A Game of Pool
Encyclopedia
"A Game of Pool" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone
. According to Serling, it's "the story of the best pool player living and the best pool player dead."
It is after hours at Lister's Pool Room in Chicago, and once more pool shark
Jesse Cardiff is alone, polishing his pool game. Jesse bitterly muses that he would be considered the greatest pool player of all time, if it were not for the memory of the late Fats Brown overshadowing him. "I'd give anything, anything to play him one game!" he declares aloud.
"At your service!" comes a sudden voice from the corner of the room. It is indeed James Howard Brown — "known to his friends as Fats" — who has been dead for fifteen years, but who has come from the afterlife to answer Jesse's challenge. Fats tells Jesse it is time for him to put his money where his mouth is and play a game of pool to see who the best truly is. But Fats ups the stakes: If Jesse wins, he will indeed be acknowledged as the greatest. If he loses, it means his life.
Jesse is undaunted, and the ultimate high stakes pool game begins. All throughout the game, Fats subtly tries to warn Jesse; he laments that Jesse has done nothing with his life but play pool. Jesse ignores Fats's comments, convinced that he is just trying to get his mind off the game. When it comes down to one final, easy shot for Jesse to win the title, Fats again warns him that he does not understand the burdens that come with being the best ever. Jesse ignores him and sinks the shot. He exults in his victory; he is now the best ever.
Fats's only response is to thank Jesse for beating him. Jesse is angered, declaring that Fats is a sore loser. Only years later, after he has died, does Jesse finally realize Fats's warnings. Jesse, as the new pool champion, is obliged to spend his afterlife defending his title, going from pool room to lonely pool room (his next destination: Mason's Pool Hall, Sandusky, Ohio), to play against challenger after challenger, just as Fats had to do until he finally lost. Meanwhile, Fats, finally free of his obligations as champion, has gone fishing.
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
. According to Serling, it's "the story of the best pool player living and the best pool player dead."
Synopsis
It is after hours at Lister's Pool Room in Chicago, and once more pool shark
Pool shark
Pool shark or pool sharks may refer to:...
Jesse Cardiff is alone, polishing his pool game. Jesse bitterly muses that he would be considered the greatest pool player of all time, if it were not for the memory of the late Fats Brown overshadowing him. "I'd give anything, anything to play him one game!" he declares aloud.
"At your service!" comes a sudden voice from the corner of the room. It is indeed James Howard Brown — "known to his friends as Fats" — who has been dead for fifteen years, but who has come from the afterlife to answer Jesse's challenge. Fats tells Jesse it is time for him to put his money where his mouth is and play a game of pool to see who the best truly is. But Fats ups the stakes: If Jesse wins, he will indeed be acknowledged as the greatest. If he loses, it means his life.
Jesse is undaunted, and the ultimate high stakes pool game begins. All throughout the game, Fats subtly tries to warn Jesse; he laments that Jesse has done nothing with his life but play pool. Jesse ignores Fats's comments, convinced that he is just trying to get his mind off the game. When it comes down to one final, easy shot for Jesse to win the title, Fats again warns him that he does not understand the burdens that come with being the best ever. Jesse ignores him and sinks the shot. He exults in his victory; he is now the best ever.
Fats's only response is to thank Jesse for beating him. Jesse is angered, declaring that Fats is a sore loser. Only years later, after he has died, does Jesse finally realize Fats's warnings. Jesse, as the new pool champion, is obliged to spend his afterlife defending his title, going from pool room to lonely pool room (his next destination: Mason's Pool Hall, Sandusky, Ohio), to play against challenger after challenger, just as Fats had to do until he finally lost. Meanwhile, Fats, finally free of his obligations as champion, has gone fishing.