Grief takes the shape of a gelatinous creature in this poorly executed Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone Season 2 examines grief in this odd episode

After the cephalopod mishap in Episode 6, I was hoping the next episode of The Twilight Zone Season 2 would be an improvement, sadly, the second half of the season isn’t as strong as the first half, so far.

In “A Human Face,” Christopher Meloni and Jenna Elfman star as grieving parents visited by a strange, gelatinous alien entity with the ability to transform itself into their deceased daughter.

Robert and Barbara take opposing views when they witness a monstrous creature appear from a mysterious cosmic flare. Barbara first notices the being’s eyes are similar to their late daughter’s, while Robert tries to get her to accept the being is simply transforming itself into what they want most.

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As the episode continues, it shapeshifts into an exact replica of the girl they once knew. Barbara cannot resist the allure of having her daughter back in her life in some capacity, even if it isn’t real.

In some ways, the themes in this episode are similar to those in “Downtime,” except here they’re focused solely on parental love and grief.

As Ready Steady Cut‘s reviewer pointed out, this The Twilight Zone Season 2 episode attempts to symbolize the idea that “grief overpowers logic.” Robert is meant to represent rationality to Barbara’s emotional focus. Unfortunately, the execution is sorely lacking.

Explaining the ending of The Twilight Zone Season 2’s “A Human Face”

The ending of the episode is a strange one and one that feels too neat, and frankly, forced. By the end of “A Human Face,” the alien seems to have succeeded in infiltrating the family and convincing them to accept it into their lives as their new alien doppelganger daughter.

While the alien’s original goal was to conquer and seemingly enslave the human race, the more it learns about the emotions of Barbara and Robert, the more inclined it feels to act on those emotions, and essentially “love” them the way a child might a parent.

In the end, it seems the alien has decided to forgo its nefarious plans for a much happier ending, or so we’re led to believe. It could all be a ruse, but Jordan Peele’s narration seems to indicate that it isn’t, minimizing some of the more interesting ambiguity.

What did you think about The Twilight Zone Season 2, Episode 7? What did you think about the twist ending? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Twilight Zone Season 2 is currently available to stream in full on CBS All Access.