The Binge Watcher's Guide to The Twilight Zone

An Unofficial Journey

De: Jacob Trussell

Narrado por: Rick Arnold

“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind.”

There are a lot of compendiums on The Twilight Zone out there, most offering a backstage peek at the ins and outs of producing this seminal genre series. The Binge Watcher’s Guide to The Twilight Zone will offer you something these other books do not: a microscopic look into the themes and ideas that Rod Serling weaved into his landmark show to give you a deeper understanding of why The Twilight Zone still resonates with audiences over 60 years later. This guide will examine how the socio-political turmoil of the early 1960s, the global anxiety over nuclear power, and the looming specter of trauma in post-war America influenced Serling to use The Twilight Zone as a bully pulpit, pushing back against social ills, from racism and censorship to McCarthyism and totalitarianism.

Whether this is your first trip to the Zone or you’re an old fan returning for one more round, this retrospective is an opportunity to engage with the timeless classic in a way that can help you make sense of our here and now.

“You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.”

©2021 Riverdale Avenue Books (P)2023 Riverdale Avenue Books

A long, tedious "Woke" lecture

Rod Sterling created such a clever sci-fi series, with subtle and poignant social commentary. So it's a pleasure to listen to this recap of every episode.

Unfortunately, the author is neither subtle nor poignant. Instead he has turned this production into a long and painfully tedious "Woke" lecture. He pontificates on issues such as racism, misogyny, toxic masculinity and cultural appreciation ad nauseum. And he needlessly - any annoyingly - repeats the same "Woke" points over and over again.

The "Twilight Zone" was terrific. But this author's take on the series?? Not so much...

Very good!!

Another reviewer criticized this for being "woke"... Oh man, these people that use the word "woke" as a negative putdown.. So if you're not woke then I can only assume you're asleep. Asleep and blinkered to the injustices and cruelty of the world. Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone, we're definitely NOT blind to the injustices and cruelty of the world. Serling was "woke" loooong before the word became an insult.
The majority of TZ episodes focused on the evils of war, the stigma of metal health, the depravity of racism. Subjects about accepting cultural differences, understanding suicide, substance abuse, learning from our historic mistakes, supporting our veterans, the hypocrisy of religion, abusive parents, etc etc. It explored important issues that no other show in those days was brave enough to touch on. So if your only take on the Twilight Zone is that it was a show about aliens wanting to cook humans, then you're going to get upset when this book points out it's dreaded "wokeness" that you refuse to acknowledge. Unfortunately for you, that's a massive part of what The Twilight Zone was about.
Rod Serling was wide awake and totally aware of the message he wanted to send. A brilliant man and an amazing show, there will never be anything else like it.

As for this recording.. It's a great addition to your library, especially if you enjoy "The Twilight Zone Companion". I thought it was going to be way too similar, but it actually delves deeper into most of the episodes and gives further insight into the show itself.
My only criticism, is that the narrator pronounces "written" as "wri-un". There's a couple of T's in that word, buddy!!