History Series / TheTwilightZone2002

* PoorCommunicationsKills: In "The Collection", Miranda thinks the dolls are trying to hurt Danielle. [[spoiler:In reality, they are trying to get her to leave before she is also turned into a doll, and Miranda doesn't realize it until it's too late.]]

* ShoutOut: In "The Collection", Danielle Randall tells Miranda Evans that she and Jenny used to watch ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' together and that Jenny wanted Buffy and Spike to hook up. Both ''The Twilight Zone'' and ''Buffy'' aired on Creator/{{UPN}} during the 2002-2003 season.

* PsychoticManchild: In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E73ItsAGoodLife It's Still a Good Life]]", Anthony Fremont has matured somewhat over the previous 40 years but he has retained his [[SpoiledBrat spoiled attitude]] and overly simplistic worldview. He is still very quick to punish people who don't like him and think mean thoughts about him.

* OpeningShoutOut: Creator/RodSerling is featured in the opening credits.

* PoorCommunicationsKills: In "The Collection," Miranda thinks the dolls are trying to hurt Danielle. [[spoiler:In reality, they are trying to get her to leave before she is also turned into a doll, and Miranda doesn't realize it until it's too late.]]

* PoliceAreUseless: "How Much Do You Love Your Kid?" has the mother screaming at police officers to do something, but they all shrug and say the show is perfectly legal.

* PoliceAreUseless: "How Much Do You Love Your Kid" has the mother screaming at police officers to do something, but they all shrug and say the show is perfectly legal.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler: Danielle in "The Collection" turns her babysitters into dolls so they won't leave her, and they are fully aware and conscious.]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Evergreen community, where they turn some teens into [[spoiler: ''red'' plant fertilizer]] disguised as a 'reeducation camp' especially for them.

** In "The Collection", Miranda (a fully-grown human female) squares off against a collection of living Barbie-sized dolls. No points for guessing who wins, although [[spoiler: Miranda really should have let the dolls get her out of the house instead...]]

* EnfanteTerrible: In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E73ItsAGoodLife It's Still a Good Life]]", [[spoiler:Anthony Fremont's daughter Audrey didn't fell far from the tree. She gets fed up with her grandmother Agnes trying to use her as a LaserGuidedTykebomb against Anthony to banish ''everybody who was still remaining in town'' to "the cornfield", eventually gets bored about her and her father being the only people left in town so she brings the people (and the rest of the world) back. Audrey makes clear that she will experience a nice life with her dad from now on... and ''nothing'' will get in their way.]]

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A recurring theme of the show, particularly in "The Pharaoh's Curse." [[spoiler: An up-and-coming magician tries to learn the secret to a trick performed by the world's master at sleight of hand. Only after performing the trick does he realize that it's ''true'' magic, and he's now trapped in his aging mentor's body.]]

* CreepyChild: Danielle in "The Collection." Miranda found out the painful way when the other dolls alerted her to the kid's true character.

* DeathTakesAHoliday: The premise of "One Night at Mercy." Death, here depicted as a middle-aged man who's grown depressed after countless eons killing every living thing on Earth, tries [[TheDeathOfDeath killing himself]], but it doesn't work. The doctor treating him afterward mockingly suggests that he "quit," and Death decides to do just that. While the doctor initially thinks this is a good thing, he changes his mind when a group of burn victims are brought into the hospital [[AndIMustScream in horrific, agonizing pain, but unable to die]]. He finds Death and begs him to go back on the job. Death is reluctant--"One day off in a four and a half ''billion'' years"--but ultimately agrees. [[spoiler: The first name on his list? The doctor who was treating him.]]
* DidYouThinkICantFeel: Implied with Death in "One Night at Mercy." When Dr. Jay Ferguson rushes to find him and convince him to take up his old job, he finds him on the roof, murmuring about how he has to visit every living thing: "I kill flowers, too. Did you ever think about that? It's not just animals and people. It's grass, trees, roses..."

* RaceLift: This revival was targeted towards a more African-American audience; the host Creator/ForestWhitaker was black as were a lot of the main characters in its episodes, and it featured episodes such as "Shades of Guilt" in which a racist white man slowly turns black, or Memphis, in which a dying black man who finds himself in 1968 tries to save Martin Luther King. TropesAreNotBad, of course, and being on Creator/{{UPN}} might have had something to do with it.

* BadBoss: Rick of "Mr. Motivation," to begin with, he gives Charles an impossible task, which Charles must complete in less than a day.

** In "The Collection," Miranda (a fully-grown human female) squares off against a collection of living Barbie-sized dolls. No points for guessing who wins, although [[spoiler: Miranda really should have let the dolls get her out of the house instead...]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: BadBoss Rick of "Mr. Motivation," gives a motivational doll to Charles. This doll that turns out to be alive, motivates Charles to stop being such a doormat and [[spoiler: show that his boss committed fraud.]]

** "Mr. Motivation": Charlie stands up to his abusive boss and exposes his illegal scheme. He then gets promoted to his boss' job and starts going out with a coworker he has a crush on. In addition, he still has Mr. Motivation on his desk to prevent him from becoming a jerk.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: "Gabe's Story": The titular character has been having a severe run of bad luck lately. As his life is about to crumble apart for good, he learns that he and everyone else are having their "stories" written for them, as - supposedly - nothing would ever happen to them otherwise. Gabe convinces his Writer and her boss allowing him to take control of his own life - allowing him to reconcile with his wife and get a fresh start.

* MissingTime: In "Time Lapse", an orderly finds himself suffering repeated blackouts where another consciousness takes over his body and travels out of the state, acquiring a weapon to be used in an apparent assassination attempt on the U.S. President. [[spoiler:The other person is in fact a Secret Service Agent who was trying to stop a plot to kill the President, but ended up in a coma and discovered that he could project his mind into a nearby body.]]

* SettingUpdate: "The Monsters are on Maple Street" uses the fact that it's 2002 to add more things to the blackout that freak out people like [[CellPhonesAreUseless cell phones being unresponsive]]. It also explores the paranoia behind profiling (the only house that still receives light belongs to a Middle-Eastern man). On top of that, [[spoiler:it uses the fact that TheWarOnTerror is fresh to change the creators of said blackout from aliens to a U.S. GovernmentConspiracy that was testing how normal Americans would react to a situation that fired up their paranoia. It only takes several hours for them to return on each other.]]

** In "Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine", this is what Craig wanted Azoth the Avenger to do to [[AbusiveParents his abusive dad]]. It's not unusual for him (and the audience) to believe it's going to happen, with Azoth being a Literature/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} and Craig's dad being a regular security guard. Turned out [[BadassNormal that it went the other way around]], and Craig's dad gives Azoth a beating with his nightstick so bad that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Azoth asks Craig to put him back on his home dimension immediately]] (although not before telling him that this is a situation where only Craig can save himself, if he is brave enough to confront his father).

* LaserGuidedKarma: "The Executions of Grady Finch" has [[spoiler: the eponymous character, who managed to evade multiple execution attempts for the previous murder he committed and was found not guilty at his retrial, ended up being crushed by a giant statue that fell from the top of the courthouse.]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: BadBoss Rick of "Mr. Motivation," gives a motivational doll to Charles. This doll that turns out to be alive, motivates Charles to stop being such a doormat and [[spoiler: show that his boss commited fraud.]]

* NotAfraidOfYouAnymore: Craig says this word for word to his father in "Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine." His mother doesn't quote the trope name, her standing up to her husband to defend Craig implies this.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: In "Evergreen", the Evergreen community turn unruly teens into [[spoiler: ''red'' plant fertilizer]] disguised as a 'reeducation camp' especially for them.

* RaceLift: This revival was targeted towards a more African-American audience; the host Creator/ForestWhitaker was black as were a lot of the main characters in its episodes, and it featured episodes such as "Shades of Guilt" in which a racist white man waking up black. TropesAreNotBad, of course, and being on Creator/{{UPN}} might have had something to do with it.

** What Craig wanted Azoth the Avenger to do to [[AbusiveParents his abusive dad]] (and it's not unusual for him (and the audience) to believe it's going to happen, with Azoth being a Literature/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} and Craig's dad being a regular security guard). Turned out [[BadassNormal that it went the other way around]], and Craig's dad gives Azoth a beating with his nightstick so bad that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Azoth asks Craig to put him back on his home dimension immediately]] (although not before telling him that this is a situation where only Craig can save himself, if he is brave enough to confront his father).

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Ever-Green community, where they turn some teens into [[spoiler: ''red'' plant fertilizer]] disguised as a 'reeducation camp' especially for them.

* HeroicSacrifice: In "Into the Light", the teacher stopped one of her students from shooting his classmates after being bullied. She tries to grab his gun, which caused them to fall from the roof. Unfortunately, you arguably have to wonder why, since one of his targets was a [[TeensAreMonsters bully and a racist]] FatBastard.

* FailedExecutionNoSentence: "The Executions of Grady Finch" has the titular man sentenced to die, even when he insists that he's innocent of the murder that put him there. DivineIntervention prevents him from getting killed multiple times (even when the victim's angry son walks up to Finch in court and tries to shoot him) and Finch's lawyer eventually manages to convince the court that just keeping on trying to execute him would in and of itself be considered "cruel and unusual punishment" ''and'' must mean that someone up there thinks he's innocent, so Finch ''must'' be set free. [[spoiler:The truth is that Finch ''was'' the murderer and he finally gets the courage to confess, to his lawyer, when he's let go... which is what the DivineIntervention wanted all along, so it kills him by dropping the courthouse's statue of Nemesis, the goddess of Vengeance, on him.]]

* HollywoodLaw:
** One standard use of this trope with "[[FailedExecutionNoSentence if people sentenced to death cannot be executed for reasons beyond our control]], ''even after trying several times'', they are free" appears in "The Executions Of Grady Finch", among some other examples.
** "How Much Do You Love Your Kid?" revolves around an ImmoralRealityShow that kidnaps ''children'' and forces their loved ones to solve puzzles to recover them (and earn the prize money) or else ''they will never be seen again'', and something ''this'' insane can be allowed by a single parent without any knowledge (let alone consent) from the other. Even the closest approximation to the Trope in RealLife still requires the consent of both parents if children are involved and cannot put them in the kind of danger an adult can consent to (read: potentially lethal).

** [[spoiler: "How Much Do You Love Your Kid?": the woman "wins" a million dollars and the game show by killing the man who kidnapped her son...who turns out to be her husband, who did it to solve their money problems. She is arrested and has to use the money to hire a lawyer to get her off.[[note]] and even if she does, her financial situation will probably be worse off, as she would be broke from all of the legal fees and have no husband to support her.[[/note]]]]

** [[spoiler: "The Executions of Grady Finch": good news, the titular criminal is given a KarmicDeath by the DivineIntervention that kept him alive long enough for him to slip up and finally confess. The bad news? The son of the man Finch killed will go to jail for trying to pull a VigilanteExecution and there's no telling whether or not Finch's lawyer will reveal Finch's confession, that with client-attorney confidentiality and all.]]

** In "Azoth the Avenger is a Friend of Mine", this is what Craig wanted Azoth the Avenger to do to [[AbusiveParents his abusive dad]]. It's not unusual for him (and the audience) to believe it's going to happen, with Azoth being a Literature/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} and Craig's dad being a regular security guard. Turned out [[BadassNormal that it went the other way around]], and Craig's dad gives Azoth a beating with his nightstick so bad that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Azoth asks Craig to put him back on his home dimension immediately]] (although not before telling him that this is a situation where only Craig can save himself, if he is brave enough to confront his father).

* DivineIntervention: "The Executions of Grady Finch". Played with in that said DivineIntervention kept Finch from being killed via execution for a crime he committed (but he kept insisting that he didn't)... up until he was allowed to walk away ([[HollywoodLaw because if every time he was going to be executed the method backfired and left him unharmed, then there was no reason to keep him on death row, or even in prison at all]]) and it made him brave ([[SmugSnake and stupid]]) enough to finally admit to the family of his victim that he did it, which was when the DivineIntervention intervened to have a ''statue of Lady Justice fall on him and kill him''.

* MindPrison: The episode "The Pool Boy" is about a man who experiences being murdered by an unknown assailant every day before he wakes up that morning to start the cycle anew. [[spoiler:At the end it's shown that he's a murderer who's been sentenced to a mind prison, and the man who kills him repeatedly is a projection of his victim tormenting him.]]

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: In "Evergreen", the Evergreen community turn unruly teens into [[spoiler: ''red'' plant fertilizer]] disguised as a 'reeducation camp' especially for them.

* PoweredByAForsakenChild: The Ever-Green community, where they turn some teens into [[spoiler: ''red'' plant fertilizer]] disguised as a 'reeducation camp' especially for them.

* MindPrison: The episode "The Pool Boy" is about a man who experiences being murdered by an unknown assailant every day before he wakes up that morning to start the cycle anew. At the end it's shown that he's a murderer who's been sentenced to a mind prison, and the man who kills him repeatedly is a projection of his victim tormenting him.

** What Craig wanted Azoth the Avenger to do to [[AbusiveParents his abusive dad]] (and it's not unusual for him (and the audience) to believe it's going to happen, with Azoth being a Literature/ConanTheBarbarian {{Expy}} and Craig's dad being a regular security guard). Turned out [[BadassNormal that it went the other way around]], and Craig's dad gives Azoth a beating with his nightstick so bad that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Azoth asks Craig to put him back on his home dimension immediately]] (although not before telling him that this is a situation where only Craig can save himself, if he is brave enough to confront his father).