Nervous Man In A Four Dollar Room is a small scale, near minimalist episode even for The Twilight Zone. It features only two characters. No one but a petty criminal and bully who torments him so much as enters or leaves the room. The quality of the episode, and a good one it is, comes from the writing and the acting, and both are excellent. This is Rod Serling at his best.
It's a basic story, and by itself not impressive: a small-time crook named Jackie Rhoades is bothered by his conscience. He never cared much for the life of crime he's led to begin with. Now the next higher up guy in the gang Jackie is a member of wants him too do something even nastier than usual; and Jackie has never killed anyone before.
Then something happens: an image of Jackie appears in the mirror of his dingy rented room and it talks to him, taunts him, tells him that he can do better than this, become the better man, break the ties with the criminal element he runs with and make his life decent for a change. But this means standing up to George, the guy who gives the orders, and Jackie's never done this before.
What happens is that the Jackie in the mirrors assumes the role of George and pushes Jackie, still very much his usual anxious, fearful self, around. Jackie tries to escape. He even twirls the mirror. Nothing works. As things unfold he gains access the better angel of his being. For the first time in his life Jackie is coming together, with his good side fighting with his bad side and getting the upper hand.
The best things about this episode are its superb, no frills aspects. In more ways than not it's a typical, even generic episode of the series; and it's also one that plays fair with the viewer. In this entry the play's the thing, its supernatural elements secondary. The seedy bravura performance of veteran character actor Joe Mantell as Jackie really knocks it out of the ballpark.
It's a basic story, and by itself not impressive: a small-time crook named Jackie Rhoades is bothered by his conscience. He never cared much for the life of crime he's led to begin with. Now the next higher up guy in the gang Jackie is a member of wants him too do something even nastier than usual; and Jackie has never killed anyone before.
Then something happens: an image of Jackie appears in the mirror of his dingy rented room and it talks to him, taunts him, tells him that he can do better than this, become the better man, break the ties with the criminal element he runs with and make his life decent for a change. But this means standing up to George, the guy who gives the orders, and Jackie's never done this before.
What happens is that the Jackie in the mirrors assumes the role of George and pushes Jackie, still very much his usual anxious, fearful self, around. Jackie tries to escape. He even twirls the mirror. Nothing works. As things unfold he gains access the better angel of his being. For the first time in his life Jackie is coming together, with his good side fighting with his bad side and getting the upper hand.
The best things about this episode are its superb, no frills aspects. In more ways than not it's a typical, even generic episode of the series; and it's also one that plays fair with the viewer. In this entry the play's the thing, its supernatural elements secondary. The seedy bravura performance of veteran character actor Joe Mantell as Jackie really knocks it out of the ballpark.