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"The Trade-Ins" is an episode of the The Twilight Zone.

Episode Details[]

Opening Narration[]

"Mr. and Mrs. John Holt, aging people who slowly and with trembling fingers turn the last pages of a book of life and hope against logic and the preordained that some magic printing press will add to this book another limited edition. But these two senior citizens happen to live in a time of the future when nothing is impossible, even the trading of old bodies for new. Mr. and Mrs. John Holt, in their twilight years - who are about to find that there happens to be a zone with the same name."

Episode Summary[]

An elderly couple, John and Marie Holt, realize they haven't much time, so they decide to visit a medical center specializing in a new technology: body swapping. The center representative, Mr. Vance, tells them that 98% of couples have been happy with the quality of the swap, but the company offers a return clause if they change their mind afterwards, as the swap procedure can be reversed. The couple decides to trade their aged bodies in for younger models. To their dismay, the swap will cost $10,000 for both, and they have only half that amount. The old man attempts to earn the rest of the money in a high-stakes poker game. The soft-hearted dealer, seeing the old man put all his money on one hand, secretly folds his winning hand to allow Holt to leave with the same amount he started with. Finally, Mr. Holt has himself changed, intending to use his young body to earn the money for his wife's change. In the end, they realize they can't wait the necessary time for the young Mr. Holt to earn the money for Mrs. Holt's procedure and would rather be old together than for one of them to be young and the other old. He opts for the return clause. His "old" body restored, Mr. and Mrs. Holt depart towards an uncertain future--but their love for each other is "younger" than ever.

Closing Narration[]

"From Khalil Gibran's The Prophet: 'Love gives naught but itself and takes naught from itself, love possesses not nor would it be possessed, for love is sufficient unto love.' Not a lesson, just a reminder, from all the sentimentalists - in The Twilight Zone."

Preview for Next Week's Story[]

Next week on The Twilight Zone, we tell a story that we think might prove a rather haunting little item in the scheme of things. It tells of a small Mexican boy and a visitor from another planet. And it tells further what happens when this extraterrestrial traveler is faced with some of the less personable instincts of human beings like fear, superstition, and intolerance. Our story is called "The Gift".

Production Companies[]

Distributors[]

  • Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1959) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Home media release[]

This episode is included on the Image Entertainment Vol. 12 DVD along with "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine", "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" and "The Lateness of the Hour".

Memorable Quotes[]

Main article: List of memorable quotes from the first series

External Links[]


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