Summary
There are few directors working today who are as exciting asJordan Peele.
However,Usis paying some much deeper dues to Serling than just carrying his storytelling tone and social commentary.
It’s a simple one, but that’s what makes it so dang spooky.
Image by Zanda Rice
“Mirror Image,” unfortunately, is a bit different in terms of that latter part.
There is a general surface-level commentary on how men often don’t listen to women.
No matter what Millicent Barnes (Psycho’sVera Miles) says, no one takes her seriously.
Ordinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.
However, Serling doesn’t spend that much time exploring this idea.
There’s nothing wrong with having a little bit of both, though.
Everyone in horror movies should follow Eddie Murphy’s advice.
Image via Universal Pictures
Speaking of which, it is one of the more horror-heavy stories that Serling wrote.
That being said, “Mirror Image” is still effective.
It might be a bit dialogue-heavy for some, but in the same way thatH.P.
Soon after, she spots her copy getting on the shuttle that she was supposed to board.
This is where the episode starts to take a sinister turn.
Her doppelganger has a devilish look on her face as the original Millicent spots her sitting on the shuttle.
“Mirror Image” doesn’t even have to try that hard.
The musical stinger isn’t beating you over the head like in most other episodes.
It’s perfectly effective in this quiet, chilling reveal.
Millicent faints at the sight of this and wakes back up at the bus station later on.
The episode enters into a different kind ofTwilight Zoneset piece than usual.
Essentially, were just made to go with her beliefs as the series' set rules for doppelgangers.
Paul follows all of this up by calling the police, and Millicent is taken away.
Soon after, he sees a man running out of the bus station.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone, though.
The only difference is that Peele can concentrate his visions with focused feature films.
Serling was spread thinner with large episode orders per season.
He couldn’t dive into his screenplays with the same attention that one does while making a feature.
Despite all of this,Usdoes mirror (apologies for the pun) the quieter stretches of its inspiration.
“Mirror Image,” on the other hand, will mainly work best with fans of black-and-white chillers.
It opens up your imagination.
And hey, if it doesn’t for you, then that’s okay!
Maybe it will be for your doppelganger.
The Twilight Zone is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Watch on Paramount+
