S1:Ep. 28 - A Nice Place to Visit

I decided that if I keep going with this that I should probably organize the way I post, as far as titles are concerned. Instead of trying to come up with something witty, I'll just stick with the basic structure. Nobody cares about the title anyway... or the post in general, whatever.

"A Nice Place to Visit"

Aka, how I feel about Los Angeles. Born and raised there, it's a nice place to visit alright, but I'll be damned if I ever actually live there. This episode carries a similar sentiment.

Henry Valentine is a small time crook, always looking for something to steal, never hitting the big time. During a botched robbery, the police shoot and kill Henry. He awakes to find the police missing and himself alone lying in the street. Confused about what happened, he sees a nice old man in a white suit named Pip, who claims to be Henrys guide in death; a "guardian angel of sorts."

Pip starts to show Henry that he can have anything he wants, whenever he wants; money, women, it's all for Henrys taking. Pip takes Henry to a casino where no matter what he bets, he wins the game. But something bothers Henry... why did he make it into heaven? After having Pip take him to the Hall of Records, it seems as though God made a mistake letting him in... but who is Henry to question the motives of the almighty?

At first, Henry loves all of his winning but gets sick of it after awhile. After all, what's the point of winning if you can't lose? So he calls Pip to complain of his boredom... he wants some excitement in his afterlife! If this is Heaven, then he'd rather go to the other place. Pip politely tells Henry that he never said this was Heaven... Henry *is* in the other place.

Pip is in a white suit the entire episode, adding to the attempt at misdirection. Clearly he is up to something, despite the incredibly friendly demeanor; besides, it's the Twilight Zone, there has to be a twist at the end. Henry is kind of an idiot to think that after he's done nothing but terrible things throughout his life that he'd make it into Heaven. The first thing in his file is as a 6 year old "slaughtering a puppy." That's a bit much...

Just like I mentioned in "People Are Alike All Over", at least he gets everything he wants... that's a fancy kind of Hell. Granted, that's what the exact thing he doesn't want for an eternity. Since he'll be there for an eternity, I'd imagine he'd find a way to make the most of his predicament eventually, 10, 20, 900 years or so. I'd learn how to play the piano and invent Google... maybe run for Emperor of the Universe (and create Orco as comic relief).

I think the point is, I'd rather live there than LA.

I give this one 3 out of 5.