Dealer's Choice (The Twilight Zone)

"Dealer's Choice"
The Twilight Zone episode
Scene from "Dealer's Choice"
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 8c
Directed by	Wes Craven
Written by	Donald Todd
Original air date	November 15, 1985
Guest stars
Morgan Freeman: Tony Dan Hedaya: Nick/The Devil Barney Martin: Marty Garrett Morris: Jake M. Emmet Walsh: Peter
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Burning Man" Next → "Dead Woman's Shoes"
List of Twilight Zone episodes

"Dealer's Choice" is the third segment of the eighth episode of the first season (1985-1986) of the television series The New Twilight Zone.

Opening narration

“

Just a friendly game of cards. It doesn't take much to buy into this game, but buying out may be something else entirely. You see, there's a wild card on the table in a deck that's been reshuffled and cut...in the Twilight Zone.

”

Synopsis

A group of friends are playing a game of poker when they start to think one of their guests may be the Devil. After many hands won by Nick, who apparently has replaced his cousin Norman, a friend of the group, Jake begins to ponder why Nick always has three sixes in his hand when he wins. Nick, meanwhile has left the table to get a drink of water. Then Marty, the simple, good-natured guy heads for the bathroom. The guys becomes convinced when they call Norman and discover he isn't sick like Nick claimed.

When Nick rejoins the table, they tell him their theory and he admits that they are right and that one of them at the table is to be collected tonight. The three friends debate over who it is to be collected, but the Devil suggests they make a game of it. Pick a card and the high card wins a trip with Nick. The friends want to wait for Marty but the Devil says that some people are too innocent to corrupt and he would pick the low card. Tony picks an eight, Jake picks a seven, and then Pete picks a jack. After Pete begs the Devil not to take him, Tony suggests that in order to be fair, Pete and Nick should play one-on-one. Pete puts up his immortal soul and Nick puts up eighteen dollars (6 + 6 + 6), but Pete demands he put up nineteen to break the weird chain of events. They play lowball, where the worst hand wins. For example, one pair beats two pair, and so forth.

Marty rejoins the group, unaware of what has transpired, but Jake and Tony catch him up. It looks as though Pete is about to lose. The Devil turns over the last card and it is tarot's Death. Marty touches the card, not understanding what is happening. The card, because of Marty's innocence, reveals itself to be the fourth six. That means the Devil loses and Pete wins. The Devil waves his hand and claims that he does not normally make amends, but this time he feels he owes them. The Devil leaves, thanking Pete for his hospitality and hoping to host the next game and invite them to it. The friends go into the kitchen to find a grand feast along with a refrigerator filled with beer. As the friends start another poker game, they resolve to be better husbands to their wives and start going to church regularly after everything that happened.

Closing narration

“

There's an old saying, oft told, but seldom heeded: never deal with the devil. But if by chance you must, it's nice to know he can be a good sport. Just a friendly game of cards among a friendly group of guys, who have just come back...from the Twilight Zone.

”

Syndication

This episode was stretched into a half-hour run time for syndication, as recently shown on the Chiller TV network.

References

Internet Movie Database episode page

See also

• List of The Twilight Zone episodes

External links

• TV.com - The Twilight Zone (1985) episode: Dealer's Choice
• Postcards from the Zone episode 1.20 Dealer's Choice