The Twilight Zone (TV Series) Downtime (2020) User Reviews

Hotel California

[southdavid · 5/10 · 4 January 2021]

It didn't take long for the second season of "Twilight Zone" to drift back into the "Wait.....what?" category.

Consummate concierge Michelle Weaver (Morena Baccarin) is on the cusp of being appointed manager of the hotel she works at, when a giant orb appears in the sky. Anybody that looks at the sphere falls into a catatonic state. Whilst desperately trying to find some understanding of what is happening, Michelle begins to question the very nature of her reality.

We can't really discuss this one further without spoilers, so I'll do this review with the spoiler warning activated. Turns out that Michelle is participating in a second life-esque simulation game that requires a reboot, but due to a glitch she is unable to remember her real life and the developers are unsure what will happen if they reboot the game with her trapped inside.

As was a common problem with the first season, I feel like this episode is the entire first act of the story and then there's nothing else. Serinda Swan appears as Michelle's real-life wife, in an attempt to convince her of the truth and there are a number of technicians who try to explain to her what's going on, but neither of those aspects feel properly explored. The episode just drifts away, unwilling and/or unable to properly investigate the implications of the story.

The resolution appears to be another "interesting" take. Usually the moral would be to accept who you are and engage with the real world - whereas here it appears that the opposite is the case, stay in your happy virtual world and ignore your actual problems. It's realistic, I suppose, but made the story feel like a waste of time.

After Hours Remake? Pretty Good Episode.

[Rms88 · 7/10 · 30 June 2020]

Again, another good episode that is perhaps the modern version of the original Twilight Zone episodes titled, After Hours. Season 2 seems to be way much better than Season 1.

What happened? Oh nothing happened.

[Jazzman-41 · 5/10 · 7 October 2020]

These painful one hour episode require so much filler - how many shots were there of open-mouthed characters staring at the sky? Early on, we discover what has happened to the main character, she's not real and is in a simulation. She spends half the time confused and then half the time trying to remain in a world that in the end she concedes is probably not real. It reminded me a bit of A Matter of Minutes from the eighties but without any of the tension. In this one, she signs a form and stays in virtual reality and all I can do is shrug my shoulders and think, what was the point of that? Some of the dialogue was so wooden, too - if we know that she's not real, why do we care about her? We don't.

Some interesting influences.

[kimcoxmonm · 6/10 · 17 July 2021]

I liked this one. It could have been fleshed out a bit more but I liked the premise.

I saw a bit of Total Recall and The Matrix. If you are of fan of the original series, the episode "A Kind of Stopwatch" comes to mind during the Downtime.

Downtime

[bobcobb301 · 6/10 · 29 June 2020]

Interesting for awhile, but it just became too lame in the end. We should have had a moral lesson or something. There was just nothing accomplished by it.

Decent, could have done more

[kzuke · 7/10 · 11 July 2020]

So far, Season 2 has been superior to Season 1 due to the largely absent heavy handed social justice messaging. Ep 1 was a bad take-off of the movie HER with some bad acting, but Ep 2 had a strong start. The basic premise is not original (ala Vanilla Sky, Total Recall) and I felt they could have done more with it, but I guess with only about 30 minutes of run-time, there is only so much you can do. I won't reveal spoilers, but the scene on the roof had a big continuity error with her mindset IMO, which kind of spoiled this episode a bit for me. Nevertheless, the most enjoyable episode of the entire series for me so far because it was closer to sci-fi than SJW. I keep giving TZ a chance because I loved the original so much, so I hope this season gets better.

2 decent episodes in a row! Good job writers!

[perrycs-49152 · 6/10 · 30 January 2023]

WOW, 2 episodes where I could sit back and actually enjoy the show. This was actually Twilight Zone like for the most part.

They could have touched on other aspects of the background of this episode more but overall, it was an ok story.

One of the better episodes in this poorly written show - 2 decent episodes in a row - wow, am I watching the same show? Is it possible CBS is learning? S1 attacked the audience far too much between the misandry, the message, and the other attacks it made it hard for me to enjoy it. So far, 2 episodes into S2... I actually enjoyed this one and the first one despite their logic flaws.

You know what this episode did have? Science fiction. That's why I watch science fiction so I can see some cool things.

More of this type of writing.

There was so much more they could have done with this episode. BUT, at least it was enjoyable.

It's a shame shows start out horrible, and then try and fix themselves. The whole episode I was thinking "ok, when am I going to be attacked?" and when it didn't happen... I was surprised. I was expecting more of the same ole low quality blatant attacks... at the end I was thinking... wow... they managed to write TWO episodes "as a science fiction show"... without the misandry, etc. AWESOME!!!

More like this please!

Twilight Zone remakes Philip K Dick's Adjustment Bureau better than the film

[photoshop-expert · 10/10 · 26 June 2020]

This is one of Philip K Dick's short stories from the 1950s. PKD and TZ are very alike. this TZ is PKD's Adjustment Bureau. a whole town stops dead for an hour, all but one person is temporarily frozen. that person witnesses maintenance teams come in to repair reality glitches before the town starts up again. the maintenance men are shocked and try to catch the stray person. this episode, and The Matrix both have this short story at heart. the film didn't and didn't honour the story very well. this is very much like it and i am impressed to see a faithful adaptation of the story

"You might want to wake yourself up."

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 19 May 2023]

Like so many episodes in the first season of this rebooted Twilight Zone series, this one ends inconclusively, as if the writers faced up to a deadline with no place else to go. It was more sci-fi than horror, which is where 'Meet in the Middle' ventured to open the second season. The idea behind the story was pretty good, but inconsistencies kept creeping in to distract the viewer. For one thing, when it was established that Michelle Weaver (Morena Baccarin) was really the dream identity of a man named S. Phineas Lowell, the members of the customer service team dispatched to offer support made reference to 'her' instead of 'him', which would have been more appropriate to Lowell's true identity. Even wife Ellen (Serinda Swan) made the same error. The larger issue though was why Michelle and a few select others were immune from the 'world maintenance' aspect of the Sleepaway program. No reason was offered why they remained awake (or continued dreaming as the case may be). It was all very disorienting, and then, to top it all off, the escalated priority customer service guy Tom (Tony Hale) simply allowed Michelle to maintain the guise of the newly appointed manager of the Farringham Hotel, even though S. Phineas Lowell already died! How does all of that work? In a word, it doesn't.

Painful to endure

[grlym-46849 · 3/10 · 1 July 2020]

Love the main actress, but this episode underwhelmed. It's like a half baked idea someone doodles in a napkin, but never achieved the level of what was in the persons mind

Season 2 has started with better episodes

[maureen-trenorden · 8/10 · 27 June 2020]

We are two episodes into the second season and they have both been a marked improvement over anything from season one. I sincerely hope this trend continues.

This episode felt more like an original twilight zone episode. A simple story with a twist. It wasn't preachy but told a story. I would have liked a bit more to the story but it still kept my attention.

Like going to Westworld but you choose to play a janitor

[Crystal_Dive · 1/10 · 8 July 2020]

Or choosing to be a receptionist in Total Recall. And it's not a Vanilla Sky'esque nightmare as well. Or a unconscious reality like in the Matrix or Dark City.

Even the writers made the rules inconsistent for the protagonist. If you need to be proactively playing your role, as the series reminds us throughout the runtime, why is it that the protagonist can completely forget everything? The protagonist is not a Non-Playable-Character in The Thirteenth Floor ...

--- This is a perfect example of try-hards writing terrible sci-fi. Other examples of bad sci-fi is 80% of the rest of this reboot.

This is the Twilight zone!

[b_trought · 9/10 · 26 June 2020]

I wasn't excited about this season of TZ after the 'woke' and preachy first season, but I thought I'd give it a look. Tbh I was hoping to trash it, but I've watched 4 episodes so far and have to say it's been good. Surprisingly good!

This episode is typical TZ; an interesting character-based episode with a straightforward sci-fi concept. I think the writers seem to have found their feet in the show and may have understood that viewers want to empathise with people in unusual situations, rather than be preached to/at. More of this type of episode please.

Blandest video game ever

[gareth-75442 · 5/10 · 28 June 2020]

Yeah nothing new or really interesting in this episode, no real entertainment value apart from watching Morena Baccarin running around in heels. How bored would a person need to be to play a game where they did boring everyday things. Can only imagine Jordan Peele wrote this episode so he could have two beautiful women kiss on screen, not complaining just commenting. An ok episode, here's hoping things improve for this season

Best so far

[ljahcomix · 8/10 · 22 July 2020]

I was just about to stop watching after a few bad episodes at the end of the first season, but this season has started very well! They've returned the creativity that was missing in the first season.

Frozen in time it's like a new world begins!

[blanbrn · 5/10 · 27 June 2020]

This "TZ" episode from season 2 called "Downtime" is one that's far out it's like a journey of a new world in which a new reality begins. It stars Morena Baccarin("FOX's" "Gotham") as Michelle Weaver a hungry and motivated business woman who's just been promoted to hotel manager. It's her dream job and she's reached her life goal only things change as her world and surroundings around her become frozen! It's like a new world with new people present for Michelle to deal with it's like a new start of time! Overall nothing great still a watch for it's theme of change and time with people and places seeming different as all of this rings so true to anything related to "The Twilight Zone".

Best episode so far

[Icestarfish-1 · 8/10 · 27 February 2021]

After a terrible first season, this season seems much better so far. This episode seemed a bit like a Black Mirror theme but that's fine it was still leaps and bounds above anything they did in the first season.

Awake and sleepy show

[CakeWalks27 · 4/10 · 12 January 2021]

First of all, there have been similar shows that have done a better job at the faux reality schtick (Black Mirror, even Upload) but this seemed to start off one way, and ended up w/an almost completely different story.

I get what they were trying to do as the main character walks in the customer's shoes and yes life is pointless, absurd, the world's a stage we're merely it's actors yada yada. But why wasn't there a contingency plan for when someone dies playing the boring game? Sidenote - why was Michelle wearing that stiff thrift-store looking suit?

Really annoying trying to rationalize silliness but its always good to see "Strand" from Fear TWD.

Is that the Empress Hotel???

[kameristka · 9/10 · 28 June 2020]

This was obviously filmed partially in Victoria BC at the Empress Hotel, right??

Very cool story.

Don't waste your time

[niyahsnewacc · 2/10 · 29 August 2020]

I'm really mad at myself for actually watching all 40+ minutes of this episode. What was even the point of this episode, a waste of time.

Better than the premiere

[hnt_dnl · 8/10 · 28 June 2020]

Much like Season 1 where I liked 30000 Feet way more than The Comedian, in Season 2, I much prefer the second episode DOWNTIME to the premiere episode Weird Dude Talking to Female Voice in his Head. And very ironically, this episode features Morena Baccarin, who played my absolute least favorite character on Gotham, one Lee Thompkins. But in this one, Baccarin plays a very rootable, interesting character propped up by an incredibly intriguing premise. Been done before, but this one is still pretty good. This TZ episode has a Total Recall vibe as Baccarin's character questions the nature of her reality throughout the episode. This one has a much shorter running time than the premiere, thus doesn't feel as long-winded or boring. And it gets to the point pretty quickly and even once the twist is revealed, it manages to finish the episode with really strong writing and acting. This is one of those episodes where I actually wouldn't mind a sequel. And the fact that I'm willing to stand another episode looking at the face of Lee Thompkins speaks volumes about my critique! LOL

Awkward

[hello-41679 · 3/10 · 7 December 2023]

I liked the premise of time standing still but the longer I watched the worse the episode got. First of all, I found it very unrealistic a married straight man would want to live life as a woman. I guess he was trans? Is that the point? How very "progressive". But seriously, imagine explaining to his children that he escapes life by pretending to be a lesbian living a rather mundane existence as a hotel manager in a simulated reality. I'm sure the writer did that to be edgy but in reality, it made the episode difficult to relate too since (shocker) most people are not lgbt. And the wife just accepted it as normal with zero questions asked which is also kinda weird. Instead, within minutes, she's literally making out with her "husband" who is now a woman. Yep totally normally (probably is in Hollywood). The other problems with this episode are already stated by others, such as the simulated world appears extremely boring so why would anyone want to be part of it? The ending was weak too.

Half-baked -it's not the actress's fault

[lor_ · 4 July 2023]

This awful episode begins with a paranoid premise, but quickly descends into derivative (and boring) exploitation of the latest trend, Virtual Reality back when this was shot or the Metaverse or some Apple product today.

It's tiresome to watch, even though that wonderful TV actress Morena Baccarin gets a juicy role (and yet another hair style) to sink her teeth into. Her acting is terrific, but lost in a stupid story.

This is spoon-fed sci-fi. For such a story to work, rather than fall apart early in the episode, the mystery of what's really happening needs to be sustained. If Morena's female character is real, and this is all a dream then that's the lamest possible explanation, just a gussied-up variaton on those many lousy movies where at the end a fantastical story is explained away in an instant with the all-purpose "it was a dream" copout.

If her character is not real but just a fictional character in a game, why this particular character? The bad guys being mere maintenance workers is a totally ineffective.plot device -some confrontation with the game masterminds would be needed dramatically. The writers' central intended irony of her as a problem solver hotel manager confronted by technicians who are the "kindly" problem solvers is way too hokey a role-reversal to consider believable -just anolher extreme groaner in this "Twilight Zone".