Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room

"Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Details

Episode number: 39

Season: 2

Production code:

Original airdate: October 14, 1960

Writer: Rod Serling

Director: Douglas Heyes

Music: original score by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast

• Joe Mantell
• William D. Gordon

Synopsis

A nervous, two-bit, small-time gangster named Jackie (Joe Mantell) is ordered to kill a man for the first time. Unsure whether he can go through with it, he discovers his better self in the mirror. After grappling with his life and the decisions he has made through a conversation with his mirror image, the better half wins out and doesn't kill the man he is supposed to kill. Jackie's better mirror image switches places with his old self and sets out to try and make a better life for himself.

Trivia

• Similarly, the episode The Last Night of a Jockey featured a man grappling with his identity and also took place entirely in one room.

Themes

Redemption, self-respect and a second chance are things that the main character thinks can't have – but things that his better half convinces him are something he can seek out and attain.

External links

• TV Tome episode page

References

Back to: The Twilight Zone, Episode List, Season 2