by Dane Youssef
"THE DIFFERENT ONES"
The legends and the evidence of the Hollywood Walk of Fame are all true.
The man did for television what George Washington did for America. Yes folks, Rod Serling was one of the finest writers ever to come out of the 21st century.
Though you'd never know it in a million years watching this one.
"The Different Ones" is another story that attempts to forsee the future, and sees a rather bleak one. There's a controlled police state surrounding the world we see and people
communicate by the standard TV phone monitors that we often saw in sci-fi stories that came out back then. There's some George Orwell beliefs about the nature of beauty, segregation and whatnot. But this one is especially disapointing considering it's source.
I gotta say, this director doesn't even seem to be trying to build any kind of suspense or
even some dramatic depth. Serling's script is a bit shallow, even for a five minute segment. Maybe it's a bit too condensed.
But you know, I do think it's kinda cute that they actually edited archive footage of NASA into this episode.
The actors are fairly good. No real standouts. It wouldn't matter either way. "The Diffterent Ones" doesn't give them a lot of legroom. Even if they had a Robert Altman cast, even the best of thespians can only do so much.
Especially with so little.
Even the God of the craft Marlon Brando himself wouldn't be Marlon Brando without the best work Hollywood ever concieved to work with.
Here, the "Twilight Zone" Master-General recycles his theme from his infamous "Eye Of The Beholder." But some deeper proding into dear Victor's life, who he is and what he likes would have added some actual weight to this one. "The Different Ones" might have actually managed to actually managed to be one of those episodes that wasn't just... episodic. One that would stay with us, haunt us... forever. Remember when Will Shatner saw something strange of the wing of his airplane? Remember when Burgess Meredith
just wanted to read? Remember when Donna Doulgas found herself as a "freak by comparison" in a pig world?
Remember... well, of course you do. When you saw that... well, how could you ever forget? Classics. Magnificent pieces, all. The memory's so vivid, such a haunting experience. Why, you'd swear on your life they all happened to you...
Still, this one... while here Serling isn't going for immortality like he has before... But actually, it kind of leads to a sweet and simple little moving payoff.
You can't help but smile. Just a little. And feel a little more hopeful...