s lap, and she shakes her head. Alice and Jen take him back to their house to sleep off all of that magic high. Lilia steals his phone and hands it to Alice, not able to really work technology well. She texts his mom to let him know the change of plans. 

Rio guides your body in your mutual tired state.

“Coffee first?” She asks, wondering if you wanna make a stop. 

“Home.” You say eyeing an exhausted Agatha who climbs into the back seat and lies across the leather. She doesn’t put her seatbelt on, which is terribl,e but you and Rio can’t find it in you to wake her and make her do it. 

You drive home slowly and carefully. You get into the house and rest your flower crown on the kitchen table. The three of you move into the bedroom, shed your clothes, and climb in to cuddle. 

You wake hours later, and it’s deep in the afternoon, and you yawn. Agatha kissed your forehead and you smiled. 

“Wanna take a bath with me?”

“Yes, please,” it sounds like an amazing time. The smell of campfire and ash sliding off your body. Agatha did her amazing talent of making a bath smell sinful and look like a scene in Game of Thrones. You both slid in and Agatha was happy to press your back against her bare chest as she used a hand towel to scrub your arms. You closed your eyes, still sleepy after your nap. 

Aggie talked to you softly in the space about her first Beltane with you. One where you’d stolen her heart and she teased you about never giving it back. 

“It’s mine.” You told her and she kissed behind your ear. 

“In this life and the next.” Agatha promised.

You were both feeling a contact high between your naked bodies pressed together and the intoxicating scents in the tub. The undtertone of sexual tension was dilicious. Turning slightly you angled yourself so that Agatha could kiss your lips in a slow dance. 

You were both rudely interrupted as Rio walked in. 

“HEY! I didn’t get invited to bath time!”

Yeah, Agatha was jealous. But you might have forgotten to mention so was Rio. 

Rio was very jealous. A lot. 

Death was huffing at you both irritated at not getting her bubble bath moment too. 

“Rio the tub is not big enough for three! And you took a shower-” Agatha tried to reason with her toddler of a girlfriend who folded her arms and glared at you both. 

“WE HAVE POWERS! MAKE A BIGGER TUB! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!” Rio started to shout and you just smiled. 

Jealousy was woven into your life yes, but the love was behind every inch as well. 

Agatha took the wet washcloth and threw it at Rio’s face who started to take off her clothes and Agatha shouted at her. She had one foot in the tub and Agatha was trying to push her out. Soap and tub water splashed over the side and all over the bathroom floor. 

“IT’S TOO SMALL OF A TUB!”

“MOVE OVER!”

“YOU ARE ALL SWEATY!”

“YEAH WELL I’M GONNA GET CLEAN AREN’T I!”

[caffinated-squid]

Dissecting Pete and his complicated role in The Eltingville Club

Time to talk about Pete, the character that I have actually struggled the most to write about because I have a lot to say and have been struggling to coherently organize it. Also because I have seen some other people make really good analysis pieces about him, so I’m going to try my best to contribute.

On surface level Pete appears to have the same function as Jerry in the club, he is the support of the group and is able to break up a lot of the arguments that Bill and Josh get into. However, Pete doesn’t resolve the actual problem, he actually has the tendency to exacerbate it by actively encouraging the characters shitty behaviors instead of calming them down. One example that comes to mind is the Steel figures, instead of getting Josh to calm down and move on, he goes on a rant about the movie, and then encourages Josh with the idea of burning down the Steel display.

There is also the possibility that he originally joined the club as a kid both to talk about their nerdy interests together, as well as to get away from the violence in his family. But overtime he ended up needing to deal with fights and arguments from the club, as well as eventually participating in it.

*Focusing on Petes temper for a second, I think the main reason why a lot of his outbursts result in property damage is from him having no fucking clue how to deal with his emotions. From the brief scenes we hear his dad talk and what Dorkin has mentioned, Pete grew up in a household that encouraged toxic masculinity and rejected his own interests as being unimportant or for children. Dorkin also mentioned Pete growing up in a physical household where he was hit a lot, (which can also be implied when his dad threatens to break his legs if he ever tries to meet with the club again) so his go to for anything is to get violent, its the only acceptable emotion to express.

**I also like to think this is why Pete had the least of a reaction when Bill goes on his rant tearing him down, its probably the norm for him.

I find Pete’s contributions to the environment of the club to be interesting because of how contradictory it is. Pete is usually the character to call other characters pussies or make fun of them for not doing things that are traditionally masculine, (like the comment to Jerry about how sewing is for chicks, sissies, and sweatshop workers) but at the same time needs to defend his own interests from the club as it gets brushed off as being gay or not worth discussion, including needing to defend his admiration of horror make up/special effects.

His reaction makes sense in the context of his family life since they don’t care about his interests either, and the club being his only friend group probably gives the urgency to both protect his interests while also aggressively stamping out any suggestion that it implies something about him. If bi Pete is canon, I’m assuming he doesn’t even want to think about it because if it were true, it would probably lead to more isolation and more things for the club and his family to shit on him for.

Out of all the character punishments, next to Josh, I think Pete got the worst of it when it came to punishments, as he was forced to throw out all of his horror stuff after the comic shop burned down, since his method of escapism was completely ripped away from him and confirmed as non important kids stuff that he needs to grow out of. It’s also sad to see because in comics like Unstable Molecules and They’re Dead, They’re All Messed Up, you can see Pete’s interest in horror make up and costumes shine through. Mentions of him improving the zombie looks from the prior year and his admiration for the horror make up in The Twilight Zone episodes show that he cares about the craft behind it. (same with him talking about horror icons like Peter Cushing, Anne Rice, and Christopher Lee)

Destroying this escapism didn’t make Pete more of an adult. Ironically he became more of a child as he got older, his insecurity about his interests made him seek out more adult content, both because its content he gets off to, as well as wanting to be perceived as an adult, which is why he gave up comics years ago ‘to take up fuckin.’ Pete never solved any of his actual problems, he’s still short tempered, a sex pest, and insecure about himself, but is now the one abusing other people with his scrap of power, just like his dad and probably his brothers did to him.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

If Rod Serling came out at the end of the Twilight Saga to do a Twilight Zone closing monologue, what do you think he'd say? And would the star of the Twilight Twilight Zone Saga be Jacob or Bella? A townsperson???

Oh, it's Charlie's story, easy.

It already is a Twilight Zone episode in that we have this ordinary man we're introduced to with a very distracting emotional drama. Out of nowhere, his teenage daughter decides to live with him instead of her mother. Her mother had just remarried but he can't get any confirmation that there's anything up with the step father, in fact he can't get much out of Bella period and is having a very difficult time connecting with her.

Then we get Bella noticing the Cullens and Charlie notes that they've been here for two years and people have to stop getting weird about them!

Then his daughter goes through this horrific relationship where her decisions get stranger and stranger and she goes through a horrible depression. He blames this boy, and when she finally gets out of it, for some reason Edward shows back up again with his family with an excuse that is... plausible but not very likely.

And it ends with Charlie, after having seen Jacob transform into a wolf, realizing everyone from his daughter to his best friend have been lying to him for years. He's entered the twilight zone, and he meets with his daughter, a now crystal alien, who believes she's doing a fantastic job convincing him she's the same old Bella as always.

And there's a little girl, Edward's "niece", who has that alien skin, Edward's hair color, and her mother's eyes.

Roll monologue/music/credits.

To that effect I imagine it would be something along the lines of how much you really know your friends and family and how the twilight zone has sometimes been there for far longer than you ever suspected.

The reason it has to be Charlie is that he's the character who isn't a part of this world, who gets to glimpse in and know that there is something here that is Wrong and happened despite all his trying to prevent a thing he didn't even realize could occur.

No one else quite goes through what Charlie does.

[supinternets]

Just two days! Here we have the dashing Jamie McCrimmon and the cosmic hobo that is the Second Doctor. They are one of the great duos in Who. I consider Patrick Troughton one of the best Doctors, old & new. Matt Smith, whom played the Eleventh Doctor took inspiration from him in his portrayal of the Time Lord. Some of my favorite stories that I’d recommend are “Enemy of the World” & “The Mind Robber”. The later I’d also say is one of the best episodes period. I have such a love of this era of Who, when it’s at its best it gives me Twilight Zone vibes. Also if you are a fan of Outlander, you have Jamie McCrimmon to thank for that.

[literary-illuminati]

2025 Book Review #14 – The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton

I have no memory whatsoever how this charming little mystery ended up on my TBR shelf – it was on some ‘best of’ list or another I skimmed through more than likely. However it happened, I’m happy it did – this was hardly high art, but it was a fun and engaging Twilight Zone episode of a novel, and left me very interested in reading more of Turton’s other work.

The novel is set on a remote island some time after the apocalypse, the only place in the world where the last heroic efforts of preapocalyptic scientists created a barrier to hold back the plague of poisonous fog which boiled up from beneath the world and wiped out all other life. Ninety years later, the three surviving Elders and the omnipresent, mind-reading artificial intelligence Abi guide and rule over a village of a hundred-and-seven, the last remnants of all the refugees who reached the island before the end. Filled with now-irreplaceable medical technology and genetic enhancements, the Elders are fairly literally superhuman and viewed by the generations of villagers who have been born and died since the end of the world with near-religious awe. So when the eldest and most beloved of them dies – and seemingly after directly ordering Abi to wipe everyone else’s memories of the ruinous night before her brutal murder – things get very tense. And that’s before everyone realizes that the barrier holding back the fog was deactivated by a dead man’s switch tied to her heart beat. Now it’s up to the irritatingly curious and irreverent village neerdowell to to solve the mystery and satisfy the system that justice has been done so it will reactivate the barrier before the fog consumes them all.

So this is a very high concept novel. First and foremost, it’s at the moment literally the only book I can remember that more or less pulls off first-person-omniscient narration – the book is told from Abi’s perspective, and all the increasingly sinister asides and bits of context that leak through from it as its attention shifts from one character’s brain to another is a major part of the book’s charm. It is very on brand for me to say the creepy AI is the best character, but as far as compellingly nonhuman intelligence go it is right up there.

It’s also a strikingly misanthropic book – in the literal sense, the book has a very dim view of humanity and the ambiguous but happy ending involves taking the species off the board for at least the foreseeable future. Thematically it’s about getting over the past and trusting your students/children/successors to find their own way in the world without your constant guidance, but on a very literal level this is a story where humanity’s successors are strictly better off with us. And also where a project that in basically every other story I’ve ever read would be the cartoonishly evil plot of a cackling supervillain is portrayed as monstrous in execution but well-intentioned and more tragically impossible than evil in concept. It’s an interesting shift in perspective from most self-consciously humanist sci fi I’ve read.

The actual mystery is very fun and satisfying twisted and obscured by all the other dirty secrets the Elders are keeping from each other – the narrative used the memory to have multiple people come think they were the murderer and act accordingly in a very satisfying way. That said, I’m not sure the broad strokes twilight zone-ness of the setting really mixed well with the mystery plot – not that it wasn’t used for some fun twists, but it’s more than a bit unclear at points which parts of the world you should carefully interrogate for clues and hints, and which you kind of just need to shrug and take as a given for the story to work.

I admit I do just have a reflexive, contrarian aversion to stories that end up just being someone’s planning going off perfectly. Which isn’t really fair to hold against the book, but on a purely subjective level did make me enjoy the finale and epilogue less than I might have otherwise. Still, all in all this was a fun brain teaser and page-turner. Would recommend, if the synopsis at all appeals.

[thebardbullseye]

I can't recall a one-shot of an actual play that felt like a short story ("The Most Dangerous Game" springs to mind) or as an episode of The Twilight Zone.

"The Clearing" is so evocative of place and character in its short run time while being ripe for analysis.

Goddamn y'all. Best $5/month in my budget.

[mylordshesacactus]

SAME. The first time I heard the "only five episodes" statistic I was like well that can't possibly be right and Time Enough At Last was literally my first thought.

After some thought though I do agree with the general consensus on Time Enough, in that anything that involves an ACTUAL nuclear apocalypse--as opposed to a false alarm--pushes it into the alternate-reality realm of sci-fi.

...I STILL think I Shot An Arrow fits the theme better than One More Pallbearer, despite being just barely on the wrong side of "the only possible way for this plot to occur would be if we had space travel advanced enough to get lost between solar systems". I just still think Pallbearer has trappings of supernatural or divine retribution in making his cruel manipulative lie a reality. However, I do admit defeat in that TTZ is not exactly SUBTLE when its laser-guided karma is intended to be read as divine.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be vague in those tags! this is just a generally-recognized category when talking about TZ--that there are only five episodes that contain no supernatural elements, WITH SCIENCE FICTION (any technology wildly outside our abilities, such as interstellar travel, alternate timelines that didn't happen in real life, etc) COUNTING AS SUPERNATURAL. The tags were off the cuff so I didn't clarify, but the five generally acknowledged as fitting that category are Where Is Everybody?, The Shelter, The Silence, One More Pallbearer, and The Jeopardy Room. (Personally, I think One More Pallbearer is pushing the definition because that level of hallucination seems pretty supernatural to me, but it TECHNICALLY qualifies. I also think you're right to include I Shot An Arrow instead; the reason it's not generally included is that the level of space travel necessary to crash-land on Earth AND NOT REALIZE IT is definitely outside of our abilities--at our current technology level, we can't get far enough away to get lost in the first place. I still think it fits the spirit of the list better than Pallbearer but I was not consulted.)

genuinely love this. The first episode that came to mind when contemplating what could fit was "time enough at last" so I while I am still confused by the count, I am now keen to re-watch all of these to see how they fit. I spent quite a bit of time contemplating "sing the body electric" as well, which was solidly in the "any advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" when it first aired, but is now solidly in the realm of reality.

[wot-tidbits]

My reaction to 3x04

I laughed.

Impressive achievement indeed.

The best fantasy sequence ever from the best best fantasy television ever (according to some).

And I sat in my couch and I laughed at the screen.

I know, I know. People cried, people were stunned, people ejaculated on the awesomness from the screen. I am well aware of it.

I laughed loudly yet.

Hey, this is my reaction and my experience with the visions. I do not tell you how to react.

And I do not say it to taunt anyone 6 days later. My voice is alone here.

I just want to share how social media can be so confusing for your mind.

In the last 100 pages of the wot tag you cannot find one critical post about the episode. Not a single one. No one asking questions how the script works (or in this case why it doesn't work). It is so surreal experience scrolling the tag that I start questioning the existence of my own cup filled with mother's milk.

In such cases it is important to have people behind you who keep you in check that you did not enter the Twilight zone. I am blessed to have such person in my life. But not many can count on it.

I laughed because it was the same old problem as with the previous ones. No writer knows what they are doing and no one bothers to check them with questions. Or the editor to do that check. Someone. Just someone who follows whether the narrative is coherent in 1 hour episode.

If this is considered the best television ever then I am curious what bigger label would be put on it if a competent writer was involved with the script.

This post is only to add more diversity in the reactions for the episode.

I won't bother you with further questions.

Let the Light keep you safe.

LightOne

[dinosaurwithablog]

The Twilight Zone has some very big stars on the show. Lee Marvin and James Best are pictured above...

In this episode, The Grave, you also at Strother Martin and Lee van Cleef. That's a lot of stars for one episode!!!

It's a good episode... I love black and white TV!! 😍

[sapphiresaphics]

Severance theory (spoilers).

I don’t think that cold harbor is to test for how people would react to death. That doesn’t make any sense because if you have to put the person through death to get a result, how do you MEASURE the result if your subject is dead?

I do think that because of the heavy implications that Gemma will die if Cold Harbor is completed, death is definitely something they are testing for… I just don’t know how you do it if you kill your subject in the process.

They’ve also said that after Cold Harbor the world will see Gemma as she’s meant to be seen.

So MY theory is that they aren’t going to physically kill Gemma. But that they’re going to erase Gemma as a person and keep the innie.

That’s why they’re testing to see if the severance barriers are holding. They need to ensure that if they delete Gemma as a person, the barrier will hold and keep the innie alive and functional.

And like, this is still bad for the world. Imagine a company that could at any moment use the Overtime Contingency procedure to basically ERASE YOU FROM EXISTENCE so that only your innie, who knows nothing about the world except what you’ve fed them to believe, is still active.

“The departments never really filled up, but we’re expecting a growth spurt soon” says Mark S. about all the empty rooms at Lumon.

“The block never filled up,” says Mark Scout about the Lumon housing he’s surrounded by.

The After Hours episode references a Twilight Zone episode of the same name about mannequins coming to life and accepting their fate to be props for the store.

So yeah. Cold Harbor won’t kill Gemma. It will erase her as a person and keep her innie (whichever personality of hers they want). They might even be able to give her a new one, a Jame Eagan approved one.

Tomorrow’s the season 2 finale. I have no idea if this theory will hold. But for now this is the best I have.

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things (1x02): “The Weirdo on Maple Street” Review

Just like the previous episode, this one contains neat homages and references to different 80s movies that help lay out the structure of the show and its story without overshadowing it. It also incorporates unique call-forwards to future episodes (specifically in season 4) that, when viewed again on rewatch (especially having seen the play The First Shadow), recontextualizes the entire mytharc.

Ironically, despite the name of this episode deriving from a famous Twilight Zone episode, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” they have very little in common plot-wise with each other, and the themes present in that particular episode will come into play later in season 4, specifically with Jason’s witch hunt against the Hellfire Club.

Part 1: Mike, Dustin, and Lucas meet El

The interactions at the beginning between El, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas is a combination of both amusing (since they’re 12 year old boys who are implied to have never really talked to girls their age) and gives some initial insight into each character.

Mike is the one who comes off the most empathetic to El’s plight in this situation (note that he took off his coat earlier and wrapped it around El to keep her warm). He’s genuinely concerned over why she’s out in the rain looking scared with barely any clothes on (save Benny’s T-shirt), and he’s the the one who gives her clothes to wear. I also think it’s interesting that, when El refuses to have the door to the bathroom closed for privacy, Mike agrees to keep the door open slightly.

I know this is often attributed by most of the fandom to Hopper since he’s the one who makes a big stink in season 3 about El having her door open three inches (something that’s played as a recurring joke), but this episode introduces it first with Mike’s arrangement with El, as well as El’s desire for a semi-open door due to the trauma of being locked in solitary confinement at the Lab (as we’ll see later on).

By contrast, Lucas and Dustin come off as insensitive, even though that likely wasn’t their intention. Dustin’s dialogue about El, from asking out-loud whether she has cancer due to short hair, or if she’s deaf, or even if she slept naked, indicates he views her in the moment as a curiosity. That curiosity certainly peaks when he later finds out she has powers, and he will eventually move past this initial perception of her. Lucas is a lot blunter in openly noting that El doesn’t act like a normal girl, speculates that she came from Pennhurst (the asylum which would later make an appearance in the season 4 episode “Dear Billy”), and uses phrases like “psycho” “freak” “weirdo” and “something wrong in the head with her” (The latter phrase would later be used by the Duffer Brothers to describe Angela in S4, although that had less to do with mental illness in Angela’s case and more to do with her being a genuinely vile human being).

While we're on this topic………let’s discuss Lucas’s initial attitude towards El, and how the fandom reacted towards it.

I am aware of the negativity that got directed at Lucas in the first season because of this, to the point that even Caleb McLaughlin was not only painfully aware of it, but was even on the receiving end of fandom racism because of it. It doesn’t help that some of these fans who trashed Lucas in this season would later go on to defend Billy in season 2, and either pretend that his racism towards Lucas wasn’t a thing, or use Lucas’s initial behavior towards El as a justification for why it was okay for Billy to treat Lucas like shit. I am deeply sorry Caleb was on the receiving end of that at a young age, and he deserved a helluva lot better than having to put up with that kind of racist bullshit.

While I wasn’t happy about the terminology Lucas used to describe El, it’s important to note he is 12 at this point. Like any kid his age, he is going to say stuff that, in hindsight, comes off as insensitive at best, and hurtful at worst. A lot of this can be chalked up to ignorance surrounding mental health issues and abuse, as well as the fact he’s facing a freaky situation with someone who isn’t acting in a way considered ‘normal.’ The result is falling back on stereotypes and cliches about abnormal people that he likely picked up from movies like John Carpenter’s Halloween (which is referenced in the comparison Lucas and Dustin make between El and Michael Myers) and other kids his age who discussed that stuff with the same levels of ignorance.

Third, just like with Steve (who acts callously insensitive at different points in this episode), Lucas is being presented with flaws and biases that he must overcome. This is how a character arc is supposed to work. They start out one way, undergo a journey, are forced to confront their flaws, realize they need to make a change, and apply those lessons to become better people than they were before. It's why I find it eye-roll inducing how many idiots in this fandom fall into this Puritain-esque way of thinking where, if a character has ever said or done anything remotely uncaring in the past, the idea is they should never live it down, EVEN IF they have long since apologized and put in the work to be better.

I want to be careful not to infantilize Lucas the same way fans have done with Billy or Angela to try and absolve them for their disgusting behavior. Unlike those two, whose intentions were based on getting a kick out of sadistically hurting others to make themselves feel superior, all the while never apologizing and doubling down, Lucas’s initial attitude was more rooted in seeing El as an inconvenience to their goal of finding Will as opposed to just wanting to make El’s life a living hell (like Angela) or taking his anger out on others (like Billy).

Again, I’m not saying this attitude was okay. It was immature in the same way Steve’s initial reaction towards Jonathan putting up Missing Posters for Will was callow. However, it’s not rooted in the mean-spirited cruelty some fans have accused it of being, and it’s supposed to be a point for both Lucas (and Steve) to grow from.

Speaking of El, just like there was the implication El was intentionally starved at the Lab, we get more subtle signs of how she was abused: Her reaction to putting the fresh pair of clothes Mike gives her on her cheek (indicating she’d been in that hospital gown for quite a while). Her panicked reaction later in the episode when she’s forced to hide in Mike’s closet, triggering a PTSD flashback to when Brenner forced the orderlies to lock her up in solitary confinement. Her flinching at little things, like when Dustin claps in her face, or the lightning outside (though that is likely due to never having been outside the Lab before now and being unfamiliar with lightning), or when Lucas points to the blood on her, or when he later angrily demands from El to know where Will is. Even the scene of her almost stripping in front of the guys, while played for laughs, all but spells out how she never had access to privacy and was under constant watch.

El’s situation and reactions remind me of Genie, a real life case we studied in my psychology class in school involving a feral girl from Los Angeles who'd spent 13 years of her life locked in a room and chained to a toilet by her parents (specifically her father, though her mother and brother also enabled this due to being at the receiving end of his abuse as well). She was constantly subjected to the rage and neglect of her father, including beatings, malnourishment, isolation from the outside world, and constantly being kept in the dark. It’s even been speculated he may have sexually abused her at various points as well. The dude was a real piece of work, and the damage he did to her severely affected Genie's physical, mental, and emotional development, to the point she learned not to make any noises (lest her father beat her with a wooden plank) and didn’t develop the language and communication skills kids her age would have picked up by that point. She was eventually discovered in 1970 by a social worker, who alerted authorities and had her taken to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The case got public attention and the father, who was unable to handle the media scrutiny, committed suicide, all while leaving behind a note where he refused to take responsibility for what he did to his daughter.

It's unclear whether the Duffer Brothers based aspects of El’s character on Genie, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did (If this is true, and there was an interview I missed talking about this subject, feel free to link to it in the reblogs). Both girls are abuse survivors who were stunted in their growth and development because of what they were put through. In the case of Genie, her father’s abuse of her caused lasting physical damage, including having limited gross motor skills (i.e. basic functions kids learn during development like standing, sitting, walking, etc) and impairing her ability to communicate and learn new words and vocabulary.

In El’s case, she also has limited vocabulary and is unfamiliar with certain words (like “friend”) but she’s shown to understand concepts even if she doesn’t have the words to name them. The abuse Brenner subjected El to was along the lines of Operant Conditioning (i.e. rewarding and punishing behavior, and behavior based on the removal or addition of stimuli), and was done as a way of molding her into the weapon he wanted (in stark contrast to Genie’s father, whose abuse stemmed from wanting nothing to do with his daughter and resenting her existence). Unlike with Genie, we see that El did develop gross motor skills (i.e. the flashback Terry has where she sees a three year old El playing with Kali/Eight, and the rainbow room in season 4 with the special kids playing with toys), and there clearly was some attempt at raising El to make sure El could understand and communicate with Brenner and the orderlies in order to spy on the Russians. The abuse in question was specifically tailored by Brenner: Keeping El isolated from the outside world, and limiting her knowledge to only what Brenner wanted her to know. Drilling into El that she was expected to perform certain tasks on his command, and punishing her with solitary confinement if she disobeyed or refused. Allowing the other kids at the lab to bully El because she was slow in the development of her powers and hoping that the ostracization would produce the results he wanted.

There’s also the trauma associated with memories El has repressed, but have slowly started to seep through. For story related purposes, we don’t yet see the flashbacks to the Massacre at Hawkins Lab and the events leading up to that (at least not until season 4), but it is subtly alluded to in the scene where Mr. Clarke finds a piece of El’s hospital gown in the tunnel she used to escape. AKA the same tunnel Henry/One/Vecna led her to in 1979:

Like I said, this episode contains several call-forwards, and this is one of them. It explains how El knew where to go to escape the Lab once the gate opened, and “The Monster” elaborates on WHY she finally did.

It’s pretty clear Mike and El’s interactions at the house during the day are meant to invoke Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, with Mike faking sick to stay home (the difference being Karen sees through it, but allows Mike the day off because of what happened to Will, while also telling him he can always talk to her if he needs to), showing El around his house, introducing her to Star War toys the same way Elliot did with E.T., and even making food for her. There’s even the later scene of El wandering the house during dinner and Karen nearly missing her, similar to Elliot’s mom having near misses with E.T. when Gertie brought him downstairs. These scenes have a nice charm to them, and have always been fun to watch.

Another movie this episode pays homage to in one particular scene is a 1985 Harrison Ford film called Witness:

Witness centers around a German Amish boy named Samuel Lapp who, after the death of his father, travels to Baltimore with his mother Rachel to visit her sister. Like El, this is Samuel’s first time in a new environment other than his Amish community, and his initial reaction is one of quiet curiosity. While at 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, waiting for a late train, he ends up using the restroom and becomes an eyewitness to the murder of a detective that takes place there. Because Samuel saw the culprit of the crime while hiding in one of the stalls, Samuel and his mother are forced to cooperate with a police detective named John Book (played by Harrison Ford) in helping to track down the killer. When El points to Will in the science photograph next to Mike’s trophies, this is a direct homage to the scene when Samuel points to a photograph of Lieutenant James McFee, indicating to Book that McFee is the murderer.

In both scenarios, what follows is the untangling of a massive conspiracy: In Witness, it centers around police corruption and illegal drug dealings. In Stranger Things, it’s centered around government corruption and the Upside Down. The big difference is that while Samuel is still present in Witness, the movie shifts focus to John Book as the main character, especially when he’s targeted by corrupt cops and forced to go on the run and hide within the Amish community to protect himself, Rachel, and Samuel. Meanwhile, El remains central as a character, and ironically enough is the one working to protect Mike, Dustin, and Lucas from Brenner and the Demogorgon while hiding among them.

Speaking of Brenner (who has physical similarities to Chief Paul Schaeffer, the main antagonist of Witness, as well similar personality traits of demanding loyalty from his men without feeling obligated to return it), his reaction towards Will’s disappearance and finding the ooze in the shed at the Byers house takes on a whole different context after having seen The First Shadow (or Season 4 for that matter). The play reveals that, as far back as the 1940s, Brenner was aware of the Upside Down. Granted, he hadn’t actually seen the dimension with his own eyes. The most information he got was from his own dying father (who was a part of the fateful Philadelphia Experiment in 1943) and maybe even Henry/One/Vecna (depending on what kind of information Henry willingly or unwillingly provided to Brenner). In any case, his lack of surprise over Joyce’s phone call to Flo about Will and some kind of animal on the other end indicates he knew Will was in the Upside Down and was being hunted. Not that Brenner truly cared about Will in the grand scheme of things.

In regards to Will, for those who are interested in what was implied to be going on with him in the end scene with Joyce and the lights flickering and the recorder playing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go,” this is how things looked like from his perspective in the comic The Other Side:

The show already hinted at this, with Will hiding and the Demogorgon chasing him, but it helps give more context to why the Demogorgon temporarily turned its attention to Joyce and stopped pursuing Will.

I am curious about the Demogorgon’s decision not to go after Joyce despite trying to tear through the wall: Was it just trying to scare her away in the moment, or did Joyce manage to outrun it quick enough that it went back into the Upside Down because it decided she wasn’t worth it?

Speaking of which, let’s talk more about the Byers family, including Lonnie and Hopper:

Part 2: The Byers, Lonnie, and Hopper

I forgot about the tense exchange between Joyce and Hopper in this episode. Her insisting that it was Will’s voice on the other end of the phone and, when Hopper remains skeptical, bringing up how she’d recognize Will's breathing the same way Hopper would recognize his daughter’s breathing. To her credit, she does regret that and realizes how low of a blow that is, and Hopper, despite being hurt, doesn’t take his anger out on her, and recognizes her outburst as coming from stress and frustration over her son’s disappearance rather than vindictiveness. Add in how these two have history with one another (especially from their interactions in The First Shadow when they were attending high school and were already starting to realize they were attracted to one another) and there’s a lot both Joyce and Hopper are willing to overlook when it comes to each other’s flaws.

Hopper’s depression is hard to watch. I’ve never had a kid, and I have no intention of having one either (especially with the way our world has gone), but I understand what it’s like to be in that kind of mental state between wanting to care and yet being so beaten down by life and what it has taken from you that it’s hard not to slip into apathy.  Compared to his time in New York City, where Sara was still alive, his wife was married to him, and he felt rejuvenated with a purpose, Hopper in the beginning of this show is directionless, burying himself in booze, drugs, and women, all while putting in the bare minimum into his 4 years as chief of police. Then, after Joyce's son disappears, and his best friend Benny is murdered while it's staged to look like a suicide, Hopper is forced to realize he still cares, and no amount of drowning himself is going to change that. As he bitterly notes to the woman he’s sleeping with:

BTW, note how he never references the last time a person got murdered in Hawkins. That was a clever way for the Duffer Brothers to later lay the groundwork for the Creel murders in 1959. As depicted in The First Shadow, Hopper saw the bodies of Virginia and Alice Creel around the time the police arrested Victor for their deaths.

I will go more in detail about Joyce’s arc as it develops this season, but there is one comparison that is relevant to this episode: Her similarities to Florence “Rusty” Tullis from the 1985 film Mask, which is based on the real-life story of Rocky Dennis. The Duffer Brothers have cited the movie as an inspiration for how they wrote Joyce’s character, as well as how Joyce’s costumes were designed. Both women are single mothers working to provide for their sons, both of them have sons who deal with mistreatment because of their physical appearance (Will because of his clothes and Rocky because of his Craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (CDD)), both of them are overworked and stressed and turn to drugs (Joyce’s chainsmoking in this episode and Rusty’s addictions, which becomes a source of conflict between her and Rocky), both of them worry constantly about the well-being of their sons, and both of them are perceived as being “unstable” when in fact they are fiercely determined and would go through hell to keep their sons alive and safe. In Joyce’s case, that involves going back inside her house at the end of this episode to keep in contact with Will despite a monster lurking within her walls.

On the other side of the parenting spectrum is Lonnie Byers, and his establishing character moment tells us everything: He’s dating a woman half his age (though Cynthia doesn’t appear to be a teenager as Joyce implied in the previous episode), his first appearance is shoving Jonathan into a wall before making a half-assed introduction between Jonathan and Cynthia and makes a pretense of trying to hug Jonathan despite Jonathan not wanting him to.

Then there’s Jonathan looking for Will throughout Lonnie’s house, including in the trunk of Lonnie's car:

Just this scene alone makes me question what kind of child custody dispute went on between Joyce and Lonnie during their divorce, and if Lonnie at one point took Will without Joyce’s permission. I can buy he’d do it for financial reasons (and we’ll see that aspect rear its ugly head when he later comes to exploit Will’s funeral and file a lawsuit to get money to cover his debts) but other than that, he just comes off as a lazy bum who wants nothing to do with his sons. Makes me question why on earth he even wanted kids with Joyce in the first place.

I talked about this in my review of The First Shadow, but Lonnie in this episode pretty much is the same as he was in the play: He’s lazy, he has no desire to make anything of his life, he’s costing off other people, and he’s a douchebag. The only difference is instead of being in his 20s, he’s a grown-ass adult well into his late 40s, and a deadbeat father on top of that. I know a lot of people hate Lonnie (and rightfully so), but the most I can muster for him is contempt as opposed to the burning hatred I have for characters like Angela.

Jonathan is a mixed bag in this episode. On the one hand, his love and devotion to his brother is on full display, and it’s a combination of sweet and sad given the circumstances. His interaction with Nancy at the school and her giving genuine condolences to him over Will’s disappearance was a highlight (and was when I started to care about Nancy the first time I watched the show), as well as the flashback to his conversation with Will and the playlist he introduces to him.

One of those bands he recommends btw is The Smiths, and one of their songs, “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” has been used in the marketing for season 5, specifically in reference to Jonathan:

I’m sure plenty of fans have already made speculations, but all I can say is I hope this doesn’t foreshadow something bad happening to Jonathan because…………YIKES!! “Why do I give valuable time to people who don’t care if I live or die?” I’m not really surprised that Jonathan has depression and self-confidence issues, partly because of his parents’ failed marriage, his worries about becoming like his father, and being an outcast, but if his perception is that people don’t care, he is DEAD WRONG. And I’m not just talking about his family when I say this.

In any case, his attempts to boost Will’s self-confidence despite struggles with his own, and to encourage Will to chart his own course regarding things Will likes vs what other people tell him he should like, is one of the best moments in the show, and a life lesson that needs more applicability (especially when it comes to fandom culture).

The part where Jonathan loses me is towards the end of the episode. You all know what I’m talking about: The photographs he takes of Steve’s pool party.

First off, I want to make clear that, in spite of what he did, this wasn’t a deal-breaker for me in terms of liking his character. Yes, I agree it was creepy and wrong to take the pictures without the others knowledge or consent, and to his credit, he does acknowledge later that he shouldn’t have done it. The only good thing that came out of that was inadvertently capturing the Demogorgon on the picture he took of Barbara at the pool, but that in no way excuses the other photos he took. Contrary to what my time on Tumblr may suggest, I’m a private person, and I’m someone who does NOT like having pictures taken of me without my permission. I also imagine plenty of other people feel the same way, and I get why some fans were upset by this scene. It doesn’t help that the screenplay contains this tidbit regarding Jonathan’s motivations:

This does hearken forward to what Robin later tells Steve in season 3 about how outcasts like herself still desire to be popular and normal (which is specifically associated thematically in the show with being accepted). As much as Jonathan has embraced the identity of outcast, I don’t think it’s completely out-of-character for him to want that as well, especially if it’s tied to being accepted for who he is. At the same time though, out of all the ways he could have expressed that, this was the worst way to go about it. Again, the reason I don’t hold it against him is because of his apology to Nancy, similar to how Steve would later apologize to Nancy and Jonathan for his behavior, and Lucas would apologize to El for his. Characters start out in a flawed way and go through an evolution. That’s how it works.

Speaking of Steve and Nancy………..

Part 3: The Pool Party

We get our introduction of Tommy and Carol in this episode, and I completely forgot that the first thing Tommy does is stick his finger in Barbara’s ear to be a dick. Charming. 😒 And you have Carol being snide to both Nancy and Jonathan. Lovely. 🙄

They say you are judged by the company you keep, and they take that principle and run with it here with Steve. Whenever Tommy and Carol are around, we see a callous side to Steve fueled by those two’s toxicity, and it’s not pleasant. I even question how much of the Pool Party was his idea vs Tommy and Carol’s who wanted the excuse to party hard and shack up in Steve’s huge house. It reminds me of Risky Business when the Tom Cruise character, Joel Goodsen (whom Steve shares parallels with) has his parents leave for a trip, and he's put in charge of watching over the house, all while his friends pressure him to exploit the opportunity to party and have sex. The big difference is while Joel’s friends try to help him once the shenanigans go over the top, Tommy and Carol would have left Steve out to dry. The pool party was for their benefit as opposed to Steve’s.

Steve’s line about how his mom is traveling with his dad because she doesn’t trust him makes me question what goes on in Steve’s family. We’ve never seen Steve’s parents (they don’t appear in The First Shadow either), so we have very little information to go on, but that line alone makes me wonder how much his dad’s cheating has impacted Steve. It reminds me of the fractured relationship between Ted and Karen, where emotions get suppressed and it’s hard for anyone to say they “love" someone because that entire marriage is NOT running on love. In Nancy and Mike’s case, they act like this is the norm, and we will see how it impacts their relationships with Steve and El in the future. In Steve’s case, I wouldn’t be shocked if he picked up the womanizing aspect from his dad. As for why his mom would stay with his dad if he was cheating on him………..there’s an episode of Freaks and Geeks (a show that was a big inspiration for Stranger Things) where one of the main characters, Neal, finds out his dad (whom he’s looked up to in the past) has been cheating on his mom. Angry and betrayed, he publicly lashes out at his dad through mean-spirited jokes at his expense during a party, and later flees to his room in tears. When his mom later goes to visit Neal to comfort him, it’s revealed she is aware of her husband’s infidelity, but is working to keep the peace, noting that it’s a complicated situation for the both of them. Given that Steve's mom hasn't divorced his dad yet, it's possible their situation and how they're handling it could be similar to Neal's parents.

I remember there was a period prior to season 4 where there was this idea in the fandom that Steve had actively gone out of his way to bully others, including Jonathan. I agree that there were instances of him being self-absorbed and dickishly insensitive, but I never got the impression from watching the show or reading the supplementary materials that he actively went out of his way to make others lives a living hell the way Billy and Angela did. Tommy was certainly guilty of that on a constant basis (something the Eddie Munson prequel Flight of Icarus explores), but the two instances Steve was antagonistic towards Jonathan (i.e. the camera incident and when he thought Nancy had cheated on him with Jonathan) had more to do with specific circumstnaces rather than getting his kicks making other people miserable like Angela did with El. Otherwise, his entire attitude towards Jonathan seemed rooted in indifference.

Like I’ve said, it’s not great, and I’m not surprised there were multiple characters like Robin, Keith, and Eddie who referred to Steve as an asshole and a douchebag (because that's the image he projected), but this isn’t the same thing as active maliciousness. We even see Steve get uncomfortable with Tommy when he makes a nasty joke about Jonathan killing Will, and Steve tells him to shut up, indicating he finds that inappropriate and crossing a line.

Speaking of projecting an image…..we see plenty of that at the pool party, with Steve smoking (which I don’t think he does again at any other point in the show) and shotgunning beer cans to impress Nancy and the other partygoers (with the exception of Barbara). Even his answering the door for Nancy and Barbara in dramatic fashion while “Raise a Little Hell” by Trooper plays in the background is a cliché unto itself. However, it’s noteworthy Nancy doesn’t seem bothered by this, and the exchange between her and Steve in that moment makes it clear she knows he’s purposefully being a cliché, but finds it amusing, which is why Steve continues with it.

In fact, if we look at Nancy’s behavior in this episode, it comes off less like she’s throwing herself at Steve (as the Montauk script depicts) and more like she’s thought this through and decided this is what she wants. Apart for Barbara, Nancy doesn’t particularly care for what Tommy and Carol think of her. We got hints of that in her discussion with Barbara in the previous episode, and we see it in the scene where she talks with Jonathan in front of them despite their snide comments about him.

This is a big reason I strongly disagree with the idea Nancy’s interest in Steve has anything to do with wanting his approval (or Tommy and Carol’s approval for that matter) or even elevating her social status in high school. She certainly didn’t give a damn about what they were thinking of her in this moment with Jonathan, or how it would look to others to be interacting with the local outcast. She genuinely felt bad for what Jonathan was going through and wanted to offer some words of comfort.

On top of that, she’s seen Steve without Tommy and Carol by his side enough times to recognize he is a different person without them around. She has enough intuition to trust that, even if she’s still navigating the way this relationship is going, there are desirable qualities in Steve beyond his good looks (in contrast to the Montauk script where she barely knew him and was only going by his good looks and charm). So her making the decision to have sex with Steve comes off less like she’s operating under pressure and more like she’s made the decision that this is what she wants, even against Barbara’s protests.

Speaking of Barbara, I’ve never understood this idea the fandom has perpetrated about how Barbara was worried over being left behind by Nancy to join the popular crowd.

First of all, if Barbara really pegged Nancy as that superficial, there is no way she would have remained friends with Nancy for so long.

Second, the idea of Barbara being jealous of Nancy climbing the social ladder comes in direct contrast with how she acts at the pool party. Barbara makes it clear at the beginning that she’s only there for Nancy because Nancy asked her to be, and doesn’t make the effort to socialize with anyone else there, all the while looking disgusted with Tommy and Carol and unamused at Steve showing off. That does NOT translate to jealousy. That sounds like someone who doesn’t want to be in the same room with these people. The only reason she even makes an effort at shotgunning a beer can (and getting a deep cut on her thumb that attracts the Demogorgon's attention) is because Nancy pressured her into doing so. This was not done because she gave a damn about impressing Steve or Tommy or Carol.

Third, Barbara’s concern for Nancy wanting to have sex with Steve isn’t entirely invalid, and it sure as hell does NOT constitute slut-shaming like some fans have framed it as. Barbara knows that Tommy and Carol are toxic people, and the fact that they’re hanging around Steve doesn’t make Steve look good. While she is interested in Nancy’s relationship with Steve (as we saw in the previous episode) it’s natural for her as a friend to be worried about whether Nancy is rushing into this too quickly, especially because Barbara doesn’t know Steve very well and has no clue how Steve is going to treat her. As we see in later episodes, some of her concerns were valid and others were not.

I get everyone is entitled to their opinions, but sometimes I wonder how much of these takes from fans are rooted in projection and bad-faith interpretations. 😒

I should quickly talk about the sex scene between Steve and Nancy, and how it was changed from the Montauk script from being a rape scene to consenual. I am fine with this change for several reasons:

I have never been a fan of shows that use rape as a plot device to drive another character’s arc (especially a female character). I have seen plenty of shows that have done this where it ends up going horribly wrong in the writing process and comes off as gratuitous, as well as enforcing the idea that this kind of trauma is necessary for a person to stop being naïve and grow up. Just…………YUCK! 🤮

 When it comes to the subject of rape, there are plenty of shows out there that try to tackle this subject and either end up being extremely tone-deaf, or perpetrate the rape culture aspects they were trying to avoid. True Blood. Game of Thrones. 13 Reasons Why. General Hospital. The Umbrella Academy. Even The Boys wasn’t immune from this: Contrast the somber way Starlight’s assault from The Deep is depicted on that show to how Hughie’s sexual assault and rape at the hands of Ted Knight and the shapeshifter in season 4 is handled. That's also including how The Boys showrunner, Eric Kripke, admitted that Hughie's assault was intended to be played for black comedy. There are so many pitfalls with this subject matter that it would have reflected badly on the show if the Duffer Brothers had fallen into them. There’s also the question of whether the Duffer Brothers had any interest in actually depicting Nancy’s trauma over being raped in a thoughtful intelligent manner, or if was simply a means of driving Nancy into Jonathan’s arms while glossing over the ramifications of what happened to her.

As I stated in the previous episode, changing Steve’s character not only improved him, but also improved Nancy and Barbara by extension. Steve’s motivations for wanting a relationship with Nancy become more complex than simply wanting “another notch under his belt,” Nancy’s crush on Steve is a lot less shallow and more about seeing through the image he projects and wanting to get to know the real Steve Harrington, and Barbara has more of a personality here where she’s caught between wanting to support Nancy but also being wary of Nancy’s relationship with Steve and this new side to Nancy that she’s seeing. She also isn’t someone who abandons Nancy like in the Montauk script, but is reluctant to leave Nancy at Steve's house alone (and only does so at Nancy’s insistence), making it much more heartbreaking when she’s later dragged into the Upside Down.

Part 4: Song Choices

We get a nice selection of songs in this episode, including the one that would become the signature song for season 1 and for both Will and Jonathan: “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash.

While The Clash has refused to assign meaning to the lyrics, especially in regards to whether those lyrics were in reference to events going on in the band at the time, my interpretation of the song is that it’s about someone in a relationship where they’re not sure if the other person wants them there, and is demanding a more direct answer about where they stand. “One day it’s fine and the next it’s black,” certainly gives the impression their relationship is tumultuous, and “this indecision is bugging me” makes it sound like both parties can’t agree on where to go from here. Ironically enough, it doesn't seem to apply at all to Jonathan and Will’s situation, where neither of them have been in a romantic relationship yet, and both brothers are supportive of one another in spite of their parents' messy divorce.

“Raise a Little Hell” by Trooper is played in the scene when Steve answers the door for Barabara and Nancy. Initially, the song seems to foreshadow that this is going to be a rumbustious party, but in comparison to the Montauk script, the party in this episode is tame. On top of that, the song itself really isn’t a party anthem, but a motivational one encouraging the listener to change their circumstances if they’re not happy about their situation and “raise a little hell” in the process. It's a big reason why it's been adopted as a sports anthem. Considering that Steve is an athlete himself, I'm not surprised he likes it.

“I Melt With You” by Modern English has always been a personal favorite of mine, and I was happy with its use in this episode. Despite being a dance song, the lyrics have a dark undertone to them, depicting two people falling in love as the world is coming to an end. It’s similar to Prince’s “1999” and R.E.M.’s “It’s the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)” where the singer has accepted the inevitability of their world being screwed, and is more content with living in the moment rather than worrying about what can’t be changed. In the context of this episode, with a group partying while (unbeknownst to them) the Upside Down is beginning to leak into Hawkins, and even claims one of the attendees later on (Barbara), the song is appropriate for that scene.

Finally, we have “Hazy Shade of Winter,” by The Bangles, which plays when Nancy and Steve have sex for the first time.

This was a remix of one of Simon and Garfunkel’s songs from the 60s, and while I like the original, I’m a bigger fan for The Bangles version. It has a very eerie tone to it, dealing with regret and the passage of time over the seasons as the singer lambasts about opportunities and hopes slipping away. It’s not exactly an uplifting song to be playing during what’s supposed to be a romantic moment, and given what happens to Barbara the same time Nancy is consummating her relationship with Steve, it’s dark foreshadowing for the guilt she’s going to be feeling later on over Barbara’s death.

Final Thoughts:

One more thing I wanted to mention before closing out this review is the poster of The Dark Crystal in Mike’s bedroom:

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film set on a distant world that, while once green and fertile, has become desolate and corrupted due to a fracturing of the eponymous Crystal, which has created two different races: the Skeksis, who act as the tyrannical rulers of the planet, and the Mystics, who act in opposition to them. The main plot deals with a Gelfling named Jen who is tasked by the Mystics to retrieve the broken shard of the crystal and return it to the original source, thereby bringing balance and stability to their world. All the while, he’s brought into conflict with the Skeksis, who killed his parents in the past, and want to use the crystal for their own selfish desires.

Given Mike’s love for fantasy, I’m not surprised this is a favorite movie of his. However, I’m curious if the themes and story of that movie could have been used by the Duffer Brothers as inspiration for how they mapped out the Upside Down.

I remember having a theory back in season 3 that the Upside Down was once a prosperous world before the Mind Flayer showed up and turned it into its personal hellhole. While I still think that’s true to some extent, there’s also the question regarding why this dimension, which was depicted as a hellscape when Vecna arrived, and even before when the USS Eldridge was transported to it in 1943, suddenly replicated the exact image of Hawkins and the rest of Earth the night El opened the gate and Will disappeared: November 6th, 1983. This has been presented by season 4 and The First Shadow as an anomaly that hasn’t been explained yet, and could possibly have connections to Will’s disappearance.

In regards to how this ties back to The Dark Crystal, is it possible the Upside Down may have been “a green and fertile land” at one point, like the planet in said movie, before some catastrophic event happened that threw that world into chaos and desolation? Just like with the Skeksis, the Mind Flayer is taking advantage of the situation to impose its rule, but maybe that tyranny has been upset somehow by Will’s arrival, similar to how Jen’s quest in the movie threatens the Skeksis’s hold on power. There’s also how the Skeksis are responsible for the creation of the Garthim, which involved using the dark crystal to splice different species together and turning the resulting creatures into their personal attack dogs, as well as creating crystal bats which act as their spies in the sky. Likewise, it's possible that the Mind Flayer, through its own power, may have been responsible for twisting, or even creating, the inhabitants of the Upside Down to become Demogorgons, Demobats, and other hideous monsters that serve it.

The only difference I see has to do with how the main antagonists are dealt with:

In the movie, there’s an established connection between the Skeksis and the Mystics, where the death of one results in the death of the other they are connected to. Skeksis are essentially the worst aspects of their former counterparts, the urSkeks, in contrast to the Mystics which represent their positive aspects. They are one being split into two extreme animated personalities. As the movie reveals, the solution isn’t killing the Skeksis, but healing the crystal to allow the two parts to reunite.

In the show, they have not introduced a positive counterpart to the Mind Flayer (at least not yet), and since the Mind Flayer is interconnected with every part of the Upside Down (including Vecna), there’s a real chance its permanent destruction would result in the total annihilation of the Upside Down (similar to how Sauron’s downfall led to the destruction of Mordor in Lord of the Rings). While they could go this route in season 5, the names for the last two episodes (i.e. “The Bridge” and “The Rightside Up”) imply that dealing with the Mind Flayer and the Upside Down is more centered on fixing something that’s broken between the two worlds, similar to fixing the crystal in the movie, which could be the key to permanently defeating the Mind Flayer instead. Just like with Jen, that could be Will’s role in this story for season 5.

And to officially close out this review, this is what I ended up getting for my birthday! 🥰

[algernoninwonderland]

Revisited “Amok Time” for the first time in at least a decade and it’s truly an insane episode, from the gratuitous top surgery to Spock smiling and calling Kirk “Jim” (which made me grin so hard). It’s kind of the best.

A lot of TOS isn’t nearly weird enough, it often feels like a cheaper Twilight Zone (not that I love it any less for that), but there’s no wonder why this episode is remembered so fondly.

[askmovieslate]

John Carpenter originally called this the ending to his Doomsday Trilogy, which was preceded by The Thing and Prince of Darkness. This may be controversial, but this is my favorite one of the three, yes even more than The Thing.

It's wonderfully meta and the acting is stellar, also at barely 80 minutes long the movie feels like the absolute best Twilight Zone episode ever made. Jordan Peele dreams he could make something as effective as this movie.

It's super depressing and kinda goofy, so be aware of it before going into it.

[forthegothicheroine]

Most Fallout-ish Twilight Zone episodes

Possibly for an audience of exactly me, but here they are. Doing my best to give pitches without spoilers!

Time Enough at Last- There might be an upside to a nuclear war.

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street- Who is the inhuman saboteur in a small town?

The Lateness of the Hour- A family staffs their home entirely with robots.

A Quality of Mercy- Ever wonder about the soldiers on the opposite side of the war?

The Shelter- Only one person in a friend group has a fallout shelter. Things get worse from there.

One More Pallbearer- A fallout shelter has some sadistic conditions.