The Twilight Zone Season 1: Episode 6 - Escape Clause

Enter Mr. Walter Bedeker, a selfish man whose wasted his life in bed complaining about illnesses and diseases that are entirely in his mind.  A man who will gingerly sell his soul to the Devil for the simple peace of mind that he'll live forever, then quickly discovers that immortality is quite a bore.  Quite a bore when you're Walter Bedeker, a man who really didn't have much of a soul to begin with.  A man who quickly learns that his selfish and arrogant attitude will only get him a one way ticket... into the Twilight Zone.

Story - 7/10 - This is typical story of a no win deal with the Devil.  Hypochondriac Walter Bedeker sells his soul for the opportunity to live forever and all he does with it is attempt to cheat companies out of insurance money by intentionally getting into accidents.  But there's no thrill in the possibility of death when you know you can't die, and Walter quickly becomes bored.  It's an ironic story of a man who spent most of his life worrying about death, now bored with life since he no longer has to worry about it.  Ultimately what Walter believed to be a gift turns out to be a curse as he ends up in prison for life, when one of his "suicide" attempts goes a rye.

Characters - 6/10 - Walter Bedeker is quite the annoying character, as he wastes away his immortality searching for cheap thrills.  But of course the Devil only offers immortality to those he knows will quickly bore of it.  If you were given immortality what would you do with it?  So many things I could think of doing, but jumping in front of trains and buses for some sort of thrill simply isn't one of them!

Classic value - 5.5/10 - Really nothing classic about this episode, not only the fact that "deals with the Devil" is simply nothing new, especially to the series.  Still the episode does a good job of showing the complete arrogance of an individual whose wasted his life away.

Moral of the Story - 8.5 - Probably the best aspect of Escape Clause is the moral.  It's a combination of "be careful what you wish for" and "live life to the fullest."  In the beginning of the episode Walter Bedeker is a good example of someone not living life to it's full potential, he chooses to be shut-in when there is absolutely nothing wrong with him.  It's a single example of how we can let the worries ruin our life.  Then when Walter's worries are lifted he's essentially got nothing left in life because they had consumed it.  Overall this episode is a good example of why life is so short, if given immortality eventually everyone would become like Walter, completely bored with life.

6.8/10