The Trade-Ins
"The Trade-Ins" | |
---|---|
The Twilight Zone episode | |
Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 31 |
Directed by | Elliot Silverstein |
Written by | Rod Serling |
Production code | 4831 |
Original air date | April 13, 1962 |
Guest actors | |
Joseph Schildkraut: John Holt | |
"The Trade-Ins" is episode 96 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.
Opening narration
“ | Mr. and Mrs. John Holt, aging people who slowly and with trembling fingers turn the last pages of a book of life and hope against logic and the preordained that some magic printing press will add to this book another limited edition. But these two senior citizens happen to live in a time of the future where nothing is impossible, even the trading of old bodies for new. Mr. and Mrs. John Holt, in their twilight years, who are about to find that there happens to be a zone with the same name. | ” |
Plot
An elderly couple, John and Marie Holt, realize they haven't much time, so they decide to visit a medical center specializing in a new technology: body swapping. The center representative, Mr. Vance, tells them that 98% of couples have been happy with the quality of the swap, but the company offers a return clause if they change their mind afterwards within one week, as the swap procedure can be reversed. The couple decides to trade their aged bodies in for younger models. To their dismay, the swap will cost $10,000 for both of them together, and they have only half that amount. They ask if they could use the money they have as a down payment, and pay off the remaining half while working using their new younger bodies. Mr. Vance refuses, citing government regulations preventing extension of credit for this procedure. Marie suggests that John get the procedure, and when they are able to raise another $5000, she can join him, but John is resolute, and refuses to go through with the procedure unless they can do it together.
The old man attempts to earn the rest of the money in a high-stakes poker game, but John does not gamble and is confused even with a simple game of five card draw. The soft-hearted dealer, Faraday, seeing the old man put all his money on the first hand, after hearing John reveal his situation (and a hand of three kings), secretly folds his winning hand (three aces) to allow Holt to leave with the same amount he started with. Finally, Mr. Holt has himself changed, intending to use his young body to earn the money for his wife's change. In the end, they realize they can't wait the necessary time for the young Mr. Holt to earn the money for Mrs. Holt's procedure and would rather be old together than for one of them to be young and the other old. He opts for the return clause, willing to cope with his pain in order for them to be together. His "old" body restored, Mr. and Mrs. Holt depart towards an uncertain future–but their love for each other is "younger" than ever.
Closing narration
“ | From Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet: 'Love gives not but itself and takes not from itself, love possesses not nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.' Not a lesson, just a reminder, from all the sentimentalists in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
References
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0