SPOILERS for The Twilight Zone season 2, episode 2, "Downtime"
The Twilight Zone season 2 episode, “Downtime”, touches on several topics, but largely focuses on questions of identity. The episode begins with Michelle (Morena Baccarin), all smiles as she’s about to meet with her boss and ask for a promotion at the hotel where she works. It’s easy to see why Michelle quickly gets the managerial position she’s angling for: she’s personable, quick-witted, patient, and cool under pressure. Still, the part where the entire hotel staff is waiting to applaud her promotion seems a little too dreamlike.
There’s a reason for that. Michelle learns that she’s actually a virtual avatar in a program called Sleepaway, which allows its users to experience an entirely different life while they sleep. Michelle’s entire persona is merely the wish fulfillment of a man named Phineas. The problem, as the customer service reps reveal, is that Phineas had a heart attack and fell into a coma while synced up to Sleepaway. This causes a disconnect between Phineas and Michelle, which appears to be why Michelle gains autonomy. It’s also the reason why Michelle doesn’t understand the concept of downtime, which is basically just scheduled maintenance for the Sleepaway world.
The solution for this glitch, as suggested by two Sleepaway customer service representatives, is for Michelle to go through a “forced unsync”. This would essentially wipe her out of existence, in an effort to save Phineas. Understandably opposed to the solution, Michelle’s stance softens somewhat when she meets Ellen (Serinda Swan), who is Phineas’ wife and his emergency contact. The two share a conversation, which proves crucial to understanding the episode.
Ellen says she’s not surprised that her husband wanted to live as Michelle, suggesting that Phineas wanted to experience being a brave and beautiful woman. Another clue arrives late in “Downtime”, when Michelle is informed by a customer service manager that Phineas took a cocktail of sleeping pills before logging in to Sleepaway. These details suggest that Phineas has realized that he feels more comfortable living as a woman. It seems likely that Phineas decided to end his life as a man so that Michelle could continue living.
Michelle, separate from Phineas, is experiencing an identity crisis of her own. “Downtime” introduces an idea that’s been prominently featured in Black Mirror, particularly in “White Christmas”, which shows what might happen if virtual avatars became sentient and gained personalities of their own. In the case of Michelle, the knowledge that she’s merely someone else’s creation both confuses and devastates her. She imagines herself as a driven individual who has presumably worked very hard for her promotion. Soon after, she learns that it’s all fake.
Written by Jordan Peele, with JD Dillard serving as director, “Downtime” concludes on a hopeful note. A shaken Michelle returns to her job at the hotel. Ellen walks in a short while later. With sadness but determination, Ellen asks to book a room for a few weeks. Upon hearing this, Michelle smiles. The ending, with Phineas being taken off life support, indicates that Ellen had begun to process what her husband really wanted. She chooses to get to know Michelle, heartened by the fact that some part of her husband still exists within this avatar. On the other hand, Michelle’s smile is a sign that she recognizes the opportunity to create meaning through her burgeoning relationship with Ellen.
On a broader level, “Downtime” uses the characters of Michelle and Ellen to explore universal struggles, such as a person’s inability to feel comfortable in their own skin and the even greater battle to find meaning in life. To combat this, The Twilight Zone offers the possibility of locating purpose and camaraderie in the bonds people form with one other.
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