We begin with William Sharsted (Rene Auberjonois) exiting a carriage and daintily paying the driver. After having a chamber-pot unceremoniously dumped at his feet — and really, what kind of ceremony would that call for? — he goes up a flight to see Mr. Gingold (Ross Martin).
Despite the treasures in Gingold’s home, Sharsted has come to collect on an outstanding 300 pound loan which has been accruing at the usurious rate of 13%. This episode aired a few years before Jimmy Carter’s policies made 13% look like free money. Gingold deflects him and proudly shows him his camera obscura.
Through a series of mirrors and prisms, Gingold is able to project an image of the town onto a flat surface, to Sharsted’s amazement. He zooms in on the residence of Norton Thwaite. Gingold accuses Sharpsted of destroying Thwaite by foreclosing on his mortgage.
Sharpsted points out that Gingold should probably worry more about his own situation. Perhaps, he suggests, Gingold could sell off some of his objets d’art to pay his debt. It is worth noting that he massacred the pronunciation as “objects dart”, but it is particularly bizarre coming from a guy named Rene Auberjonois.
Gingold wants to show Sharpsted another camera obscura that he has in the basement. This one is able to zoom in on the Corn Exchange — a building that burned down when Sharpsted was a boy. It is even able to zoom in on his father’s shop, long since closed.
When Sharpsted leaves, he finds himself in the past where there are no taxis and the streetlights run on gas. Surely the greenish / sepia tones should have clued him in that he was on the past.
He encounters several people, all deceased, who he had wronged. Through the camera obscura, Gingold watches Sharsted being consumed by the angry mob.
As frequently happens on NG, the punishment is a little extreme for the “crime”, and I’m a law & order guy (although I’ve never seen the TV show). What was Sharsted supposed to do, let his customers just stop paying? It’s not like he had a Bush or Obama to bail him out.
Post-Post:
- Twilight Zone Legacy: Milton Parsons was in three episodes of TZ, Ross Martin was in two.
- Skipped Segment: Quoth the Raven. Nevermore, indeed.
Similarly, I didn’t think the bank officer in Drag Me To Hell deserved such dragging for denying the old woman an extension on her loan..Not exactly a mortal sin in my book.
I think I agree with you. I haven’t seen it since 10/15/09, though (yeah, I keep track).
I need to check it out again.
I believe the Drag Me to Hell moral was that even though the bank worker was just an employee she held power over the old woman. She was granted the power and authority to let the old woman keep or lose her home and she wielded it over her. The bank worker was unaware this old woman too had power that she could also command.
I admit Sharpsted was a prick that needed a butt kicking but his punishment was extreme. I was quite disturbed by the episode
From what I remember about this episode, it was not people in the past that he had wronged, but evil people like himself. The place seemed like some sort of hell. And the guy who owned the camera didn’t give him a couple of chances to do right,before he sent him to his eternal misery.
Whoops. I mean the guy who owned the camera DID give the money lender a chance or two to repent. I have no sympathy for the money lender in this episode. Although I do agree with the previous poster about the Drag Me to Hell movie. I thought her punishment was extreme too.
Saw this long ago. Disturbing ending. For him it turns out that hell is just what you don’t want it to be..