"The Twilight Zone (2002)" Retro Recap: "Evergreen"

Written by Scotty

Gated communities can be some of the greatest places to live, there is no crime, and anyone that does anything wrong is dealt with and the undesirable neighbors are forced to move.  These communities can be some of the most elite places to live, but what would you be willing to give up to live there?  With so many great benefits that are offered, there is a trade off on what you might be allowed to do.  Most of the time, these tradeoffs are worth it, but when it comes to changing yourself completely to comply with the rules, it may not be worth it.
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The Winslow family is making their move into the Evergreen Estates community, looking for a better life.  With their out of control daughter Jenna along for the ride, they are hoping that the move will straighten her out.  This move has cost the family more than they could afford, but to make their new house a home with kids that follow the rules, it will be worth it.  But if someone is not complying with the rules that the community has carefully laid out, they can be forced to leave, costing them everything.

Jenna is not too happy with the move, but it is out of her hands.  When looking up and down her new street, she sees all of the uniforms that the kids are forced to wear and is having second thoughts.  But when she sees Logan mowing the lawn, she thinks that this little community might have a redeeming value.  Getting drugged by her parents when moving her belongings into her room, Jenna wakes up to see that all of her tattoos have been removed, along with her multi colored hair being dyed to one consistent color.  

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Trying to lash out at her parents, Jenna meets Cliff Brooks who is in charge of the community.  Mr. Brooks says that he has her best interests in mind, but Jenna knows that her life will never be the same while living in Evergreen Estates and wants to get away so she does not lose herself.  Talking a walk in the woods, Logan meets up with her and offers her something that should not have found its way into the community.  Setting a place and a time, Logan shows up late and Jenna witnesses what happens to the trouble makers when they do not abide by the rules.  Seeing Logan getting stunned and thrown in back of the police truck, she heads home and tries to sleep it off.  But the next day, Mr. Brooks comes calling and asks Jenna to come clean about her relationship with the delinquent. 
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With a mandatory town hall being held to decide Logan’s fate, Jenna watches from afar and when the decision is handed down she sees what happens to the kids that do not follow the rules.  As Logan is loaded into the back of the Arcadia truck, Jenna sees the dirty secret that the community is hiding and rushes home.  Telling her sister Julie to lie for her and them meet her down at the park, Jenna is beside herself with what is happening and will not allow herself or her sister to be sent off.  But Julie knows all of the rules of the community and will follow them to the best of her ability and when she goes to meet up with her sister, she brings the Calvary as well.  Jenna knows what will happen to her and what will happen when a tree is planted in her honor.

A disturbing look at how a community tries to become the best place to live.  With a community charter being upheld at all times, if you do not follow the rules, you are out, no matter what.  Having this being a focus on the children of the community, you have to believe that the parents just want the finest place to live for themselves with little to no regard for their offspring.  My take is that Jenna’s parents knew exactly what was going to happen with their delinquent daughter and have no remorse over it since they have their other perfect angel.  Starring Amber Tamblyn as Jenna Winslow, Paul Perri as Cliff Brooks, Jesse Moss as Logan and Chantal Conlin as Julie, this group plays off of each other like you would imagine a family would.  It is hard to believe that a family would however try to get rid of their child, especially when moving to a new home, but this just goes to show that the bad apples have to be thrown out before making the pie.

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