The Waiting Room - Recap

After riding past a hanged figure in the dark night, gunslinger Sam Dichter goes into a local saloon and orders a drink. He then comes across some poker players who, to his surprise, already know Dichter and his feared reputation.

At the stroke of 9 p.m., one of the men, Charlie McKinley, rises to leave. Dichter finally recognizes McKinley as an old friend who was rumored to have had his brains blown out in Abilene. McKinley eventually leaves and soon after everyone present hears a gunshot. Dichter wants to see what happened but another of the poker players, Soames, a doctor in his former life, tells an incredulous Dichter that McKinley just had his brains blown out. Also, Soames asks Dichter more than once if he understands why he is there with them. Dichter has no idea what Soames is talking about, although the rest of the men understand completely.



The remaining poker players then offer Dichter a seat at their table, and he joins the game. The loudmouth sitting next to Dichter is Joe Bristol. Dichter knows something is very wrong when he recalls actually seeing Bristol killed in a duel, after someone had called him out. Bristol remarks that Dichter never had a quick mind, which prompts Dichter to challenge Bristol to a duel, dead or not. Right then, the clock strikes 10 p.m., and a voice calls to Bristol from outside. Bristol leaves the saloon and shots ring out immediately.



Dichter is further unnerved when he recognizes the next man, Abe Bennett. Dichter remembers Bennett as a former bank robber who met his end when he was shot to death inside of a church after he had robbed a bank. When the clock strikes 11 p.m., Bennett leaves, followed by the sounds of gunfire and a ringing church bell.

Soames is the only man left with Dichter at the poker table. The clock strikes midnight. Soames tells Dichter that he was once a surgeon who patched up wounded gunslingers on a regular basis. Soames further explains that he eventually realized that every gunfighter that he had saved went on to kill more victims. The realization of this ultimately caused Soames to turn his gun on himself and commit suicide. Before leaving the saloon, Soames tells Dichter the point he had been missing the whole time: the men in the saloon were cursed with eternal doom when they made the lifetime decision to become gunfighters, and Dichter is no different. Soames then leaves and another gunshot rings out.



Stunned, Dichter asks the bartender for the name of the town he's in. The bartender explains that it is merely a place where the condemned gunslingers wait to relive their respective violent deaths for eternity. The bartender remarks to Dichter that some call this place Hell.



The clock strikes 1 a.m. and Dichter finally leaves and gunshots echo in the night.

Later, Dichter rides up to the hanging figure he saw previously and pulls the hood off its head. Dichter screams in horror as he sees that the dead man's face... is his own! Dichter runs back into the saloon where he sees the bartender and the four poker players acting as if nothing happened, while the clock chimes endlessly.



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