I've watched s1 - wildly uneven (some eps very dull, some padded - why couldn't they have done 2 a show when warranted? some amusing, some spooky). But - maybe I'm a bit slow on the uptake - what was the point of this one, exactly? Sort of a cycle but what? how?
This is one of my favorite from season 1!
The New Man was going more of a Twilight Zone vibe. Where it wasn't supposed to make sense exactly. It was supposed to make you think imo.
But then there is theory 2 which imo makes it far more interesting.
That this workplace takes in recovering drinkers and everyone in the recovering drinkers life is involved to drive man crazy. Maybe as an act of revenge or as an excuse to get away from his ways.
Excellent episode :)
Thanks for the reply. It certainly was interesting - atmospheric, to be sure. But WHY would there be such an elaborate set-up to drive the guy(s) crazy?
I think the kid was a sort of supernatural being that tempted recovering alcoholics to "get off the wagon" by manipulating the people closest to them into destroying them mentally. That was what I got out of the episode.
shareInteresting theory. But why? A devil in disguise?
Like a personal demon that tempted and tormented them to the breaking point. The kid was there solely to shatter his recovery, just like he was going to do to the next guy. Perhaps the kid was a demon sent on a mission by Satan or Satan himself-its not clear though. A true darkside episode.
shareYes - it was effective. I confess to finding some of the s1 eps tedious - having 2 stories per ep would have helped in some cases.
Exactly what I thought
shareYes, this one is in my opinion the most puzzling of the series; why drive the man back to his old drinking habits, and why, at the end, should the boy wish to do the same thing to another man?
shareMaybe the kid is the Devil, or perhaps he is a metaphor for the eternal battle with the bottle - nobody said quitting was easy and alcoholism isn't going away.
shareI thought season 1 had a bulk of really fantastic episodes. There only 25 minutes at most.
The New Man is up there with the best of the series then there's Inside The Closet, Slippage, Trick Or Treat, Answer Me, In The Cards and Anniversary Dinner. I thought they were all up there with the best of the series.
I also thought Mookie And Pookie was a really nice episode and Bigalow's Last Smoke works like an interesting short horror story.
But the boy being a demon in some way does make alot of sense.
I like how the episode gives you alot to think about and it is actually pretty dark and evil.
Many thanks shred-com for your remarks - I suppose the boy being a demon would solve some of the problems involved in this episode. I did enjoy it and I think your suggestion is as good as any .Incidentally why should the man's wife and other son be in on the act? Have you any views?
shareThe ending made it look as if the boss was in on a scam of some sort. But I doubt it sense we saw the boy's evil grin in the bedroom. Clearly, something supernatural was at work.
shareYou have made some good points roncerabona - it may be that we left to solve the problem as best we can.
shareThere is some crucial evidence that lends credence to the fact the boy was evil spirited: he leaves a bottle of whiskey in the son's dresser with a bunch of Jerry t-shirts as a parting shot to the father..I believe Jerry manipulated the father's family into accepting him into the family as one of their own against their will.
shareThanks MonteCarloMan - your remarks are very interesting and I think that the boy being evil-spirited does explain a lot.
shareI think the little boy was meant to be symbolic of how the nagging temptation to fall off the wagon by drinking again is always somewhere in the back of a recovering alcoholic's mind.
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