Surprisingly, that new episode was actually pretty good. I guess that's what having an experienced writer can do for your show.
The big thing that this episode got right was the general unease of the old Twilight Zone. You're not quite sure what is happening, what does this guy know, does he know things, let's find out. You're not really sure who he is, or why he's doing what he's doing. It's kind of great. Most of the episode takes place in one location, and a lot of that in a dark holding area, which makes it claustrophobic somewhat, adding to the unease.
Then you have the theme of the episode, paranoia and lies, specifically lies that you want to believe. Unlike say Rewind which has a political message, or The Comedian which has a confused message, this one actually picks something that is universally human and to me, that is the Twilight Zone and what made it so great. It would present wild flights of imagination that were incredibly grounded in human behaviour. That's what made some of the episodes brilliant, you could more or less believe that something like that would happen. This is perfectly captured in how the alien, spreads his lies, things based on actions people took, or their general behaviour to turn them against each other. I could swear that a similar concept was done in the Twilight Zone original, and if it wasn't, the writer keyed into something that feels like it was.
Now for the bad. First off, I think it being aliens was kind of a let down. I'd think it would be better if say A Traveler was just a con man or a secret agent or something, as that would lay more into the human element of the episode. Wouldn't say it makes the episode bad, but it feels like a missed opportunity.
Second off, the sheriff looked too much like Bill Shorten and that was distracting.
Overall rating: 8/10 could use some polishing but overall really great
