The Twilight Zone: 2019: Episode 4: A Traveler: Ending Explained

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 fourth episode in the Jordan Peele reboot and A Traveler, like the mysterious character in the episode, definitely deserves a look into.

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 A Traveler!

A Traveler Plot Recap

The episode opens on Christmas Eve and we join Yuka, an Alaskan state trooper as she pulls into the station after busting her brother which is a time-honored tradition.

Whilst the rest of her team appear to be full of Christmas Joy, Yuka is attempting to keep her head down in the hopes of having a relatively quiet night.

Every year the Police Captain pardons an inmate in the holding cells to celebrate the holiday and whilst it seems like Yuka’s brother will be the easy go to, things aren’t as simple as they seem on the surface.

After a mysterious star or rather, space ship appears above the deputy office, a strange man appears in the cells and the episode centres around discovering who exactly he is and what his intentions are.

Easter Eggs

There’s a cool little call back in the wrapping paper to an episode called ‘The Dummy’ which centred around a ventriloquist dealing with his apparently evil dummy. Captain Pendelton could also be a reference to Ellen Pendleton from the episode known as The Library in which the character works in one which possesses stories on everyone’s lives with terrifying accuracy.

There is also a shot of a Christmas decoration that looks like the doll from The Living Doll episode and a call back to Nightmare at 20,000 feet with a gremlin in a similar shot.

A Pardon

Anyway, back to this episode, A Traveler, played by Steven Yeun, states that he just wants to be pardoned as will Yuka soon and we learn that he’s what’s known as an ‘exetreme tourist’ and has traveled up to Alaska as the Pardoning Parties are world renowned and he wishes to be part of it.

Yuka senses something off about him and there are clear shots towards Russia throughout the episode which feel a bit over the top especially with how much social commentary there already is in the show. They basically say that the country has never invented anything and steal everything which…yeah…anyway…

Pendleton, overwhelmed with the idea of being famous of course lets A Traveler be the one that is allowed to be pardoned and he is paraded about the party as a famous youtuber in the same way that my grandma does every time there’s a house party.

A Traveler, aware that Yuka suspects something is up, keeps trying to taunt her with the present that he has brought for her which he promises is something that she’s always wanted for Christmas.

‘How Does He Know?’

Tensions escalate at the party when the power cuts and we discover that due to an Air force base there have been several power outages in the area which causes arguments with the town Electorate. To make matters worse, upon stating that they will Pardon Yuka’s brother, A Traveler states that he shouldn’t be freed as he stole some valuable tools and shouldn’t be allowed to be set free.

The questioning that arises from this causes A Traveler to reveal that he knows things about the town and the people and he looks around the room revealing indepth secrets about them which causes the party to break out into a fight over the funding and contracts surrounding the base.

Pendleton calls the party off but A Traveler remains and the remaining officers begin to question him, which is when that it’s revealed that A Traveler lied about the tools and that he’s actually an undercover agent here to unearth the corruption in the town. Whilst they don’t believe him and escort him back to the cells, A Traveler hints that he’s here for Pendleton and that he and Yuka will be working closely together soon.

Fake News

Pendleton claims he witnesses atena coming out of A Travelers head but Yuka does not believe him and this plays heavily into the episode’s true meaning.

Anyway, A Traveler reveals that due to the power’s lacking energy infrastructure that attacking the town would be very easy and he states that Captain Pendleton has revealed this weakness to Russian invaders and that they are attacking soon which forces Pendleton to drive out in order to stop himself being exposed.

In case you hadn’t guessed it this episode is heavily based on the apparent fake news that The Russian Government spread during the Trump election. In the same way that such reports got people to turn on one another within America, A Traveler uses lies and over exaggerations as well as the allure of Power to make the characters in the episode opposites. The Mayor fighting the people is a clear demonstration of this and it’s clear that A Traveler is manipulating the police office to destroy itself from the inside so that the Traveler’s species can invade the area.

A Traveler states that he’s done nothing but lie to Yuka and she investigated them all except for the one thing that benefited her which echoes Pendletons hope for fame when he first arrived. This again showcases that people will only believe the truth that they are willing to accept.

A Traveler Ending Explained

A Traveler tells Yuka that it’s too late to do anything about it but she defiantly races out into the night to stop Pendleton and break up the fights happening amongst the citizens. Yuka holds Pendleton at gun point revealing that the fact he fled into the night means that it must be true. The two argue back and forth as Pendleton states it’s only a lie if they choose to believe it which is when alien Spacecraft take over the area and A Traveler reveals his true form.

Yuka’s brother relaxes with The Alien and eats the pie, content with the fact that they will be better rulers.

In the end Yuka had the opportunity to stop the entire event but was too caught up in the moment and like many wanted power and would believe anything that she was told that would further this goal.

This is a bittersweet example of how we must not get caught up in lies when making decisions and how ultimately we are easily fooled by deciept dressed up as the truth. It’s probably my favourite episode from the run thus far and whilst the Russian bashing is pretty heavy-handed, I still had fun with this one.