Twilight Zone’s The Path Episode

If there was a way that you could go to someone who you knew had the power to always give you the right advice you would probably always go to that person. If that person happened to frequent your favorite café as often as you did then you would probably feel even more inclined to go to talk to him or her. That’s what happened to tabloid writer Allie Warner (Linda Cardellini) in the 2003 remake of Rod Serling’s the Twilight Zone.

The message in episode “The Path” comes came across pretty strong and it wasn’t about being unhappy with a job. The episode follows suit with the overdramatized acting and themes in the rest of the collection narrated by Forrest Whitaker. However, the plot really came together in a relatable, and terrifying manner at the end of this 23-minute-long episode.

For Allie Warner, visiting her guide Canayo (Method Man) becomes addictive after his visions of the future save her life. Although she is clearly unconvinced after her first reading she quickly becomes enthralled with the idea that he can help her make decisions.

The first of many readings that Allie comes back for in a dimly lit Mocha Junkie café at a small round glass table is probably the simplest. Canayo takes her hands closes his eyes and lowers his head so that all you can see is the top of his striped beanie.

“You are unhappy at work.” Canayo tells Allie, “An opportunity awaits but you must seek it out first.”
This episode stands out among the 42 other episodes in this collection for two reasons. It makes good use of the sublime and the actors do a great job, which effectively create a clear moral of the story moment at the end of the episode.

The use of Mocha Junkie’s logo of a crazed man, Allie’s employment at a tabloid rag The National Bystander, and her job offer at a Brash magazine could be seen as tacky and poor use of symbolism. But I think it provided a little extra readability to the subliminal context of the show.

Her work for The National Bystander requires her to write stories about hobbits living in rural towns and flying cockroaches which is not exactly interesting for people who are not well, her, or her paper’s editor.

She doesn’t even like writing it. Which is why she is so quick to take a job offer with Brash magazine. The subliminal message here is that the adjective brash means assertive in an overbearing or obnoxious way and you can easily pick up on it in her character as time progresses and she becomes obsessed with knowing her future. Like a precursor or hint of things to come her job offer signals a change in behavior that will be obvious by the end of the episode.

If you don’t pick up on the hint right away you could after you’ve watched the whole episode, or you may not care either way. Regardless, the adjective brash is a precursor that is seen not only in this episode but also in other episodes throughout the season and almost always as the name of a company or publication.

Another reason this episode stands out is that the actors were cast well. Actress Linda Cardellini is best known for her roles in TV Show Freaks and Geeks and on ER with a more recent role in the movie Return. Roles that attest to her ability of playing a wide range of characters from hopeful and upbeat to loss and despair which can all be seen in this episode within a short period of time, not an easy feat to accomplish.

While Cardellini played a great tabloid writer, Clifford Smith AKA hip hop artist Method Man played a believable fortuneteller as well. His readings were short but that’s the way they were intended to be, short and vague.

The irony in casting the Method Man as the fortuneteller is that he eventually advises her not to go to Chicago to pursue her job with Brash and he is in fact from Chicago in real life.

Although he doesn’t have too many lines the ones that he does have are perfectly played out. He is a man of few words but they turn out to be powerful ones for Allie because they eventually save her life from a fatal plane crash had she gone out to take the job in Chicago. It’s this last advice that drives Allie into insanity because although she is still alive, she no longer has an idea of what to do next.