Angie

            On Thursday it rained pretty much all day so I didn’t take a bike ride. I spent most of the day trying to catch up on my journal.

            That night I watched an Alfred Hitchcock Hour teleplay that begins with a man named Robert on a ledge with the intention of committing suicide. He hesitates long enough though for the fire department to arrive with a life net and so when he does jump, they catch him. Later, while sitting at home, depressed, a fancy salesman enters his home uninvited to tell him about a resort called the Hotel Thanatos where he can enjoy a pleasant holiday with the finest amenities until he is ready to be peacefully put to death.

            Thanatos is on a vast property and it is guarded by cowboys in black who ride alongside Robert’s car as he arrives. All of the staff wears variations of western attire as their uniforms, including the hotel director, Borchter. As Borchter shows him around, Robert spies a beautiful woman named Ariane (played by Angie Dickinson) who is painting a landscape in the garden. That night Robert has dinner with Ariane and they fall for each other, which suddenly gives them a reason to live. But no one gets to change their mind and leave Thanatos and the dark riders make sure of it. It turns out that Ariane has been there for six months and guests can extend their stay by performing services. Her service has been to romance men until they are at peace and ready to die but things are different for her with Robert. Robert has no extension on his stay and Borchter needs the room. The death is supposed to come after receiving a sedative and then going to sleep in one’s room where gas is pumped in through the vents. But Robert doesn’t swallow his sedative and he tapes up the vents. Robert decides to stage an escape. He asks Ariane to gather five others that have been there almost as long as her, proving they actually want to live. His plan is to go on horseback to the hills and have a barbecue on the edge of the property. When the riders approach they will kill them and then escape. He asks Borchter to give them a pass to the hills for the barbecue and Borchter thinks it’s a great idea. But when the group gets there Robert is surprised that none of them wants to escape. Robert is ready to do it with just Ariane but as soon as he says, “Let’s go!” a noose is thrown around his neck by a rider, with the other end tossed over a tree limb above him. Within seconds Robert is hanging dead. Borchter fulfilled his contract as Robert was killed at the moment he felt most alive.