Category: Z-View

Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

Kill Switch by Jonathan Maberry

What do you do when the power goes off?

 

  • Terrorists have acquired a terrible new weapon that can crash the power grid and plunge America into a new dark age. A coordinated attack is planned to shut out all lights and emergency services to ten major cities. Planes will fall, hospitals will go dark, no help will come.
  • And in that terrible darkness, a dreadful plague will be released. If the lights go off, nothing can stop the bioweapon from killing millions.
  • At the same time, the intelligence services are being torn apart from within by a plague of betrayal, murder, and suicide. Even the Department of Military Sciences is stumbling in its response to the growing threat.
  • Time is running out, and Joe is being hunted by a terrifying new kind of assassin. A team of remote viewers have the ability to take over any person and turn ordinary citizens into killers. Where can you turn when there’s nobody left to trust?
  • Joe Ledger faces his deadliest challenge as friends and allies become enemies and all of the lights begin to go out…

Maberry puts the DMS in the worst place yet against perhaps their toughest adversaries.  The clock is ticking down to an bio-weapon attack on ten cities.  The terrorists have the ability to take over the minds of anyone to do their bidding and the DMS has been ordered to stand down by the President.

You know that’s not going to happen.  Sadly people we have grown to know and care for are going to die trying to save our country.  Maberry creates characters that feel real so when we lose them (and we do throughout the course of the series) it hurts.

Kill Switch mixes just the right amount of actions (tons), suspense (much), and humor (as needed) to propel you to the bloody climax.  I can’t wait for Ledger’s next mission!

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Twilight Zone: The Very Best of the Series

Thanks to last year’s SYFY Twilight Zone Marathon which ran every episode in order, I can now say with complete certainty I’ve seen every Twilight Zone episode.  Rod Serling deserves all the praise he’s received for creating not only the best television anthology series but one of the overall best tv series ever.  Sure, there were some episodes which didn’t quite work, but overall the excellent episodes outweighed those that fell short.

There were eleven episodes that earned my top rating.  These are the episodes that can be watched repeatedly without losing their impact.  Here they are…

  • Time Enough at Last [Season 1, Episode 8]
    Poor little, nearsighted, henpecked Henry Bemis [Meredith] loves to read.  Reading is his passion but sadly life deprives him of it.  A twist of fate provide Bemis with time enough at last to read to his heart’s content… until another twist of fate proves this is The Twilight Zone.

 

  • The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street [Season 1, Episode 22]
    It’s a beautiful summer afternoon until a strange sound and vibration brings neighbors outside.  Paranoia soon takes over as the thought of an alien invasion takes hold.  Who among them isn’t human?

 

  • The Howling Man [Season 2, Episode 5]
    David Ellington [Wynant] while on a long hike alone in the woods in Europe becomes ill.  Ellington stumbles across a monastery.  Initially told he cannot stay, Brother Jerome [Carradine] allows him to stay until he is well enough to travel.While recuperating, Ellington hears a man howling in pain.  The screams lead to a cell where a man is being held prisoner.  Before Ellington can release him, Brother Jerome arrives and explains that the thing in the cell is not a man, but the devil!

    How could the devil be held in a cell?  Are the monks insane?  If so, Ellington is in danger as well.  Isn’t his duty to help the man escape?  These are the thoughts that race through Ellington’s mind before he makes a decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

  • Eye of the Beholder [Season 2, Episode 6]
    Janet Tyler [Stuart] is lying in her hospital bed, her head and face totally covered by bandages.  Tyler nervously waits for her doctor to remove the bandages hoping that her latest (and last) surgery will make her look normal.Sadly Tyler is hideously ugly and lives in a society where the less desirables are sent away.  As the bandages are removed her worst fears are revealed.
  • Nick of Time [Season 2, Episode 7]
    While driving through a small town heading for their honeymoon, Don [Shatner] and Pat [Breslin] Carter’s car breaks down.  The mechanic says it will take a few hours to repair, so the newlyweds head into a small cafe for lunch and to pass the time.Don is nervous to hear about a possible promotion but is afraid to call his boss.  There’s a little penny fortune-telling machine at their table, so Don jokingly puts in a penny to get the answer.  When it appear that the machine got the answer correctly, Don asks more and more questions and the machine answers with startling accuracy… or does it?
  • The Invaders [Season 2, Episode 15]
    An old woman who lives alone in a rural shack with no modern conveniences finds herself under attack when small visitors from another planet land on her roof.  Contains one of the best Twilight Zone twist endings of all.

 

  • Will the Real Martian, Please Stand Up? [Season 2, Episode 28]
    On a dark, snowy night, two deputies respond to a call about a crashed spaceship.  Tracks lead to a remote dinner where seven bus passengers and the diner’s owner are waiting out the storm.  The funny thing is there were only supposed to be six passengers on the bus and strange things are starting to happen at the dinner.  Coincidence or is there an alien among them?

 

  • The Shelter [Season 3, Episode 3]
    Several families from the neighborhood have come together to celebrate a birthday.  Just as toasts are made with everyone expressing their friendship, an emergency warning announcing an imminent nuclear attack is broadcast.As each family prepares for the incoming bombs, they realize that one of the families has a bomb shelter.  Sadly it is not big enough to hold everyone.

 

  • It’s a Good Life [Season 3, Episode 8]
    Little Anthony Fremont [Mumy] has extraordinary mental powers.  Anthony has made all of the world outside of his small farming town disappear.   He’s done the same or worse to anyone of anything that displeases him.
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    Anthony demands that everyone think happy thoughts.  The town people live in fear that they will displease Anthony and they will be next.Tonight is Anthony’s birthday.  Let’s hope he’s not disappointed.

 

  • To Serve Man [Season 3, Episode 24]
    Aliens come to earth promising peace and shared technology. They seem to be making good on their promise to turn earth into a paradise, yet some doubts linger…  This is one of the best Twilight Zone episodes made.

 

  • Nightmare at 20,000 Feet [Season 5, Episode 3]
    Bob Wilson [Shatner] and his wife are flying home.  Wilson has just recovered from a nervous breakdown and a storm is making the flight less than comfortable.  Wilson becomes alarmed when he sees a creature on the wing of the plane tearing at wires.  His wife and others think Bob is suffering a relapse but he’s not…

 

 

Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool” [Season 5, Episode 36] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “The Bewitchin’ Pool[Season 5, Episode 36]
Original Air Date: June 19, 1964

Director: Joseph M. Newman

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Mary Badham, Dee Hartford and Tod Andrews.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Two young children of self-centered divorcing parents who are always fighting find a portal at the bottom of their swimming pool that takes them to a better place.

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Twilight Zone: “The Fear” [Season 5, Episode 35] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “The Fear[Season 5, Episode 35]
Original Air Date: May 29, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Peter Mark Richman and Hazel Court.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A woman in a remote cabin.  A state trooper sent out to check on her.  Strange sounds and the trooper’s patrol car turned over as night sets in and you have the right set-up for The Twilight Zone.

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Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me” [Season 5, Episode 34] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Come Wander with Me[Season 5, Episode 34]
Original Air Date: May 22, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Anthony Wilson

Starring: Gary Crosby, Bonnie Beecher and Jonathan Bolt.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Floyd Burney [Crosby], the “Rock-a-Billy-Kid”, drives way off the beaten path in hopes of finding a real country song that he can turn into a hit.  He finds the song and his destiny in the deep woods.

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Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples” [Season 5, Episode 33] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “The Brain Center at Whipples[Season 5, Episode 33]
Original Air Date: May 15, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Richard Deacon, Paul Newlan and Ted de Corsia.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Wallace Whipple [Deacon] looks to automate his company in every way possible to save money.  Firing long-time dedicated employees is a small price to pay to increase profits.  His goal is to automate every position possible… but of course he’s in the Twilight Zone so he should be careful what he wishes for.

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Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves” [Season 5, Episode 32] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Mr. Garrity and the Graves[Season 5, Episode 32]
Original Air Date: May 8, 1964

Director: Ted Post

Writer: Rod Serling from a story by Mike Korologos

Starring: John Dehner, Stanley Adams, J. Pat O’Malley.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Mr. Garrity [Dehner] arrives in the western town of Happiness promising to raise beloved dead family and friends from their local graveyard.  Folks think Garrity is  con man until he revives a dead dog.

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Twilight Zone: “The Encounter” [Season 5, Episode 31] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “The Encounter[Season 5, Episode 31]
Original Air Date: May 1, 1964

Director: Robert Butler

Writer: Martin Goldsmith

Starring: Neville Brand and George Takei.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A veteran [Brand] of the war in the Pacific and a Japanese-American [Takei] find themselves at odds when they are locked together in an attic.

Rating:

Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town” [Season 5, Episode 30] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Stopover in a Quiet Town[Season 5, Episode 30]
Original Air Date: April 24, 1964

Director: Ron Winston

Writer: Earl Hamner, Jr.

Starring: Barry Nelson, Nancy Malone and Denise Lynn.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

After a night of too much to drink, Bob [Nelson] and Millie Frazier [Malone] wake up in a strange bed, in a strange house in a deserted town.

Rating:

Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room” [Season 5, Episode 29] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “The Jeopardy Room[Season 5, Episode 29]
Original Air Date: April 17, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Martin Landau, John Van Dreelen and Bob Kelljan.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Major Ivan Kuchenko [Landau] recently escaped from a Communist prison and plans to defect to the United States.  All he has to do is catch a flight and he will be free.

Unfortunately, Comissar Vassiloff and his assassin assistant have caught up to Kuchenko in his flop house room.  The sadistic Vassiloff has planted a bomb in the room and his assassin has the exits covered with a high-powered rifle.  As the clock ticks down, Kuchenko must figure out his escape.

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Twilight Zone: “Caesar and Me” [Season 5, Episode 28] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Caesar and Me[Season 5, Episode 28]
Original Air Date: April 10, 1964

Director: Robert Butler

Writer: Adele T. Strassfield

Starring: Jackie Cooper, Morgan Brittany and Sarah Selby.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Jonathon West [Cooper] is an out-of-work ventriloquist with bills coming due.  When his dummy suggests they start robbing places, things start to fall in place.  Of course when the brains of the outfit is a dummy…

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Twilight Zone: “Sounds and Silences” [Season 5, Episode 27] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Sounds and Silences[Season 5, Episode 27]
Original Air Date: April 3, 1964

Director: Richard Donner

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: John McGiver, Michael Fox and Renee Aubry.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Rosswell G. Flemington [McGiver] loves loud noises.  He yells at his employees rather than speak.  He blasts rather than play his records [of jet engines and war sounds]!  Of course this is The Twilight Zone so it doesn’t end well for Mr. Flemington.

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Twilight Zone: “I am the Night, Color Me Black” [Season 5, Episode 26] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “I am the Night, Color Me Black[Season 5, Episode 26]
Original Air Date: March 27, 1964

Director: Abner Biberman

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Michael Constantine, Paul Fix, George Lindsey and Ivan Dixon.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A man is scheduled for execution at sunrise.  As minutes pass by it becomes clear that the town’s deputy perjured himself on the case, the sheriff was too worried about reelection to dig into the case and the local reporter is just now getting a conscious.

And isn’t sunrise a little late in coming?

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Twilight Zone: “Masks” [Season 5, Episode 25] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “Masks[Season 5, Episode 25]
Original Air Date: March 20, 1964

Director: Ida Lupino

Writer: Rod Serling

Starring: Robert Keith, Milton Selzer, Virginia Gregg and Alan Sues.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

Jason Foster, a rich old man on his death-bed, summons his family to him.  He cares nothing for them and they only care about their coming inheritance.  Foster tells them they must wear masks until midnight or he will cut them out of his will.

Sure, it’s a crazy request, but what harm could come from wearing a mask?

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Twilight Zone: “What’s in the Box” [Season 5, Episode 23] / Z-View

Twilight Zone: “What’s in the Box[Season 5, Episode 24]
Original Air Date: March 13, 1964

Director: Richard L. Bare

Writer: Martin Goldsmith

Starring: Joan Blondell, William Demarest and Sterling Holloway.

The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…

A cranky old man [Demarest] comes home to argue with his bitter wife [Blondell] and complain that to the tv repairman [Holloway] that he’s taking to long to fix the set because he wants to amp up the bill.  Later when the old man is watching tv he sees himself cheating with his girlfriend… and killing his wife.

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