History Recap / TheTwilightZoneS1E8TimeEnoughAtLast

* JerkassHasAPoint: While the bank president is rather harsh about Henry's fondness for reading, he does have a legitimate complaint about an employee's on-the-clock activities interfering with job performance, such as a bank teller who miscounts money and annoys customers because he has a book in his lap that commands more of his attention than the work he's being paid for. Though he ''does'' mention that he only reads at work so much because his wife refuses to let him read literally ''anything''. Not even for labels!

* CruelTwistEnding[=/=]DownerEnding: Bemis manages to apparently become the last man on Earth, and finds he finally has time to read all the books he wants — until he breaks his glasses. He isn't mean-spirited -- he is a timid man who is ridiculed by his wife and boss for reading books, and who only survives a nuclear holocaust because he locked himself in a bank vault as the only way he could get some peace. The world just screws him over to be mean.
** KarmicTwistEnding: ''On the other hand'', Bemis was not a particularly nice or empathetic man. See JerkassHasAPoint below.

* Expy: Many people have compared Bemis with Jack Klugman character "Jesse Cardiff" from the episode [[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E70AGameOfPool A Game Of Pool]] where they share similarities :
** Both characters are really passionate about their hobbies (Books for Bemis , Pool for Cardiff)

** Both have sympathetic traits (Bemis is a ShrinkingViolet and a NiceGuy , Cardiff has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex and has SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining)

* InformedFlaw: [[WordOfGod Rod Sterling Himself]] said that the CruelTwistEnding was punishing Bemis supposed anti-social behavior. Aside from his wife and boss, Bemis a milquetoast man who is just too caught up in his bibliophilia/bibliomania.
* InnocentlyInsensitive: Bemis' obsession with reading means he neglects the people around him, including a customer. So its a small wonder his boss and wife are exasperated with him.
* JerkassHasAPoint: While the bank president is rather harsh about Henry's fondness for reading, he does have a legitimate complaint about an employee's on-the-clock activities interfering with job performance, such as a bank teller who miscounts money and annoys customers because he has a book in his lap that commands more of his attention than the work he's being paid for.
** Though he ''does'' mention that he only reads at work so much because his wife refuses to let him read literally ''anything''. Not even for labels!

** Both get what they want at the end (Being alone to read for Bemis, Being the best pool player for Cardiff) but suffer harsh consequences (Bemis is unable to get new glasses to read , Cardiff has to spent his entire [[spoiler:afterlife defending his title and nothing else]])

** Both have sympathetic traits (Bemis is a ShrinkingViolet and a NiceGuy , Cardiff has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex and has SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining)

* InformedFlaw: [[WordOfGod Rod Sterling Himself]] that the CruelTwistEnding was punishing Bemis supposed anti-social behavior. Aside from his wife and boss, Bemis a milquetoast man who is just too caught up in his bibliophilia/bibliomania.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: After TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, Bemis now has time enough to indulge in his favorite activity...and time enough to mourn the world he'd actively been shutting out until it was too late.

* DoubleMeaningTitle: After TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, Bemis now has time enough to indulge in his favorite activity. After his glasses break, he has time enough to mourn the world he'd actively been shutting out until it was too late.

* YankTheDogsChain: Just when it looks like Henry Bemis is going to get a happy ending with more books than he could ever read and absolutely nothing to stop him from reading, his glasses get broken, which means he won't be able to read any of them.

* HopeSpot: At one point, Bemis finds a working car, but just as he tries to drive it out, the engine dies completely.

* Foreshadowing: When Helen tears the pages from Henry's poetry book and he bends down to pick them up, his glasses slip off, onto the floor.

* TwilightZoneTwist: Of course. Just as he finds himself with all the time in the world to read, he breaks his glasses, which makes reading impossible.

* AssholeVictim: The way Helen treats her own husband, you can't feel sorry for her.

* FiveSecondForeshadow: Bemis reads the headline about the H bomb and five seconds later an atomic bomb destroys the city.