Amazing Stories: Signs of Life [S1, E4] – Apple TV Plus Review (5/5)

SIGNS OF LIFE is episode 4 of the Apple TV Plus AMAZING STORIES reboot. With this episode, fans of genre stories should be happier than with previous episodes. There’s more sci-fi in dark and thrilling ways. Out on Apple TV+ now, read our Signs of Life review here!

Signs of Life is the darkest episode in the Apple TV Plus Amazing Stories reboot. Yes, episode 4 is darker and should definitely be labeled as a sci-fi thriller while previous episodes have been more adventure sci-fi. I’m not complaining, but I do believe this is the episode that many fans will agree to like!

Want to read our reviews of the first three episodes of Amazing Stories on Apple TV+? 

Here’s our review of the pilot episode of Amazing Stories with the title “The Cellar” >

Episode 2 was called “The Heat” and you can find our review here >

“Dynoman and the Volt” was episode 3 and you can read our review of it here >

Of course, you could also just continue to our episode 4 “Sign of Life” review below.

Casting in Amazing Stories episode 4

In episode 4 of the Amazing Stories reboot, there are definitely faces you should recognize. Not all of them, of course, but we’ve got some pretty familiar faces in Signs of Life.

The lead character, Alia, is portrayed by Sasha Lane. She’s is making awesome movies and TV series left and right these years. She was in the Hellboy (2019) reboot by Neil Marshall for one. Also, she was in the trippy horror-thriller Daniel Isn’t Real which is definitely worth checking out. Finally, we’ll see her in Gillian Flynn’s upcoming series Utopia.

You might like: Our review of the horror-thriller Daniel Isn’t Real here >

Also in Signs of Life, we have Josh Holloway from Lost. I don’t know about you, but seeing any cast member from Lost just tends to always make me happy. Josh Holloway plays Wayne in this episode and while he is a supporting character, he is key to the story.

The ending of the Signs of Life episode

While the overall vibe of this Amazing Stories episode is pretty creepy, it’s not in a horror way. It’s much more of a thriller sci-fi as mentioned earlier. However, the ending of Signs of Life does build and I was actually really happy with the ending.

Basically, the ending of Amazing Stories episode 4 is classic for this series. It offers both darkness and light, which is simply perfect. Again, remember that this is not The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. Don’t expect some kind of sinister ending.

While horror fans might find that kind of ending pretty “amazing”, it’s not typical of this show.

Watch Signs of Life on Apple TV+ now!

Signs of Life was directed by Michael Dinner. He has previously directed episodes of many TV series. These include the true-crime drama series Manhunt (2017-) but he also directed 20 episodes of the iconic coming-of-age series The Wonder Years.  Also, Michael Dinner directed the pilot for Sons of Anarchy which is a series I loved!

Don’t worry, for Signs of Life, there’s a lot more Manhunt than there is The Wonder Years. Previous episodes of this Amazing Stories reboot has clearly been more of the latter.

The writer of episode 4 is Leah Fong. She has written mostly for the series Once Upon a Time and The Magicians in the past. Signs of Life is nothing like either of these though, so don’t expect that. Or actually, maybe it is a bit like The Magicians in the sense that the tone is certainly darker than that of Once Upon a Time.

If you’ve been waiting for this reboot to deliver on some darker sci-fi while still being true to its origin, then this episode should finally deliver for you.

Signs of Life is out on Apple TV Plus as episode 4 of Amazing Stories from March 27, 2020.

Details

Director: Michael Dinner
Writer: Leah Fong
Stars: Sasha Lane, Linda Park, Josh Holloway, Jacob Latimore, Rose Bianco, Lesa Wilson, Drew Scheid, Moses Das