Kentucky Rye

Bob Spindler (DeMunn) is celebrating the closing of a big deal with co-workers in a bar after work and consumes too much alcohol to drive. The reactions of Spindler's wife (on the phone) and his co-workers indicate that this is not a one-off occurrence. Spindler tells his boss he will get a cab but then drives himself while still inebriated. While adjusting the radio and driving in the wrong lane, a car approaches from the other direction and they both veer off the road. Spindler hits some trees and blacks out. When he awakens he is outside an old bar called Kentucky Rye, and with a bleeding head--he enters the bar.

The Kentucky Rye is alight with laughter, camaraderie, and wonderful drinks. Spindler finds his head is no longer bleeding—with no injury and no blood on the rag—and he instantly fits into the bar's intoxicating atmosphere. As he cajoles, Spindler notices a somber-faced man and a gloomy-faced woman in the bar, but doesn't worry about it as he consumes beer after beer.

Finally, the bartender makes him a curious offer: Spindler can buy Kentucky Rye for $1,600 but only if he does so that night. Spindler protests at first but after the somber-faced man gives him the $100 he lacks, he happily agrees and seizes the keys from the bartender. In an instant, the whole tavern goes quiet and they stare at him silently, as he chortles and brags that he owns the bar. Spindler tries to lighten the mood but the silent fury is overpowering and he passes out on the pool table.

When Spindler awakens, he is still in the bar—but it is now dark, desolate, and abandoned. Through the glass door, he observes what has truly happened. The somber-faced man was the man he ran off the road and killed. The gloomy woman, meanwhile, is the man's widow. When Spindler tries to get out he finds the doors locked and through a window he sees his own dead body being loaded into an ambulance. Screaming to be let out, Spindler turns around and sees the image of the bartender in the mirror. The bartender laughs and cries out: "It's yours. It's all yours!" Spindler is left alone with nothing but empty bottles to comfort him for eternity.

Bob Spindler, new owner and sole customer of the Kentucky Rye, a hell of a tavern. Where last call goes on forever...in the Twilight Zone.

This episode had no opening narration. It was the third of three stories aired in the third episode of the first season, after "Healer" and "Children's Zoo".

This episode shares similar themes on alcoholism and the human cost of addiction that are woven throughout the Twilight Zone, including in a later season 3 episode "The Hellgramite Method".

• "Kentucky Rye" at IMDb
• "Kentucky Rye" at TV.com