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Closing narration

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{{Other uses}}
{{primary sources|date=December 2011}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series = [[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]
| image =
| caption =
| season = 1
| episode = 6
| airdate = {{Start date|1959|11|06}}
| production = 173-3603
| writer = [[Rod Serling]]
| director = [[Mitchell Leisen]]
| guests =
* [[David Wayne]] as Walter Bedeker
* [[Thomas Gomez]] as [[Satan|Mr. Cadwallader]]
* [[Virginia Christine]] as Ethel Bedeker
* [[Dick Wilson]] as insurance man #1 (Jack)
* [[Joe Flynn (US actor)|Joe Flynn]] as insurance man #2 (Steve)
*[[Wendell Holmes (actor)|Wendell Holmes]] as Bedeker's lawyer
* [[Raymond Bailey]] as Bedeker's doctor
| season_article = The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series, season 1)
| episode_list = List of The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes
| prev = [[Walking Distance]]
| next = [[The Lonely]]
}}

"'''Escape Clause'''" is episode six of the [[American television]] anthology series ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''. It's "the story of a strange contract between a mortal man and his most satanic majesty"<ref name="preview">[[Rod Serling|Serling, Rod]]. Promotional spot for "Escape Clause". Original airdate: 30 October 1959.</ref> and originally aired on November 6, 1959, on [[CBS]].

==Opening narration==
{{cquote| 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==
Walter Bedeker, a paranoid [[hypochondria]]c, 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 [[deal with the Devil|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 [[Myocardial Infarction|heart attack]]. The guard discovers his lifeless body and sighs, "Poor devil..."

==Closing narration==
{{cquote| 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==
"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 (The Twilight Zone)|The Lonely]]" and "[[Mr. Denton on Doomsday]]" (referred to as "Death, Destry, and Mr. Dingle").

==Impact==
"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 [[Variety (magazine)|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==
*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==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb episode|0734566}}

{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes}}

[[Category:1959 American television episodes]]
[[Category:The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series season 1) episodes]]
[[Category:Hypochondriasis in fiction]]
[[Category:The Devil in fiction]]
[[Category:Television episodes written by Rod Serling]]
[[Category:Television episodes about immortality]]
[[Category:Television episodes about death]]

Escape Clause - Revision history

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2600:8800:100:73:D1CB:546:6351:6CB4: /* Closing narration */