What You Need
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- For the INXS song, see What You Need (song).
“What You Need” is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
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Details
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[edit] Cast
- Fred Renard: Steve Cochran
- Pedott: Ernest Truex
[edit] Synopsis
[edit] Opening Narration
"You're looking at Mr. Fred Renard, who carries on his shoulder a chip the size of the national debt. This is a sour man; a friendless man; a lonely man; a grasping, compulsive, nervous man. This is a man who has lived thirty-six undistinguished, meaningless, pointless, failure-laden years and who at this moment looks for an escape—any escape, any way, anything, anybody—to get out of the rut. And this little old man is just what Mr. Renard is waiting for."
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] Closing Narration
"Street scene. Night. Traffic accident. Victim named Fred Renard, gentleman with a sour face to whom contentment came with difficulty. Fred Renard, who took all that was needed—in the Twilight Zone."
[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] References
- Zicree, Marc Scott: The Twilight Zone Companion. Sillman-James Press, 1982 (second edition)
