We've looked at an episode of the 2002 version of "The Twilight Zone" already so, I guess it's time to take a look at an episode of the 1985 series. The 1985 series ran for 3 seasons , 2 on CBS and 1 in the golden age of first run syndication. The episodes were an hour long (with commercials) and usually broken up into 2 or segments. We are taking a look at one of those segments and from the first episode. This one called "A Little Peace and Quiet"
This episode stars Melinda Dillon (who you may remember from "A Christmas Story") as a housewife who defiantly is over worked and stressed. It starts with her hectic morning with her three daughter , son, and husband. Everything seems to be going wrong and the narrator asks wouldn't it be nice to have everyone just shut up , if you had the power would you use it?
"Hmm I could kill them all right now"
That will be are plot : I think either our main character kills her family or gets a special power to make her not hear people anymore. (the title implies so many things) A little later that day, she gardens and when digging holes in the yard she finds a box in the hole and of course she opens it and finds a little necklace with a medallion on it. She goes in the house and puts it on. The rest of her day goes bad still because why not? (Bet you she wishes her biggest problem was a leg lamp) Penny continues to be annoyed by her kids and husband (one of her daughters cry over spilled mil) so she decides to tell everyone to shut up and they do. They froze in time.
"Hey the listened too me , it must be magic"
Penny is surprised by this (If this was a different show , I would have been more surprised, because I thought she was going to murder them). She figures out that the necklace has magical time control powers. Having these powers means she can have a little fun with them. I do notice something in the background of this they are tidbits of news media reporting on I guess USA and Russia relations , I didn't mention it at first , I thought it was just being a time piece but honestly it appears a couple more times and it seems to be part of the episode in some way. The morning she decides to have breakfast with her family frozen so it's a little peace and quiet.
They are stuck in the 80's
I am kind of sad that she doesn't move things around or something that would be what I'd expect but alright. When she's at the grocery store she uses her new power to umm get the last box of a cereal her kids wanted away from another woman and sticks money in a man's mouth to pay for the stuff she got. (at least she didn't use her powers for evil?) Then checks out a man. (what?)
Umm what's going on here?
Two folks from non pop the people who want to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, Penny says she doesn't want to attend their debate. The man from Non Pop tries to get her to care about the subject but instead she freezes time and drags the the woman and man on to her yard. (then kills them?) They get surprised as to how they are on the ground and run away. A little later on the Soviets have released a missile and nuclear war between the US and Russia has started. This silly episode about a woman wanting some quiet and getting some magic time powers has really gotten dark. I guess the episode was foreshadowing though. Then she yells shut up multiple times and freezes everything. Penny wanders through the frozen town where all the cars and people are jumbled up and there's a giant missile frozen in the sky. The end.
The first episode all together , including "Shatterday" and this one were directed by Wes Craven , so I am really surprised he didn't have Penny killing her entire family. Much like the original series this segment was harking back to the worries of nuclear weapons and the arms race between the United States and Russia, (the cold war was long enough that it spans two Twilight Zone series 20 years apart.) It also harks back to episodes of the original series about stopping time , wanting peace and quiet (you know the episode with the man who just wants to read his book) , and episodes about nukes.
There's also this :
I see what you did there.
Now the episode leaves before we know if Penny made a decision to end the world or live alone for the rest of her life in quiet while everyone else is frozen but the world is saved.
