An elderly couple (Schildkraut and Platt) visit a company that specializes in substituting their elderly bodies for younger ones, but find they only have the money needed to substitute one of their bodies.
Serling's tender, beautifully written story of love and the sacrifices we make for it relies less on the sci-fi gimmick than on the exquisite relationship developed between the couple. The husband is wracked with pain, but possessed of a quiet, unflailing dignity and deep, rich love of his wife; Schildkraut's touching work does the part full justice, his gentle personality serving as the perfect defense against the ravages against his body. The wife, incredibly patient and possessed of the same dignity and love, is beautifully played by Platt -- the two do not seem like actors playing a long-married couple, but a couple that really have lived with and loved each other for half a century. The final twist is less a twist, than a wholly believable act growing out of the love these two people share for one another.
Additional mention must made of Theodore Marcuse's performance as a gambler that Schildkraut's character goes to, hoping to win enough money to pay for both substitutions. Rather than play the character as a cipher or a venal shark, Marcuse adds subtle strokes to the performance that make him far more interesting; his idle humming and expression at the end of the card game gives more insight into his character than pages of dialogue ever could.
All in all, one of the series' most charming and beautifully played episodes.
Serling's tender, beautifully written story of love and the sacrifices we make for it relies less on the sci-fi gimmick than on the exquisite relationship developed between the couple. The husband is wracked with pain, but possessed of a quiet, unflailing dignity and deep, rich love of his wife; Schildkraut's touching work does the part full justice, his gentle personality serving as the perfect defense against the ravages against his body. The wife, incredibly patient and possessed of the same dignity and love, is beautifully played by Platt -- the two do not seem like actors playing a long-married couple, but a couple that really have lived with and loved each other for half a century. The final twist is less a twist, than a wholly believable act growing out of the love these two people share for one another.
Additional mention must made of Theodore Marcuse's performance as a gambler that Schildkraut's character goes to, hoping to win enough money to pay for both substitutions. Rather than play the character as a cipher or a venal shark, Marcuse adds subtle strokes to the performance that make him far more interesting; his idle humming and expression at the end of the card game gives more insight into his character than pages of dialogue ever could.
All in all, one of the series' most charming and beautifully played episodes.