Escape Clause
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Template:Television episode short description
| "Escape Clause" | |
|---|---|
| The Twilight Zone episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
| Directed by | Mitchell Leisen |
| Written by | Rod Serling |
| Production code | 173-3603 |
| Original air date | November 6, 1959 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
| |
"Escape Clause" is episode six of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It's "the story of a strange contract between a mortal man and his most satanic majesty"[1] and originally aired on November 6, 1959, on CBS.
Opening narration[edit]
| “ | You're about to meet a hypochondriac. Witness Mr. Walter Bedeker age forty-four. Afraid of the following: death, disease, other people, germs, draft, and everything else. He has one interest in life and that's Walter Bedeker. One preoccupation, the life and well-being of Walter Bedeker. One abiding concern about society, that if Walter Bedeker should die how will it survive without him? | ” |
Plot[edit]
Walter Bedeker, a paranoid hypochondriac, is convinced his wife and doctor (who insists Bedeker is in good health) are conspiring to kill him by purposely making him sick. After they leave, a rotund man named Cadwallader appears in Bedeker's room, offering him immortality and perpetual youth in exchange for his soul. Cadwallader inserts an escape clause allowing Bedeker to die at any time.
Bedeker uses his newfound invulnerability to collect insurance money and cheap thrills by hurling himself into life-threatening accidents. After fourteen accidents, he concludes that removing risk and fear from his life was making life a dreadful bore. He purposely mixes a concoction of poisonous household liquids but, after he drinks it – shocking his wife – he states that it tasted "like lemonade to me... weak lemonade". Bedeker explains his situation to his wife, telling her that if she had any imagination, she would find some way for him to experience some excitement. He says he is going to jump off the roof of their apartment building; while trying to stop him, his wife accidentally falls off the edge herself. Unfazed by his wife's death, Bedeker phones the authorities and tells them he killed his wife, hoping to experience the electric chair.
However, due to his lawyer's defense strategy, he is instead sentenced to life in prison without parole. Cadwallader visits Bedeker in his holding cell to remind him of the escape clause. Realizing he will face eternity in prison if he does not use it, Bedeker nods and immediately suffers a fatal heart attack. The guard discovers his lifeless body and sighs, "Poor devil..."
Closing narration[edit]
| “ | There's a saying, "Every man is put on Earth condemned to die, time and method of execution unknown." Perhaps this is as it should be. Case in point: Walter Bedeker, lately deceased. A little man with such a yen to live. Beaten by the devil, by his own boredom, and by the scheme of things in this, the Twilight Zone. | ” |
Production[edit]
"Escape Clause" was one of the three episodes-in-production mentioned by Rod Serling in his 1959 promotional film pitching the series to potential sponsors, the others being "The Lonely" and "Mr. Denton on Doomsday" (referred to as "Death, Destry, and Mr. Dingle").
Impact[edit]
"Here was a little gem. Good work, Rod Serling. This little piece about a hypochondriac who gets tangled up with an obese, clerical devil ranked with the best that has ever been accomplished in half-hour filmed television." —Excerpt from the Daily Variety review.
Disney's Twilight Zone Tower of Terror has a reference to this episode located in the basement of the attraction. The elevators have a certificate of inspection plaque, signed by "Cadwallader", bearing the inspection number "10259". These numbers represent October 2, 1959, the date The Twilight Zone first aired.
Further reading[edit]
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1-59393-136-0
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9703310-9-0
References[edit]
- ↑ Serling, Rod. Promotional spot for "Escape Clause". Original airdate: 30 October 1959.
