Last week’s episode of The Twilight Zone reboot was a sort of hit or miss, you either loved it or hated it. (Personally, I loved it.) This week won’t blow you away by any means but so far it’s been largely well-received. ‘A Traveler’ steers into the weirdness, dread, and humor of the best classic Twilight Zone episodes. While it may be a bit predictable, it’s still got great acting and incredible cinematography. And, in all fairness, a little bit of predictability never hurt anyone.
If you missed last week’s episode, or just need a refresher, check out our recap for that here.
‘A Traveler’
In this episode, Marika Sila stars as Sgt. Yuka Mongoyak of the Alaska State Troopers. The episode opens on Christmas Eve as Yuka is taking her intoxicated brother Jack to the Iglaak, Alaska State Trooper outpost to put him in jail. Yuka explains that the Captain, Lane Pendelton (Greg Kinnear), is pretty full of himself though and every year on Christmas he likes to pardon one person in the jail. Luckily for Jack, he’s the only one in there and will likely be out within the hour.
Yuka arrives in the office as the party starts. There are a few pleasantries shared before Capt. Pendelton decides it’s time for a speech. He sends Yuka to get Jack but when she arrives he is sound asleep in his cell. In the adjacent cell though there is a mysterious stranger (Steven Yeun). The stranger identifies himself as A. Traveler and starts to blow smoke up Pendelton’s ass. He convinces the Captain to pardon him instead of Jack and is allowed out into the party. Yuka isn’t convinced though and starts to investigate while everyone else gets to know the new guest.
Yuka’s search turns up nothing as the traveler is the life of the party. He sings and jokes and drinks with the rest of the people but Yuka still knows something’s not right. But, she tries to enjoy herself anyway. During that time, the power goes out for a moment before the traveler seemingly restarts it himself, although no one notices that. After a while, Yuka reminds Pendelton about Jack and they decide to pardon him as well. The traveler stops them though, claiming Jack stole tools from the station and an officer goes to check out his car across town.
Meanwhile, the traveler claims to know about everyone in the office and begins sharing. Things go south quickly as he starts revealing hidden business deals and personal struggles, causing the room to erupt into chaos. Pendelton stays on top of it though and shuts the party down before things get out of hand. After everyone’s left he and Yuka question the traveler who continues to provoke to the two. The Captain eventually has enough and locks the traveler back in jail. While there, the two officers see what look like antennae coming out of the travelers head.
This prompts the two to pull their weapons on him. He claims they were only shadows but when the officers refuse to believe that he starts revealing information about Pendelton. Supposedly, the Captain sold out sensitive information to the Russians that would allow them to invade easily by shutting down the power grid to the nearby airbase. He leaves Yuka to watch the traveler while he goes to the power station. While alone, the traveler tries to convince Yuka that she would be well-served as the Captain of the precinct instead of Pendelton. He also refers to how she’d be working for ‘them,’ which she incorrectly takes to mean the Russians.
Yuka hurries out to stop Pendelton as the traveler waits outside his cell. A few cells down, Jack asks to be let out so he can get a slice of pie. Once he’s out, the traveler reveals his true extraterrestrial form and Jack wonders if things would be better with them in charge. Meanwhile, Yuka arrives at the power station and tries to arrest Pendelton as she still believes the Russians are invading. The two argue a little but are cut short by lights overhead. They look up to see dozens of UFOs in the sky invading Earth. Back at the jail, Jack sits with a newly transformed traveler as the two enjoy a slice of pie together.
Next up Jacob Tremblay is ‘The Wunderkind.’
The Twilight Zone is available exclusively on CBS All-Access.
