The Twilight Zone
SPOILERS for The Twilight Zone season 2 , episode 8 , “ A Small Town ”
The Twilight Zoneseason 2 delivers a parable about government and great power in episode 8 , “ A Small Town ” . The episode rivet on Jason ( Damon Wayans Jr. ) , a resident of Littleton and the husband of the town ’s former mayor , Trina . In the first step minutes of “ A Small Town ” , viewers learn that Trina buy the farm a class ago . Jason has been quiet struggle with his life-time ever since then , but his luck promptly shifts when he stumbles upon a sorcerous replication of Littleton . If he changes anything about the replica , no matter how major or minor , the literal townspeople of Littleton is change in the accurate same way . Jason first realizes that he possesses this strange power when he spatter the replica with water , which at the same time induce rain to swarm down outside his window .
Jason give himself a clear authorisation at first . Hidden away from public persuasion , with no one else knowing what he ’s now equal to of , Jason ready the thing that the occupier of Littleton have been griping about : he repaints the local dining car in a fresh newfangled color , he takes caution of little nuisances such as potholes and old trees . Jason even add together an eye - catching mansion in an effort to draw new visitant to the townspeople , potentially goosing up touristry . As often is the cause withThe Twilight Zone , it ’s unclear how the primary grapheme end up in such an unusual situation . But there are suggestion , in the script written by Steven Barnes & Tananarive Due , that Jason is in the heart of some sort of divine test .
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The test is complicated by the fact that everything Jason does to the replica , every secret melioration , seems to be avail the election prospects of Mayor Conley ( David Krumholtz ) . In the line of succession after Trina ’s decease , Conley is a two - look politician that bullies residents he does n’t wish . Throughout the sequence , Jason struggles with the question of whether to stop improving his replication since that would mean facilitate Conley as well .
“ A Small Town ” show how absolute power is a serious weapon regardless of who end up wielding it . Ultimately , Jason decides to sabotage the replication in an effort to sabotage Conley ’s probability of remaining in office . Unlike in its first time of year , and perhaps as a response to criticism , “ A Small Town ” avoids any blatant references to the current political and social landscape in the U.S. It indicate that Conley is an awful mayor , prostrate to pick fight with a individual female parent and her teenage son . But it also makes clear that Jason should n’t keep his sorcerous power for too long .
This is made explicit in the ending of “ A Small Town ” . The replica is ruin in the eye of arguing between Conley and Jason over who should possess it . Conley ’s reputation is sully as well , but Jason find a measure of redemption when he come unclouded about the fact that he was the one behind Littleton ’s improvements . The residential area come up around Jason , suggesting that this was what the town demand all along . Jordan Peele ’s extroverted yarn name credit of this as well , lingering on the fact that Littleton ’s closeness as a community matters far more than any magical fix .
It ’s a thin narrative , in particular when compare to episodes like“The Who of You”and“Among the Untrodden ” , but “ A Small Town ” is memorable on an aesthetic level . The demarcation between the replication and the literal town leads to several striking visuals , as direct by Alonso Alvarez - Barreda , including the moments which play up the fact that Jason ’s golden wedding halo fell into the replication before it was destroyed . As a result , Littleton now has a immense chunk of Au to aid them in the rebuilding process . It ’s an optimistic end , matching a season ofThe Twilight Zonewhich has been affirmative overall .
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