They’re filled with a ridiculously protracted segment where Franklin signs away everything he has to the machine, then a final moment where Serling has the machine-with its goofy giant light that looks like an eye and its weird little smile-come up to the Gibbs’ hotel room and back Franklin into a window, causing him to fall to his death. But the last 15 minutes of the episode never deliver on that. There might be an interesting Twilight Zone twist on this subject to come. But no one ever accused Serling of being subtle, and he occasionally made his very obviousness into a virtue. It’s obvious from the start that Franklin will be the one to get addicted to the machines (since he acts about gambling like closeted politicians act about homosexuality), and it’s also obvious that this is going to be a simple little gambling morality tale. The problem is that everything up until when Franklin starts to lose money takes a little under 10 minutes.
