The Twilight Zone - A Nice Place to Visit

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A rotter robbing a bank tries to escape the police after dropping his loot into the street, but can't hop a fence in an alley, firing at the fuzz. Larry Blyden's Rocky Valentine, not letting the coppers take him alive, awakens after being shot dead to Sebastian Cabot's white-haired, white-clothed, white-bearded Pip. Pip informs him he is in an afterlife that rewards him all the material desires he so desperately wanted to attain illegally and unethically in life such as all the money and "broads" (his description, not mine). Valentine can never lose at slots or craps at the casino, his break is so perfect in billiards the rack of balls effortlessly move across the table into their holes without a scratch, and his bachelor pad is glammed up with all the finest furnishings and niceties one could ever hope for. If he gets bored with all the win-win, Pip can arrange for him to rob a bank and even shorten a tall cop to diminutive size just for his amusement, but the thrill of commiting crimes with danger always there isn't available. He cannot follow his excitement to do very bad things with the possibility of getting caught because Pip arranges those activities as wishes granted. Nothing isn't telegraphed or orchestrated without the result of Valentine getting off or loot the end result. Not being able to steal or use violence and intimidation in order to get things, racing against and evading law enforcement, organizing a gang of hoods as he did when he was eight (!), or shooting at cops; this is a type of hell to Valentine. Cabot's attentive, obedient, ready-on-command Pip sees to Valentine's beck and call, ever without a thank you or show of appreciation. Valentine only makes demands and expects results, mindful of what he can secure in this private "paradise" designed to please the eye and palate. He's a selfish, self-absorbed crook with no redeeming qualities. And if you think I'm harsh, Valentine himself questions how the Almighty got it so wrong....granted, Pip never specifies heaven, cheery and commendable, never untoward to his charge, until the very end when the twist comes and he gets the last laugh. Eternity for Valentine ain't paradise. Time spent with Blyden isn't pleasant and he wears out his welcome real quick so any discomfort visited upon him is deserved and expected. Live hard, die hard, and never die again within the comforts of a home he's bored and restless in...forever and ever and ever. The whole episode is built on the twist so if you don't appreciate or enjoy the irony then it will be a house of cards for you. Within the exceptional first season, this is still average at best. The ironic twist is the episode in a nutshell. Cabot's makes this tolerable.