episode #14, segment 3: Misfortune Cookie

#14c: THE MISFORTUNE COOKIE written by Rockne S. O'Bannon; Directed by Allan Arkush
This is another dark comedy where-in the main character gets a nasty comeuppance, because he's, well, nasty. Elliott Gould, in a no-holds-barred slimy interpretation, plays a restaurant critic. He writes up the critiques in the city paper. Only, he's every restaurant's nightmare version of such a critic, having no scruples whatsoever.
Of course, this is another parable; it's hard to believe Gould's character could have gotten away with the stuff he pulls for very long, but the implication is he's been at this for his entire 'career' - writing bogus reviews, not bothering to even taste the food sometimes - or did he just start this phase of his work recently? No matter - he picks the wrong tiny Chinese restaurant to victimize, one of those tucked away in a back alley of the city, with great food. He writes a shabby review, but finds out that their fortune cookies really do foretell the future.

He returns for more, promising to 'right' the wrong he has done the restaurant. Only, a couple of fortunes later, he gets his last one: 'You're Going to Die' - Gould's outrage is priceless. I remember when I first watched this back when it aired; I got a kick out of this scene. Then Gould

Spoiler:

The twist was purposefully wicked and mean. BoG's Score: 7 out of 10