episode #02, segment 1: Wordplay
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episode #02, segment 1: Wordplay
#2a: WORDPLAY: written by Rockne S. O'Bannon; Directed by Wes Craven
A shifting of reality takes place here, again challenging our notions on what reality really is. Is it - reality - really solid, unwavering, or is it subject to changes without a moment's notice? Maybe we don't even know it when it shifts; if we did, we'd be in the same boat as the perplexed main character here, played by Robert Klein.
Klein plays Bill Lowery, a salesman for a corporation. As it happens, using words - language - is an important part of his work. He's married, with a young son. The shift in reality begins subtly, almost imperceptibly. One morning, his wife mentions the name of their new doctor, "Bumper," which sounds a bit odd, but Bill doesn't give it another thought. Later, his neighbor refers to his dog like an "encyclopedia." This sounds odder to Bill, but he needs to focus on his job.
However, these odd moments start to pile up, as in when a work associate says "dinosaur" instead of the word "lunch." By this point, Bill is getting nervous and a little angry, especially when his wife (Annie Potts) also refers to "dinosaur" when speaking about their son's eating habits. His first thought is that everyone is playing a cruel joke on him, but that's a bit insane, isn't it? (My first theory, after I watched this, was that Bill had shifted into a parallel dimension - a world much like our own but with a different language; these cosmic imbalances happen once in awhile, but, hey, that's just me).
This episode is very effective due to, in no small way, Klein's excellent performance; known mostly for his comedic roles, Klein nails every scene here, projecting the confusion and then despair that informs his scenes. And, the steady erosion of Bill's world is done with panache, in a very well-executed fashion - this is almost perfectly paced. This rearranging of reality is what the Twilight Zone is best known for, as in such episodes as Person or Persons Unknown and A World of a Difference on the old show. BoG's Score: 8 out of 10
A shifting of reality takes place here, again challenging our notions on what reality really is. Is it - reality - really solid, unwavering, or is it subject to changes without a moment's notice? Maybe we don't even know it when it shifts; if we did, we'd be in the same boat as the perplexed main character here, played by Robert Klein.
Klein plays Bill Lowery, a salesman for a corporation. As it happens, using words - language - is an important part of his work. He's married, with a young son. The shift in reality begins subtly, almost imperceptibly. One morning, his wife mentions the name of their new doctor, "Bumper," which sounds a bit odd, but Bill doesn't give it another thought. Later, his neighbor refers to his dog like an "encyclopedia." This sounds odder to Bill, but he needs to focus on his job.
However, these odd moments start to pile up, as in when a work associate says "dinosaur" instead of the word "lunch." By this point, Bill is getting nervous and a little angry, especially when his wife (Annie Potts) also refers to "dinosaur" when speaking about their son's eating habits. His first thought is that everyone is playing a cruel joke on him, but that's a bit insane, isn't it? (My first theory, after I watched this, was that Bill had shifted into a parallel dimension - a world much like our own but with a different language; these cosmic imbalances happen once in awhile, but, hey, that's just me).
__
As strange as his day has been so far, things get much worse for Bill. By the time he gets back to work, he understands almost none of the words / sentences spoken by other people around him. His own name has been changed to 'Thunder Hinge' based on all documentation and everything is incomprehensible to him. How awful such a situation can be is really delineated when his son gets sick; now, the family which depends on him is in serious danger because he is unable to communicate with doctors and so on. This episode is very effective due to, in no small way, Klein's excellent performance; known mostly for his comedic roles, Klein nails every scene here, projecting the confusion and then despair that informs his scenes. And, the steady erosion of Bill's world is done with panache, in a very well-executed fashion - this is almost perfectly paced. This rearranging of reality is what the Twilight Zone is best known for, as in such episodes as Person or Persons Unknown and A World of a Difference on the old show. BoG's Score: 8 out of 10
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