By Geno McGahee
While on vacation, you sometimes run into a weird dude. Usually there are several weird dudes that will sometimes invite themselves into your life, initiating conversation and your politeness keeps you speaking with them. In the episode “Man From the South” from the series TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED, we see just that and more.
Carlos (Jose Ferrer) is an old man that approaches another elderly gent, Rawlsden (Cyril Luckham), in Jamaica, on the beach. The conversation is normal, but Carlos is immediately eccentric with strange habits, like thoroughly wiping down the seat before he sits. It’s probably the white suit. If you wear white, people will notice if you sit in something and the last thing that he wants to hear is “the old guy shit his pants.”
As the two old timers speak, Tommy (Michael Ontkean) and his girlfriend, Cathy (Pamela Stephenson), sit at a table next to them. Tommy offers Carlos a light and notes that his lighter never fails, leading to a strange bet. Carlos offers his brand new Jaguar if Tommy can come up to his hotel room and ignite the lighter ten times without failing. Should he lose, Carlos will chop off his pinky finger on his left hand. A strange bet, but Tommy is drawn to the car and, before you know it, everyone is gathered in the hotel room, including Rawlsden. I’m not sure why he was there, but Carlos did have him hold the keys to the car to give to Tommy should he win.
Carlos ties Tommy’s hand down, exposing the left hand and gets a meat cleaver ready, and the game begins, but there is something that stinks about the situation. Cathy pleads with her man to back out, but he wants the car. Cathy is right to be concerned. Her man is helpless in that chair and there’s a stranger with a meat cleaver who wants one of his body parts. He starts with his finger. Who knows what else this Carlos dude wants.
The game continues and we get some unexpected things, which is probably why they call this show “Tales of the Unexpected.” The episode has a great ending and it was a great and interesting watch. I highly recommend it and I highly recommend not gambling with a man that wants a body part from you.
