This is an episode that I had read the script of when I was a little kid (it was a reading assignment) and it wasn't until 14 or so years later that I actually got to see the episode. I loved the script and I thought it was very interesting, but... the final product? It has a serious issue:
The people are too stupid...
In terms of modern relevance, the episode is actually shockingly relevant in an era of victimization and intersectionality where "whoever has power must have oppressed others to get it" and the episode is literally about people having power (electricity) over others. I was originally going to give this episode a lower rating because of how much it irked me, but it's modern relevance shows that it deserves some respect. Still, the people become too stupid too quickly for it to work effectively.
They go from the power being out to believing their neighbor is an alien in less than a minute and are frightened of him. I understand that this is about McCarthyism and what not, but it doesn't come across as trying to be comedic in how absurdly stupid the people are.
I can't buy it for even a moment that people would start turning on someone as soon as their car starts working. The more likely response would be: "Oh hey, we all clearly saw it wasn't working and now it is working, so maybe there is something different about your brand of car or maybe we have no idea as to what is even going on in the first place so we don't know the mechanics of this EMP."
If the episode played out in a bit more comedic fashion to show just how dumb and stupid the people are then I think it could work, but unfortunately it has some of the intelligent characters go from "Let's not jump to conclusions" to "Are you actually an alien?" in the span of 30 seconds. It's just too stupid.
In another scene, a man shoots someone in the dark who is walking down the street and they yell, "It's the monster!"... what monster? They have mentioned aliens, but a person who is clearly wearing a plaid outfit walking down a street at night in a public neighborhood? That doesn't make any sense, even by people who are being hysterical.
Immediately following this moment the lights go on in several different houses and everyone jumps to the conclusion that those people are all aliens instead of... oh... I don't know... the power is coming back on? If everyone is getting power back then the logical conclusion is that the power is back... not aliens.
Another episode that had this same issue was "I shot an arrow into the air" where the main antagonist is too stupid, pathetic, and dehydrated in such a short amount of time that it becomes unintentionally comedic.
To conclude, I believe the message of this episode is great, just the execution is too goofy and dumb for me.
The people are too stupid...
In terms of modern relevance, the episode is actually shockingly relevant in an era of victimization and intersectionality where "whoever has power must have oppressed others to get it" and the episode is literally about people having power (electricity) over others. I was originally going to give this episode a lower rating because of how much it irked me, but it's modern relevance shows that it deserves some respect. Still, the people become too stupid too quickly for it to work effectively.
They go from the power being out to believing their neighbor is an alien in less than a minute and are frightened of him. I understand that this is about McCarthyism and what not, but it doesn't come across as trying to be comedic in how absurdly stupid the people are.
I can't buy it for even a moment that people would start turning on someone as soon as their car starts working. The more likely response would be: "Oh hey, we all clearly saw it wasn't working and now it is working, so maybe there is something different about your brand of car or maybe we have no idea as to what is even going on in the first place so we don't know the mechanics of this EMP."
If the episode played out in a bit more comedic fashion to show just how dumb and stupid the people are then I think it could work, but unfortunately it has some of the intelligent characters go from "Let's not jump to conclusions" to "Are you actually an alien?" in the span of 30 seconds. It's just too stupid.
In another scene, a man shoots someone in the dark who is walking down the street and they yell, "It's the monster!"... what monster? They have mentioned aliens, but a person who is clearly wearing a plaid outfit walking down a street at night in a public neighborhood? That doesn't make any sense, even by people who are being hysterical.
Immediately following this moment the lights go on in several different houses and everyone jumps to the conclusion that those people are all aliens instead of... oh... I don't know... the power is coming back on? If everyone is getting power back then the logical conclusion is that the power is back... not aliens.
Another episode that had this same issue was "I shot an arrow into the air" where the main antagonist is too stupid, pathetic, and dehydrated in such a short amount of time that it becomes unintentionally comedic.
To conclude, I believe the message of this episode is great, just the execution is too goofy and dumb for me.