This episode convinced me that I like
Brandon Routh. Playing Superman isn't really much of a challenge, so
seeing Routh in literally any other role tells me a lot more about
his acting ability. He's a charming guy, with good energy.
That said, I find myself baffled by
what this episode was going for. The ending just doesn't seem to fit
with the rest of the story, unless I missed something major. I
believe that either some important plot-point was cut out, or the
writers wanted a twist ending and had no idea where to go with it.
The premise of the episode is decent.
Bobby and Tracy (Routh and Shiri Appleby) are a couple who want to
have a child, but don't want to raise it in their current apartment.
A miracle seems to happen when they're offered a great deal on house
in a planned community called The Commons. They're told The Commons
are a planned community, that accepts only couples that fit the exact
criteria they believe will help to create their ideal community.
Once they move in, however, they find
that the community is incredibly controlling of it's residents.
Infidelity is punished by public shaming, there are cameras in every
house, and the community has the right to foreclose on them if they
fail to conceive a child within six months. It's strongly implied
that The Commons' goal is to create a perfect environment for raising
successful children, loyal to their community, to expand their wealth
and influence throughout society.
Eventually, it becomes clear that
residents who don't properly toe the line are either killed, or
terrorized into submission. It's strongly implied that this happened
to the previous resident of Bobby and Tracy's house, and that their
neighbor Phil (John Billingsley) had his leg amputated for his
discontent. While it's unrealistic that they could get away with
this, it's nothing compared to The Washingtonians,
so I can't really complain after praising that episode.
The ending is where
the episode really falls apart. Bobby and Tracy attempt an escape
with the help of their outside friends Scott and Meryl (Charlie
Hofheimer and Alexandra Fatovich). Meryl wears a wig and pretends to
be a sick Tracy while Scott gets the real Tracy to safety. They're
found out, but Bobby manages to run with the help of Phil...then,
Scott and Tracy come back, having decided they want to live in The
Commons, and help capture Bobby, whose legs are amputated.
So, why the sudden
change of heart for Scott and Tracy? I literally have no idea. It
seems like some kind of mind-control, but how did The Commons could
use mind-control on people whose location they didn't know, while
being unable to use it on Bobby when he was right there? A friend of
mine suggested that the community seems to use mind-control on the
women, while blackmailing the men, but that still doesn't explain
Scott, and some of the women in the episode seem quite resistant as
well.
Also,
cell phone communication seems to be the only form of privacy that
The Commons doesn't
interfere with. I was expecting something to come of Bobby's use of
a cell phone to coordinate the escape, but it never did. Apparently
The Commons got the hard parts of totalitarianism down, but forgot
about the basics, like phone tapping.
Overall, the
episode is very “meh.” It's a good premise, with a bad ending,
but a good lead actor. I think expanded to feature length this could
have been an interesting story, but at it's current length the ending
just seems rushed.
On a
final note, I did notice that this is the only episode of either
Masters of Horror or
Fear Itself to be
directed by a woman (Mary Harron, director of American
Psycho). I didn't notice a
great deal of influence from that, but there was a brief shot showing
a group of kids re-enacting the public shaming of an adulterous
woman, with a little girl in a pig mask playing the role of the
punished. The scene is pretty uncomfortable to be sure, especially
since punishment of the man she was cheating with is never seen or
even mentioned.
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