Joshua Mattern" />
Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      Joshua Mattern
      January 17, 2022
      Fiction, PDI Press, PDI Press Writers
    Recent
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      John E. Meredith
      January 17, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

      John E. Meredith
      January 16, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

      John E. Meredith
      January 15, 2022
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • X (2022)

      Joshua Mattern
      April 22, 2022
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • X (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 22, 2022
    • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 15, 2022
    • The Adam Project (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      March 16, 2022
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Joshua Mattern
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      The Final Girl
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Joshua Mattern
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • X (2022)
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
  • The Adam Project (2022)
  • The Batman (2022)
  • Entropy (2022)
  • Killer Sofa (2019)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Reviews

11.22.63 1.01 “The Rabbit Hole”

Joshua Mattern
February 21, 2016
Reviews, TV

Stephen King doesn’t like to explain things. He’s normally content to just let them be. Christine is just a car that kills people, Carrie is just a girl with telekinetic powers, and Cujo just has rabies and tries to kill everyone. My favorite short story of his, in fact, goes like this: a little kid is sitting in class and he really has to go to the bathroom, but he’s afraid to go to the bathroom, because he knows if he does he will be eaten by the tiger that lives in the bathroom. So he agonizes, for several pages, over what to do, but finally gives in, raises his hand, gets excused…and gets eaten by a tiger in the bathroom. The end.

It usually works, King’s preference to say, “This is my world, deal with it” and then simply tell his story. But the suspension of disbelief required of the viewer in Hulu’s serialized adaptation of the writer’s 11.22.63 is almost too much, and very nearly ruins what’s a very enjoyable second half.

11-22-63-101-01

James Franco plays Jake, a high school teacher who’s signing his divorce papers down at the local diner at the opening of the episode. Chris Cooper’s Al, who runs the place, disappears into the back while this is going on—presumably because he thinks two people ending their marriage over milkshakes at the local greasy spoon is as awkward as we do—and returns two minutes later looking much older, and very, very sick. Come to find out he has his very own time travel closet, and boy, does he have a job for Jake.

And this is when things start to fall apart. In the span of five minutes, we learn the following: 1) Al has had a time travel closet in the back of his restaurant since he bought the place; 2) every time you go through it, you emerge at the exact hour, minute, and second of the same day in 1960; 3) no matter how long you stay, only two minutes elapse in the “real” world; 4) every time you re-enter the time portal, any changes you made the last trip are erased; and 5) this thing was put here so Al could prevent the assassination of JFK.

And… that’s it. Where’d this thing come from? Who knows! Why does it always take you to exact same place and time? Who cares! Just let it be!

11-22-63-101-04

And it almost would be enough; the viewer almost would be willing to say, “You know what? I don’t really mind if there’s a good explanation for all this, as long as the story pays off,” if not for a single continuity error that nearly derails the entire series from the get-go:

Cooper’s Al tells Jake he thinks this portal was put here to prevent JFK’s death. The reasoning is: save JFK, Lyndon Johnson never becomes president, Vietnam never escalates, etc. etc. etc. But while recounting one of his own trips where he had a close encounter with JFK’s assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, Jake asks why Al didn’t just kill him then and be done with it. Al’s reply? He has to first prove Oswald killed Kennedy, because he can’t have an innocent man’s murder on his conscience. Granted, this crisis of conscience sets up the investigative strain of the show; but the viewer almost immediately wants to scream: If every trip through the time portal resets all the changes previously made, what would be the harm in killing Oswald, coming back to the “real” world to see if it mattered, and then, if not, just going back in time again to reset it?

11-22-63-101-03

The point is, this too-long pilot spends an inordinate amount of time setting up its own unjustified rules, to the point that, by the time Franco’s Jake takes over Al’s mission and goes back in time to learn the truth about JFK’s murder, the viewer barely cares anymore.

And what a shame that is, because once Jake does dive head first into 1960, the pilot hits its rhythm. There are several clever bits—Jake, knowing the outcomes of countless boxing matches, makes an absurd 35-1 bet, then seems surprised when his bookie ain’t too happy about paying up. And when someone breaks into Jake’s hotel room, a dancing animal video on his iPhone screen provides just enough distraction to the future-struck robber for Jake to get the jump on him.

And there are darker moments that work, too. Al tells Jake, in much the same vein as the Final Destination movies, that things are supposed to be a certain way, and when you try to mess with the past, it messes with you right back. We see this demonstrated through a fiery car crash that destroys the payphone with which Jake was trying to call his own father (before Jake himself was even born). The driver of the car, lying bloodied and close to death amidst the wreckage of her car, looks at Jake and says, “You shouldn’t be here.” Indeed. And later, a young boy dies in a house fire cosmically designed to destroy Jake’s research notes on Lee Harvey Oswald.

11-22-63-101-02

And the episode also ends with a satisfyingly intriguing twist: Jake, after the aforementioned house fire, has decided to abandon his mission (sure he has), but before returning to the present decides to prevent the murder of the family of a student and janitor at the school where he works. The final shots are of Jake watching the child of his janitor friend being gleefully lifted into the air by his smiling father: the man who will, that very night, kill everyone close to the boy.

All in all, this pilot is really a tale of two halves: You have the setup, wherein a nonsensical time travel plot is unsuccessfully justified to the viewer, performed so poorly the urge to simply change the channel and say, “I decided I don’t want to write this review” is almost overpowering; and then you have the story proper, when Jake really begins his investigation of Oswald in earnest, and eventually decides to try to right a different, much more personal, wrong from the past. This latter part is so good, it’s almost enough to make you forget how terrible the opening half was. Almost.

(Visited 207 times, 1 visits today)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

11.22.63James FrancoJoshua MatternStephen King

Hail Caesar! (2016)
The Magicians 1.04 & 1.05

About The Author

monsterid
Joshua Mattern

Joshua Mattern is a West Virginia native, but lives in Las Vegas. He loves horror movies, shows that try to be as good as The Wire, and playing with his cat, Grendel.

Daily Top Ten

  • Shakespeare's Macbeth (2010)Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Dungeons & D-Listers: D&D: The Book of Vile Darkness Dungeons & D-Listers: D&D: The Book of… by Alex Wolfe
  • Condorman (1981)Condorman (1981) by John Clark
  • Advance Review - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)Advance Review – Spider-Man: Into the… by Nate Zoebl
  • Beautiful Creatures: Bad MiloBeautiful Creatures: Bad Milo by Dan Johnson
  • Interview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders!Interview of the 50 Foot Cheerleaders! by Jason Sacks
  • Tales from Muppetland: The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972)Tales from Muppetland: The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972) by Jessica Sowards
  • ABCs of Horror Day 05: C is for CronenbergABCs of Horror Day 05: C is for Cronenberg by Paul Brian McCoy
  • 31 Days of Halloween 2015: Day 16 - The Films of Val Lewton31 Days of Halloween 2015: Day 16 – The Films… by John E. Meredith
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

Weekly Top Ten

  • Advance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-rayAdvance Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016) Blu-ray by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy”Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Shakespeare's Macbeth (2010)Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
  • Sick Flix: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)Sick Flix: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) by Corin Totin
  • Beautiful Creatures: Shin GodzillaBeautiful Creatures: Shin Godzilla by Dan Lee
  • Lost in Translation 216: St. Trinian’sLost in Translation 216: St. Trinian’s by Scott Delahunt
  • Superman II (1980)Superman II (1980) by John Clark
400x400 UA Affiliate Banner

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Latest Reviews

  • X (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 22, 2022
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 15, 2022
  • The Adam Project (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    March 16, 2022

psychodrivein

Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E37 - G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

It's the start of one of the most iconic Joe stories in it's entire history, and it includes the return of two pivotal characters from the past! Join Greg and Jaren as they venture into Rio Lindo to root out Cobra's next devious plot!
---
Watch Greg and Jaren at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes @anythingjoespod #GIJoe #MarvelComics #SnakeEyes
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was first published in 1990 and was a comedy about Revelations and Armageddon.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #GoodOmens #NeilGaiman #TerryPratchett #BBC #MarkHeap #PeterSerafinowicz #JimNorton #AdamThomasWright #JosieLawrence #Charlotterichie #ColinMorgan #CliveRussell #JuliaDeakin #BBCRadio
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E36 - Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

Greg & Jaren recount their experience meeting Larry Hama at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022. Plus, the latest news, recent acquisitions, and listener mail!
---
Listen to Greg and Jaren's podcast at the link in our profile!

@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Mezco #LarryHama
Today at https://psychodrivein.com X (2022) Ti W Today at https://psychodrivein.com

X (2022)

Ti West is a director I haven’t fully enjoyed, though I would say X is his most accomplished film to date for me. 
---
Read more of Nate's review at the link in our profile!

#X #TiWest #MiaGoth #Slasher
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 411: The Secret of Marvel's Success

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been dominating the box office since the release of Iron Man.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Marvel #MarvelStudios #MarvelCinematicUniverse #MCU #IronMan #Avengers #MoonKnight #WandaVision #Hawkeye #RobertDowneyJr
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 9: All of Us Are Dead S1 E7-12

There are enough plot threads left dangling to give us a good launching point for a future second season, but if that doesn’t happen, All of Us Are Dead can stand as a solid one-and-done.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #AllOfUsAreDead #Netflix #LeeJaiKyoo #KimNamSu #ChunSungIl #JooDongGeun #YooInSoo #ChoYiHyun #OhHyeSoo #YoonChanYoung #LeeEunSaem #YangHanYeoi #JinHoEun #HaSeungRi #SonSangYeon #zombies
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 8: Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Return of the Living Dead III is, quite simply, one of the best examples of the genre.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #zombies #ReturnOfTheLivingDead3 #BasilWallace #BrianYuzna #JTrevorEdmond #KentMcCord #MelindaClarke #SarahDouglas
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 7: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

While I really didn’t like Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City very much, I want to give it a fair shake.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #ResidentEvil #ResidentEvilWelcomeToRaccoonCity #WelcomeToRaccoonCity #JohannesRoberts #RobbieAmell #HannahJohnKamen #TomHopper #DonalLogue #NealMcDonough #KayaScodelario #AvanJogia #MarinaMazepa
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 6: Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021)

Vengeance. That’s what Ashin is doing. That’s what she’s been doing from behind the scenes all along.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #Zombies #TheKingdom #TheKingdomAshinOfTheNorth #AshinOfTheNorth #Ashin #Netflix #JunJiHyun #KimEunHee #KimRoiHa #KimSeongHun #KimShiAh #ParkByungEun
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Latest Columns

  • Anything Joes: S01E37 – G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

    Greg Engle
    May 11, 2022
  • Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

    Scott Delahunt
    April 29, 2022
  • Anything Joes: S01E36 – Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

    Greg Engle
    April 27, 2022

TWITTER

My Tweets

Look Who's Talking

Oliver Ghingold
Oliver Ghingold - 2/18/2022
Muppet Madness: You’re the Director
Do you still have these tapes? I've been looking everywhere for them! I loved the Interactive Vision...
white swan
white swan - 12/22/2021
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
I enjoyed the article though I would never call brutality gorgeous.
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 10/26/2021
13 Days of Halloween Day 12: Halloween Kills (2021)
Very disappointing, it's true. And very mean-spirited murders of nobodies. And I don't even see how...
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

Large_rectangle_336X280
All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: