The Hellgramite Method
| "The Hellgramite Method" | |
|---|---|
| The New Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 42 |
| Directed by | Gilbert M. Shilton |
| Written by | William Selby |
| Original air date | November 5, 1988 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Timothy Bottoms: Miley Judson | |
| Episode chronology | |
"The Hellgramite Method" is the forty-second episode and the seventh episode of the third season (1988–89) of the American television series The Twilight Zone.
Opening narration
| “ | Miley Judson, an everyman who has strayed from the path, slipped and fallen, many times. A man who seeks solace from his problems at the bottom of a glass. A good man, at war with himself, slowly drowning in alcohol, swallow by swallow. Pulled down by the insidious undertow of an endless ocean of booze, helpless to stop doing the one thing he does better than anything else: drink. | ” |
Plot
Miley Judson, a run-down alcoholic, sitting in a bar trying to light his cigarette, is given a box of matches that advertises a method for quitting drinking alcohol. He laughs it off and orders another drink. When the bartender does last call, Miley realizes he brought in a pizza he was supposed to bring home for dinner—five hours ago. When his son asks if he is sick again and his wife gives him an ultimatum, Miley decides to go for the Hellgramite Method, advertised on his box of matches, to fight his alcoholism.
Miley goes to the home of Dr. Eugene Murrick, who offers him a little red pill. He takes the pill and Dr. Murrick sends him home, saying that is all it takes, for now. He returns to his favorite bar only to find out that alcohol now has no effect on him. After enough booze to knock out any normal man, he isn't even buzzing. He then goes to Murrick to find out what's going on. It turns out that the pill contained a Hellgramite, a tapeworm that absorbs all traces of alcohol in a person, thus rendering them sober no matter how much they drink; but since it feeds on alcohol it will grow larger in his stomach and kill him if he continues to drink. The only solution is to starve the tapeworm, but to do so invites painful withdrawal. If he can endure the withdrawal pains, the tapeworm will eventually be forced into a hibernation state, thus giving a measure of freedom to the host. But if he ever drinks one drop of alcohol again, the tapeworm will once again wake up.
At home, Miley determines to starve the tapeworm. In order to succeed and not frighten his family, he sends them away for a couple of weeks. He dumps all the alcohol in the house down the drain. As the days pass, he undergoes ever-increasing pain, until he is in agony and screaming in pain. Miley goes to Murrick, begging him for help, but Murrick feels no pity for him, for it is nowhere near the pain Murrick felt when he lost his family. A drunk driver was responsible for killing Murrick's wife and two children; the driver ran them over when they were walking across the street. At home again, Miley is near the brink of insanity from the pain, exposing his torso to reveal the worm shifting and moving under the skin....
Some time later in the bar he used to frequent, Miley walks up to a man at the bar and offers him a box of matches, the same as he was offered, with the Hellgramite Method ad on it. He's now well-dressed and self-confident. He walks over to the bartender and pays off his tab. The bartender offers him a drink on the house, but Miley declines and walks out of the bar into the sunlight.
Closing narration
| “ | Miley Judson happened upon the simple discovery that there is no sure-fire cure, no quick fix, no shortcut to either sobriety or peace of mind. Some people achieve it through an individual act of will, others find strength in numbers. What Miley Judson needed was a little something extra, something that could only be found...in The Twilight Zone. | ” |