Appointment on Route 17

"Appointment on Route 17" is the fiftieth episode and the fifteenth episode of the third season (1988–89) of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Opening narration[]

One man, one heart. An obsolete fact of life. Witness Tom Bennett, a man who accepts his new organ as just one more item that money can buy. A man who would tell you that the boundaries of the Twilight Zone are shrinking as miracles become commonplace.

Plot[]

Callous businessman Tom Bennett returns to his office after recovering from a heart transplant. At the party given to celebrate his return he wants it ended quickly as he becomes embarrassed at the attention. Tom turns his attention to a building his firm is contracted to build, and during a meeting to discuss it he suddenly acts odd - at least to his colleagues Spence and Julie. He suddenly becomes obsessed with buying a pair of boots and then buys his colleague Julie a hot dog for lunch. They take a walk on a beach and run into a sad-looking young woman to whom he is instantly drawn. Later, at the office, he tells his secretary to order some plants to which she comments that he always hated plants.

On a drive through the city with his other colleague, Spence looks for a place to eat and they end up leaving the city and find a diner. This diner happens to be the workplace of the woman he ran into at the beach. The woman's name is Mary Jo and she is mystified and can't understand his instant attraction to her. He's persistent but she rejects his forwardness. Her friend at work tries to talk her into accepting his offer of dinner. Julie, who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Tom, gets jealous and confronts Tom about his obsession with Mary Jo. When he tries again, Tom is told by her work friend that Mary Jo is still grieving due to the loss of her boyfriend Jamie Adler, who died in a car accident.

When Mary Jo finally talks to Tom, she explains how she and Jamie knew each other since they were kids and they always knew they'd be together. They were making plans to get married when the accident occurred, and she tells him that someone received his heart. Tom then realizes that it was Jamie's heart that he received for his transplant. At work, Tom begins slipping in his "shark-like" attitude toward business, but he doesn't seem to care. The next day, Tom drives to the diner dressed in jeans and T-shirt and in a pick-up truck. He sits and waits for Mary Jo all night. She finally decides to talk to him and he tells her about his heart transplant. He confesses that before the transplant he was not a nice person, but now he has been given a second chance. Tom says he will wait for her as long as it takes and he orders her favorite dessert for her. She asks how he knew and he simply shrugs and smiles, promising that he will be there for her just like Jamie.

Closing narration[]

A philosopher once wrote: "The heart has its reasons that reason does not know." Perhaps he was born knowing that truth. Or perhaps, like Mr. Tom Bennett, he discovered it with a little help...from the Twilight Zone.

External links[]

• "Appointment on Route 17" at IMDb