Review of What You Need

There are a lot of surprises in this well-acted season one entry from "The Twilight Zone" that features excellent performances by film noir veteran Steve Cochran and character actor Ernest Truex. Unlike Ed Wynn's pitchman in "One for the Angels", earlier in the season, Truex is a man of mystery, seemingly knowing the future long before it happens and preparing for it here regardless of the outbarflies who has no idea where he's going and when Truex meets him, he has a look of fear on his face. For some reason however, Cochran goes to Truex for whatever he needs goes to Truex for whatever he needs and sometimes, those little unexpected items do come in handy. But a last-minute confrontation after a fountain pen fails to work while he is trying to bet on horses leads Cochran to confront Truex in what will definitely be the final destiny of one of the two.

Slow-moving and spots but still interesting, this is a moody and psychologically challenging episode that you have to wait patiently for any real outcome for. But don't turn it off when you think it's ending, because there's more to come in the few minutes left and it is an amusing twist that gives questions to who indeed Truex really is, a recurring mystery in Twilight episodes where some wisened older man seems to be a visitor from a distant star where all wisdom and knowledge is created. The rainy atmosphere adds to the moodiness of the plotline and creates a dour look into the souls of the characters involved in the plot.