Rendezvous in a Dark Place

Plot

Barbara LeMay, an elderly but seemingly mindful woman, gets great joy out of attending funerals, even those of people she did not know in any way. As she leaves one funeral, the priest is befuddled when she openly reveals she knows no one there, but "it was still a very lovely service." As Barbara discusses the last service she attended with her son, Jason, he becomes upset and claims that it is wrong of her to keep attending funerals of people she does not know. She just goes on dreamily about the funeral and planning her own. Jason claims she revels in talking about death and he says he loves her and wants her to see his children grow up. She reassures Jason everything will be alright and he leaves for his plane.

Late that night, a storm rages and a man breaks into Barbara's home. He is apparently injured and bleeding. After he passes out, Barbara tries to comfort him, learning he must be the one who knocked over a liquor store on the news, but she thinks he is dying. He begs her not to take him to the hospital, but also not to let him die alone. Soon, another man comes into the room. It apparently is Death, come for the robber, Trent. Barbara is excited and talks excessively about seeing him before and knowing him so well. Then she begs Death to take her instead of Trent. She explains how she knows the beauty of death and goes on incessantly, poetically about him. Death denies her saying that he cannot take life where there is none. She embraces him while others run from him. So, Death takes the robber and leaves in an instant.

After the police come and the situation with the robber is over, Barbara decides to await Death once again. He comes and tries to comfort her. She tries to explain why she embraces him, that he took all of those she loved, so she became jealous and her love transferred to him. It's just the way of the universe, he claims. She says yes, but it's something else. They were out of pain, sadness, and loss. In the end, Death is all anyone has. After her husband died, she considered suicide. Death tells her ultimately there are always possibilities. He offers his hand and he takes her where she is "most needed". They appear in a hospital, where Barbara, now dressed in black, comes to a man who is dying, offers him comfort...and takes him. Death commends her on doing so well...

Themes

This episode is a reversal, but similar to the original series episode Nothing in the Dark, starring Robert Redford and Gladys Cooper, where an old woman is convinced she knows "Mr. Death" when she sees him and can stay alive as long as she keeps everyone out of her tiny apartment and never goes out.