Words. We seemingly have agreed in someway that all words have a standardized meaning. We see the word "cat" and mostly agree what the concept of cat is, even if we see a different breed or type, we all understand that cat is cat.
Horse
This episode of 1985 version of "The Twilight Zone" takes us to the idea of what if.. words just sandwich faced ham pickled glued. I apologize in advance, I'm going to make this post very weird.
Our look comes from segment "a" of the very second episode of the series called "Word Play". Word Play was written by Wes Craven. He also did the both segments of the first episode, he was busy here.
This episode delves in to the idea of what if you just ended up not being understand anyone anymore. (When you become 40 and can't understand anyone 20 years old anymore) Since this is also from the 1985 series it's not a long segment either. I actually did think, as I watched it, that it was either the main character's dream , or something that had to do with his son being sick. It was not.
Our main character is named Bill Lowery (played by Robert Klein) he's a salesman. His company has ended up switching to selling medical supply products. He's been learning the words, and hasn't been sleeping well. His wife (played by Annie Potts) at least seems understanding, there's also their son who seems to be a little sick.
Uh oh, he's sick on a TV show? That's bad / Copyright Paramount
A great touch in this episode is how it throws in details that aren't right and you have catch them or are more noticeable in rewatch. When Bill is shaving you hear the radio announcer go "Friday, Saturday, Sun Flower". Bill doesn't notice since he was concentrating on his shaving and learning the medical supply terms. It's a great touch because the viewer might not notice easily too, since Sun Flower and Sunday sound close. Also when the wife says "Dr. Bumper" and he goes "Is that really his name?" it actually doesn't stand out that much until watching the episode and going hmm maybe that was a sign? Then Bill goes outside and there's his neighbor whose dog is an encyclopedia breed had puppies.
Then at bacon ranch [work]. Bill does start to notice things getting weirder. I like how the word "dinosaur" is what throws him into a spiral. He's like what is dinosaur? --Lunch--. At some point, the viewer will end up like Bill and start to not understand anything that's being said either, we will soon join the madness. That sets him off even more when his wife says dinosaur too. "What does lunch have to do with anything?" is my favorite Tina Turner song cover.
The episode ends up just being a man slowly losing his mind at what's going on, and the viewers probably being very cucumber too. This must have been a fun episode to write, though. It doesn't feel like random words were being used, there's an order and structure here that makes it feel like language but words changed, instead of just random nonsense.
No, I'm voting for Finkle Mc Lunchman.
Bill's son is now sick. Will Bill's worry about Donnie, his frustration is high while this is happening at the same time. This episode really is kind of horrifying in a way it's not like a monster or a scary person, it's just the fact that the simplest thing people do is talk to each other and Bill can't even talk to people and they can't understand him. It also might be like what English sounds like to non-English speakers. It's unsettling, especially when Donnie is really sick. This is something, in a way, that could happen for real in different ways, including medical. It's an uncomfortable episode. I feel for poor Bill.
Donnie will live! We can't have an episode cause a man to lose all sense of understand and then kill his kid, that'd be too much. The part where he prays and thanks God again is really human moment and well acted. I like Bill's character in this episode. He's not bad guy, he wasn't even the kind of workaholic character, he was just over spending his time trying to learn the new medical stuff, but he comes for lunch to see his wife and son. He's not a bad guy, it makes it more impactful.
At home, he goes to his son's room and decides to use one of the picture books to figure out some of these words and how they work now. It ends with him learning about many people's favorite pet, the Wednesday, cute furry creatures that go woof.
I've seen some different thoughts on this episode on what it could be about. Like it could be about an guy in a changing world not understanding the world anymore. The ending does make it feel like that could be a very clue to that being what the episode was going for. It might be like our current time and generations before not really understanding each other in the world. It also fits a little better than the idea of it being like a medical condition, but I don't dislike that idea either.
I think it's a strong episode, it does a good job at making the viewer feel confused and unsettled, while being a bit funny. The idea of everything being the same but then you can't understand anything is really a scary concept even more than a present danger. It's good episode, very strong.
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