Pain Killer is the fourth episode of season 1.
Synopsis[]
The answers to a man's severe back pain is the rid himself of the source of that pain.
Cast[]
- Farley Granger as Doctor Roebuck
- Peggy Cass as Nadine Turrman
- Lou Jacobi as Harvey Turman
- Faye Sappington as Anne Tracey
- Paul Sparer as Narrator
Plot[]
Act I[]
An old man and woman are watching TV as the old man reads a book. The woman appears very antsy as she reaches for a box of chocolates. The old man asks if that was a caramel, but the old woman tells him he is on a diet. He says he likes caramel but she says it will stick to his teeth.
She asks him if he is finished reading and he tells her he is almost done. She expects him to pass a test so he can be an executive and make more money for them.
The old man goes to make coffee, and his back starts hurting. He collapses. The wife comes in and makes no attempt to help him. She asks him if she should bring the book so he can study.
Later the wife asks if he is coming to bed and he insists he can’t move. He decides to sleep on the floor and she seems happy. Declaring that she does not want to put a good blanket on the floor, she covers him up and leaves.
When the lights are off, the man sees a strange man looking through the window. The guy touches his nose with his finger and Harvey calls for Nadine to come in the room. She gets aggravated at him and is insistent that no one is there. She tells Harvey it is okay he wants to sleep on the floor but she needs sleep. She leaves.
Act II[]
At the hospital, the doctor looks like the man that Harvey saw at the window. The doctor insists that he was not outside the window.
Examining Harvey, the doctor asks what he does. When Harvey tells him that he works in parts, the wife tells him that he is studying to be a computer programmer. The doctor cannot find anything wrong with Harvey, but insists that he is in pain. He prescribes a muscle relaxer and leaves.
Harvey has to take a couple weeks off work, which he thinks is fine since he has sick pay coming in. The wife is worried about money and thinks that she might not buy the clothes she wanted, but Harvey barely has to say a word before she realizes that she will buy it.
Nadine comes home and Harvey has bought a neck brace. Nadine is upset that he is spending so much money on himself and she has no concern for his pain at all.
Harvey is in tremendous pain, but he pretends not to be to make his wife happy. She can tell he is in pain but is more worried about money than anything else. He hurts himself severely on the way out the door, but he is in too much pain. Nadine is only concerned about herself and would rather Harvey go to work in pain than to get a part time job to help out. She insults him and thinks he is making it all up.
The doctor calls and Harvey lets him know that he is in pain. The doctor tells Harvey he can get a cure guaranteed.
Act III[]
Harvey goes in to the doctor and the doctor tells him that he would be able to help Harvey as long as he agrees to the treatment. The doctor insists that Nadine is the source of the pain and the only way to get over the pain is to kill his wife.
Harvey wonders how such a thing will be done and the doctor explains they can get rid of Nadine by making her suffer a "happy accident". Harvey expects that the doctor is joking, but he insists that he is not. Harvey gives the doctor his consent.
Later Harvey is on the couch and he calls the doctor and tells him that Nadine went shopping. Harvey immediately gets a call that Nadine was in an accident and the accident killed her. He is concerned, but the moment he hangs up the phone, he realizes that all the back pain ended.
A later night, Harvey comes home from work and eats some chocolates. The doorbell rings and an old lady named Anne Tracey is at the door. She informs Harvey that she was driving the car that hit Nadine as she was crossing the street. She feels horrible and asks for Harvey’s forgiveness. She tells him "It wasn't my fault. I didn’t have any choice."
Harvey gets a call from the doctor who asks how his back is doing. He offers Harvey a free last checkup. Harvey is hesitant, but goes along with it anyway.
At the doctor’s office, the doctor tells Harvey that he was right about killing Nadine. Harvey does not believe it. He thought the entire thing was an accident and not caused by the doctor. The doctor insists that Harvey has to perform a murder for him. Harvey never believed Mrs. Tracey would have committed the murder. Harvey gets angry and threatens to call the police on the doctor.
When Harvey tries to leave, the door will not open. When he does not do as the doctor wants, the doctor causes a migraine headache and Harvey realizes that it was this man who caused the back pain in the first place. Harvey keeps asking the man who he is and the doctor just laughs at the episode fades out.
Trivia[]
- The couple is watching Night of the Living Dead (1968) written and directed by George A. Romero. Romero was a producer for this show and also wrote/directed a few episodes, including the pilot.