A boorish bullheaded asshole who is worth way more dead than alive, decides upon the bright idea of faking his own death for the half a million life insurance policy, but this being the gleefully grim and underhanded world of Tales From the Crypt the scheme doesn't go quite according to plan, and he winds up getting executed for his own murder... This tale always struck as one where the plot synopsis makes it sound a lot better than it actually is. It's a fine enough story I guess, but it's a far-cry from the best the show had to offer as there's no horror in it and the comedy isn't even all that dark, it's just to me a weak exercise in the absurd that's more cute than anything else. It's tone is so light and fluffy, and I find some of the situations and characters to be stupidly zany, like when the old lady dives on the coffin, Michael Fox's weird cameo as a lawyer, and especially the fruitcake who's "beautiful sunset" talk soon got so old that I felt a bit like reacting like the Bruce McGill character hilariously does at one point! I did like McGill a lot, his comic timing was great and he's the best thing about this story. And even though he acts like a self-centred bullying creep the whole time he was still somehow charming about it, and even though you may feel somewhat sorry for Lou at the end it's a lot more easier just to laugh at him! The series was hitting such a powerful stride at this time during its run that you can forgive even the weakest of episodes of practically anything, and I know that they were designed to reflect the style of the original comic books regarding the nature of the story arc and twists, and if I dead-loved this one it'd never be a problem, but the dumb logic of this one sticks out like a sore thumb. I mean hello, DNA and fingerprinting? Wouldn't the medical technicians have checked a body for a pulse? Wouldn't the officers have found it peculiar how someone that the Palomas claimed not to recognise would know all about the late Lou Paloma? And why the heck didn't Lou's brother finish him off for good with the crowbar, or let him burn up in the furnace, that would've been the end of their troubles right then and there - it's so chock-full of plot-holes that are big enough to drive a truck through! That said, I actually don't find it to be a terrible episode, it is a fun and entertaining enough, just in my opinion not one that's all that good nor particularly memorable, mostly kind of obnoxiously peppy and improbably bizarre. Not one of my favourites. It does feature Christmas a tiny bit.. Happy holidays folks! #De Jeneiro!#
Review of The Trap
