Nick of Time (The Twilight Zone)
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“Nick of Time” is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
[edit] Details
- Episode number: 43
- Season: 2
- Production code: 3643
- Original air date: November 18, 1960
- Writer: Richard Matheson
- Director: Richard L. Bare
- Producer: Buck Houghton
- Director of photography: George T. Clemens
- Music: uncredited
[edit] Cast
- Don Carter: William Shatner
- Pat Carter: Patricia Breslin
- Counter Man: Guy Wilkerson
- Mechanic: Stafford Repp
[edit] Rod Serling's opening narration
"The hand belongs to Mr. Don S. Carter, male member of a honeymoon team across the Ohio countryside to New York City. In one moment, they will be subjected to a gift most humans never receive in a lifetime. For one penny, they will be able to look into the future. The time is now, the place is a little diner in Ridgeview, Ohio, and what this young couple doesn't realize is that this town happens to lie on the outskirts of the Twilight Zone."
[edit] Synopsis
When Don and Pat Carter's automobile breaks down in Ridgeview, Ohio, they decide to have lunch at the Busy Bee Cafe. The booth they sit in has a fortune telling machine on the table. Don asks the mystic seer if he is going to get a promotion at work. The card says that it has been decided in his favor. When Don calls the office, he discovers that the mystic seer was right. Because of this initial success, Don asks the mystic seer even more questions.
Pat realizes that Don is taking the mystic seer too seriously, but Don keeps asking it questions. Due to the seer's answers, Don doesn't feel it is safe to leave the diner until after 3:00 p.m. Pat gets him to leave before then, but just after 3:00 p.m. they are almost struck by a car while crossing the street. After they both calm down, Don leads Pat back to the cafe. However, another couple is sitting at their booth, so Don and Pat must wait at the front counter.
Pat wants proof that the mystic seer is legitimate, because she points out that it was Don who had brought up the time of 3:00 p.m. After reclaiming their booth, Don immediately asks the mystic seer more questions. One of the things he wants to know is whether their car will be fixed by the end of the day. The mystic seer says the car has been repaired, and a few moments later the mechanic arrives with that very news.
Pat is disgusted to see Don rely upon the mystic seer so heavily. The breaking point happens when Don asks the mystic seer where they're going to live in the future. Pat tries to break the spell the mystic seer has over Don by pointing out that he's letting the seer run his life. After a persuasive speech from Pat, Don realizes how foolish he has been acting. He apologized to Pat and then announces directly to the mystic seer that they're leaving to go do what they please.
Right after they leave, another couple with several pennies sits down at the booth and starts asking questions. Don and Pat did what this couple could not: these two have apparently been 'stuck' in Ridgeview, all because the machine hasn't told them that they can leave.
[edit] Epilogue
"Counterbalance in the little town of Ridgeview, Ohio. Two people permanently enslaved by the tyranny of fear and superstition, facing the future with a kind of helpless dread. Two others facing the future with confidence, having escaped one of the darker places of the Twilight Zone" - Rod Serling
[edit] Critical Response
"I thought the two performances were marvelous. They played together so well. And the direction was nice. I thought it worked beautifully." —Richard Matheson, quoted in The Twilight Zone Companion
[edit] Trivia
- Richard Matheson writing in The Twilight Zone Magazine said that he wished that Pat Breslin, who played Pat Carter (the wife of Don Carter, Shatner's character in this episode) had been available to play Shatner's wife again for the 5th Season episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”.
[edit] References
- Zicree, Marc Scott. The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition).
