• Source: Escape Clause

"Escape Clause" is episode six of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is "the story of a strange contract between a mortal man and his most satanic majesty"; it originally aired on November 6, 1959, on CBS.




Opening narration


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 and self-absorbed hypochondriac, is convinced his wife Ethel and his doctor (who insists Bedeker is in good health) are conspiring to kill him by purposely making him sick. After they leave, a large rotund man calling himself Cadwallader appears in Bedeker's room, offering him immortality and a near-total halt to his physical aging. Bedeker guesses Cadwallader's true identity (the Devil) but is unafraid. He haggles with Cadwallader, who admits he wants Bedeker's soul and accurately points out the other will never miss it or notice when it's gone.
Cadwallader inserts an escape clause allowing Bedeker to summon him at any time if he chooses to die. Bedeker is suspicious but after Cadwallader leaves, he tests his new power by placing his hands on a hot radiator and finding them uninjured, then throws all his medicines out of a window, to Ethel's surprise.
Bedeker uses his newfound invulnerability to commit insurance fraud, claiming false settlements, and garnering cheap thrills by hurling himself into life-threatening accidents. After doing so 14 times, he concludes that the absence of risk and fear has made his life a dreadful bore. He purposely mixes a concoction of poisonous household liquids and drinks it, shocking Ethel, but it has no effect on him at all. Bedeker explains his situation to Ethel, admonishing her that if she had any imagination, she would find some way for him to experience some excitement. Proclaiming he is going to jump down the lightwell of their apartment building, Ethel futilely tries to stop him, tragically falling to her own demise.
Bedeker calmly calls the police, confessing to murdering Ethel. He is arrested and brought to trial. He hopes to experience the electric chair. However, due to his lawyer's defense strategy, he is instead sentenced to life in prison without parole. Cadwallader appears in Bedeker's jail 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


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.




Preview for next week's story


One of next week's stars is alongside me now. She'll appear in a most unusual tale called "The Lonely". It's a story that takes place on a - (female voice) an asteroid, and it's a most intriguing premise. (Serling) Sounds it. Next week on The Twilight Zone, Jack Warden, John Dehner, and Jean Marsh appear in a bizarre tale of a man and a - a woman? I don't understand it either. Thank you and good night.




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" 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 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






External links


"Escape Clause" at IMDb
• Source: Escape clause

An escape clause is any clause, term, or condition in a contract that allows a party to that contract to avoid having to perform the contract.
If an agreement was drawn up for the sale of a house, for example, the purchaser could include some kind of escape clause in the contract, which will allow him to "escape" from the contract without being liable for breach of contract.




Real estate escape clauses


A "Subject to a builder's inspection to purchaser's full satisfaction" clause is one example of an escape clause. This clause effectively allows the purchaser to "escape" from the contract if an inspection reveals any irregularities or defects.
Another example is the "Subject to 30-day due diligence" clause, which effectively gives the purchaser a 30-day buffer period to inspect any and all aspects of the property before having to commit to the purchase.
A 72-hour clause is an example of a seller's escape clause that may appear in real estate contracts.
The finance contingency clause makes the purchase offer contingent upon either the buyer or the property or both qualifying for the loan or mortgage the buyer will need.




Escape clause abuse


Escape clauses, although fulfilling a real and sincere purpose in contracts of all kinds, have the potential of being abused.
For example, the "Subject to a surveyor's inspection to purchaser's full satisfaction" clause mentioned above can be abused if the buyer contracts a surveyor and instructs then to find some kind of fault in the property. The buyer, in other words, takes advantage of the escape clause to cancel the agreement to buy because he has buyer remorse, rather than because there is something wrong with the property.




Escape clause validity


Escape clauses that require a purchaser or an expert representing the purchaser to be satisfied with the goods or services being purchased, have been challenged in lawsuits as invalid for lack of consideration. The argument is that a party can always escape such a contract by merely claiming to be dissatisfied. Therefore, there is no real requirement for that party to perform their obligations under the contract (to pay for the goods or services), and an agreement that only requires performance by one party is an illusory promise, void as a contract. Instead, such an agreement constitutes a gift from the performing party to the non-performing party.
Courts have generally held, however, that an escape clause containing a requirement of satisfaction nevertheless creates an enforceable contract, because a court could determine whether a claimed dissatisfaction was or was not reasonable, and therefore feigned to avoid the contract.




International trade institutions


International trade agreements tend to include at least one form of escape clause. Common escape clauses include countervailing duty penalties, antidumping statutes, national security exceptions, infant industry exceptions, balance of payment exceptions, and safeguard clauses. Escape clauses tend to be attractive in the drafting of trade treaties because they give political leaders flexibility to implement trade protection if there is domestic pressure to do so.




See also


Break clause
Force majeure




References

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
• Madeline Carroll
• Liliana Mumy
• Hallie D'Amore
• Spencer Breslin
• Aktor Pendukung Terburuk (Razzie)
• Babel (film)
• Vesikel ekstraseluler
• Tim Allen
• Alan Arkin
• Escape Clause
• The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause
• Escape clause
• Escape Clause (disambiguation)
• The Santa Clause (franchise)
• Escape Clause (film)
• The Santa Clause 2
• The Santa Clauses
• The Santa Clause
• List of highest-grossing Christmas films