Time travel stories in which a protagonist attempts to prevent something in the past in order to change the future are pretty common, and they generally don't work out to change history. This episode didn't start out that way but was heading in that direction when Ray Ellison (Eriq La Salle) found himself in 1968 Atlanta the day before Martin Luther King would be assassinated. Befriended by a woman (Vivica A. Fox) and her young son (Jascha Washington) after being struck by a car, Ellison tries to make sense of his predicament, escalating to near panic when he realizes that a fateful event about to happen is only a day away. What makes the story so touching occurs when Ray eventually recovers from a coma after three days, during which time he visited the past and encouraged Lucas Tyler to follow his dreams, no matter what. He's rewarded in the present with the hopeful news that the boy he briefly mentored in 1968 grew up to be the skilled neurosurgeon who would give him a new lease on life. This is one trip to The Twilight Zone you won't mind taking for the heartwarming and hopeful payoff.
Review of Memphis
