The Twilight Zone/Recap/S5/E144 What's in the Box?

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    • E144 What's in the Box?
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Rod Serling: Portrait of a TV fan. Name: Joe Britt. Occupation: cab driver. Tonight, Mr. Britt is going to watch 'a really big show,' something special for the cabbie who's seen everything. Joe Britt doesn't know it, but his flag is down and his meter's running and he's in high gear--on his way to the Twilight Zone.

Joe and Phyllis Britt are an old married couple who do not get along. Joe gets home from his job as a cab driver late one night and Phyllis accuses him of seeing another woman. In the meantime, a television repairman is in the next room fixing their broken set. Irritated, Joe harasses the repairman about the inconvenience and cost. The repairman abruptly closes the open TV panel and announces the TV is fixed. He leaves and the TV starts getting channel 10, a station showing the past, present, and future of Joe and Phyllis' lives, which, however, only Joe can see. The TV shows Joe killing Phyllis in a fight, his trial and conviction for murder, and his execution in the electric chair. Phyllis is convinced that Joe has lost his mind and taunts him. Joe, angered, attacks her and kills her by accident, just as he had seen on the television screen. As Joe is taken away by the police, he comes face-to-face with the TV repairman, who asks if he will recommend him to others. He smirks to the audience as Joe is taken away.

Rod Serling: The next time your TV set is on the blink, when you're in the need of a first-rate repairman, may we suggest our own specialist? Factory-trained, prompt, honest, twenty-four-hour service. You won't find him in the phone book, but his office is conveniently located--in the Twilight Zone.

Tropes

• Awful Wedded Life
• Deadpan Snarker: Joe Briggs and the TV repairman.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Maybe. The TV repairman acts at the end as if he orchestrated everything that went on in the episode. And all because Joe complained about the cost of the TV repair...
• Hey, It's That Guy!: The TV repairman has the soft-spoken voice of a certain silly ol' bear, the mysterious nature of a certain grinning cat, and the smug sadism of a certain hypnotic python.
• Jerkass Victim: See Laser-Guided Karma below.
• Jerkass Woobie: You gotta feel a little sorry for Joe.
• Karmic Death
• Laser-Guided Karma: Both husband and wife get their just desserts for their attitudes toward each other.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Pretty much the premise of this episode.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: The TV repairman.
• Smug Snake: Again, the TV reapairman.