"Long Live Walter Jameson" is a wonderful episode, one of my favorites. It explores a straightforward, yet very interesting concept: what happens to an otherwise ordinary man who cannot die?
Unlike many Twilight Zone episodes that famously conclude with an ironic twist, "Walter Jameson" doesn't finish by upending all that the viewer has seen for the first twenty or so minutes. In fact, the finish isn't really surprising at all. Jameson's immortality is revealed early on, and then rather neatly gets out of the way so that a quiet, contemplative story of character, loneliness, and fear can be told. Interestingly, there is a subtle twist that is almost easy to miss -- when Walter and his friend Sam are having the discussion that is the focus of the whole episode, it's not exactly clear which one of them really is the "older" (i.e. wiser) man.
Kevin McCarthy and Edgar Stehli do great work as the jaded immortal Walter Jameson, and his all too mortal friend, Sam Kitteridge. Watch in particular Stehli's delicate reactions as Kitteridge learns the truth about Jameson and discovers the real consequences of living forever.
This is an engrossing episode, which takes place almost entirely in a single room, and with hardly any musical backing. I rate it as one of the five best of the entire series. Enjoy. 9.5/10
Unlike many Twilight Zone episodes that famously conclude with an ironic twist, "Walter Jameson" doesn't finish by upending all that the viewer has seen for the first twenty or so minutes. In fact, the finish isn't really surprising at all. Jameson's immortality is revealed early on, and then rather neatly gets out of the way so that a quiet, contemplative story of character, loneliness, and fear can be told. Interestingly, there is a subtle twist that is almost easy to miss -- when Walter and his friend Sam are having the discussion that is the focus of the whole episode, it's not exactly clear which one of them really is the "older" (i.e. wiser) man.
Kevin McCarthy and Edgar Stehli do great work as the jaded immortal Walter Jameson, and his all too mortal friend, Sam Kitteridge. Watch in particular Stehli's delicate reactions as Kitteridge learns the truth about Jameson and discovers the real consequences of living forever.
This is an engrossing episode, which takes place almost entirely in a single room, and with hardly any musical backing. I rate it as one of the five best of the entire series. Enjoy. 9.5/10