Sloane is superbly intense and Janiss extremely subtle with her rising concern. This addiction is indeed a drug, not one snorted or smoked or drank, but is based upon a thrill and a determination to beat the odds. Seemingly light-hearted on the outside, this has an intense message that many people may be able to identify with if they have had a loved one destroyed by gambling or themselves have become a victim of that addiction.

Like the dancer in the red shoes, Sloane seems doomed to play forever, and no amount of concerned nagging from his wife can pull him away. In this one, the machine has the sound of a real monster, calling to Sloane and beckoning him to play.

I'm sure Las Vegas and Atlantic City casino operators were not pleased by this episode, but it is so intense and still relevant today as gambling addiction continues to ruin lives and sometimes take them. But thanks to a drunk who forces his hand upon to a slot, Sloane finds himself suddenly addicted to the game, at the cost of his sanity and much more. The sound of money isn't attractive to the intense Everett Sloane who is upset when contest winning wife Vivi Janiss puts in a nickel and gets nothing out. Everett Sloane and Vivi Janiss give away good, realistic performances and Robert Florey's direction is surefooted and reliable. 'The Fever' probably won't make it into too many favorite listings, and neither in mine, but it's worth checking out of course. I keep thinking that the Slot machines, also known as 'one-armed bandits' or even 'metal monsters', perhaps figure as a metaphor for various other types of dangerous challenges in life, or maybe what overcomes Franklin is punishment for being such a dominant and hateful person to his wife and surrounding After all, we're in 'The Twilight Zone'. Most admirable elements about it are the steady but firm mounting of the tension, the unsettling depiction of Franklin's descent into insanity and the grim climax. I watched it a couple of weeks ago (I actually forgot to review it) but I'm surprised to notice now that I still remember most small details. Nothing too special, you'd think, but for some inexplicable reason the episode nevertheless keeps spooking around in my head. After all, it's only the story of an elderly couple that visits Las Vegas because they won a price and the husband, at first a huge opponent of gambling, slowly becomes obsessed with one particular Slots machine that he believes is calling out to him. In between all the versatile 'The Twilight Zone' episodes dealing with grotesque supernatural themes or extraterrestrial influences, 'The Fever' initially doesn't come across as very overwhelming or memorable.

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