WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 9 of The Twilight Zone, "Try, Try."
Season 2 of The Twilight Zone once more covers a vast array of sci-fi and horror topics, but there are also some sociopolitical cuts as well. The most prominent one comes courtesy of "Try, Try," where Topher Grace's Marc saves Kylie Bunbury's Claudia from being hit by a delivery van in the rain. The pair hit it off as they visit a museum together, and it seems they're destined to be soul-mates. However, as the date turns out to be not-so-perfect after all, Claudia does have one very triumphant moment and it provides fans with an episode that confronts toxic masculinity.
As the couple explore the museum, it's just too good to be true. Marc's hitting all the soft spots, turning out to be the ideal gentleman Claudia's dreamed of since childhood. However, she notices little instances, like him anticipating a pack of gum falling or when guards go absent, allowing them romantic moments and cute gestures in public, and she thinks these instances are more than serendipitous.
Eventually, Marc admits he can predict the entire date because he's lived this day a thousand times before. It's basically his Groundhog Day, and he has no idea why. All he has is a watch with several alarms set indicating when certain things will happen, but what he can control is how he's mined information through several dates with Claudia before, since getting her to fall for him is his prime objective in this world.
He thinks it's altruistic the way he's been putting in the work, but it freaks Claudia out as she's been manipulated. It doesn't matter if they slept together on a previous date or if she said she loved him, he can't harp on these things and expect every date to go like that. However, to Marc, he believes she owes him, and he becomes aggressive as she calls out his entitlement and manipulation. He thinks his honesty needs to be paid back, and Claudia recoils, warning him this is toxic masculinity.
Marc recounts she needs to take this in stride and reminds her some dates have gone worse, with the van even hitting Claudia a few times. He's adamant that them being together is how it has to end, no matter what the scenario is.
Marc doesn't care how it plays out and believes she needs to love him back, which is unhealthy, but he stands by this mindset as he thinks he's mastered the formula, failing to understand how Claudia can reject him. At this point, Marc goes from nice guy to creep. He's enraged, and in a secluded part of the museum, he attacks her as he knows she won't remember a thing tomorrow when the cycle restarts.
Marc even contemplates raping her, but it boils down to him trying to kill her with a prehistoric blade. However, they never got to this point before, so he can't predict what comes next. Instead of being intimidated when he puts on an African mask, Claudia decks him.
She punches him a few more times, scaring the daylight out of him as the guards arrive to take him in. A bloody mess, he laughs it off, but no matter what, Claudia's glad she won this time. However, the next day, Marc sees her avoiding the van and heading into the museum, but this time, he walks away petrified. She exposed him at his worst, and apart from knowing she can physically take him, Marc mentally understands he is a monster, which is enough to get him to contemplate mending his sociopathic, entitled ways.
Hosted and produced by Jordan Peele, The Twilight Zone Season 2 is available on CBS All Access.