History Recap / CreepshowS3E4Familiar

* ForWantOfANail: Jackson manages to capture Fawn, kill her by accident, and let the Familiar that's been hounding him all episode free to possess her, just by drifting off to sleep for a single second.

Written By: Josh Malerman

Aspiring lawyer Jackson (King Bach) and his ditzy {{sculptor|s}} girlfriend Fawn (Hannah Fierman) stumble out of a karaoke bar after a night of drunken partying. As the duo discuss Jackson's legal practices, Fawn spots a place across the street known as "Boone's Third Eye", and pressures Jackson to accompany her inside on a lark. Fawn and her boyfriend are welcomed by fortune teller Boone (Keith Arthur Bolden), who gives Jackson a disturbed glance, then proceeds to give Fawn a palm reading. While performing the reading, Boone slips Jackson a note which reads "Something bad followed you in here." Upon reading the note, Jackson feels uneased and believes that something is behind him, even hearing a roar, but he shrugs it off when Fawn interrupts his train of thought. After paying Boone and returning to Jackson's apartment, Jackson watches a door down the hall slowly creak open, but the source turns out to be Fawn's dog Rudolph, who doesn't seem to like Jackson that much. As he watches TV with a sleeping Fawn, Jackson looks at the note Boone gave him, just before the hears the sound of something clacking against the wall. He then discovers a monstrous, pitch-black creature with red eyes that roars at him. When he turns on a nearby lamp, the creature suddenly disappears. Having woken up from the commotion, Fawn asks Jackson what happened, to which Jackson replies that he should stop drinking for a while, completely unaware that the creature has moved to the shadows behind him.

* TheAlcoholic: Jackson. While it's not seen, it's hinted very frequently. It may also imply that his experiences with the Familiar, his "personal demon", was actually him being blacking out drunk and assaulting the people around him.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Fawn drags Jackson into Boone's place for a reading on the fly, letting him discover a familar has tethered itself to him. A few days later, she meets her death and possession by her boyfriend and his familiar, the former having grown way too paranoid of the creature she inadvertently introduced him to.

* ForWantOfANail: Jackson manages to capture Fawn, kill her by accident, and let the Familiar that's been hounding him all episode to possess her, just by drifting off to sleep for a single second.

Aspiring lawyer Jackson (King Bach) and his ditzy sculptor girlfriend Fawn (Hannah Fierman) stumble out of a karaoke bar after a night of drunken partying. As the duo discuss Jackson's legal practices, Fawn spots a place across the street known as "Boone's Third Eye", and pressures Jackson to accompany her inside on a lark. Fawn and her boyfriend are welcomed by fortune teller Boone (Keith Arthur Bolden), who gives Jackson a disturbed glance, then proceeds to give Fawn a palm reading. While performing the reading, Boone slips Jackson a note which reads "Something bad followed you in here." Upon reading the note, Jackson feels uneased and believes that something is behind him, even hearing a roar, but he shrugs it off when Fawn interrupts his train of thought. After paying Boone and returning to Jackson's apartment, Jackson watches a door down the hall slowly creak open, but the source turns out to be Fawn's dog Rudolph, who doesn't seem to like Jackson that much. As he watches TV with a sleeping Fawn, Jackson looks at the note Boone gave him, just before the hears the sound of something clacking against the wall. He then discovers a monstrous, pitch-black creature with red eyes that roars at him. When he turns on a nearby lamp, the creature suddenly disappears. Having woken up from the commotion, Fawn asks Jackson what happened, to which Jackson replies that he should stop drinking for a while, completely unaware that the creature has moved to the shadows behind him.

While at a fancy restaurant with Fawn, Jackson shows her the note he received from Boone. While she doesn't necessarily believe his claims of being followed by some dark force, Fawn views his predicament as an exciting opportunity to prove that supernatural forces exist, treating the creature like an "imaginary friend" instead of a malevolent and primordial force. She also invites Jackson to go and see Boone again, mentioning that he might know how to deal with the creature. When Jackson vehemently refuses another visit to Boone's place, Fawn pulls a joke on him, then gives a hand-sculpted lamb as a present, saying that it's meant to keep him company. Later that night, Fawn leaves Jackson a voicemail to let him know that she's going to be staying late at the studio. As Jackson reaches Boone's place, he goes inside and looks around for answers. He discovers an old book titled ''Familiar'', which he proceeds to open. The book explains that the creature following him is a familiar, a pitch-black demonic creature which comes in a variety of forms and has existed for centuries. The book reveals that familiars will seek out and attach themselves to a human host. Once attached, a familiar will do absolutely anything, even kill, to remain tethered to their host. Familiars are also known to possess the corpses of whomever they kill, pretending to be a long-time friend of their host.

!!Familiar

** Jackson and Fawn are revealed to be watching [[Recap/CreepshowS1E6GrayMatter Gray Matter]] on their TV.
** Much like [[Recap/CreepshowS1E5TheFinger The Finger]], Jackson's experiences with the Familiar may have actually been him blacking out from drunkenness and murdering his lover.

* AmoralAttorney: Downplayed with Jackson, as he's a lawyer-in-training who doesn't always believe what his law books say, and decides to accomplish things with the least amount of effort when he actually needs to do them by the book, if not use bullshit excuses outright. His meeting with a client who has a "slam dunk" case against someone who stole from his shop has him persuading the client to approach his case "as if the rim is 11 feet high, just in case", causing the client to storm out.

* CatScare: "''Dog'' Scare", as the case may be, since what Jackson thought was the Familiar following home was actually Rudolph.

Aspiring lawyer Jackson (King Bach) and his ditzy sculptor girlfriend Fawn (Hannah Fierman) stumble out of a karaoke bar after a night of drunken partying. As the duo discuss Jackson's legal practices, Fawn spots a place across the street known as "Boone's Third Eye", and pressures Jackson to accompany her inside on a lark. Fawn and her boyfriend are welcomed by Boone (Keith Arthur Bolden), who gives Jackson a disturbed glance, then proceeds to give his girlfriend a palm reading. While performing the reading, Boone slips Jackson a note which reads "Something bad followed you in here." Upon reading the note, Jackson feels uneased and believes that something is behind him, even hearing a roar, but he shrugs it off when Fawn interrupts his train of thought. After paying Boone and returning to Jackson's apartment, Jackson watches a door down the hall slowly creak open, but the source turns out to be Fawn's dog Rudolph, who doesn't seem to like Jackson that much. As he watches TV with a sleeping Fawn, Jackson looks at the note Boone gave him, just before the hears the sound of something clacking against the wall. He then discovers a monstrous, pitch-black creature with red eyes that roars at him. When he turns on a nearby lamp, the creature suddenly disappears. Having woken up from the commotion, Fawn asks Jackson what happened, to which Jackson replies that he should stop drinking for a while, completely unaware that the creature has moved to the shadows behind him.

Before Jackson can learn anymore, Boone approaches him, and informs him that he needs to trap his familiar and keep it as far away from him as possible. Over drinks, Boone tells Jackson that exorcisms are merely a show and won't work against a familiar. Boone states that Jackson will need to physically trap the creature by completing a specific ritual. Boone tells Jackson to draw a "sacred circle" on the floor, lay a piece of "innocence bait" (an object created in an environment of pure joy) inside the circle, and then trap the familiar inside a "blessed crate" when it comes to collect the bait. Once the familiar is caught, Jackson is told to take the trapped creature to the deepest body of water he can find and dump it in, making sure it sinks deep enough so that not even his scent can reach it. Despite finding the whole thing ludicrous, Jackson does set up the trap as per Boone's instructions, using the necklace Boone was wearing as his innocence bait. After much time passes, the trap slams shut on something. Upon hearing the whining of a dog, Jackson mistakenly thinks that he has trapped Rudolph, but as he goes to free him, the familiar lunges out at him. When he looks back, the familiar is gone, having taken the necklace with it.

While visiting Fawn at her workshop, hoping to find a different method to rid himself of the familiar, he suddenly remembers the lamb she made for him. Returning to his apartment, Jackson puts the lamb inside the sacred circle, makes sure Rudolph stays by his side, and sets up his phone to record the familiar when it comes to collect the bait. After momentarily drifting off to sleep, Jackson hears the trap slam shut on something. Fawn's voice comes from inside the crate, crying and begging to be let out. Unsure whether the person inside is Fawn of the familiar mimicking her voice, Jackson checks the footage on his phone to discover that the recording glitches out just as the trap is sprung. Jackson also calls Fawn, and when she doesn't answer and he can't hear her phone ringing inside the crate, Jackson immediately assumes that he has caught the familiar. He calls Boone, who darkly reminds him of what he needs to do next.

Jackson proceeds to take the crate, the creature inside still crying and screaming, to a lake, where he pushes it in and watches it sink. Jackson then drives home, laughing maniacally about he's free of his supernatural stalker. When Jackson returns to his apartment, he finds Fawn's lamb sitting on a table in front of him, Fawn's water-logged corpse sitting behind it, and the familiar itself behind her, revealing that Jackson's paranoia led to him killing the actual Fawn. The familiar proceeds to possess Fawn's corpse and has her ominously shuffle over to Jackson. Giving the screaming Jackson a hug, the undead Fawn whispers to him "I believe you now."

* TheAlcoholic: Jackson. While it's not seen, it's mentioned quite frequently. It may even imply that his experiences with the familiar, his "personal demon", was actually him blacking out and abusing the people in his life.
* AmoralAttorney: Jackson is an up-and-coming lawyer who wishes to take things slow, so he isn't really an "amoral attorney" as he is an "inept attorney". His meeting with a client who has a "slam dunk" case against someone who stole from his business has him persuading the client to approach his case "as if the rim were 11 feet high". This gradually causes the client to storm out.
** Assuming however that Jackson ''is'' blackout drunk, the client may have instead left because Jackson was either drunk or hungover at work, explaining his ineptitude.
* AncientEvil: Familiars are noted to have existed for centuries, as per Boone's book on them.
* BathroomStallOfAngst: Jackson hides in a bathroom stall during work when the familiar's presence gets stronger.
* BodyAndHost: Familiars apparently need to tether themselves to a human to survive. It's a rather interesting variation of the trope, as the familiar doesn't actually possess Jackson, nor does it have total control over him. For the most part, it usually stays out of his line of sight and screws with him in mundane ways... at first.
* BoxAndStickTrap: Jackson ends up using one of these, albeit with a box suspended from the ceiling, to catch the familiar.

** Much like [[Recap/CreepshowS1E5TheFinger The Finger]], Jackson's experiences with the familiar may have been him blacking out from drunkenness and murdering his lover.
** Hannah Fierman returns to the series in this episode, having previously played Countess Patrovska in [[Recap/CreepshowS2E9NightOfTheLivingLateShow Night of the Living Late Show.]]
* CaptainObvious: Fawn's reaction to Jackson's note is simply to call it scary.
* ChekhovsGun: The lamb that Fawn makes for Jackson, which he uses as replacement innocence bait.
* CreepyLongFingers: The familiar has three long, clawed fingers on each hand, surrounded by two stubby digits on the ends.
* CruelTwistEnding: Jackson fails to kill the familiar, and he instead ends up killing his girlfriend, which is then possessed by the creature he was trying to rid himself of.
* DisappearsIntoLight: The familiar instantly vanishes when it makes contact with bright light.
* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is a complete idiot. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, then she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into the paranoid Jackson's familiar trap. Even if there wasn't an actual familiar and everything was the result of a blackout drunk Jackson assaulting her, she stays with him anyway because she's too stupid to know any better. She even tells Jackson that she thinks Boone was hitting on her during her reading, when he was actually telling her future.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an established alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. This also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar could very well be the result of him being blackout drunk, including kidnapping and abusing Rudolph and Fawn.
* TheDogBitesBack: After Fawn scares Jackson in the restaurant during their meet-up/date, Jackson returns the favor by scaring her as he enters the studio.
* DumbassHasAPoint: As dim as Fawn is, she was right that Jackson should've returned to Boone to learn about the familiar and what he can do to stop it.
* EnemyWithin: Jackson is known to be an alcoholic, hinting that the familiar may actually be the manifestation of his drinking problem driving him to perform all these acts, including the eventual murder of his girlfriend.
* EvilDetectingDog: Rudolph is known to furiously bark at Jackson whenever he spots him. Given that Jackson may be a blackout drunk abuser, he may have a reason to do so.
* {{Familiar}}: The main threat of the episode. In contrast to the usual depiction of familiars in media, these familiars are depicted as monstrous, primordial creatures that seem to be made of pure darkness, as they disappear in bright light. They also actively seek out and bind ''themselves'' to a host instead of the other way around, and will commit any atrocity necessary to remain tethered to said host. They will also possess the corpses of whomever they kill to pose as a friend of their host.
* ForeShadowing:
** The hints of the familiar's presence go back to the very first time that Boone sees Jackson, whereupon he becomes concerned with his presence.

** The book Jackson reads describes how familiars possess the corpses of whoever they kill, which is exactly what it does to Fawn.
* FortuneTeller: Boone, who is very clearly the real deal, and advises Jackson as to how he can rid himself of his demonic stalker.
* GilliganCut: After Jackson tells Boone that there is no way in Hell he's lugging the "blessed crate" in his storeroom into his apartment, the episode cuts to him standing next to the crate on the elevator, with a comically annoyed look on his face.

* HollywoodExorcism: Boone has a dislike of these, stating that even though they put on a good show, they don't do squat to a familiar.
* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, and childlike demeanor, Fawn reacts rather insensitively to her boyfriend's situation and behaves quite demandingly to Jackson in general. She petulantly demands that he tells her that he loves her during their date, smacks him when he jokingly insists that she has wrinkles, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at thin air while acting like the familiar is behind Jackson and then gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him. To her, she's just trying to be funny, but to others, it can be seen as uncalled for.
* TheKillerInMe: Jackson, while blackout drunk and on a murderous streak, could've actually been the reason for Fawn's death.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Is the familiar an actual, physical entity looking to keep Jackson under its control? Or is it the manifestation of Jackson's actions while he's blackout drunk?
* MeaningfulName: Fawn, Jackson's girlfriend, is portrayed as someone easy to assault and mess around with, like a baby deer. Jackson, if he's genuinely being blackout drunk the whole time, is usually the first person to do so to her.

* MysteriousNote: Boone writes one directed to Jackson, reading "Something bad followed you in here!". Jackson learns what it means when he spots the familiar for the first time.

** Similar to the [[Film/{{Creepshow}} original film]], the method used to get rid of a familiar amounts to trapping it inside a crate and dumping it into a lake.
** The ashtray makes an appearance on one of Boone's shelves, hidden behind the book Jackson grabs to learn about the familiar.
** The familiar possessing Fawn and turning her into a shambling, waterlogged corpse is heavily reminiscent of the zombies from "Something to Tide You Over".
** When Jackson deduces that he has caught the familiar, he screams "I got you!" not unlike [[Film/Creepshow2 Annie Lansing.]]
** Fawn's dog Rudolph is likely named after Detective Rudolph Junkins from ''Literature/{{Christine}}''.

* NotSoImaginaryFriend: The familiar initially appears to be all in Jackson's head, with Fawn actually believing it to be an imaginary friend. It soon disproves this by tricking Jackson into killing Fawn.
* OminousMusicBoxTune: One of them is heard during Fawn's palm reading.
* OminousVisualGlitch: When Jackson views the familiar's capture on his phone, the video glitches right when the trap is sprung, preventing him from knowing whether he's trapped the familiar or Fawn.
* OvertRendezvous: Jackson and Fawn discuss the former's familiar stalking him while on a date in a busy restaurant.
* PokeThePoodle: The familiar's presence in Jackson's workplace starts off this way, with it sending Jackson a blank fax and piling up his desk contents while his back is turned.
* PossessingADeadBody: Familiars are known to do this to friends of their human hosts. Jackson's familiar does this to Fawn after Jackson accidentally kills her.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: The familiar has red eyes. Fawn later gains the same eyes when the familiar possesses her.
* RitualMagic: The process of banishing a familiar is to lure the creature into a sacred circle with a piece of innocence bait, then trap it in a blessed crate when it trips the trap. Once it's trapped, it must then be dumped into the deepest body of water in the area.

** Boone has the same name as the character from ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}''.
** The bottle of booze Boone drinks from is named "[[Film/TheThing1982 MacReady's]] Whiskey".
** As she and Jackson enter Boone's place for the first time, Fawn quips [[Film/TheSixthSense "I see dead people."]]

** Jackson discovers that the familiar has stacked the contents of his desk in a matter straight out of ''Film/Poltergeist1982''.
* StalkerWithoutACrush: The familiar, which follows Jackson and plagues him with supernatural activity nearly everywhere he goes.
* TimePassesMontage: One occurs as Jackson waits for the familiar to be trapped, which showcases him performing various activities and checking the trap every so often.

* {{Troll}}: Fawn is prone to being a troll to her loved ones. She pranks the nervous Jackson by acting scared and pretending that there is something behind him. She also continually hugs Jackson to get a reaction out of her dog, Rudolph, who apparently doesn't like Jackson getting close with his owner.
** Familiars are implied to be a race of primordial, supernatural trolls, known to sneak and cheat to keep themselves tethered to their hosts. Jackson's familiar sends him a blank fax and rearranges his desk for its own amusement.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: When you get right down to it, the entirety of the episode is Fawn's fault. Thanks to her dragging Jackson inside Boone's place without letting him get a say in the matter, Boone lets Jackson know about the familiar, which begins stalking and haunting him, and eventually leads Jackson to accidentally killing Fawn.
* VoiceChangeling: The familiar is able to mimic the voices of those close to Jackson. It first disguises itself as Rudolph, then as Fawn, the latter of which is so good that Jackson is easily fooled into killing the real Fawn.
* YourOtherLeft: Boone asks Fawn to give him her left palm so he can read it. She proceeds to give him her ''right'' palm, apparently not knowing right from left, and further solidifying her dim-witted nature.

* GirlInABox: Fawn ends up trapped in the blessed crate when she stupidly decides to crawl into Jackson's familiar trap.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an established alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. Coupled with the fact that he and Fawn are an interracial couple, his apparent drinking problem hints at a very strong power imbalance in their relationship. This also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar could very well be the result of him being blackout drunk, including kidnapping and abusing Rudolph and Fawn.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Jackson, a black man, is dating Fawn, a white girl.

* CreepyLongFingers: The familiar has three, long, clawed fingers on each hand, surrounded by two stubby digits on the ends.
* CruelTwistEnding: Jackson fails to kill the familiar, and instead ends up killing his girlfriend, which is then possessed by the creature he was trying to rid himself of.

* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is a total idiot. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, then she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into the paranoid Jackson's familiar trap.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an established alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. Coupled with the fact that he and Fawn are an interracial couple, his apparent drinking problem displays a strong power imbalance in their relationship. This also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar could very well be the result of him being blackout drunk, including kidnapping and abusing Rudolph and Fawn.

* {{Familiar}}: The main threat of the episode. In contrast to the usual depiction of familiars in media, these familiars are depicted as demonic creatures that seem to be made of pure darkness, as they disappear in bright light. They also actively seek out and bind ''themselves'' to a host instead of the other way around, and will commit any atrocity necessary to remain tethered to said host. They will also possess the corpses of whomever they kill to pose as a friend of their host.

* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, and childlike demeanor, Fawn reacts rather insensitively to her boyfriend's situation and behaves quite demandingly to her Jackson in general. She petulantly demands that he tells her that he loves her during their date, smacks him when he jokingly insists that she has wrinkles, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at thin air that might be the familiar and gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him. To her, she's just trying to be funny, but to others it can be seen as uncalled for.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: The familiar has red eyes. Fawn later gains these same eyes when the familiar possesses her.

** The bottle of booze Boone drinks from is named "[[Film/TheThing1982 MacReady]] Whiskey".

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: When you get right down to it, the entirety of the story is Fawn's fault. Thanks to her dragging Jackson inside Boone's place without letting him get a say in the matter, Boone lets Jackson know about the familiar, which begins stalking and haunting him, and eventually leads Jackson to accidentally killing Fawn.
* VoiceChangeling: The familiar is able to mimic the voices of those close to Jackson. First Rudolph, then Fawn, the latter of which is so good that Jackson is easily fooled into killing the real Fawn.

Up-and-coming lawyer Jackson (Andrew Bachelor) and his ditzy, sculptor girlfriend Fawn (Hannah Fierman) drunkenly stumble out of a karaoke bar. As the duo discuss Jackson's legal practices, they come across a place known as "Boone's Third Eye", owned by a psychic by the name of Boone (Keith Arthur Bolden). Upon pressuring Jackson to accompany her inside, Fawn and her boyfriend are welcomed by Boone, who proceeds to give the former a palm reading. While doing so, Boone slips Jackson a note reading "Something bad followed you in here." Upon reading the note, Jackson feels uneased and hears something roar behind him, but he shrugs it off. Returning to Jackson's apartment, Jackson watches a door creak open, but the source turns out to be Fawn's dog, Rudolph, who doesn't seem to like Jackson that much.

While watching a movie with a sleeping Fawn, Jackson hears the sound of something clacking against the wall, before discovering a monstrous, pitch-black creature with red eyes that roars at him. When he turns on a nearby lamp, the creature suddenly disappears. Having woken up from the commotion, Fawn asks Jackson what happened, to which Jackson replies that he should stop drinking, unaware that the creature has moved to the shadows behind him.

While at work the next day, Jackson receives a peculiar fax message. Upon examining the machine, he notices that not only is the paper he received blank, but the machine doesn't even have paper inside it. When he turns back around, he discovers that someone or something has meticulously stacked the contents of his desk in a pile, and also notices hoofprints on the carpet. Jackson hides in the bathroom and frantically texts Fawn to fill her in on the situation. Suddenly, the lights go out, and Jackson hears the sound of running water. Upon asking if someone is there, the creature's clawed hands reach out at him from the stall. When the hands recede, Jackson believes he is safe, but flees once again when he gradually notices the creature standing behind him, inches away from his person.

While on a date with Fawn, Jackson shows her the note he received from Boone. While she doesn't necessarily believe his claims, Fawn views Jackson's story of how he's being followed as an exciting opportunity to prove that supernatural forces exist, as well as treating the creature like an "imaginary friend". She also invites him to go and see Boone again, mentioning that he might know how to deal with the creature. After pulling a joke on him, Fawn gives Jackson a hand-sculpted lamb as a present, to keep him company.

Later that night, Fawn leaves Jackson a voicemail to let him know that she'll be staying late at the studio. As Jackson reaches Boone's place, he looks around inside for answers. He discovers an old book titled ''Familiar'', which he proceeds to open. The book explains that the creature following him is a familiar, one of possibly several thousand dark, demonic creatures that have existed for centuries. The book also mentions that familiars will attach themselves to a human host, and will do absolutely anything, even kill, to remain tethered to said host. Familiars are also known to possess the corpses of those they kill, pretending to be a long-time friend of their host.

Before Jackson can learn anymore, Boone approaches him, and informs him that he needs to trap his familiar and keep it as far away from him as possible. Over drinks, Boone tells Jackson that exorcisms don't work on familiars, and that he needs to physically trap it by completing a specific ritual. Boone tells Jackson to draw a "sacred circle" on the floor, lay a piece of "innocence bait" (something created from pure joy) inside the circle, and trap the familiar inside a "blessed crate" when it collects the bait. Once the familiar is caught, Jackson is told to take the trapped creature to a lake and throw it in, making sure it sinks deep enough so that not even his scent can reach it.

Despite finding the whole thing ludicrous, Jackson sets up the trap as per Boone's instructions, using a necklace Boone was wearing as the innocence bait. Eventually, the trap slams shut on something. Upon hearing the whining of a dog, Jackson mistakenly thinks that he has trapped Rudolph, but when he goes to free him, the familiar lunges at him. When he looks back, the familiar is gone, having taken the necklace with it. While visiting Fawn at the studio, hoping to find a different method to rid himself of the familiar, he suddenly remembers the lamb she made for him. Returning to his apartment, Jackson puts the lamb inside the sacred circle, makes sure Rudolph is by his side, and sets up his phone to record the familiar when it collects the bait. After momentarily falling asleep, Jackson hears the trap slam shut on something. Fawn's voice comes from inside the crate, crying and begging to be let out. Unsure whether the person inside is Fawn of the familiar mimicking her voice, Jackson checks his phone recording to discover that the feed glitched out just as the trap was sprung. Jackson also calls Fawn, and when she doesn't answer her phone, Jackson immediately assumes that he has caught the familiar. He calls Boone, who reminds him of what he needs to do next. Jackson proceeds to take the crate to a lake, where he pushes it in and watches it sink, then drives home, laughing maniacally about he's free.

When Jackson returns home, he finds Fawn's lamb on a table in front of him, Fawn's water-logged corpse sitting behind it, and the familiar behind her, revealing that Jackson's paranoia led to him killing the actual Fawn. The familiar proceeds to possess Fawn's corpse and has her ominously walk over to Jackson. Giving the screaming Jackson a hug, the undead Fawn tells him "I believe you now."

* TheAlcoholic: Jackson. While it's not seen, it's mentioned frequently. It may even imply that his experiences with the familiar, his "personal demon", was just him blacking out and abusing the people in his life.
* AmoralAttorney: Jackson is an up-and-coming lawyer who is taking things slow, so he isn't really an "amoral attorney" as he is an "inept attorney". His meeting with a client who has a "slam dunk" case against someone who stole from his business has him persuading the client to approach said case "as if the rim were 11 feet high". This gradually causes the client to storm out.
** However, assuming that Jackson is indeed blacking out while drunk, the client may have instead stormed out because Jackson was either drunk or hungover at work, explaining his ineptitude.

** Hannah Fierman returns to the series in this episode, having previously played Countess Petrovska in [[Recap/CreepshowS2E9NightOfTheLivingLateShow Night of the Living Late Show.]]

* CruelTwistEnding: Jackson fails to get rid of the familiar, and instead ends up killing his girlfriend, which is then possessed by the creature he was trying to rid himself of.
* DisappearsIntoLight: The familiar performs a variation of this, instantly vanishing when it makes contact with bright light.
* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is an idiot. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, then she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into Jackson's familiar trap.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. Coupled with the fact that he and Fawn are an interracial couple, this apparent drinking problem displays a strong power imbalance in their relationship. This also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar could very well be the result of him blacking out from drunkenness, including kidnapping and abusing Rudolph and Fawn.
* DumbassHasAPoint: As dim as Fawn is, she was right that Jackson should've returned to Boone to learn about the familiar.

* {{Familiar}}: The main threat of the episode. In contrast to the usual depiction of familiars in media, these familiars are depicted as demonic creatures that seem to be made of pure darkness, as they disappear in bright light. They also bind ''themselves'' to a host instead of the other way around, and will commit any atrocity necessary to remain tethered to said host. They will also possess the corpses of whomever they kill to pose as a friend of their host.

** The hints of the familiar's presence go back to the very first time that Boone lays eyes on Jackson, whereupon he becomes concerned with his presence.
** Rudolph's furious barking at Jackson when in his presence may hint that he's already blackout drunk, and is actually striking Fawn instead of hugging her.

* FortuneTeller: Boone, who is very clearly the real deal, and advises Jackson as to how he can rid himself of the familiar.
* GilliganCut: After Jackson tells Boone that there is no way he's lugging the "blessed crate" in his storeroom into his apartment, the episode cuts to him standing next to the crate on the elevator with an annoyed look on his face.
* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, childlike demeanor, Fawn reacts rather insensitively to her boyfriend's dilemma, and behaves quite demandingly to her boyfriend in general. She petulantly demands that he tells her that he loves her at their meeting, smacks him when he jokingly insists that she has wrinkles, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at something that might be the familiar and gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him. It may come across as InnocentlyInsensitive to her because she's just trying to be funny, but it can still be seen as uncalled for.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Is the familiar an actual, physical entity looking to keep Jackson under its power? Or is it the manifestation of Jackson's actions while he's blacking out from drunkenness?
* MundaneSolution: In spite of the spiritual properties, the process of banishing a familiar is essentially trapping it in a crate and throwing in into a lake.

* OminousVisualGlitch: Jackson's phone glitches when his trap is sprung, not revealing whether he trapped the familiar or Fawn.
* PossessingADeadBody: The familiar does this to Fawn after Jackson accidentally kills her.

** Boone shares the same name as the character from ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}''.

** When entering Boone's place for the first time, Fawn quips [[Film/TheSixthSense "I see dead people."]]

* {{Troll}}: Fawn pranks the nervous Jackson by acting scared and pretending that there is something behind him. While she has a cheap laugh, Jackson calls her out for it. She also continually hugs Jackson to get a reaction out of her dog, Rudolph, who apparently doesn't like Jackson getting close with his owner.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The entirety of the story is ultimately Fawn's fault. Thanks to her dragging Jackson inside Boone's place, Boone lets Jackson know about the familiar, which begins making its presence known, and eventually leads Jackson to accidentally killing her.

** Much like [[Recap/CreepshowS1E5TheFinger The Finger]], Jackson's experiences with the familiar may have been him blacking out from drunkenness and abusing his girlfriend.

* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is an absolute dingbat. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, then she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into Jackson's familiar trap.

* {{Familiar}}: The main threat of the episode. In contrast to the usual depiction of familiars in media, these familiars are depicted as demonic creatures that seem to be made of pure darkness, as they disappear in bright light. They also bind ''themselves'' to a host instead of the other way around, and will commit any atrocity necessary to remain tethered to said host. These familiars will also possess the corpses of whomever they kill to pose as a friend of their host.
* ForeShadowing: The hints of the familiar's presence go back to the very first time that Boone lays eyes on Jackson, whereupon he becomes concerned with his presence.

* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, child-like demeanor, Fawn is somewhat insensitive to her boyfriend's dilemma, and quite demanding to her boyfriend in general. She petulantly demands that he tells her that he loves her at their meeting, smacks him when he jokingly insists that she has wrinkles, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at something that might be the familiar and gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him. It may come across as InnocentlyInsensitive to her because she's just trying to be funny, but it can still be seen as uncalled for.

* MundaneSolution: In spite of the spiritual properties, instead of an exorcism, the process of banishing a familiar is essentially trapping it in a crate and throwing in into a lake.

** Jackson's dog Rudolph is likely named after Detective Rudolph Junkins from ''Literature/{{Christine}}''.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The entirety of the story is essentially Fawn's fault. Thanks to her dragging Jackson inside Boone's place, Boone lets Jackson know about the familiar, which begins making its presence known, and eventually leads Jackson to accidentally killing her.
* VoiceChangeling: The familiar is able to mimic the voices of those close to Jackson. First Fawn's dog, then Fawn herself, the latter of which is so good that Jackson is easily fooled into killing the real Fawn.

* VoiceChangeling: The familiar is able to mimic the voices of those close to Jackson. First his dog, then Fawn, the latter of which is so good that Jackson is easily fooled into killing the real Fawn.

* FortuneTeller: Boone, who is very clearly the real deal.

** During his palm reading on Fawn, Jackson notes that he sees people Fawn acquainted with, including someone named [[Literature/{{Misery}} "Marcia".]]

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: Jackson, a black man, is dating Fawn, a white girl.

* CallBack: Jackson and Fawn are revealed to be watching [[Recap/CreepshowS1E6GrayMatter Gray Matter]] on their TV.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. Coupled with the fact that he and Fawn are an interracial couple, this apparent drinking problem displays a strong power imbalance in their relationship. [[CallBack Much like]] [[Recap/CreepshowS1E5TheFinger The Finger]], this also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar could very well be the result of him blacking out from drunkenness, including kidnapping and abusing Rudolph and Fawn.

Up-and-coming lawyer Jackson (Andrew Bachelor) and his ditzy, sculptor girlfriend Fawn (Hannah Fierman) drunkenly stumble out of a karaoke bar. As the duo discuss Jackson's legal practices, they come across a place known as "Boone's Third Eye", owned by a psychic by the name of Boone (Keith Arthur Bolden). Upon pressuring Jackson to accompany her inside, Fawn and her boyfriend are welcomed by Boone, who proceeds to give the former a palm reading. While doing so, Boone slips Jackson a note reading "Something bad followed you in here." Upon reading the note, Jackson feels uneased and hears something roar behind him, but he shrugs it off. Returning to Jackson's apartment, Jackson watches a door creak open, but the source turns out to be his dog, Rudolph, who doesn't seem to like Fawn much.

While watching a movie with a sleeping Fawn, Jackson hears clacking against the wall, before discovering a monstrous, pitch-black creature with red eyes that roars at him. When he turns on a nearby lamp, the creature suddenly disappears. Having woken up from the commotion, Fawn asks Jackson what happened, to which Jackson replies that he should stop drinking, unaware that the creature has moved to the shadows behind him.

While at work the next day, Jackson receives a peculiar fax message. Upon examining the machine, he notices that not only is the paper he received blank, but the machine doesn't even have paper inside it. When he turns back around, he discovers that someone or something has meticulously stacked the contents of his desk in a pile, and also notices hoofprints on the carpet. Jackson hides in the bathroom and frantically texts Fawn to fill her in on the situation. Suddenly, the lights go out, and the creature's clawed hands reach out at him from the stall. When the hands recede, Jackson believes he is safe, but does not notice the creature standing behind him, inches away from his person.

While on a date with Fawn, Jackson shows her the note he received from Boone. While she doesn't necessarily believe his claims, Fawn views Jackson's story of how he's being followed as opportunity as proof that supernatural forces exist, as well as treating the creature like an "imaginary friend". She also invites him to go and see Boone again, mentioning that he might know how to deal with the creature. After pulling a joke on him, Fawn gives Jackson a hand-sculpted lamb as a present, to keep him company.

Later that night, Fawn leaves Jackson a voicemail to let him know that she'll be staying late at the studio. As Jackson reaches Boone's place, he looks around inside for answers. He discovers an old book titled "''Familiar''", which he proceeds to open. The book explains that the creature following him is a familiar, a member of a race of dark, demonic creatures that have existed for centuries. The book also mentions that familiars will attach themselves to a human host, and will do absolutely anything, even kill, to remain tethered to said host. Familiars are also known to possess the corpses of those they kill, pretending to be a long-time friend of their host.

Before Jackson can learn anymore, Boone approaches him, and informs him that he needs to trap his familiar and keep it as far away from him as possible. Over drinks, Boone tells Jackson that exorcisms don't work on familiars, and that he needs to trap it by completing a ritual. Boone tells Jackson to draw a "sacred circle" on the floor, lay a piece of "innocence bait" (something created from pure joy) inside the circle, and trap the familiar inside a "blessed crate" when it collects the bait. Once the familiar is caught, Jackson is told to take the trapped creature to a lake and throw it in, making sure it sinks deep enough where not even his scent can reach it.

Despite finding the whole thing ludicrous, Jackson sets up the trap as per Boone's instructions, using a necklace Boone was wearing as the innocence bait. Eventually, the trap slams shut on something. Upon hearing the whining of a dog, Jackson mistakenly thinks that he has trapped Rudolph, but when he goes to free him, the familiar lunges at him. When he looks back, the familiar is gone, having taken the necklace with it. While visiting Fawn at the studio, he suddenly remembers the lamb she made for him. Returning to his apartment, Jackson puts the lamb inside the sacred circle, makes sure Rudolph is by his side, and sets up his phone to record the familiar when it collects the bait. After momentarily falling asleep, Jackson hears the trap slam shut on something. Fawn's voice comes from inside the crate, crying and begging to be let out. Unsure whether the person inside is Fawn of the familiar mimicking her voice, Jackson checks his phone to discover the feed glitches out just as the trap is sprung. Jackson also calls Fawn, and when she doesn't answer her phone, Jackson immediately assumes that he has caught the familiar. He calls Boone, who reminds him of what he needs to do next. Jackson proceeds to take the crate to a lake, where he pushes it in and watches it sink, then drives home, laughing maniacally about he's "finally free."

* AmoralAttorney: More like "Inept Attorney". Jackson is an up-and-coming lawyer who is taking things slow. His meeting with a client who has a "slam dunk" case against someone who stole from his business has him persuading the client to approach said case "as if the rim were 11 feet high". This gradually causes the client to storm out.

* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is an absolute dingbat. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, then she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into Jackson's familiar trap.

* EnemyWithin: Jackson is known to be an alcoholic, hinting that the familiar is the manifestation of his drinking problem driving him to perform all these acts, including the eventual murder of his girlfriend.

* ForeShadowing: The hints of the familiar's presence go back to the very first time that Boone lays eyes on Jackson, whereupon he becomes concerned with his prescence.

* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, child-like demeanor, Fawn is somewhat insensitive to her boyfriend's dilemma. She demands that he tells her that she love him at their meeting, smacks him when he jokingly insists that she has wrinkles, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at something that might be the familiar and gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him. It may come across as InnocentlyInsensitive to her because she's just trying to be funny, but it can still be seen as uncalled for.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: The familiar has red eyes. Fawn gains its eyes when it possesses her.

* {{Troll}}: Fawn pranks the nervous Jackson by acting scared and pretending that there is something behind him. While she has a cheap laugh, Jackson calls her out for it. She also continually hugs Jackson to get a reaction out of his dog, Rudolph, who apparently doesn't like people getting close with his master.

* VoiceChangeling: The familiar is able to mimic the voices of those close to Jackson. First his dog, then Fawn, the latter of which is so good that Jackson is easily fooled into killing the real Fawn.

* MundaneSolution: In spite of the spiritual properties, instead of an exorcism, the process of trapping a familiar is essentially trapping it in a crate and throwing in into a lake.

* EnemyWithin: Jackson is known to be an alcoholic, hinting that the familiar is the manifestation of his drinking problem driving him to perform all these acts, including

While on a date with Fawn, Jackson shows her the note he received from Boone. While she doesn't necessarily believe his claims, Fawn views Jackson's story of how he's being followed as opportunity as proof that supernatural forces exist. She also invites him to go and see Boone again, mentioning that he might know how to deal with the creature. After pulling a joke on him, Fawn gives Jackson a hand-sculpted lamb as a present, to keep him company.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Jackson is an alcoholic, a fact that Boone makes clear when he mentions that he "smells spirits" on him. Coupled with the fact that he and Fawn are an interracial couple, this displays a strong power imbalance in their relationship. [[CallBack Much like]] [[Recap/CreepshowS1E5TheFinger The Finger]], this also hints that Jackson's experiences with the familiar the result of him blacking out from drunkenness.
* TheDitz: There's no doubt about it, Fawn is an absolute dingbat. If it wasn't the familiar swapping places with her, she ended up getting herself killed by crawling into Jackson's familiar trap.

* EnemyWithin: Jackson is managed to be quite an alcoholic, hinting that the familiar is the manifestation of his addiction driving him to perform all these acts.

* JerkAss: Despite her ditzy, bubbly, child-like demeanor, Fawn is somewhat insensitive to her boyfriend's dilemma. She demands that he tells her that she love him at their meeting, gives him the sculpted lamb as a way of saying she views him as weak, and even trolls him by staring at something that might be the familiar and gasping in shock, even though there is nothing behind him.

** Boone likely shares the same name as the character from ''Film/{{Nightbreed}}''.

* {{Troll}}: Fawn pranks the nervous Jackson by acting scared and pretending that there is something behind him. While she has a cheap laugh, Jackson calls her out for it.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: The events of the story are essentially Fawn's fault. Thanks to her dragging Jackson inside Boone's place, Boone lets Jackson know about the familiar, which begins making its presence known, and eventually leads Jackson to accidentally kill her.