tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post6243888484997648732..comments2024-03-20T15:28:13.030-05:00Comments on The Twilight Zone Vortex: "Nick of Time"JPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14808904189056290207noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-50562204839866718382020-07-15T09:20:30.224-05:002020-07-15T09:20:30.224-05:00"Nick of Time" is one of my all-time fav..."Nick of Time" is one of my all-time favorite "Twilight Zone" episodes (and I've got quite a few). Like all first-class fantasy, it's rooted in a very real issue: the fact that some people (often, although not always, men), who seem dynamic, ambitious and go-getting as all-get-out, are actually jelly at the core. They can be discombobulated by the most trivial of events, seeing them as "omens". (One such man whom I knew years ago, who had fought and clawed his way to the corner office at a major law firm, was superstitious to a degree that made Don Carter in this episode look like a piker. If something he deemed even remotely ominous occurred when he was about to make a major decision, or launch a new initiative, his pet phrase was "This thing's got the Indian sign on it." And, unfortunately, he didn't have anybody as practical and level-headed as Pat at his elbow to make him see reason). God, I love Richard Matheson -- his ability to mine the frailties and weaknesses of the human condition for the gold ore from which to produce refined fantasy was itself a kind of sorcery. The best kind. Thomas DiMaggiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15528586971282008329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-72673196489765196462019-04-14T09:54:14.850-05:002019-04-14T09:54:14.850-05:00I generally don't admit to being superstitious...I generally don't admit to being superstitious, however, there have been enough experiences in my life to challenge that. Particularly in my relationships with girls. I believe I'm happy, then something like a glass heart that I might have or come across breaks, and soon after, my relationship has always ended with said girl(s). How many coincidences add up to a fact? And how much, I wonder, is anything of this nature confined to the Twilight Zone?naruto65https://www.blogger.com/profile/12170480906969053086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-72216578850142058372019-04-14T09:52:58.919-05:002019-04-14T09:52:58.919-05:00I generally don't admit to being superstitious...I generally don't admit to being superstitious, however, there have been enough experiences in my life to challenge that. Particularly in my relationships with girls. I believe I'm happy, then something like a glass heart that I might have or come across breaks, and soon after, my relationship has always ended with said girl(s). How many coincidences add up to a fact? And how much, I wonder, is anything of this nature confined to the Twilight Zone?naruto65https://www.blogger.com/profile/12170480906969053086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-28386028944962037312018-11-26T16:51:57.586-06:002018-11-26T16:51:57.586-06:00Nick of Time stands up to this time as well to use...Nick of Time stands up to this time as well to use a bad pun! I like the fact that Matheson leaves it up to the viewer as to whether Old Nick (as the double-entendre is written) is alive in that creepy machine or it is self-fulfilling prophesy) I know in this write-up the prop of the fortune-telling machine with the Devil head makes it more mysterious, but the character study of how people who are superstitious to begin with can be lead into even more obsessed behavior by even the most simplest of coincidences such as when Don Carter calls his office and learns he got the promotion or almost gets hit by the moving car with his wife, Pat (Patricia Breslin). Well, he was more or less in line for it anyway (50/50 shot) and he was not paying attention in the middle of the street, and all of the Mystic Seer's answers were all generalizations. However; on the other hand, it could be like a Ouija board and opened up the forces of the netherworld as well, which is why this episode is creepy and holds your interest. Not one of the better episodes in my opinion. I would give it a C+. Of course, William Shatner, known for being a ham, really gets into the obsessed young executive role in the episode. I am glad Cpt Kirk is still with us as of this writing. He ties us to the past with two episodes from TZ, and the immortal Star Trek. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08314582582238025846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-13078372634618984052017-02-12T16:17:38.554-06:002017-02-12T16:17:38.554-06:00Thanks! "Nick of Time" is definitely one...Thanks! "Nick of Time" is definitely one of the show's best, although the previous two episodes, "The Howling Man" and "Eye of the Beholder," are personal favorites of ours as well. Yeah, the supernatural aspect is minimal which was brilliant on Matheson's part. The double entendre in the title is also really clever. Matheson was the best at titles like that. He originally wanted to do the same thing with "The Last Flight," calling it simply "Flight" to reference Decker's cowardice, but Serling felt it needed a catchier title. Brian Duranthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02724290376009803159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-66386640385007478702017-02-11T20:48:11.745-06:002017-02-11T20:48:11.745-06:00This was the first solid episode of Season 2, and ...This was the first solid episode of Season 2, and one of the few without a gimmick (i.e. it's quite possible that none of it *actually* takes place in the Twilight Zone -- another example is "The Silence")<br /><br />Thanks for a lovely review!galacticjourneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350935794214027433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-1651078078301363222017-01-12T15:17:52.774-06:002017-01-12T15:17:52.774-06:00Love this episode! A favorite of mineLove this episode! A favorite of mineMigshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16135968082203386481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1318310043864039191.post-28082571651067976272013-04-20T14:03:40.942-05:002013-04-20T14:03:40.942-05:00At last, "Nick of Time"! Thanks for this...At last, "Nick of Time"! Thanks for this enjoyable review, and I am glad to see some love for Our Greatest Living Actor!!!Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.com