Posted on 12/25/2018 8:09:33 PM PST by vannrox
Me as well. I'm holding out for unlimited time travel in both directions.
Or perhaps a D&D player!
Twilight Zone, "Escape Clause"
Walter Bedecker, a mean-spirited, abusive hypochondriac is growing tired of his life, but doesn't wish to die. In fact, that is his greatest fear. He keeps a doctor on call at all hours and his dutiful wife, Ethel, a tired and anxious woman. Their marriage seems to be one where the love is merely one-sided as Walter doesn't really care much for any other person than himself.
Though his doctor continues to assure him that there's nothing wrong with him except for the ailments he's manufactured for himself, he doesn't trust the diagnosis. He is convinced that his problems are more than imaginary, his doctor is a quack, and his wife can't wait to collect from his death. He feels cheated by life and so when he finds an opportunity to cheat death via a pact with the Devil in exchange for immortality, he gladly accepts after adding enough conditions to keep him out of Satan's clutches forever. He is puzzled when the Wicked One doesn't put up much of a fight, only stipulating an escape clause which allows the man to die if he so wishes, but doesn't worry too much about it.
He uses his newfound invulnerability to collect insurance money and cheap thrills by hurling himself into life-threatening situations, such as drinking poison or being hit by a bus or train. Soon growing bored with this game, seeking out ever escalating stunts, he decides to jump off of his apartment building roof. Unfortunately for his wife, she finds her husband about to end his life -not knowing its impossibility- and rushes toward him in a futile effort to stop him. Instead, she lunges over the edge herself, falling to her death.
Seeing the opportunity to experience an unique thrill in the form of an electric chair, he confesses to the murder of his wife (though she truly died by accident, unlike her husband's "deaths"), and soon finds himself before a judge. His lawyer is too good, however, and he is sentenced to life in prison without any chance of parole.
In the episode's final scene, a dismayed Walter contemplates spending an infinite duration of time locked in a cage and how useless his immortality has become. On cue, the Devil shows up and reminds the man of the escape clause. Facing eternity in jail, the man nods and suffers a fatal heart attack.
Great story. Twilight Zone was full of those. Whatever happened to just telling a story instead of all the flash-bang special effects, or in-your-face sex and violence, of modern TV and movies?
Too much like hard work ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.