We've not looked at an episode of the 2002 Twilight Zone series since 2016, with a look at a sequel episode of the 1959 series "It's a Good Life", we are back with a look at the 2002 series that ran one season on UPN (America's favorite network!. So anyway, the best way to look at this is why not start from the very first episode? That's right, "Evergreen".
The episode starts with a family moving into a new gated community and the episode is focused on a teenager who has dyed hair, nose ring and stuff that was to scare early 2000's parents. The father, Mr. Winslow, is annoyed with his older daughter and feels that she needs to not act this way. There's also a noticeable look to the neighborhood where the kids are in uniforms for example. (It's going to be one of those episodes huh?)
I don't even know/ Copyright Paramount
It's morning and the girl notices that her nose ring is gone, her hairs is not dyed, her tattoos are gone (Usually those don't go away overnight, ) her CD's are gone too, anyway she's angry and yells at her parents and her sister had to take out her earrings. The head of the homeowners' association is at the house and tells Jenna, the girl, that her parents gave up almost everything for them to be there. (Which I think how most terms of service go for things too) The idea is to have them be in a safe world.
The true moral is that homeowners' associations are bad/ Copyright Paramount
Jenna thinks about running away, but a boy from the neighborhood, named Logan tells her it's hard to get away. (Maybe it's a trick, it might be a trick, I think it might be a trick) Later on, she's outside and waiting for Logan and sees that he was taken away and zapped. The next day, they tell her he attacked a security guard with a hunting knife. Jenna is suspicious about this place when she founds out the military school they threaten kids with doesn't exist. Logan is seen again being sent on a truck that says ARCADIA on the front. There's also a meeting that was going on at the same time where I think they decide that kids die when they aren't conforming to their system.
Jenna runs home and tells her sister, Jules, that what she saw and that's she leaving, and later tells her sister where's going to be and later the sister turns her in and she gets put into an ARCADIA truck.
This episode is a standard "creepy" and authoritarian dystopia story. The thing that makes it work a little more here is that it's parents who are willing to sign away everything to have their kids conform to a perfection. I think the other thing that gets me is the ending because of how close the sisters seemed to be, it makes it more surprising what happens. The episode leaves good clues of what happens to those don't conform that makes a good thing to see in hindsight.
Being the first episode of a new "Twilight Zone" series it has a lot to live on and it's an alright episode. The hard thing it has going for it is that these kind of stories aren't as new as they were in the original series time and it's hard to be really creative with it, but it does work, the twist was still a surprising one, and it works that reveal in well, the episode had some mystery to keep investment.
Anyway, that's it for now, tune in next time when we wonder who is our mulch.
