Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room

While Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room is not exactly one of the most interesting episodes I've seen of the show, the stifling atmosphere of the tiny room comes across very well. I almost felt claustrophobic at parts of it, not the least reason for which is the heat that accompanies the tight space. Joe Mantell stars as Jackie Rhoades, a small time crook who is hoping for one big score to get him out of his pathetic life, only to discover that the job, the details of which he spends the first half of the episode waiting for, involve committing a payback murder, a huge crime which he doesn't feel prepared to do.

Unfortunately, he is forced to commit the murder under penalty of being killed himself. What follows is a battle of two sides of his mind, talking to each other through a magic mirror of sorts, in which the strong half (in the mirror) berates him about the life he could have had, had he been smarter and been able to stand up for himself. The effect of having a fake mirror is pulled off remarkably well, with the only real IMDb goof being the laughable claim that the buttons on his shirt weren't reversed. Come on people, quit with the ridiculous details.

The performances, all two of them, are great and, while it's not the most deep and meaningful message I've seen in the series, it makes a good point about doing the right thing in the face of difficult circumstances and, maybe most of all, not taking any crap from crappy people. Not bad.