Can the arrival of aliens on Earth with seemingly altruistic intentions be trusted? Or is it a Trojan Horse, ready for the fitting second to launch an ambush? That is the elemental query requested by “To Serve Man,” which is taken into account probably the most hard-hitting episodes of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone.” When this episode aired on CBS in 1962, Serling’s present had already established itself as an anthology collection with quick, twisty episodes about supernatural or psychological phenomena that stemmed from the titular Twilight Zone. The unique “Twilight Zone” TV present is steeped in each wealthy, compelling storytelling and a deep sense of nostalgia, and this combine is hard to recapture or replicate right this moment. Nevertheless, Jordan Peele took the initiative to take action along with his 2019 “Twilight Zone” revival, which ran for 2 seasons and featured some intriguing episodic premises.
Peele’s strategy to the property was a measured one. Thematically, his model of “The Twilight Zone” was designed as a direct response to the problems we face within the present-day, but its finest particular person episodes nonetheless felt timeliness. Nevertheless, Peele additionally understood that it was unattainable to divorce the revival from the unique collection’ legacy, which is why he and his fellow creatives actively paid their respects to it. Because of this, the revival included loads of Easter Eggs referencing traditional episodes from Serling’s “Twilight Zone,” and even went as far as to explicitly remake/pay homage to at least one significantly well-known installment with “Nightmare at 30,000 Ft.” This proved to be a double-edged sword, as Peele’s “Twilight Zone” revival proved controversial for the best way it blended nostalgic appreciation with impressed reinvention.
Along with re-imaging episodes, Peele’s “Twilight Zone” revival additionally featured a “To Serve Man” sequel helmed by none aside from writer-director Osgood Perkins (who is aware of a factor or two about constructing and sustaining concern in horror-coded tales). However so as to higher perceive Perkins’ sequel episode, “You May Additionally Like,” we have to speak just a little extra about its predecessor first.
The Twilight Zone’s To Serve Man delivered an unforgettable twist
Spoilers for “To Serve Man” and its sequel, “You May Additionally Like,” to observe.
Serling’s opening narration for “To Serve Man” introduces the Kanamits, an alien race with beings over 9 ft and of unknown origin, who arrive on Earth throughout turbulent instances. After the United Nations intervene, the Kanamit declare their intentions benevolent and voice their willingness to resolve Earth’s meals and vitality crises by sharing superior know-how developed by their species. Regardless of their preliminary wariness, the folks and governments of the world begin to chill out as soon as a e book the aliens left behind is deciphered as being titled “To Serve Man.” Over time, the Kanamits terraform Earth into huge, pure stretches, remedy international points, and assist dissolve all navy forces. Nevertheless, the phantasm of this utopia is shattered when the actual intentions of the Kanamit are made identified in among the finest “Twilight Zone” twist endings ever: “To Serve Man” just isn’t some altruistic manifesto, it’s really a cookbook.
“To Serve Man” unfolds via the eyes of Michael Chambers (Lloyd Bochner), a cryptographer tasked with deciphering the e book left behind by the Kanamits. Chambers represents a worrying human impulse: sloth, mixed with the perennial refusal to suppose past self-serving needs. He’s horrible at his job (an professional in doing completely nothing whereas pretending to do so much) and is extra obsessive about incomes a ticket to the Kanamit dwelling planet for leisure functions. By the point another person does his job for him and interprets the e book, although, it’s too late. Michael’s carelessness has price humanity every part; the folks of Earth will quickly develop into tasty little treats for an alien race who have been basically fattening pigs earlier than the slaughter.
The episode’s pun-reliant twist is of the identical selection because the well-known Hannibal Lecter line “I am having an outdated pal for dinner,” though the “Twilight Zone” makes it work by contrasting Michael’s darkly ironic destiny with the strain accompanying the upcoming twist. So, how does Perkins reinterpret the Kanamit story in a sequel that sees the return of those conniving creatures?
Oz Perkins’ Twilight Zone sequel incorporates humor with blended outcomes
Perkins, who has directed bangers like “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” and “Longlegs,” is aware of learn how to take advantage of out of understated anxieties that linger on the fringe of human consciousness. In “You May Additionally Like,” this factor is current all through, the place Perkins focuses on the smug apathy that the Kanamits exhibit within the authentic, bolstered by their (perceived) superiority over humanity. Nevertheless, the episode utterly leans into the absurd humor of the Serling episode, taking issues a mile additional with ironic product placements that underline humanity’s obsession with devices they don’t want (however suppose will repair every part). Right here, an prosperous lady named Janet (Gretchen Mol) suspects that one thing is amiss after she loses time and has reminiscence voids, and the arrival of an marketed Egg heralds the return of the Kanamits on Earth.
Whereas “To Serve Man” focuses on the failure of the human race to anticipate its break, “You May Additionally Like” satirizes rampant consumerism and the way it prevents the plenty from recognizing essentially the most blatant ethical traps. The Kanamits within the authentic episode employed guile to deceive the neatest folks on Earth and performed the lengthy sport to lure humanity right into a false sense of inaction. Within the sequel, such elaborate planning just isn’t mandatory, because the Kanamits can merely leverage late-stage capitalism to additional their targets. One merely has to model their queen’s Eggs as the following most coveted product that may drastically enhance everybody’s lives. The why and the how is irrelevant when one thing so “life-changing” is 50 p.c off.
The reception to Perkins’ strategy was blended, and it’s admittedly a fairly alienating episode. Whereas it was an objectively higher option to not undertake a self-serious perspective for a sequel to a traditional “Twilight Zone” episode, the tongue-in-cheek nature of the story feels skin-deep. There was a possibility to dive deeper into the hyperlink between inconsiderate consumerism and self-worth, how “being blissful” is commonly a hole efficiency for an viewers, and the way hobbies are continuously incentivized. Who’re we even performing for? For higher or worse, the episode affords no solutions. As a substitute, it merely ridicules our dependence on “The Egg,” which guarantees to make every part okay once more. After all, it would not.
