What Wednesday #2
Today I play some cards, jam out quietly, and journey to the Twilight Zone.
What Wednesday is where I talk about what I’m watching, reading, playing, etc, because for some reason I think you’ll find that interesting. If you have recommendations, I’d love to hear them :)
What I’m Watching: The Twilight Zone
I realize I’m 50+ years late to this, but good gracious this show is incredible. It’s kind of unbelievable how well it has aged over half a century. The parts that do feel dated are generally because they’ve been copied so many times, like surprising twist endings (looking at you Mr. Shyamalan), that the original seems antiquated. A lot of the episodes wouldn’t feel out of place on HBO today. Watch almost any show from the 70s to see how difficult that can be. I mean, this thing was made ten years before we landed on the moon.
Unfortunately, a show like this just wouldn’t work today. With today’s TV putting a huge emphasis on serialization (where each episode builds on the one before it, like Game of Thrones), shows with totally different plots and characters every episode just won’t fly now. Which is a shame; I love that each episode feels like a self-contained mini-movie. It enabled them to take a lot more risks, because if one episode didn’t work, oh well, no harm done. On to the next one. Some of my favorites from the early episodes: “The Lonely” deals with artificial intelligence and our complicated relationship to it, 15 years before the personal computer was invented; “Third from the Sun” has a wonderful twist ending; “And When the Sky Was Opened” presents the terror of having your existence wiped from memory; and “Time Enough at Last” has one of the most famous and referenced endings in TV history. Spoilers, but it’s amazing.
What I’m Playing — Hearthstone
To continue the theme of me coming late to things, I’ve recently gotten addicted to Hearthstone, this 2 year old card battle game. It’s based on the Warcraft series, which I’ve never played, emulates Magic: The Gathering, which I’ve also never played, and revolves around an ultra competitive multiplayer mode, which I usually hate…but I can’t put it down. It ramps up the difficulty at a nice pace and never feels as overwhelmingly complex as Magic. The card collection aspect also taps into my completionist-OCD personality and is easily accessible for a quick game on my iPad or phone — which means I’m probably going to be playing this one for a long time.
What I’m Hearing — Palmistry, “Club Aso”
Club music for the library. This isn’t for everyone, but as a sometimes fan of Drake and Rhianna, and an always fan of chill music, I can dig it.
