By Melissa Antoinette Garza
“Four years pre-med, four years medical school…and what is he, a quack!”
Walter Bedeker (David Wayne) is a hypochondriac. He constantly calls his doctor for different issues including back pains, head pains, colds, and every other possible contagious disease or ailment. When he is told that all of the illnesses plaguing him are in his mind, he calls the doctor an idiot. His wife Ethel (Virginia Christine) though loyal and affectionate is treated awfully by her worrywart husband. Walter goes as far as to state Ethel would love to see him die. He accuses her of opening the windows so that he would catch his death even sooner. She cares for him and does everything she can to placate him despite knowing everything is psychosomatic.
One night, a cheery overweight middle-age man by the name of Cadwallader (Thomas Gomez) appears in his room offering an answer to his prayers. He offers him a million years of immortality in exchange for his soul. A stipulation within the contract, Cadwallader states is when Walter grows tired of living, he can decide to die but that his soul would quickly belong to Cadwallader. Quickly, Bedeker realizes that the man before him is the devil, but still he signs the contract convinced that he would never grow tired of living.
Water no longer fearful of dying, opens the windows in the house and suddenly takes ridiculous chances including jumping in front of the moving train to horrified onlookers. When he stands up he asks to speak to the claims adjuster that works for the subway. He soon does several other schemes ranking in thousands of dollars from companies where he purposely puts himself in situations of near death. After pulling 14 stunts, he realizes that immortality is boring that the risk of dying has been stolen from him. He swallows enough ammonia that would kill a dozen men, but nothing happens. Ethel witnesses it and believes him to be crazy so decides to call the doctor. Bedeker once again belittles his wife and decides to leap from the top of the building.
Once again, “The Twilight Zone” delivers and provides a great analysis of human nature. Walter is the definition of a jerk. He cares only of himself and when his fear of death is taken away rather than become a better person, he uses it as power and becomes a worse individual.
Of course, Bedeker isn’t someone who ends up on top at the end. As most episodes show, there is a lesson to be learned. Be careful what you wish for is most certainly a thought one would think come the end of the show. Still, Bedeker isn’t a sympathetic victim. He gets a just punishment and though some reflection of past sins would have been an interesting thing to view from his perspective, we see that he stays true to form and only feels badly for himself willingly taking the out the devil provides.
Overall Rating: 7/10