What makes The Twilight Zone great is that the episodes take us on a journey, where either strange things are happening and we have no idea what will happen next, or a twist is thrown at us, changing the nature of what we just watched. This episode goes with the former, but unfortunately squanders its gimmick.
The episode is basically the same type as episode 1, with the protagonist granted a special power. These types of stories tend to follow a simple formula: The protagonist gains the power, comes to grips with it, embraces it, loses control of it and eventually ends up worse off than they started. It's a pretty standard formula, but that's because it works. This episode decides to go its own route and ends up much worse off because of it.
The problem is that the story is not based around the power, but rather the power is more slotted into the story, with some changes to make it work, resulting in a story that could easily fit into a completely normal show, if the power removed and a few tweaks made. To understand this, imagine taking a story about a character completing a challenge and then rewriting it with that character having a superpower to help them complete that task. Yes, the character can now complete the task easier or in a different way, but at the end of the day the power is largely inconsequential; the task is completed in either situation.
But the most disappointing aspect of the episode is the ending. Unlike most other episodes, things do not end poorly for the protagonist, and there is no mind-bending twist. Instead, we are treated to a happy ending. The ending isn't unreasonable for the story; it's more the story is unreasonable for the show.
This episode might have been decent on a more normal show, but Twilight Zone is not a normal show and this episode just doesn't have what even a decent Twilight Zone episode has. If it weren't for the largely under-utilised gimmick, I wouldn't have even realised I was watching The Twilight Zone.
