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penpusherAs I indicated previously, Rod Serling wasn't interested in just doing a standard dramatic anthology series. He wanted "The Twilight Zone" to explore many different sides of the human condition, and sometimes that's best handled with farce.
***SPOILERS ABOUT THIS EPISODE MAY BE REVEALED***
The distinguished actor from stage and both screens, David Wayne, is Walter Bedeker, a hypochondriac that thinks every sniffle is a sign of death and that his wife Ethel (Virginia Christine, most remembered for her series of Folger's Coffee commercials as Mrs. Olson) is secretly plotting his demise.
Suddenly appearing in Bedeker's room is a man calling himself Mr. Cadwallader (long time character actor Thomas Gomez) He's offering immorality, health, indestructibility and to not appear to age for however many hundreds of years were ahead. Of course, Cadwallader is The Devil and wants Bedeker's soul to complete the contract.
Devil may care attitude: Cadwallader (Gomez, right) Embraces the long, long term plans of Bedeker (Wayne)
Cadwallader informs Bedeker of an "escape clause." In the event Bedeker wants his life to end, he can just say so and he will die. Of course, Bedeker agrees to the terms and signs his name to the document. Moments later, he grips a red hot radiator with both hands and feels no pain. He announces to his wife that he's a brand new Walter Bedeker!
Then he starts doing things to get insurance money, such as jumping in front of subway trains and getting into bus accidents. As an aside, our insurance men are two recognizable faces: The first was Dick Wilson, most remembered for his series of Charmin Bathroom Tissue commercials as Mr. Whipple. The second was Joe Flynn, who played Captain Binghamton throughout the run of the World War II seafaring sitcom, "McHale's Navy."
Bedeker has already become bored. He mixes a bunch of household chemicals together and drinks the poison, but it simply tasted like weak lemonade. He announces to Ethel that he will go to the roof and throw himself off. She follows him upstairs, intending to stop him, but wound up falling off, herself.
Completely nonplussed over the death of his spouse, Bedeker calls the police and tells them he just murdered his wife. He's looking forward to experiencing the electric chair.
But it was the judge in the court trial that provided the real shock. The sentence was life imprisonment with no hope of parole.
Locked in a holding cell and awaiting transfer to the penitentiary in the morning, Cadwallader returns to ask if Bedeker wants to make use of the "escape clause." He does, he has a heart attack and drops dead in the cell.
There are many questions. How did a nebbish like Walter suddenly become an adrenaline junkie? If he was getting money from insurance companies, why couldn't he use that to make life more interesting? Being indestructible, he could have joined the police force or military or fire department and provided public service. And even with that sentence, he could have just run. Bullets fired by police trying to recapture him wouldn't have harmed him. But that's all part of the farce.
I give "Escape Clause" a 7 out of 10.
***SPOILERS ABOUT THIS EPISODE MAY BE REVEALED***
The distinguished actor from stage and both screens, David Wayne, is Walter Bedeker, a hypochondriac that thinks every sniffle is a sign of death and that his wife Ethel (Virginia Christine, most remembered for her series of Folger's Coffee commercials as Mrs. Olson) is secretly plotting his demise.
Suddenly appearing in Bedeker's room is a man calling himself Mr. Cadwallader (long time character actor Thomas Gomez) He's offering immorality, health, indestructibility and to not appear to age for however many hundreds of years were ahead. Of course, Cadwallader is The Devil and wants Bedeker's soul to complete the contract.
Devil may care attitude: Cadwallader (Gomez, right) Embraces the long, long term plans of Bedeker (Wayne)
Cadwallader informs Bedeker of an "escape clause." In the event Bedeker wants his life to end, he can just say so and he will die. Of course, Bedeker agrees to the terms and signs his name to the document. Moments later, he grips a red hot radiator with both hands and feels no pain. He announces to his wife that he's a brand new Walter Bedeker!
Then he starts doing things to get insurance money, such as jumping in front of subway trains and getting into bus accidents. As an aside, our insurance men are two recognizable faces: The first was Dick Wilson, most remembered for his series of Charmin Bathroom Tissue commercials as Mr. Whipple. The second was Joe Flynn, who played Captain Binghamton throughout the run of the World War II seafaring sitcom, "McHale's Navy."
Bedeker has already become bored. He mixes a bunch of household chemicals together and drinks the poison, but it simply tasted like weak lemonade. He announces to Ethel that he will go to the roof and throw himself off. She follows him upstairs, intending to stop him, but wound up falling off, herself.
Completely nonplussed over the death of his spouse, Bedeker calls the police and tells them he just murdered his wife. He's looking forward to experiencing the electric chair.
But it was the judge in the court trial that provided the real shock. The sentence was life imprisonment with no hope of parole.
Locked in a holding cell and awaiting transfer to the penitentiary in the morning, Cadwallader returns to ask if Bedeker wants to make use of the "escape clause." He does, he has a heart attack and drops dead in the cell.
There are many questions. How did a nebbish like Walter suddenly become an adrenaline junkie? If he was getting money from insurance companies, why couldn't he use that to make life more interesting? Being indestructible, he could have joined the police force or military or fire department and provided public service. And even with that sentence, he could have just run. Bullets fired by police trying to recapture him wouldn't have harmed him. But that's all part of the farce.
I give "Escape Clause" a 7 out of 10.