The Twilight Zone season 2 finale is the oddest alien invasion story ever told

The Twilight Zone season 2 finale tries to mash together nostalgia, an alien invasion and a message about rampant consumerism together, to messy effect.

Despite a proven director, a solid cast and an iconic guest star, “You Might Also Like” is a clunky episode that closes out the second season of The Twilight Zone on a confusing note.

“You Might Also Like” starts off with an advertisement for a mysterious object known as the egg. Simply head to a Fulfillment Center at your leisure and pick one up, and your life will get better. How? It doesn’t say.

We’re then introduced to wealthy housewife Janet Warren, who is suffering from blackouts. She invites her neighbor Mrs. Jones over, but it’s hard to know why, because all Mrs. Jones does is critique her home, including the lighting and choice of countertop. They also discuss the egg. Neither knows why they need it, but they know they do.

Janet — who gives off a very depressing, empty vibe — can’t figure out how she keeps ending up in her bed with no memory of going to sleep.

Mrs. Jones leaves, and Janet calls to cancel her family’s egg. Then she decides to use a baby monitor that straight up looks like the prototype of HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey to find out what happens when she blacks out. The video shows her floating out the window toward a light, like she is being abducted.

That night, she ties a rope to her leg so she cant be taken. But she just ends up in a tree, with an alien race known as the Kanamits arguing in her yard about what to do with her. She demands they take her to there leader or supervisor.

Then we’re with the aliens, who are watching Janet on a projector as she tells her story about having a stillborn baby. The female leader gives an exposition dump revealing that the egg is part of a master plan to wipe out humanity by taking advantage of our obsession with commercials.

In the end, Janet says she wants her egg back so she can feel the joy of relief one last time, because, as the Narrator puts it, all sales are final in the Twilight Zone.

The director this episode, Osgood Perkins, has helmed some outstanding horror films like Gretal And Hansel, The Blackcoats Daughter, and I am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House. In “You Might Also Like,” Perkins goes way too David Lynch when he should have veered in a Charlie Brooker direction. The episode comes off as a Twin Peaks and Black Mirror mashup, awkwardly retrofitted for The Twilight Zone’s house style. It deserves some praise for thinking outside the box, and it means well by imparting a harsh, satirical message about consumerism. But the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

The world-building is one of the episode’s saving graces. The little details were great, from the Fulfillment Cards to all the fake ads. It’s also pretty cool how Under Armour has gotten so popular that even housewives wear it.

The Kanamit aliens were a nice homage to the 1962 Twilight Zone episode “To Serve Man,” but they came off hokier than I feel was intended. And the exposition dump feels more like watching a YouTube explainer video about what the episode was really about rather than the episode itself.

Props go to Gretchen Mol, Greta Lee and George Takei for giving their best, even if the script didn’t give them much to work with. But unfortunately, that isn’t enough to stop the season from ending on a whimper.

***Episode Grade*: D**

The Twilight Zone gets in our heads with suspenseful season 2 debut. dark. Next

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The Twilight Zone season 2 finale tries to mash together nostalgia, an alien invasion and a message about rampant consumerism together, to messy effect.

Episode Grade: D

***Episode Grade*: D**