The Twilight Zone’s “The Wunderkind” has some hiccups with its science fiction elements. However, its strong suit is in its political satire.
Like its predecessor, The Twilight Zone reboot is continuing its namesake legacy of strange science fiction, mixed with a healthy dose of commentary. Where some episodes couple its sci-fi with social commentary, others use an alternate dimension to discuss systemic racism.
Starring Jacob Tremblay as Oliver and John Cho as Mr. Hanks, The Twilight Zone‘s fifth episode weaves in some political commentary with a fleeting hint of sci-fi. “The Wunderkind” relies on transitions for the narrative to work, but it might take too long for the episode to get to the core commentary.
Starting the episode with the end of the narrative is an interesting choice for “The Wunderkind.” Watching Cho’s character confused and laying in an ominous medical facility plays into the mystery of the episode. While the ambiguous at the start of the episode resembles suspenseful tones within the sci-fi realm, the thrill of the sci-fi dissipates the longer the episode wait to reveal its turning point.
Every Twilight Zone episode has a twist or two. However, episode 5 pivots between the flashbacks of the campaign trail to show viewers Oliver’s slow transition to becoming President. With his new title, he dawns a new fit with corrupt power. By the time the episode unveils Oliver’s true intentions beneath his characteristic politician’s cloak, the episode is missing the vague sci-fi element it started with.
Where the parallel dimension might be lacking, this week’s episode real success is in its political satire. “The Wunderkind” depicts a child as a president, not unlike who sits in the oval office in real life. More importantly, Oliver’s age and childish fits help exaggerate the running spoof on modern infantile policies and the even more dangerously infantile politicians behind them.
On the surface level, the episode discusses how the public readily believes politicians and other people in powerful positions. Because voters already realize how fake and manipulative politicians are, “The Wunderkind” uses an exaggerated arc to illustrate the bleak perilousness that is dealing with self-serving politicians. It’s inescapable — especially when they’re elected — because even if you want to detect political figure’s deceit, it feels nearly impossible to try to combat it.
“The Wunderkind” isn’t just about abuse of power and deception from a politician’s standpoint. With an odd connect to Oliver’s vlogger career, the episode muddles modern age YouTubers and social media influencers into the socio-political commentary.
Granted, the episode lacks a specific direction in regards to its influencer-related messaging. This makes it seem like any criticism toward influencers, or the public that consumes influencers’ content, only ties back into the overarching comments on deception versus reality.
With its slow start and build to Oliver’s personality shift to his true intentions, the episode seems just a bit too long. We wish “The Wunderkind” would have incorporated some additional science fiction elements beyond the ominous start and the ingrained kid-president narrative.
However, not every Twilight Zone episode has an explicit sci-fi tone or undertone, and we respect this week’s episode for focusing more so on its message.
The Twilight Zone airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.