Having read some of the reviews here, I think I know what many were looking for - namely, shorter vignettes with straightforward morality tales. While that is fair enough if one wants a sort of carbon copy of the classic series episodes, this doesn't appear to be what Jordan Peele is going for here and, in my view, that's all for the better. The mid-80s reboot of the series tried that model, and (while certainly not embarrassing) most of the episodes of that series pale in comparison to the original. Instead, if "The Comedian" is any guide, this version of the series appears to be going for a more thoughtful and fleshed out approach.
Kumail Nunjiani is quite good in the lead as Samir, a floundering comedian, who at the outset is clearly more interested in making political points than entertaining people, but still can't figure out why people don't laugh at his act. At the bar of the club he works, he meets a long-unseen comedy legend (Tracey Morgan), who gives him the advice to make his act more personal, since an audience isn't going to be interested in you unless you give them a part of yourself. He cautions Samir that once you give the audience that, it's lost forever. Samir takes the advice, and starts to climb the ladder of success, only to start losing parts of his life, literally.
While conceivably this could work as a 30 minute episode, the decision to flesh it out to 55 minutes is a sound one here, because the scriptwriter (Alex Rubens), the cast, and the director (Owen Harris) are more interested in the impact of this strange situation on Samir than just resting on the gimmick alone. Although some reviewers have called this episode predictable, I humbly beg to differ - we know that Samir will be able to make people disappear by using them in his act, but the real interest lies in the unintended consequences of his use of this power, and the genuine suspense as to how far he'll go. This is where the depth of the character relationships come into play, and Rubens' thoughtful script doesn't make the mistake of creating or exploiting only one or two relationships. As a result, we have a fuller (and more believable) picture of who is important to Samir, who's not, who he's willing to erase, and who he's not; but all with enough subtlety to lend some real suspense as the episode proceeds. Indeed, one of the most interesting parts of the episode is watching Samir progress from someone truly terrified by this power, to one more and more willing to use it - first for seemingly good ends, later for not so obviously good ones
The direction is effective, keeping us off kilter with some fine camera work and visual choices, as well as some wonderful in-jokes (e.g., the names in Samir's contact list and internet research, the figure of Willie from the episode "The Dummy", and the final shot's nod to "The Shining"). The performances are excellent, with praise owing to Nunjiani and Amara Karan, who as Samir's girlfriend serves as a good reference point for the progression in Nunjiani's character, and create together a relationship that is believable at each progression, as well as to Morgan, who is wonderfully sinister in his two scene role.
If you're simply interested in a show with a compact story leading to a knockout twist (e,g,, "To Serve Man", an episode many love, but I think is a one-joke affair), you'll be disappointed with "The Comedian." If your taste leans more toward character driven episodes of the original series ("In Praise of Pip" and "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" come to mind here), "The Comedian" won't disappoint. Needless to say, I thinK Rod Serling would have been quite happy with it.
Kumail Nunjiani is quite good in the lead as Samir, a floundering comedian, who at the outset is clearly more interested in making political points than entertaining people, but still can't figure out why people don't laugh at his act. At the bar of the club he works, he meets a long-unseen comedy legend (Tracey Morgan), who gives him the advice to make his act more personal, since an audience isn't going to be interested in you unless you give them a part of yourself. He cautions Samir that once you give the audience that, it's lost forever. Samir takes the advice, and starts to climb the ladder of success, only to start losing parts of his life, literally.
While conceivably this could work as a 30 minute episode, the decision to flesh it out to 55 minutes is a sound one here, because the scriptwriter (Alex Rubens), the cast, and the director (Owen Harris) are more interested in the impact of this strange situation on Samir than just resting on the gimmick alone. Although some reviewers have called this episode predictable, I humbly beg to differ - we know that Samir will be able to make people disappear by using them in his act, but the real interest lies in the unintended consequences of his use of this power, and the genuine suspense as to how far he'll go. This is where the depth of the character relationships come into play, and Rubens' thoughtful script doesn't make the mistake of creating or exploiting only one or two relationships. As a result, we have a fuller (and more believable) picture of who is important to Samir, who's not, who he's willing to erase, and who he's not; but all with enough subtlety to lend some real suspense as the episode proceeds. Indeed, one of the most interesting parts of the episode is watching Samir progress from someone truly terrified by this power, to one more and more willing to use it - first for seemingly good ends, later for not so obviously good ones
The direction is effective, keeping us off kilter with some fine camera work and visual choices, as well as some wonderful in-jokes (e.g., the names in Samir's contact list and internet research, the figure of Willie from the episode "The Dummy", and the final shot's nod to "The Shining"). The performances are excellent, with praise owing to Nunjiani and Amara Karan, who as Samir's girlfriend serves as a good reference point for the progression in Nunjiani's character, and create together a relationship that is believable at each progression, as well as to Morgan, who is wonderfully sinister in his two scene role.
If you're simply interested in a show with a compact story leading to a knockout twist (e,g,, "To Serve Man", an episode many love, but I think is a one-joke affair), you'll be disappointed with "The Comedian." If your taste leans more toward character driven episodes of the original series ("In Praise of Pip" and "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" come to mind here), "The Comedian" won't disappoint. Needless to say, I thinK Rod Serling would have been quite happy with it.