The Twilight Zone review: “A Small Town” is a big disappointment

The Twilight Zone’s ‘A Small Town’ sees a widower find a magical miniature model that allows him to help his town, but the Mayor takes credit for the miracles.

“A Small Town” kicks off with every screenwriter’s favorite way to quickly get audiences up to speed on the story: news footage. Mayor Trina Grant, a beloved figure in Littleton and a staunch opponent of extending an interstate that would cut the town off from traffic, has tragically passed in a car accident. City Treasurer John Conley, who is for the expansion, will take over as Mayor. Then we shoot forward to a year later, when it seems the town is in financial ruins.

Trina’s husband, Jason, lives alone, secluded in the attic of the church. There he discovers a miniature model of the town, an exact replica down to the smallest details. When trying to clean the windows of the model church, it begins to rain in the same place he sprayed, and nowhere else. Realizing he as the ability to change the town, he grabs the neglected suggestion box and fixes the city up overnight.

Unfortunately, Mayor Conley is getting credit for all the improvements. Jason throws a rock at Conley’s car in the model, which means the real car is also toast. But instead of getting rattled, Conley embraces his identity as The Helper, aka El Ayudante, the name given him by the townspeople for doing all these great things.

“A Small Town” — Pictured (l-r): Natalie Martinez as Ana; Andrew Alvarez as Emilio; Damon Wayans, Jr. as Jason; Paula Newsome as Pastor Nicki; of the CBS All Access series THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Photo Cr: Dean Buscher/CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

After his first plan backfires, Jason tries a different approach. He sets a tarantula on the streets of the model town that almost kills the Mayor before Jason pulls it away. Eventually, Jason realizes that it’s not important who gets the credit, so long as Littleton is the best it can be. He builds a big sign to entice more people to come, but in the process destroys the town’s power center, which could take weeks to restore.

The town asks the Mayor to do his “Helper” thing, but he dithers. The townspeople turn on the Mayor, assuming that he’s involved in a plot to get them to sell their properties cheap and fast. Before the townspeople attack Conley, Jason admits that it was him that was doing everything the entire time.

Feeling he has failed the town and his wife, Jason sets his wedding ring on the table. He lights a fire in the street on the miniature model to prove he’s telling the townspeople the truth. The Mayor forces his way into the attic to discover the mysterious Littleton replica. Conley tries to take over the model to turn the town into a new Las Vegas. In the ensuing struggle, the table falls over, destroying the miniature Littleton and devastating the actual town. However, Jason’s wedding ring fell into the model, and now there’s a huge band of gold in the street. With that gold, Littleton’s future will be in the hands of its people.

“A Small Town” — Pictured: Damon Wayans, Jr. as Jason of the CBS All Access series THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Photo Cr: Dean Buscher/CBS 2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“A Small Town” felt less like a Twilight Zone episode and more like something out of Apple TV+’s family-friendly Amazing Stories show, or dare I say the Nickelodeon kids show Are You Afraid of the Dark? The ending was feeble, and the fact that there wasn’t more giant spider action is a real missed opportunity.

The whole miniature aspect was really well done, and the detailed connections between the real town and the tiny replica were exceptional. It reminded me of Hereditary, and the creators made creative use of it throughout. The performances were also outstanding. Despite not having much to work with script-wise, everyone turned in an A+ effort.

That being said, the entire affair was kind of disappointing overall. From the lack of suspense to the stale narrative, this is definitely one of the weakest entries in the second season so far.

Episode Grade: C

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