"There's this cop. I've tried everything, but he keeps just pulling us over again and again and again, no matter what route we take, no matter how nice or how mean we are. He's always there."
Jordan Peele: Presenting Nina Harrison. A woman who left her past behind to provide a better future for her son. Today, however, she will have no choice but to revisit history again and again, on a fateful drive through the perilous highways of The Twilight Zone.
Nina, a young mother, (Sanaa Lathan) discovers that her camcorder can reverse time and tries to use this to prevent the death of her son, Dorian, (Damson Idris) at the hands of a persistent highway patrol officer (Glenn Fleshler).
Tropes for this episode include:
- Ambiguous Ending: The camera breaks, meaning that Nina will no longer be able to rewind time if anything happens to her son. Jordan Peele narrates the uncertainty of their situation while she watches with a distraught expression as Dorian leaves to get his daughter ice cream. The screen fades to black, and a police siren can briefly be heard. It's unclear what happens to Dorian after he leaves.
- Ambiguously Human: There's definitely something unnatural about Officer Lasky. While the
Realism-Induced Horror of a Bigot with a Badge is pretty clear-cut, his mostly emotionless behavior, the fact he always finds Nina and Dorian in each Time Loop and his unwavering obsession with chasing and shooting them even in the final loop (where he barely met them as they exited the diner, yet could barely stop himself from executing Nina in front of a crowd with cameras) hints at something more supernatural about him. Is he some kind of demon, some Anthropomorphic Personification of racism or general Police Brutality? - Ancestral Weapon: The camera seems to be a heroic equivalent, as Nina inherited it from her father.
- All for Nothing: It's implied with the last shot of the episode (Nina's look of shock as red lights begin flashing on her face, as well as the brief sound of a police siren) that despite her efforts, Dorian may still meet his end by the cops.
- Arc Number: Officer Lasky's patrol number is 510 and his license plate is 1510.
- Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: It's taken up to eleven here, as all of the police officers who appear in this episode are ready and willing to harass and threaten the protagonists for no reason whatsoever.
- Bittersweet Ending: Depending on how you interpret the ending. Dorian safely goes to college and the story skips to 10 years later. He has a daughter that he named Trinity, and they appear to be happy, but Nina is still traumatized by the encounters with Lasky and continues recording them to be safe. Trinity takes the camera, accidentally breaking it, meaning that Nina will no longer be able to rewind if anything happens to Dorian. However, Dorian urges her to "let it go", and heads off to buy Trinity ice cream. Nina watches him, her wistful expression gradually becoming distraught as Jordan Peele narrates the uncertainty of their situation and red lights begin to flash over her face. It's ambiguous what happens to Dorian after this, but at least he was able to move on with his life after the encounter.
- Berserk Button: In every encounter, Officer Lasky's demeanor suddenly turns aggressively hostile as soon as he sees someone is recording him.Lasky: "What is that in your hand?"
Nina: "It— it's just an old camcorder."
Lasky: "Put it down, on the table now."
Dorian: "You scared of being on camera?"
Lasky: "PUT IT DOWN!" - Continuity Nod: Lasky shares his name with a street sign that appears in "The Comedian".
- Cosmic Plaything: Nina and Dorian come across as random victims of a malicious universe. Or, at least, a malicious society.
- Disappeared Dad: Nina appears to be a single mother, since Dorian's father isn't on the road with them, nor is he even mentioned.
- Downer Ending: It's either this or a Bittersweet Ending depending on how you interpret the end of the episode. While Dorian is able to move on with his life after safely heading to college, Nina is clearly still traumatized by the encounter 10 years later. His daughter Trinity takes the camera and accidentally breaks it, making it so Nina is no longer able to undo whatever happens to her son. Despite this, Dorian urges her to "let it go" and heads out to get ice cream for his daughter. It's unknown what happens to Dorian after this, but Jordan Peele's ominous narration about the uncertainty of their situation coupled with Nina's distraught expression, the red lights flashing over her face, and the brief sound of a police siren all seem to imply that Dorian will either inevitably meet his end by the hands of the cops or will always be in danger of it. Except this time, there will be nothing Nina can do to prevent it from happening.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Right before the Wham Shot that ends the episode, Nina's camcorder breaks after Dorian's daughter drops it by accident.
- Foreshadowing:
- Dorian staining his shirt echoes when he is shot by the officer.
- If one interprets that Dorian is destined to die at Officer Lasky's hand, then the motel discussion about how everything in the universe is predetermined would count.
- "Groundhog Day" Loop: What the story revolves around, with the twist that Nina is actively causing the loop rather than some outside force acting upon the characters.
- Heroic Bystander: All of the ordinary college crowd that forms to help Nina and Dorian when Dorian is threatened by the police.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: No explanation is ever given for why Officer Lasky is targeting Nina and Dorian.
- Hope Spot:
- One happens when Nina chooses to approach Officer Lasky in the diner after several loops, buying him a piece of pie and having a heart-to-heart with him in order to deter him from coming after her and Dorian. It seemed that Lasky had warmed up to her after it and would leave them alone ... that is until she stands up to head back over to Dorian, and he asks her how she had gotten her nice car (implying that she stole it).
- The episode ends with a heavily implied one. Maybe it took ten years, but the universe may still claim Dorian's life at the wrong end of a cop's gun.
- I Want Grandkids: In the diner, Nina teases Dorian about how he's eventually going to have a daughter named "Trinity." He does.
- Implacable Man: No matter what measures Nina takes, Officer Lasky inevitably finds her and her son.
- Mama Bear: The sole reason why Nina is willing to rewind the day with her video recorder is so she can try to protect her son. In the end, it's sadly implied that she only delayed what might have been inevitable.
- Mundanger: Even though the camcorder is able to rewind time, the only threat is Officer Lasky. However, there is no explanation as to how or why the officer keeps following the two and pulling them over with different reasons.
- Mythology Gag:
- The napkin dispenser from "Nick of Time" appears in the cafe. The episode also starts in The Busy Bee Cafe.
- Like the previous episode, Whipple appears on a piece of technology — this time, the video recorder.
- On the side of the camera reads "Dix A La Proprietaire" which is the same inscription on another Twilight Zone camera "A Most Unusual Camera".
- The headline of Jordan Peele's newspaper references "I Shot An Arrow Into The Air", explaining the twist in the end of that particular episode.
- The motel they visit is called The Old Cadwallader, a reference to "The Escape Clause".
- The license plate of Nina's car is 2D7876, the same plate of the main character's car in "The Hitchhiker".
- At Tennyson University, a sign for "Corrigan Men's Club" can be seen. The main character of the original series episode "Back There" was Pete Corrigan.
- This isn't the first time where a Twilight Zone episode concerned an object with a literal rewind button.
- Police Brutality: Officer Lasky repeatedly antagonizes the family throughout the episode, and he's really quick to use his Taser and sidearm.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: Nina finally confronts Officer Lasky head on at the college gates, refusing to rewind time when Dorian is so close to the goal.
- Kirk Summation: Nina delivers one to Lasky when she confronts him.
Nina: "You've crossed the line. Harassing us, abusing authority. You've been profiling us, targeting us, following us, shooting us, killing us. Not anymore. Now we cross the line. My son will cross that gate — right now, right here. My son will go to college. So back the fuck up!" - Rabid Cop: The more replays that happen, the more it becomes clear Lasky honestly doesn't care what Dorian or Nina does, he just wants to shoot people.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Nina is the only one who can remember what happened before time was rewound.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: Officer Lasky insists that Nina and Dorian comply with his orders, regardless of their legality.Lasky: "I need to see pieces of identification from the both of you."
Nina: "Mine is in my purse—"
Dorian: "Why do we need to show our ID?"
Lasky: "Because I asked you."
Dorian: "That's not sufficient grounds. I know my rights." - Set Right What Once Went Wrong: As detailed above, Nina uses her camcorder to try to prevent the death of Dorian.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Implied with the final scene. No matter what Nina does, Dorian will always have the threat of being killed by Police Brutality over his head, and at the absolute worst case scenario it's going to happen within a few seconds as the episode fades to credits.
- Shoot Him, He Has a Wallet!: In one of the timelines, as Dorian tries to show his phone for the pink slip, Lasky pulls out his gun and shoots him.
- Shout-Out:
- Nina mentions The Matrix at one point.
- Nina says that Dorian will be the next Ryan Coogler, then defends that claim by saying she's seen Black Panther (2018).
- Later, Dorian's uncle gifts him with a mint copy of Black Panther #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
- Spontaneous Crowd Formation: Occurs (heroically) at the moment that Dorian is about to be killed in front of his college.
- Struggling Single Mother: Nina loves her son, but still has a hard time being around him, especially when he insists on meeting his relatives, whom she wishes to avoid.
- Sudden Downer Ending: Implied with the final scene: despite managing to prevent her son's death when he goes to college, after a Time Skip to when he's an adult with a daughter, he leaves to go get ice cream... and it's suggested the cops show up not too long after he gets outside. To make it even worse, the camcorder breaks before Dorian leaves after Dorian's daughter accidentally dropped it.
- Time Skip: The episode ends ten years after the main events of the episode, with Dorian having a daughter.
- Tunnel Network: There's one close to Nina and Neil's old home that allows Dorian to get directly to college.
- Turn Off the Camera: The officer repeatedly tries to enforce this.
- Wham Shot: A subtle one: At the end of the episode, after we skip ahead several years in the future, Dorian decides to head out to get ice cream for his daughter, with Nina staying behind to watch after her. As Jordan Peele gives the ending monologue, we cut to a close-up on Nina's face... as her expression falls into quiet shock as we see red flashing lights illuminated on her face. To make matters worse, this scene happens after the camcorder breaks.
- You Can't Fight Fate: Implied by the Bolivian Army Ending.
- You Have to Believe Me!: Averted. Both Nina's son and her brother believe her when she says the camcorder is magic.
Jordan Peele: Nina Harrison found that only by embracing her past could she protect her son's future and it was love, not magic, that kept evil at bay. But for some evils, there are no magical, permanent solutions, and the future remains uncertain even here in The Twilight Zone.
