After months of mystery, Jordan Peele’s reboot of The Twilight Zone finally hit our screens last week. The two episodes may have been a “safer” bet than some were hoping but, overall, I can confidently say The Twilight Zone is BACK. And, with that return also comes the return of the secrets and details often hidden in episodes. A lot of details are impossible to catch the first time around and if you don’t have the time to sit down and re-watch the episodes, never fear Def Pen has got you covered. Every episode this season, we’re going to be doing a deep-dive, combing through scene-by-scene to discover anything Peele and Co. may have hidden in plain sight. This week though, we’ll be pulling double duty for the double-sized premiere. First up, ‘The Comedian’
‘The Comedian’
In this episode, Kumail Nanjiani plays Samir, a struggling comedian who learns the secret to success from an older, famous comedian. That comes at a price though as Samir loses everything he talks about on stage. Ultimately, he chooses to erase himself instead of making his girlfriend disappear.
The episode opens on this shot of the mural. It obviously hints at the final reveal of the episode but, if you look closely, there’s an easter egg hidden here. Some of the faces are disfigured into strange shapes that resemble the same faces seen in two classic Twilight Zone ‘The Masks’ and ‘Eye Of The Beholder.’
Both episodes feature someone named ‘Donner’ in one way or another. This is a neat reference to Richard Donner, a director on the original Twilight Zone series.
It seems like Samir’s contacts all reference older Twilight Zone episodes and characters. Herny Corwin from ‘Night of the Meek,’ Peter Corrigan from ‘Back There,’ Al Denton from ‘Mr. Denton on Doomsday,’ and Al Cadwallader from ‘Escape Clause’ just to name a few. This easter egg was found by Reddit user, P-terson.
Henry Corwin from “Night of the Meek”, Peter Corrigan from “Back There”, Al Denton from “Mr. Denton on Doomsday”, Al Cadwallader from “Escape Clause”, James Corry from “The Lonely”, James Embry from “King Nine Will Not Return”
It’s somewhat hard to read in this shot but DiDi, another comic at the club with Samir can be seen drinking ‘Kanamit’ brand beer. This is a reference to the alien race of the same name in the episode titled, ‘To Serve Man.’
This moment isn’t really an easter egg but a cool foreshadowing to the end of the episode. It’s never explicitly stated that the people Samir erases become a part of the mural but, considering his final fate, it’s all but confirmed. And this alludes to that when his girlfriend mentions that everyone else is “just background to him.”
I don’t know if these count as easter eggs or not but the two shots are probably my favorite of the entire episode. Its nothing groundbreaking but both shots show the characters are firmly in the Twilight Zone.
This easter egg is a deep cut for Zone fans. Its barely visible in the scene and this screenshot but on the right side of the frame sits a ventriloquist dummy. Now, I’m not sure who it belongs to now but it’s very clearly Willie from the iconic episode ‘The Dummy.’
And finally, how could Jordan Peele be involved without at least one reference to The Shining. Samir appearing in the mural is an obvious reference to the ending of that film.
‘Nightmare at 30,000 Feet’
So, in a way, this entire episode is a reference unto itself since it’s a reimagining of the classic episode: ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.’ Adam Scott stars as Justin, an investigative journalist who finds out some disturbing news about the flight he’s on. Throughout the episode, he repeatedly tries to warn the flight crew but his pleas fall on deaf ears. In the end, his efforts to ‘save’ the plane are ironically what causes the crash. After which the other passengers and flight crew brutally mob him on the beach, killing him.
This easter egg pulls double duty and hints at a future episode as well as an older one. In the first shot, Jacob Tremblay is visible as the child he is set to play in an episode later this season. Then, in the second shot, we actually see Samir’s face from the last episode on a magazine.
Here’s another deep cut. Whipple is the same company from the episode, ‘The Brain Center at Whipple’s.’ It seems like they’re still out there messing around with the Twilight Zone so, maybe they’ll show up later this season.
This shot comes from Jordan Peele’s narrator intro. It’s not really anything big but, wherever he’s at matches the island the episode ends on. Not really an easter egg but, a sly bit of foreshadowing.
There are also a few references hidden in the podcast itself. First, flight 22 is mentioned, referencing the episode ‘Twenty-Two.’ Then, Global Airlines Flight 107 is name-dropped, referencing another episode, ‘The Arrival.’
He’s not wearing a name tag in this scene but this is Captain Donner. Also known as this episode’s Richard Donner reference.
Ok, so this one isn’t hidden too well but it’s a reference to the episode this one is based on, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. In 20,000 Feet, a young William Shatner is terrorized by the creature above as it tears apart the plane’s wing and hides from other passengers.
This easter egg doesn’t actually reference any Twilight Zone episodes. Instead, it references the man behind it all: Rod Sterling. Peele is seen wearing a paratrooper’s bracelet, honoring Sterling’s service as a paratrooper before making the original series. Reddit user, TheScimitar noticed this one.
The Twilight Zone is available exclusively on CBS All-Access.
