'Amazing Stories' Episode 4 Review: 'Signs of Life' shows how a daughter's love can change the fate of afterlife
Spoilers for 'Amazing Stories' Episode 4 'Signs of Life'
Do miracles really exist? For years, humans have been pondering over that thought. In a dark sci-fi thriller, Steven Spielberg's 'Amazing Stories' bottles up human misery and the umpteen possibilities of the afterlife together.
The tale begins with a teenager, Alia (Sasha Lane) who works at a restaurant. A sudden call from the hospital shakes her life as she finds out her mother has woken up from coma after six long years. Her mother, Sara (Michelle Wilson) takes off her own oxygen supply as flashes of old drawings come to her mind. When she goes to the hospital, the doctor tells her it is miraculous! Her mother repeats the word: "miraculous."
The doctor tries to explain, "The brain has the ability to rewire itself..." Just then Sara cuts her off and tells them she needs to make a call. It's mysterious how she has the number memorized. Seeing how confused Alia is, the doctor advises consoles her, saying, "Memory is a complicated thing." As days pass, Alia realizes Sara doesn't recall anything from her past. In a spellbinding scene, when Sara swims in a pool, a mystery man named Wayne (Josh Holloway) comes to meet her.
The two have a mission in mind, which Sara doesn't want to share with Alia. She texts Wayne, "I don't know how much longer I can do this." But, in a twist, when Sara revisits her house and goes through old memorabilia, something stirs in her mind. An electric flash brings back some photographic memories. Even with her mother's withdrawal, Alia tries her best to bring her closer to her roots.
Slowly, Alia starts to tell her mom about her real life and even introduces her boyfriend, Cody. One day, Alia finds a scribbled note with mathematical equations and notices her mother going out with Wayne. Spying on her, she meets Wayne's old partner, who tells her how he was in a coma and woke up after five years. However, he was a changed man. From there, Alia finds a link to Alexandra Stone, another woman who woke up from a three-year coma.
All of these people have a common link — they woke up after a coma but weren't the same. It seems like they are on a mission and Wayne even has powers through which he can fling objects or people up in the air. They find Alexandra Stone and she vanishes in the air like an electric spark, saying she will see them on the other side. When Wayne gets ready to go, Sara is apprehensive and wants to see her daughter again.
Wayne tries to stop her but she doesn't budge. She goes back to find her daughter and her boyfriend in trouble and dies saving them. When Alia tries to give an electric shock to her mom, electric currents from her body spread into the sky and vanish away. Sara wakes up as the woman she was, as Alia's mother. Can love bring your close ones back from the dead? This story tells you it really can.
Melded with remarkable cinematography and good performances, the episode makes for a light-hearted watch. Directed by Michael Dinner and written by Leah Fong, the episode narrates how the power of love transcends everything. Of course, we have seen and heard it far too many times for it to pull your heartstrings, but it definitely does leave you with a smile.
