What You Need

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“What You Need” is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

Actor Steve Cochran in “What You Need”

Details

Episode number: 12
Season: 1
Production code: 173-3622
Original air date: December 25, 1959
Writer: Rod Serling adapted from the story of the same name by Lewis Padgett (pseudonym for Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore), first published in the October 1945 issue of Astounding Science-Fiction
Director: Alvin Ganzer
Producer:
Music: Original score by Nathan Van Cleave

[edit] Cast

Fred Renard: Steve Cochran
Pedott: Ernest Truex

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Pedott, a salesman, has the curious ability to give people exactly what they need before they need it. The old peddler enters a cafe where he first gives a woman a vial of cleaner. Then, he gives a down-on-his-luck ex-baseball player bus tickets. The ball player receives a job offer in the city the tickets are for; and the ball player needs his jacket cleaned, which the woman just happens to have. Renard, a two-bit thug, asks Pedott to give him what he needs, and the peddler gives him a pair of scissors which save Renard's life when his scarf gets caught in an elevator's doors. Renard shows up at Pedott's apartment asking for another thing he "needs," and the peddler comes up with a leaky pen that predicts a winning racehorse. Renard then starts menacing Pedott for more. Sensing Renard will eventually kill him, Pedott gives him a pair of new shoes. When a car suddenly heads directly toward Renard, he tries to run, but the new soles are so slippery, he cannot escape on the wet pavement. He is struck and killed. The shoes were what Pedott needed.

[edit] Production information

The original story featured a machine that could foretell an individual's probable future. Serling replaced this science-fiction element with a street peddler who could magically perform the same function, possibly to make the message more poignant (i.e. the machine could have been stolen and used by anyone, whereas a natural talent comes from within).

The final shot before the first commercial (while Serling is concluding his narration) is actually shot backwards; looking carefully, one can see smoke returning to Renard's cigarette.

[edit] Themes

The major theme is the difference between one's wants and needs -- what Renard "needed", Pedott cannot supply: "serenity, peace of mind, humor, ability to laugh at one's self".