Try, Try

If are watching this expecting a groundhog day type story arc, then you better throw that idea out.

This episode is about the toxic "nice guy", but with no resolution, story arc, or twist for either of the main characters.

Brilliant take on the concept, maybe even the most believable take I've seen. Great casting really lends to the scenes with characters connecting and the juxtaposition of those characters completely disconnecting. Addressing concepts like entitlement, consent, morality and immortality.

This is one of those episodes that makes you missi the original series or the one from the '80s. It's just one more politiced episode. "Men are pigs and mistreat women". If I want to see something like this, I go watch a drama. They are raping and distorting the twlight zone.

Season 1 tried hard with the message-heavy episodes, but sometimes spectacularly failed to deliver a good story, too. Season 2 seems to have mastered the art, and pretty much all the episodes have had really good stories. This one certainly did. It takes a much-loved sci-fi trope and conceals it perfectly, so that it's quite far into the tale before you're clued in to what is really happening. And then the script goes on to make some points very relevant to the world we live in today. Exactly what The Twilight Zone should do.

I don't believe the writers of this New TTZ have any grasp of the subjects they're trying to portray. It's pretty clear that they're only paying lip service to today's social issues when in S1 you have a character berating herself for using the word "crazy" when referring to a life or death situation but then in S2 when it comes to portraying characters with mental health issues, they can't go past monochrome morality that was outdated even in Rod Serling's time.

A deconstruction of the classic Groundhog Day story where the main character goes down a rabbit hole of obsession and unrequited love can be interesting if it's delivered effectively onscreen. Sadly, Topher Grace's character is neither empathetic nor menacing enough to have any impact on the viewer and the time loop is there only as window dressing.

This whole episode plays out like a date gone wrong or a SNL sketch about male feminists and the takeaway message is that if you gave something a fair shot and it didn't work out for you, it's ok to move on. That's a lesson that all of us "Classic TTZ" fans should heed.