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I really adored this installment. It was unique in that it had no paranormal or fantastical elements, but the twist of Tennyson severing his vocal chords to fulfil his part of the bet was insanely clever, and genuinely caught me off guard the first time I saw it. 😲
I'd like to see a more accurate adaptation of the short story, but it's still a good episode. I'm always gonna have a soft spot for it because I like coincidences and there's two personal ones I know of that involve it. I think Tennyson underreacts quite a bit though. The dude spent an entire year all alone in a small room, gets denied the 500K he was looking forward to for that year, and can never speak again, and yet he just looks mildly disappointed.
@@ThePkmnYPerson Now that I think about it I'm surprised that Tennyson didn't show tears or anything like that at the end of the episode. If I were in that situation I would either cry, knock Taylor's block off or both!
Taylor not having the money to begin with was shocking enough, but the revelation that Tennyson voluntarily had his vocal chords severed was so clever, and was tons more memorable than having a Supernatural monster or being be the cause of the twist.
Frankly, Taylor not having the money didn't surprise me that much. He seemed from the get go like a classic impoverished aristocrat; clinging on to notions of "breeding" and whatnot because with his money gone, his lineage is all he has left.
The way I see it Taylor only offered half a million dollars to Tennyson because he figured that Tennyson wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut. And the fact that Tennyson had his vocal chords because he knew that he wouldn't be able to win. But it turned out that nobody wins because they didn't do it fair and square.
@@melissacooper4282 Perphaps but only 1 of them broke the deal offically as the deal agreed to and signed didnt say anything of cutting vocal cords. While both are losers at the end only 1 of them will suffer many more years unable to enjoy life, not to mention the trama he can never speak after 1 year of lies and slander of his wife.
@@DemonicGoddess True. They never had a written agreement with this wager. Only a verbal agreement. Either way the only reason they never said anything about whether or not severing vocal chords for this wager was fair was because no one had actually thought that Tennyson would do anything that extreme to win. I know that's it's just fiction and I never saw this twist coming. In real life what doctor would actually mutilate someone's vocal chords purposely at the patient's request?
Imagine people being able to guess the first twist, and thinking it wasn’t anything special, and then the second twist comes and completely surprises them. That’s a genius idea honestly.
@@randomloser4674 $500,000 in the money back then is many millions in today's money, maybe tens of millions. The fee for the rather simple surgery would have been a pittance compared to the "guaranteed" prize money, like betting $10 to win $1000 on a sure thing.
@@randomloser4674 I'm more frustrated that some doctor agreed to such an unnecessary surgery when a lot of doctors refuse procedures like tubal ligation, vasectomies, etc. despite what the patient wishes.
@@Djinnk042 I'm surprised that Tennyson actually found a doctor who would be willing to mutilate his vocal chords! Perhaps this doctor is a quack doctor because qualified physicians wouldn't even touch him!
The bet was meant to show the strength of will of one man, while the reward was dependent on the honesty of another. But the first man was a cheater while the second was a liar. In the end, all the bet did was expose a self important fraud and silence a smarmy motormouth. Trying to prove who was the better man, when they were both lowlifes in their own ways. Gambling is a risky venture, even moreso when the bet is made in the Twilight Zone
Tennyson is also even more of an idiot because before accepting the bet, he reasonably asks that Taylor produce a certified check for the $500,000 to prove he had it. The fact that Taylor responds by spouting about trusting his credit and honor should have been a red flag big enough to be seen from space. But Tennyson backs down and goes with it. Another reason why I have no sympathy for his ultimate fate.
Now that I've rewatched it there were some subtle hints at what the outcome was going to be. First off Taylor refused to have the check certified as Tennyson requested. Second as the months go by Taylor offers Tennyson a smaller amount of money to just call off the bet. When that didn't work he then told lies about the wife being unfaithful. As for Tennyson the obvious sign was that at the beginning of the episode we could see his neck. For the rest of the episode he kept his neck covered with a scarf of some sort.
@@geoffreyfyfe2248 And even if Taylor did have the money and did honor his part of the bet, seriously, would you give away your ability to speak for $500.000? Is it wrong to say that Tennyson had his fate coming for willingly doing something so draconic to himself just for money?
@@Jack1994hoo This aired in 1961. Even if we assume that was when this was set, which I find unlikely, as it seems gentleman's clubs rose to real popularity in the 1800s, and declined in the early 1900s, in 1961 $500k is $4.6M today. So that's our bare minimum amount that might be worth. That's a lot of money. If you assume 40 productive years of labour in a person's life, that's $115k a year average. That's well more than the vast majority of the population makes in a lifetime all in a lump sum.
@@melissacooper4282 Because Tennyson was a loudmouth braggert and unlikeable, he probably isn't pitied by too many. He always played unlikeable parts. This morning he was on Perry Mason playing an abusive husband who stole his wife's inheritance and placed her in an institution. He gets murdered. And rightly so.
Can’t believe tomorrow is the end of the second Twilight Tober reviews it’s been a fun and engaging ride. Going to watch this episode one day. Walter has great knowledge of the show.
Me neither, time really has flown. While I'll miss Walter's engaging reviews, at least we have Disneycember and next year's Twilight Tober Zone to greatly anticipate!
@@nickonite I don't think that Doug is doing any particular topic anymore, he just goes by popular demand, or titles that he never got around to critiquing before.
Great twist! You're under the impression that he'll win the money but lose the ability to speak due to staying quiet so long as the twist, but the real twist is much more gruesome than what you think will happen!
An episode with no supernatural elements seems initially like it doesn't fit in The Twilight Zone. But this one proves that a good story and characters can sometimes be good enough for this series
Precisely, a strong character study episode devoid of any supernatural elements is really unique for this series, and makes it stand apart from the other ones.
There's another episode without supernatural or sci Fi explanations. It's about a guy with a bomb shelter who's neighbors turn on him when they believe a bomb is headed towards them. It ended up being a false alarm.
That ending just gets me so much. Like it literally makes me shiver, and there aren't many twilight zones that actually do that so props to this episode.
"My courage against your credit. In a year, both will be proven." And so they were. In the end, Tennyson proved he didn't have one while Taylor proved he didn't have the other.
Is it weird to say this is probably my favorite episode of the Twilight Zone of all time? I have a vivid memory as a kid gasping with horror at the very end reveal with the guy having tears in his eyes. It may not have any supernatural elements, but the ending was so heartbreaking that I couldn’t stop thinking about it even days after.
Yes! The twist was brilliant instead of aliens or magic they used body horror. While mild compared to what we would see in later decades it's still body horror, the idea someone severing the nerves to their vocal cords, doing damage to their body that cannot be undone and all for nothing gets under my skin. This is one of my favorite episode great writing and acting and clever twist!
This episode and the shelter were always two episodes I really enjoyed because they both present stories that could totally happen in real life that are tragic and not too far out there at all, just some great stories. I sorta wish there were more of them in the show.
@@mostmelon That is so much better. I honestly had a hard time coming up with the lessons. It could be not going too far, or just don't agree to something you cannot win or afford to lose without paying a high price.
It's funny how we're subtly brainwashed to think of inflation. Actually what really happens is the guy who earned $500,000 in 1961 and lived like a millionaire, got his sacrifice stolen by the government through their incessant spending and printing of cash so that the poor shlub who cut his vocal cords can now barely purchase a crappy house.
Thanks for the information. I once Googled up how much Roger Shackleforth would've paid Professor Daemon in the episode "The Chaser." The $1.00 that he paid for the love potion and the $1,000.00 that he paid for the "glove cleaner " in 1960 would be around about $10.00 for the love potion and $10,000.00 for the "glove cleaner " in 2021.
@@elder-woodsilverstein7716 The most easily famous and widely thought best episode of the series is also one of these: *Time Enough at Last.* That one hinged on very real destruction, the ruin of a city far removed from anywhere, and the sole survivor being one who incidentally was in a basement where the bank's vault was, presumably where no one had a basement.
Such an interesting penultimate episode for this season of your show. It's amazing when a show focusing on supernatural elements can do something so simple in such an effective way
I'm not the first or last to say this but I got real pandemic vibes with "The Silence". It's another tough watch, especially considering what I... what everyone else had to go through in 2020. Ture, it's not the idea of being quiet for a year but rather, having to eat, sleep, and remain enclosed during that time while the only thing to look forward to is bad news is bound to drive anyone into a nervous wreck and it was the only episode, I ever debated watching again because of that. Considering how awfully relevant this felt, it makes me wish that some topics could remain... in the Twilight Zone.
I literally just finished watching this episode. I still love this story after watching it many times over my life. The acting and delivery of such a simple subject of two opposing personalities doing battle was superb.
This twist is the same level of gut wrenching as the one from Time Enough At Last. You can just feel the anguish in the characters' faces. The twist for this one is also a huge surprise for anyone watching for the first time.
Another episode where Jonathan Harris could have easily said "You're doomed! DOOOOMED!" to either main character. ;) All seriousness, I love this episode, especially the double-twist. Both men are lacking in character and both get what they deserve. Also, this is another example of how in the early 60s, before strip clubs co-opted the term, "gentleman's club" meant well-furnished (preferably with leather) joints where guys in suits smoked cigars, played cards or chess, discussed business and read the paper. Typically the WSJ.
I wonder if Tennyson was allowed bathroom breaks? But seriously, a great episode. Tone's voice is exquisite as he attempts to bribe his prisoner into speaking. The double whammy, discovering he can't pay plus the sliced vocal cords, is tragic.
This is such a good episode, and when I was first watching the series, this is the twist that caught me to most off guard, I remember my jaw actually dropping at the reveal.
Serling is so great, that he willingly acknowledges that he subconsciously based this episode off of another man's work. If you think that is "regular acknowledgement", you have not worked in any profession, for a good length of time.
I like it best when supernatural stuff happens just so we can see the character's reactions to it. We don't remember a nuclear apocalypse claiming everyone; we remember the dude who finally had the time to read without interruption, only for his glasses to break.
Incidentally, *Time Enough at Last* is another one like this. It is a plausible thing just like *Nick of Time* with Shatner. The sheer scale of it does not make it magical or fantastical.
I don't. Not only was he ultimately a cheater, he was also an idiot for not confirming that Taylor had the money in the first place. Really, both men get what they deserve in the end.
I felt sorry for him because he would never be able to speak again. But I don't feel sorry for him because he cheated in order to win the bet. So he didn't deserve the money. And I thought that Taylor did him dirty by promising the money that he never had to begin with.
@@melissacooper4282 I disagree that Tennyson cheated. His end of the bet was to not speak for a year. There were no limits placed on what he was allowed to do to accomplish that.
I've seen this episode 50-leven times, own the DVD box set, & can quote all the lines (much to my family's chagrin lol)... but never _once_ did I notice *they only shot Taylor from the right?!!* Whaaaaaa??? WOWWWW!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 What brilliant acting & cinematography! Bravo! Learn smthing new everyday! I love this episode all the more now....
@@jillruff1655 It may be one of life's mysteries......but now when I watch it, I'll realize he's only showing one side of his face ! This was one of the greatest TZ shows in my opinion, and nobody saw it coming. Truly a timeless show, I never tire of it. Watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Peacock currently, also a great show. Most I've never seen before.... It's totally free, check it out.
Wow! If you hadn't mentioned how Franchot Tones was only able to show the right side of his face I never would have noticed it! Just goes to show how what goes on behind the scenes can be even more intriguing than what happens in front of the camera!
And THIS was my first ever episode i saw of the twilight zone....and have been hooked ever since. Going through all these episodes I'm grateful this was my introduction as while many episodes are timeless and great, there are a few duds nonetheless and I doubt if I began by catching a dud episode as my introduction there's a good chance I wouldn't have given the series a second chance. But I guess....even those 'coincidences' may not be mere moments of chance.... in the twilight zone..... I'll let myself out.
I was trying to predict the twist. I thought maybe a danger of some kind would happen to the guy being a jerk and the one staying quiet would refuse to warn him.
One of my top 5 favourite episodes. Well-written, well-acted, suspenseful, and one of the best twist endings of the entire series! This may not be among the most famous episodes of the show, but it's always been a classic for me.
Yeah there needs to be a list of songs used in the background of these episodes, this one especially, this is stuff I'd love to listen in my free time. Please consider it at some point!
1:56 I had read Chekov's "The Bet" before watching this episode so pretty much knew what was coming by the end of the first act. I don't know how 'unconscious' the influence of that story on Serling was, but barring the final twist, but the plot follows the Chekov story faithfully more or less.
An episode that always stood out to me that had no sci-fi or supernatural elements was "The Jeopardy Room" ,one of the first episodes of The Twilight Zone I've seen. It's basically about a man trapped inside a hotel room with a bomb and he has three hours to figure out where it's hidden in order to be allowed to live. The ending is pretty damn funny actually.
One of my favorites. Also, I kinda miss stories that involve people attempting to win odd bets, similar to Around the World in 80 Days or My Fair Lady. Back in the day, gentlemen actually made unusual bets like these with each other.
Nice review of a wonderful episode. Having seen every episode multiple times, I can never get enough of TZ critiques and commentary. Keep up the good work!
Franchot Tone was in two of my favourite movies from the 1930s; The Lives of a Bengal Lancer and The Girl from Missouri. In my opinion he's one of those actors who if he had ever acted with one of your favourite Classic Hollywood stars, he is most likely going to have very solid acting chemistry with them.
Good review of a great episode. You are becoming a sort of a Roger Ebert of the classic and beloved TV classic. Twilight Zone utilizes its great casts & acting, direction, sets, imagination, but most of all writing and the vision of one dramatic show runner. Rod Serling was the seed that grew the small screen oak, giving us shade and respite from pandemics. It is 5:00 a.m. on my gold Midwest Rolex. Time for a break.
It may be devoid of the usual fantasy element, as in the episode exactly one year before, "Nightmare As a Child", but here, the void doesn't detract in the least, and for TZ, that's surprising. Rather, the heightened suspense does double-duty and captains the storyline clean through to the finale. Taylor, to begin with, is an egotistic blowhard with not just a distasteful attitude towards Tennyson, but from the start, displays a veneer that conceals an alterior motive in the offing related to the unmanly Tennyson. A wager! And the stakes are stratospheric at a quarter of a million. Financially strapped Tennyson accepts, but who will win out in the end? We're slave to our seats all through, all bets open as we await. That Tennyson went overkill, and the overkill superseded the fact that he thought severing his vocal chords meant a win-win I felt was ludicrous. It could have been done without impacting his own physical welfare, but a twist is a twist is a twist here obviously. Taylor opened the wrong closet door to have a carefully concealed financial skeleton fall right out. You're right, Walter. Tennyson may have been characterless, but you feel SOME compassion for the man. Taylor deserved to forcibly face the Crescendo of his outgoing status, and reputation, and henceforth HIS poverty was punishment granted posthaste. The rise and fall of a once prosperous man, now a paupered donkey, fallen into the black abyss of....The Twilight Zone!
The plausible episodes of a tech and/or supernatural horror anthology are often the most haunting. Of course, I have to mention Nosedive from Black Mirror. The ingredients all existed back when it aired, the only thing missing was the systemization.
I have quite a bit to say about this episode. First of all Tennyson mentioned that he accepted Taylor's wager on account that he needed the money. At the end it was revealed that he had his vocal chords cut so that he could win the bet. How could he afford the surgery if he needed money? And what doctor would actually perform that sort of surgery in the first place? Other than that I loved the episode.
Well $500,000 in the time period was worth a LOT more then than it is now, so maybe the surgery was considerably cheaper and Tennyson saw it as a "got to spend money to make money" type situation?
I remember watching thevmarsthons on Sci-Fi. When this episode came up and I was stunned by the ending, my dad said "And that's what happens when you try to cheat." Lol.
This is one of the episodes I saw when I first started watching the Twilight Zone, and knowing how the TZ was more supernatural than anything, I had mixed feelings. I immediately thought about how the events in this episode didn't fit the show, but at the same time it fits perfectly while being 100% realistic, and I love it.
Taylor only made the bet because he believed that Tennyson could never keep silent that long. And he didn't have the internal strength to take it in the first place! And I did like that there was discussion at the beginning if the whole affair was even legal! You would think that the other club members might have had some objections!
I believe that the other club members were annoyed at Tennyson's constant chattering. They just weren't as vocal as Taylor was. That was why they went along with it. And of course it would give them something to do other than sit around and smoke. They would actually get to talk for a change! Also that doctor has to be a quack! Otherwise no qualified doctor would purposely mutilate someone's vocal chords even if the patient begged for it.
Interesting Facts: -Franchot Tone was married to Joan Crawford for four years (1935-39). It was a tumultuous marriage, with Tone even joking after they divorced that the marriage was like a contest: "First Prize was four years with Joan, Second Prize was eight years." In spite of this, when Tone developed terminal lung cancer, Crawford paid his medical bills. -He got into a love triangle in 1951 involving himself, actress Barbara Payton, and her lover actor Tom Neal. It culminated in a fistfight between the two men that resulted in severe facial injuries for Tone requiring plastic surgery (Neal had been an amateur boxer in his youth).
Given a Twlight Zone episode, I actually guessed that he did something similar to tearing out his vocal cords. It was actually the first twist I didn’t expect. I expected the guy to use the money to pay for a new throat with the money the other guy apparently didn’t have, oof.
Well, technically, despite the fact Tennyson cheated to win, he still did win the bet as there were no official rules to such a thing. Therefore, nobody ever said that he cannot do what Tennyson did. However, since Taylor had no money to pay him, they both ended up losing in the end.
Also, funnily enough, I re-watched this episode last year during the start of the pandemic and found it somewhat amusing that it essentially revolves around a character in self-isolation. I guess one supernatural aspect about this episode is that it (kind of) predicted the future!
Franchot Tone and Liam Sullivan made the most of their roles. The twist is memorable and one of my favorites. Even though, I like Tennyson way better as a character, I too am an introvert and get tired of constant talking. I think we all feel like Taylor at times just wanting someone to shut up for awhile. Fun fact: Franchot Tone was the second husband of Joan Crawford. Shooting only the side of his face worked because it makes Taylor look two faced which fits his character.
Besides being the father of Katey Sagal, I also think of Boris Sagal as the father of Liz & Jean Sagal, the identical twins who fronted "Double Trouble" for a single season in the '80s.
Agree with you 100% channel awesome. This is a powerful episode. I didn't see the final twist coming, even though as you said there were hints. I can't think of another TZ episode like it, no fantasy or supernatural elements
It surprises me that so many people say they didn’t see the twist coming. It seemed obvious. This is a Twilight Zone episode. The twist was not going to be the lack of funds to pay off the debt.
Well, there was a hint about Tennyson's secret near the beginning. The butler said at one moment that Tennyson did not eat for first week or two in the basement. Obviously he was still recovering from the surgery and couldn't eat normally.
As to tomorrow's final Tober offering, let's just advise anyone planning to HAVE broiled t-bone steak, to have it tonight. Once we Tober into "Shadow Play", some of us will never want to look a barbecued t-bone steak in the face again! OR, even a pot roast!
@@melissacooper4282 I don’t consider it cheating. The bet was to not talk for a year and he didn’t talk. Taylor got what he wanted, silence for a year.
@@TheAlan136 Of course it was cheating. The guy couldn't talk if he wanted to, even if his life depended on it. The bet was to test his will, but with his vocal chords cut there is no will to test. It's like betting you can float on top of the pool for an hour straight, then just as soon as the bet is accepted you bring out a giant raft. The bet was that _you_ would be floating, not the raft. The bet here was that _he_ couldn't talk, meaning he had to have a strong enough will not to and that was the test, but like I said with his vocal chords cut there is no will to test. He didn't even need to go that far, since the bet was simply that he couldn't _talk_ for a year, not that he couldn't make noise of any kind. But his will was so weak that he knew he could never last that long, so he cheated by having his vocal chords cut. Just like the person in the pool cheated by bringing in a raft. After all, it's only gambling if both parties stand a chance of losing. With his vocal chords cut there was no way in hell he could lose, it just wasn't physically possible anymore, and so the moment he did that it ceased to be a bet.
@@ChakatStripedfur the entire reason for the bet was because Taylor was tired of hearing Tennyson talk. Since Taylor got what he wanted, not having to hear Tennyson talk for an entire year, it was completed. It’s more of ‘I bet you can’t lose 100 pounds 6 months’ and you get Vertical banded gastroplasty surgery to force your body to lose the weight.
@@TheAlan136 I know the reason for the bet, that doesn't change the fact that he cheated. Like I said, it's only gambling if _both_ parties stand a chance of losing. If the outcome's set in stone, then it's not gambling anymore. And going by your example, if you got surgery to lose the weight, then you didn't really lose it. You just got surgery to have it removed, again making it no longer gambling. Do you really think he would've made the bet if he knew that Tennyson would get the surgery? Of course not, because, like I said, that changes the outcome into a certainty and not a chance. There's a reason gambling is called "The Game of Chance", hence if there is no longer a chance then it is no longer gambling. Even _if_ he was inclined to make it anyway, remember he didn't actually have the money, so he never would've made the bet, under *any* circumstances, if there was a guarantee that he would lose and thereby expose his secret to the club. So no matter how you slice it, it's still cheating. Of course Taylor cheated too, since he never had the money to pay Tennyson if he won, and therefor was unable to fulfill his part of the bet.
