Developing (The Twilight Zone)

"Developing"
The Twilight Zone (2nd revival) episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 40
Directed by	Allison Liddi-Brown
Written by	Moira Kirland Dekker
Production code	141
Original air date	April 30, 2003 (2003-04-30)
Guest actors
Robin Tunney as Edie Durant Malik Yoba as Shawn

"Developing" is the fortieth episode of the science fiction television series 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone. The episode was first broadcast on April 30, 2003 on UPN.

Opening narration

For Edie Durant, life as she knew it ended over a year ago on a wet country road. But today she'll get a second chance at happiness because Edie Durant's future is about to develop in a place where the clearest picture isn't always black and white, and still life isn't quite so still...the Twilight Zone.

Plot

Photographer Edie Durant (Robin Tunney) and her fiancé Alec Lehane (Martin Christopher) are driving home on a country road and discussing the dream house on the ocean that they plan to buy and decorate once they are married. Distracted, Alec drives through a stop sign and brakes in the middle of the intersection. Before he can move the vehicle, a truck slams into them.

Exactly one year later, Edie is sleeping on her couch at home when her friend Shawn calls her to remind them they are getting together. She meets Shawn (Malik Yoba), a priest, at a coffee shop and he suggests that it is time that she moved away from her grief and started working as a photographer again. He insists that Alec would not want her to give up her career and hands her a roll of film. Edie goes to the cemetery where Alec is buried and pays her respects, and then starts taking photos of a woman mourning her husband and a pair of lovers. However, when she returns to her darkroom and develops the pictures, she discovers that the first color photo shows a house, just like the one she and Alec were talking about on the night of the accident. Edie picks up the negatives and watches as the rest of the images turn into similar pictures of their dream house.

At the coffee shop, Edie shows Shawn the photos but he speculates that they are photos that Alec took before he died. Edie insists that Alec took them because she uses black and white film and the images are color. As they talk, a waiter notices the photos and suggests that Edie give a presentation at the coffee shop. Shawn tries to encourage her to do so but Edie refuses to listen. She takes more photos of people and sees them turn into photos of the house. In the last one, Alec is standing on the porch, waiting for her.

Edie finally gives in and lets Shawn and Phil use her photos for a show at the coffee shop. Shawn suggests that they make an event out of it and invite their old friends. Edie reluctantly agrees, but insists that Alec is responsible. Shawn wonders what it is she thinks Alec is trying to tell her. Edie believes that Alec wants her to be with him, and she plans to find the house. Shawn wonders if Edie is talking suicide and reminds her that she tried once before so she could be with Alec. Edie goes to find the house but as she walks past the coffee shop's bulletin board, a breeze reveals a for sale poster for a house, the same one in Edie's photos.

Edie gets a key to the house from the realtor and goes inside the empty house, taking pictures. She goes home and develops them and they show a furnished house, complete with a nursery. She shows them to Shawn and tells him that she is not going to the show. Shawn warns that she cannot go where Alec is and warns her that she is becoming obsessed. He gets her to go to the coffee shop and meet her friends. However, she looks at one of her photos of the house and Alec and sees herself standing on the porch with her fiancé. She shows Shawn the photo and says that she has to go be with Alec and leaves.

Edie goes back to the house and calls out to Alec to give her a sign. When there is no response, she goes to a nearby cliff overlooking the ocean and stares out. She realizes the only way she can be with Alec and starts to lean out over the cliff. A man, Matthew (Kavan Smith), grabs her just in time. He introduces himself as the owner of the house and says the realtor told him that someone had borrowed the key to look at it. He tells Edie that he' has decided to hold on to the house for a while and fix it up. Edie looks at the photo and sees Alec disappear from the porch. Realizing Alec is saying goodbye, Edie starts to go but Matthew mentions he plans to decorate the house the same way that Edie and Alec discussed. Giving him a second look, Edie hesitates and Matthew invites her in for a cup of tea. Edie hesitates for a moment and then accepts his invitation. Edie then leaves with Matthew.

Closing narration

Edie Durant thought her life was over, but a lost love gave her a new path to follow. Now Edie is taking her first step back into the world and out of the Twilight Zone.

External links

• "Developing" at TV.com
• "Developing" at IMDb