Welcome To The Heavy Spoilers Show, I’m Your Host Deffinition, this is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between not seeing the show and and seeing it, it’s the channel where we explain it so you don’t have to. This is The Twilight Zone.
The show has just dropped it’s third episode in the Jordan Peele reboot and Replay definitely deserves well…a replay.
Throughout this video, I’ll be breaking down everything that you need to know about the episode and it’s ending.
This is full spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t seen it yet then I highly recommend that you turn off now.
With that out the way, thanks for clicking the video and let’s dive into my ending explained breakdown of Replay!
Replay Plot Recap
Out of all the Twilight Zone episodes thus far, Replay is probably the most obvious with it’s social commentary. This is a clear discussion on racism and discrimination within the US police force and the episode tries to analyse one of the most prevalent discussions in American Society.
We follow a proud single mother who, after drawing the attention of an apparently Racist White Policeman named Officer Lasky, is driven to disaster. Throughout the course of the episode, Nina discovers that the families camera can rewind time and she must use this newfound ability to divert the problem.
Recap Easter Eggs
Fans of the Twilight Zone will instantly recognise the Devil head from ‘Replay’ as being a device that was used in the original series in an episode called ‘The Nick Of Time.’
In that two characters realised that a fortune telling device at a diner actually had the ability to tell the future and through asking it numerous questions they discovered that they were on a doomed path. The episode centres around the question ‘is there any fate other than what we make for ourselves?’ and whilst the two protagonists manage to escape from the grasp of the machine, there are other characters who remain trapped by it’s bidding, refusing to leave because they believe it holds all the answers.
Similar to that episode, Replay centres around the notion of branching pathways through asking the right questions and there’s a clear indicator to things like the Mystical 8 Ball that has sort of been hinted at in the 8 Mile sign.
No this isn’t a reference to the Eminem movie.
The Plot Of The Twilight Zone: Replay
Anyway the episode follows Nina and her Son Dorian, drawing the unwanted attention of a racist policeman in a diner. The pair are heading to the fictional town of Tennyson, where Dorian is planning to study Filmmaking.
Nina has kept their camcorder close by as throughout his life she has used it to document his progress all the way from his first steps to his future ones.
Dorian accidentally spills sauce on himself and when Nina rewinds the tape she becomes confused when Dorian’s shirt gets cleaned.
It’s upon this that Nina discovers that she has replayed the moment and not just the tape which sets off the episode.
The Highway To Hell
The two set off and Dorian name drops Uncle Neil who he states that he’s been chatting with online. Dorian is desperate to visit him but Nina states that she doesn’t really want to revisit the past which sort of plays into her obsession that develops throughout the episode.
It’s at this point that Officer Lasky pulls them over and whilst he’s initially civil with the two, who are attempting to be respectful, he’s sent irate when he notices that the camera is recording. At this point, he leans in to grab it but Nina manages to rewind time to a safe moment before.
This starts off a chain of events in which it seems like the pair are doomed to be stopped by Officer Lasky no matter what they do. Nina rewinds and replays moments from the past several times, even taking different routes, but it seems that no matter what, Lasky is always on their tale.
Police Brutality
This damned if you do and damned if you don’t analysis of Police Brutality is something that I’m sure a lot of people can relate too and whilst it might sound a bit rich coming from a white man such as myself, there are definitely a wealth of examples where it seems like no matter what actions civilians took, the police still would have hounded them.
Now, I’m not saying that police are bad and I don’t think that the episode itself is trying to whitewash it either. However, there is definitely a feeling that if you give someone the power of the law, that there will be an opportunity to abuse it and it’s rare that Police who have wrongly murdered people are ever truly dealt with correctly by the Justice System.
There is even a point after one assault that Nina approaches Lasky at the diner and tries to humanise her son and states that ‘he’s all I have’ which does nothing to dissuade him from tracking the two down demanding to see proof of ownership of the car. Then the inevitable happens that Nina has been trying to avoid, Lasky shoots Dorian.
It’s a really heartbreaking moment and it sort of solidifies how lost the struggle can sometimes be for African Americans against a mindstate that just wants to see them dead.
The Last Trip
After a visit to the morgue, Nina manages to travel back to the diner and the pair make a hasty exit and after bumping into Lasky once more, the pair decide to travel down the one road they haven’t Nina’s childhood home.
After they arrive there it becomes clear why Nina didn’t want to revisit the area as one of her brothers was shot and killed there. Neil steps out to greet them and seems to acknowledge the camcorder’s ability.
However, he solidifies that Lasky cannot be escaped and that destiny is well, destiny. Neil, who is a clear supporter of The Black Lives Matter movement, hammers home the point that change only happens when people unite, so they decide to take Dorian to School together.
Neil, well versed in the area knows all the best routes and the family manage to almost make it to Tennyson. Unfortunately, Lasky catches them and pulls his gun, determined to stop Dorian from making it to college grounds. This could perhaps be a comment on how society makes it difficult to travel the education system if you’re a minority but that might be a reach and I’m not fully aware on the statistics so I don’t want to go to in-depth on it.
Black Lives Matter
Anyway, Neil puts himself in the firing line and Nina joins him, holding the camera as more state troopers arrive.
There are tonnes of witnesses and Lasky arrogantly asks ‘Don’t you watch the news?’ implying that no matter how many onlookers there are, it’s doubtful that he will be punished.
Nina defiantly tells him that the days of Lasky abusing his authority are over and that her son will go to college, which, whilst very on the nose is still a nice sentiment on the uprising of equality.
She states, ‘you’re the one who’s really afraid’ and with the help of her community, Dorian finally makes it to college. This, of course, signifies that when people unite and question the government that change really happens and solidifies that there is power in numbers.
The episode ends ten years later when Dorian and his daughter visit Nina. The child, unfortunately, breaks the camera but Dorian tells Nina to simply let it go.
Nina agrees, now stuck in a future that she cannot control and Dorian heads out to get some ice cream which is when the episode ends and we hear an ominous cry of a police siren.
The Twilight Zone: Replay: Ending Explained
To me this signifies that Dorian did eventually get caught up to by his destiny and it showed that even with the best intentions that the character was always doomed to be another statistic. Nina will no longer be able to save the character as she probably has done countless times and this can perhaps be seen as a warning that though things are changing, they aren’t progressing enough and we are still due for a lot more tragedy.
It’s a complete 180 on Nick Of Time and shows that maybe perhaps we are all doomed to a negative ending if we continue to let those in power carry out their bad intentions and get away with it scot-free.
Overall, it’s a strong message and one that I can definitely see being interpreted differently depending on who is watching it.
Your Thoughts
Obviously, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the episode and if you are enjoying the series so far? Comment below and let me know!
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.