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{{No footnotes|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| season = 5
| episode = 29
| airdate = {{Start date|1964|04|17}}
| production = 2639
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| director = [[Richard Donner]]
| guests = [[Martin Landau]] as Major Ivan Kuchenko <br /> [[John van Dreelen]] as Commissar Vassiloff <br /> Robert Kelljan as Boris- Vassiloff’s assistant
| music =
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) (season 5)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[Caesar and Me]]
| next = [[Stopover in a Quiet Town]]
}}

"'''The Jeopardy Room'''" is episode 149 of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'', which originally aired on April 17, 1964 on [[CBS]]. It is one of the few Twilight Zone episodes to feature no supernatural or sci-fi elements.

==Opening narration==
{{cquote|The cast of characters—a cat and a mouse, this is the latter. The intended victim who may or may not know that he is to die, be it by butchery or ballet. His name is Major Ivan Kuchenko. He has, if events go according to certain plans, perhaps three or four more hours of living. But an ignorance shared by both himself and his executioner, is of the fact that both of them have taken the first step into the Twilight Zone.}}

==Plot==
Major Ivan Kuchenko ([[Martin Landau]]), a [[KGB]] agent who is attempting to [[defection|defect]], is trapped inside a hotel room in an unnamed, politically [[neutral country]]. Commissar Vassiloff ([[John van Dreelen]]), a [[hitman]], and Boris (Robert Kelljan), his assistant, are watching Kuchenko from a room across the street. Vassiloff, who considers himself an artist, has an elaborate plan for Kuchenko's assassination. After Vassiloff tricks Kuchenko into drinking a [[sleep medicine|sleeping drug]], Kuchenko awakes to find a taped recording from Vassiloff in which he explains that he has [[booby trap|booby-trapped]] an object in the room. If Kuchenko finds and disarms the object within three hours, he will be allowed to live; if he tries to leave the room before then or turn out the lights, he will be shot by Boris, an expert [[sniper]].

Vassiloff tells Boris he has hidden a lethal bomb in the telephone, but it will be triggered only by picking up an incoming call. Thus, when Kuchenko picks up the phone without it ringing, nothing happens. Kuchenko grows increasingly nervous and desperate as the ordeal continues, even begging Vassiloff to shoot him at one point. With ten minutes of time left, Vassiloff places a call to Kuchenko's room. Kuchenko puts his hand on the [[handset|receiver]], but hesitates. When Vassiloff tries to call him a second time, Kuchenko bolts out of the hotel room, narrowly escaping a spray of bullets from Boris. Later, Vassiloff and Boris enter the room to dispose of evidence. The telephone rings, and Boris and Vassiloff are both killed after Boris unthinkingly answers it. On the other end of the line is Ivan Kuchenko, calling from a phone booth at the airport. The operator tells him she is unable to reach his party, but Kuchenko states, "It’s alright, operator. I... I have reached them.” He then leaves to board a plane flying to [[New York City]], as Vassiloff and Boris are shown lying dead amidst the rubble of Kuchenko's room.

==Closing Narration==
{{cquote|Major Ivan Kuchenko, on his way West. On his way to freedom: a freedom bought and paid for by a most stunning ingenuity. And exit one Commissar Vassiloff, who forgot that there are two sides to an argument - and two parties on the line. This has been the Twilight Zone.}}

==See also==
*''[[Payback (1999 film)|Payback]]'', a 1999 film that features a similar booby trap as a plot device and a similar twist ending.

==References==
*DeVoe, Bill. (2008). ''Trivia from The Twilight Zone''. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. {{ISBN|978-1-59393-136-0}}
*Grams, Martin. (2008). ''The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic''. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9703310-9-0}}
*Zicree, Marc Scott: ''The Twilight Zone Companion''. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)

==External links==
*{{IMDb episode|id=0734649|episode=The Jeopardy Room}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeopardy Room, The}}
[[Category:1964 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 5) episodes]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]

The Jeopardy Room - Revision history

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104.35.233.196 at 00:51, 2 April 2022