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Changed line(s) 8 (click to see context) from:
* BittersweetEnding: Edgar is finally relieved of keeping his contraption in shape, but Sinclair is hastily made his replacement, and he fails to find a tambourine to add to the thing and stopping the next disaster.
to:
* BittersweetEnding: Edgar is finally relieved of keeping his contraption in shape, but Sinclair is hastily made his replacement, and he fails to find a tambourine to add to the thing and stopping so it can stop the next disaster.
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
* CassandraTruth: Dr. Sinclair doesn't believe Edgar's claims that the contraption he looks after is vital to keeping the world in balance. Sinclair instead comes to the conclusion that Edgar is suffering from delusions of grandeur, wanting to find a sense of purpose after he retired. However, Dr. Sinclair realizes that Edgar ''was'' telling the truth when he learns that the tiny South Pacific island of Tatoa was destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 P.M. local time, exactly as Edgar said would happen after the contraption was disturbed. Sinclair rushes to Edgar's apartment to stop Mrs. Milligan from destroying it.
to:
* CassandraTruth: Dr. Sinclair doesn't believe Edgar's claims that the contraption he looks after is vital to keeping the world in balance. Sinclair instead comes to the conclusion that Edgar is suffering from delusions of grandeur, wanting to find a sense of purpose after he retired.his retirement. However, Dr. Sinclair realizes that Edgar ''was'' telling the truth when he learns that the tiny South Pacific island of Tatoa was destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 P.M. local time, exactly as Edgar said would happen after the contraption was disturbed. Sinclair rushes to Edgar's apartment to stop Mrs. Milligan from destroying it.
Changed line(s) 13 (click to see context) from:
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When Sinclair's men accidentally knock a paperclip chain off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
to:
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary necessary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When Sinclair's men accidentally knock a paperclip chain off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* HereWeGoAgain: The end of the episode has Sinclair being forced to inherit Edgar's responsibility of maintaining the contraption and keeping the world safe from catastrophes. The voice that spoke to Edgar transfers to his mind, and it tells him that the contraption needs a tambourine added to it immedieately. He frantically searches the neighborhood for a tambourine to add to the device, only for his watch alarm to go off, lamenting that he was too late.
to:
* HereWeGoAgain: The end of the episode has Sinclair being forced to inherit Edgar's responsibility of maintaining the contraption and keeping the world safe from catastrophes. The voice that spoke to Edgar transfers to his mind, and it tells him that the contraption needs a tambourine added to it immedieately. immediately. He frantically searches the neighborhood for a tambourine to add to the device, only for the alarm on his watch alarm to go off, lamenting that he was too late.
Changed line(s) 20 (click to see context) from:
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a chain of paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
to:
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately.immediately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a chain of paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
Changed line(s) 24,25 (click to see context) from:
* RiddleForTheAges: How exactly is the contraption Edgar built responsible for keeping the world in order? All Edgar says is that the voice deems it nessecary because the world would otherwise "go poof".
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, old shoes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a paperclip chain off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, old shoes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a paperclip chain off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
to:
* RiddleForTheAges: How exactly is the contraption Edgar built responsible for keeping the world in order? All Edgar says is that the voice deems it nessecary necessary because the world would otherwise "go poof".
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's anabsolutuely absolutely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, old shoes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a paperclip chain off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
-> "If in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
to:
-> "If "If, in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
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Changed line(s) 6 (click to see context) from:
to:
----
Added DiffLines:
* RealityWarper: In an interesting take on this trope, Edgar explains that his machine represents reality itself, and if he isn't around to maintain it via instructions from a voice only he can hear, things will go "poof". Sinclair scoffs, but Witherspoon is ultimately proven to be right: moving a few paper clips is enough to wipe out an entire Pacific island nation. Witherspoon is eventually relieved of his reality-maintaining duties -- because Sinclair's been tapped for the job. The episode ends with the former psychiatrist being told to attach a tambourine to the device immediately.
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Changed line(s) 12 (click to see context) from:
* ContrivedCoincedence: Sinclair's radio broadcasts the disasters that Edgar stops or fails to stop throughout the episode, such as the Santa Barbara earthquake and Tatoa being wiped out by a tidal wave.
to:
* ContrivedCoincedence: ContrivedCoincidence: Sinclair's radio broadcasts the disasters that Edgar stops or fails to stop throughout the episode, such as the Santa Barbara earthquake and Tatoa being wiped out by a tidal wave.
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* {{Bookends}}: The beginning and end of the episode have Sinclair's watch alarm going off.
Changed line(s) 11 (click to see context) from:
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When Sinclair accidentally knocks a few paperclips off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
to:
* ContrivedCoincedence: Sinclair's radio broadcasts the disasters that Edgar stops or fails to stop throughout the episode, such as the Santa Barbara earthquake and Tatoa being wiped out by a tidal wave.
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. WhenSinclair Sinclair's men accidentally knocks knock a few paperclips paperclip chain off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Edgar is introduced ignoring Dr. Sinclair's attempts to make conversation with him, too busy looking for a small, blonde doll's head so he can keep an earthquake from striking Santa Barbara and plunging the town into the sea.
Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
* LighterAndSofter: Despite its apocalyptic subject matter, the episode is largely light-hearted, with vaudevillian-styled musical cues and Edgar going about his tremendous responsibilities with a smile.
to:
* LighterAndSofter: Despite its apocalyptic subject matter, the episode is largely light-hearted, with vaudevillian-styled musical cues and Edgar going about maintaining his tremendous responsibilities ridiculous contraption with a smile.
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a few paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
to:
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a few chain of paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
* RaceAgainstTheClock: Under the voice's guidance, Edgar needs to find new parts to add to the contraption before a certain time to prevent disaster from plaguing the world.
Changed line(s) 20,21 (click to see context) from:
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a few paperclips off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
to:
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, old shoes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a few paperclips paperclip chain off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* StockSoundEffects: The contraption gives off all sorts of boings, whooshes, and chimes when the camera focuses on it.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, asa few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
* StockSoundEffects: The contraption gives off all sorts of boings, whooshes, and chimes when the camera focuses on it.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as
Changed line(s) 24 (click to see context) from:
-> "If, in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
to:
-> "If, "If in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
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Changed line(s) 21 (click to see context) from:
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
to:
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
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Added DiffLines:
!! The Curious Case of Edgar Witherspoon
-> "One old man in a private world of irrational urgencies. For Dr. Jeremy Sinclair, an all too common sight. But Edgar Witherspoon is a most ''uncommon'' old man, with a secret that reaches out to the four corners of the Earth, as the good doctor is about to discover."
Edgar Witherspoon (Creator/HarryMorgan), a former engineer, is an odd and eccentric old man who spends all of his time scavenging for random items. His niece Cynthia (Eve Crawford) and his landlady Mrs. Milligan (Barbara Chilcot) bring Edgar's case to Dr. Jeremy Sinclair (Creator/CedricSmith), a psychiatrist who works in a mental hospital, in the hopes that his behavior can be examined and corrected. When he is invited to meet Edgar, Dr. Sinclair discovers that his apartment houses a massive contraption made from random junk, which Edgar adds onto with every new item he finds and has been maintaining for the past 11 years. Edgar tells the doctor that a voice in his head tells him what parts of the contraption need adjusting and new items that are needed for it to prevent disasters from striking the world. Sinclair likely thinks that Edgar is trying to find a new purpose in his life, until he accidentally damages the contraption and causes a tsunami that wipes out a small island.
!! Tropes
* BittersweetEnding: Edgar is finally relieved of keeping his contraption in shape, but Sinclair is hastily made his replacement, and he fails to find a tambourine to add to the thing and stopping the next disaster.
* CassandraTruth: Dr. Sinclair doesn't believe Edgar's claims that the contraption he looks after is vital to keeping the world in balance. Sinclair instead comes to the conclusion that Edgar is suffering from delusions of grandeur, wanting to find a sense of purpose after he retired. However, Dr. Sinclair realizes that Edgar ''was'' telling the truth when he learns that the tiny South Pacific island of Tatoa was destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 P.M. local time, exactly as Edgar said would happen after the contraption was disturbed. Sinclair rushes to Edgar's apartment to stop Mrs. Milligan from destroying it.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Edgar tells Sinclair that he hears voices. When the psychiatrist replies "Oh, you also hear voices?", Edgar assumes that Sinclair can hear them too.
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When Sinclair accidentally knocks a few paperclips off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Or in Edgar's words, "going poof". He claims that the contraption he maintains is vital to the world's survival, hence why he spends all his time trying to maintain it.
* HearingVoices: Edgar tells Dr. Sinclair that 11 years ago, he was feeding pigeons in the park one day, when he suddenly heard a strange voice that told him he was chosen keep the world in balance, building a contraption made of numerous odds and ends and keep it safe no matter what, or else the world would "go poof." He used to think the voice was God, but he thought otherwise because he figured God would have a deeper voice. Though the audience never hears the voice for themselves, Sinclair later begins hearing it when Edgar retires and makes Sinclair his replacement.
* HereWeGoAgain: The end of the episode has Sinclair being forced to inherit Edgar's responsibility of maintaining the contraption and keeping the world safe from catastrophes. The voice that spoke to Edgar transfers to his mind, and it tells him that the contraption needs a tambourine added to it immedieately. He frantically searches the neighborhood for a tambourine to add to the device, only for his watch alarm to go off, lamenting that he was too late.
* LighterAndSofter: Despite its apocalyptic subject matter, the episode is largely light-hearted, with vaudevillian-styled musical cues and Edgar going about his tremendous responsibilities with a smile.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The episode's title is a reference to ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' by Creator/FScottFitzgerald.
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a few paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
* PassingTheTorch: Edgar tells Dr. Sinclair that the voice in his head told him he can retire to Miami. When Edgar leaves his apartment, the voice transfers to Sinclair, who is forced to assume Edgar's duty of preventing disasters by maintaining the contraption Edgar built.
* RiddleForTheAges: How exactly is the contraption Edgar built responsible for keeping the world in order? All Edgar says is that the voice deems it nessecary because the world would otherwise "go poof".
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a few paperclips off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
* TheUnreveal: We never hear the voice Edgar and later Sinclair hear in their heads, so we can only speculate about what it sounds like, why it chooses them, and why it insists the contraption is essential for the world to survive.
-----
-> "If, in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
-> "One old man in a private world of irrational urgencies. For Dr. Jeremy Sinclair, an all too common sight. But Edgar Witherspoon is a most ''uncommon'' old man, with a secret that reaches out to the four corners of the Earth, as the good doctor is about to discover."
Edgar Witherspoon (Creator/HarryMorgan), a former engineer, is an odd and eccentric old man who spends all of his time scavenging for random items. His niece Cynthia (Eve Crawford) and his landlady Mrs. Milligan (Barbara Chilcot) bring Edgar's case to Dr. Jeremy Sinclair (Creator/CedricSmith), a psychiatrist who works in a mental hospital, in the hopes that his behavior can be examined and corrected. When he is invited to meet Edgar, Dr. Sinclair discovers that his apartment houses a massive contraption made from random junk, which Edgar adds onto with every new item he finds and has been maintaining for the past 11 years. Edgar tells the doctor that a voice in his head tells him what parts of the contraption need adjusting and new items that are needed for it to prevent disasters from striking the world. Sinclair likely thinks that Edgar is trying to find a new purpose in his life, until he accidentally damages the contraption and causes a tsunami that wipes out a small island.
!! Tropes
* BittersweetEnding: Edgar is finally relieved of keeping his contraption in shape, but Sinclair is hastily made his replacement, and he fails to find a tambourine to add to the thing and stopping the next disaster.
* CassandraTruth: Dr. Sinclair doesn't believe Edgar's claims that the contraption he looks after is vital to keeping the world in balance. Sinclair instead comes to the conclusion that Edgar is suffering from delusions of grandeur, wanting to find a sense of purpose after he retired. However, Dr. Sinclair realizes that Edgar ''was'' telling the truth when he learns that the tiny South Pacific island of Tatoa was destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 P.M. local time, exactly as Edgar said would happen after the contraption was disturbed. Sinclair rushes to Edgar's apartment to stop Mrs. Milligan from destroying it.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Edgar tells Sinclair that he hears voices. When the psychiatrist replies "Oh, you also hear voices?", Edgar assumes that Sinclair can hear them too.
* CosmicKeystone: Edgar's contraption, which the voice in his head says is nessecary for keeping the world from being wracked with disasters. Under the voice's direction, Edgar regularly roots through the garbage to find things to add to it. When Sinclair accidentally knocks a few paperclips off of it, a South Pacific island is destroyed by a tsunami, proving that Edgar was right about its importance.
* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Or in Edgar's words, "going poof". He claims that the contraption he maintains is vital to the world's survival, hence why he spends all his time trying to maintain it.
* HearingVoices: Edgar tells Dr. Sinclair that 11 years ago, he was feeding pigeons in the park one day, when he suddenly heard a strange voice that told him he was chosen keep the world in balance, building a contraption made of numerous odds and ends and keep it safe no matter what, or else the world would "go poof." He used to think the voice was God, but he thought otherwise because he figured God would have a deeper voice. Though the audience never hears the voice for themselves, Sinclair later begins hearing it when Edgar retires and makes Sinclair his replacement.
* HereWeGoAgain: The end of the episode has Sinclair being forced to inherit Edgar's responsibility of maintaining the contraption and keeping the world safe from catastrophes. The voice that spoke to Edgar transfers to his mind, and it tells him that the contraption needs a tambourine added to it immedieately. He frantically searches the neighborhood for a tambourine to add to the device, only for his watch alarm to go off, lamenting that he was too late.
* LighterAndSofter: Despite its apocalyptic subject matter, the episode is largely light-hearted, with vaudevillian-styled musical cues and Edgar going about his tremendous responsibilities with a smile.
* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The episode's title is a reference to ''Film/TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' by Creator/FScottFitzgerald.
* NothingIsScarier: At the end of the episode, Sinclair is made the new keeper of the contraption, and the voice that spoke in Edgar's head tells him to find a tambourine and add it to the device immedieately. He unfortunately fails, as his watch alarm goes off as he's searching. Earlier in the episode, an entire island was wiped out by a tidal wave just because a few paperclips got knocked off the contraption. If something that intense arose from only a few paperclips, ''what would a missing tambourine do?''
* PassingTheTorch: Edgar tells Dr. Sinclair that the voice in his head told him he can retire to Miami. When Edgar leaves his apartment, the voice transfers to Sinclair, who is forced to assume Edgar's duty of preventing disasters by maintaining the contraption Edgar built.
* RiddleForTheAges: How exactly is the contraption Edgar built responsible for keeping the world in order? All Edgar says is that the voice deems it nessecary because the world would otherwise "go poof".
* RubeGoldbergDevice: The contraption Edgar has been building and maintaining for 11 years. It's an absolutuely ridiculous-looking thing big enough to fill his entire apartment, and it's built from all sorts of odds and ends like dolls' heads, bicycle spokes, baseball cards, paperclips, and broken instruments. As a result, Edgar regularly rummages through his neighbors' trash cans and the local garbage dumps to find things that he desperately needs to add to it. When he meets with Sinclair, Edgar explains that a strange voice started talking to him in his head one day, and it told him that the contraption was necessary in order to keep the world from ending. Sinclair originally doesn't believe Edgar, thinking he's suffering from a psychosis, but he eventually realizes that he was telling the truth when Tatoa, a tiny island in the South Pacific, is destroyed by a tidal wave at 3:17 PM after he accidentally knocks a few paperclips off the contraption, exactly as Edgar said it would be.
* SuddenDownerEnding: After he's made Edgar's replacement, Sinclair hears the voice Edgar was hearing, which tells him to find a tambourine to the contraption right away. As he frantically searches for said tambourine, the alarm on his watch goes off, meaning that he was too late. One can only wonder what will come about from that missing tambourine, as a few paperclips being knocked off the contraption wiped out an entire island.
* TheUnreveal: We never hear the voice Edgar and later Sinclair hear in their heads, so we can only speculate about what it sounds like, why it chooses them, and why it insists the contraption is essential for the world to survive.
-----
-> "If, in the next few months, you notice that there has been a spate of catastrophes, or things are just not going right, remember that Edgar Witherspoon's replacement is learning how to make some precise adjustments. Don't worry, his education won't last long, and then you might give thanks to a physician whose practice extends to the well-being of the entire planet. Dr. Jeremy Sinclair offers a unique form of preventive medicine found only -- in the Twilight Zone."
