One Night at Mercy

"One Night at Mercy"
The Twilight Zone (2nd revival) episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 2
Directed by	Peter O'Fallon
Written by	Christopher Mack
Production code	103
Original air date	September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18)
Guest stars
Jason Alexander: Death
Episode chronology
← Previous "Evergreen" Next → "Shades of Guilt"
List of The Twilight Zone episodes

"One Night At Mercy" is the second episode of the science fiction television series 2002 revival of The Twilight Zone. The episode aired September 18, 2002 on UPN.

Opening narration

“

Our congratulations to Dr. Jay Ferguson who has just saved his first life. But tonight he will meet a patient who will challenge all his assumptions about living and dying in The Twilight Zone.

”

Synopsis

Dr. Jay Ferguson saves a dying man, but then a new patient arrives in the hospital. He tried to hang himself, but was saved. When he was asked what his name was, he replied, "I'm...Death."

The man tells Ferguson, who suffers from horrible headaches, that he cannot die. He hanged himself and sat there for 22 hours and realized that it was useless. He tries to explain to the doctor that he really is Death, claiming to have "first gotten depressed during the Black Plague." Ferguson still does not understand, until Death tells him outright- "it's not just my name, it's what I do." Annoyed, Ferguson mockingly agrees with him. Struck between the eyes, Death decides to quit. He knows, though, that "they" will not let him do that. Now completely irritated, Ferguson prepares to leave. Death tells him that the first soul that he ever collected from the hospital was Billy Breem, and the doctor is shocked when this claim is confirmed. But he does not think about it much at first because the guy claiming to be Death gets away.

He does catch up to him in the morgue, talking to a dead body. The doctor still isn't totally convinced, but when he is handed a paper that says that no one has died that day, he goes crazy. He dashes about Death's room, trying to convince himself that the entity is not real. Death begins to play tricks, assuming the form of Ferguson's dead mother at her moment of passing, and teleporting around the room. The young doctor calls friends in various cities such as New York City and Chicago, but no one has died there, either! Finally, Ferguson admits that Death is not lying, and storms out of the room.

The next day, Ferguson is enjoying his new, headache-free life-until a group of burn victims, who should be dead, come into the hospital in agonizing pain. Since Death is off the job, they can't die. Ferguson races to find Death, who is on the roof, holding a rose. Before the doctor can speak, Death murmurs that he has to kill flowers as well as people. After a long discussion, Ferguson manages to convince Death to go back to work. Death sighs and agrees-and instantly, the rose in his hand blackens and dies. The entity then tells Ferguson to look in his notebook, which instantly records all of the people who must die. Shockingly, the first name on the list is Dr. Jay Ferguson. He screams and falls over in pain, having a massive headache. Death tells him that the "headaches" were really the onset of an aneurysm. Before he goes, though, Jay asks if he or Death had saved the man at the beginning of the episode. Death reveals that had Ferguson not been in the room with the dying man at the beginning of the episode, his name would have been in his book. The two walk off into the air, fading away.

Closing narration

“

Life and death walk side by side. They are partners in the cycle of existence. If you don't believe it just talk to Dr. Jay Ferguson... now a first year resident in The Twilight Zone.

”

Quotes

(Death clutches a rose on the roof)

Death: I kill flowers, too. Did you ever think of that? It's not just animals and people. It's grass, trees, roses...

---

Death: One day off in four and a half billion years...

Dr. Ferguson: That's gonna have to do.

See also

• Personification of Death

External links

• "One Night at Mercy" at the Internet Movie Database
• "One Night at Mercy" at TV.com