The Twilight Zone: “Ovation” reckons with the fame monster

“Ovation” stars Jurnee Smollett as a singer who gets more than she bargained for when her dreams of stardom come true. It may be the best Twilight Zone yet.

Fiji is a singer whom everyone seems to love and adore. But everything changes when she gives a mysterious coin to Jasmine, a street performer with dreams of making it big. Moments later, the famous singer walks into traffic and is hit by a bus.

Jasmine sings a song at the site of the accident, and everyone starts to love her the same way they loved Fiji. The host of the hit show Ovation, J.J. Malloy, offers her a spot; she’ll go up against other contestants trying to get the loudest and most positive reaction from the crowd. Jasmine pushes the Sound-O-Meter to the limits and becomes an Ovation fan-favorite.

Fame sets in. People recognize her, and she starts clashing with the people in her life, like her sister Zara. Rattled, Jasmine’s next performance is plagued with mistakes, but the crowd loves her no matter what, and she receives a standing ovation, breaking the Sound-O-Meter. She wins the contest and begins to question what’s really going on.

Soon the amount of attention she starts to receive gets ridiculous, to the point where she has to hide from mobs of people chasing her. Both Jasmine and her sister come to believe that the coin is the cause of it all, but she won’t go back to being a nobody performing on the street.

Things hit a breaking point when the applause and crowds become too much to handle. Jasmine’s driver can’t even keep his hands on the wheel from clapping when her song comes on the radio. She finally gets rid of the coin with her sister and goes to lay low at her family’s lake house.

As she fades from the spotlight, she begins to miss her former life despite all the chaos. She becomes insanely jealous when a new singer takes the spotlight. She tracks the new girl down and stabs her in the back, only to realize that Zara was the one who kept the coin.

The beginning of “Ovation” was phenomenal. The shocking death grabbed my attention and I was hooked. And the twist ending was the perfect way to finish off a great episode. I also thought it was a nice touch how Jordan Peele, the narrator, picked up the coin at the end.

Jurnee Smollett continues to impress; her performance here was brilliantly executed. Getting to hear her sing was a pleasant surprise. Tawny Newsroom, known for comedic roles in Space Force and Brockmire, successfully flexes her drama muscles as Zara.

Overall, this is probably my favorite episode of the rebooted Twilight Zone series so far.

Episode Grade: A

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