Twilight Zone: The Long Haul - The Fever

 I will not have this tainted money smelling up our pockets -- Franklin

I do admit that I loved the hell out of this episode back when I was a teenager watching "The Fever" in marathons. It was one of the episodes I looked forward to the most. Nowadays, the episode is more or less a guilty pleasure. I don't know if Serling had some ax to grind towards Vegas, gambling, or casinos, perhaps a bad experience, since Franklin's attitude towards coin machines seem to speak almost in his voice. Except I don't think Franklin, a terrible husband to poor Flora (Vivi Janiss), is Serling in the flesh. But by the end of the episode Franklin is an absolute disaster. He's just a rude grinch at the beginning of the episode, with Flora basically walking on eggshells around him. I have always asked myself when watching this, "At what point and time did Franklin charm Flora at all? He sure doesn't seem to have ever had much of a personality." How Franklin is left this sweaty mess on the verge of a nervous breakdown hearing the Jackpot machine call out to him, "FRAAAAAANNKKKKLINNNN!" with stubble on his face from spending too much time pulling the lever and dropping coins in it isn't as scary as it is hilarous. The smile on the machine where the change would normally come out, still calling out to him, I can only giggle at the damn thing; Franklin does what plenty of characters in Twilight Zone do: takes the flight out of the window floors up in a room. The music used is the kind that tells us this episode is a gag. A "one armed bandit" and a "monster with a will all its own" as Serling describes it, I can't help but grin. This is just silly nonsense. I don't think anyone can watch this and take it seriously. To be honest, I have a hard time believing anyone mourns Sloane's misanthrope. The way he talks down to Flora and makes her feel small...Franklin is never a nice guy. I think many will say, "Good riddance."

[SYFY. 4:02 AM. November 15th]