History Recap / TalesFromTheCryptS3E3TheTrap

* GetRichQuickScheme: The scheme in question boils down to Lou "[[FakingTheDead faking his own murder]] to collect his life insurance".

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: Creator/MichaelJFox directed this episode for a series co-produced by Creator/RobertZemeckis, and plays the prosecutor during the closing tirlal. Furthermore, Sergeant [=McClaine=] is played by Creator/JamesTolkan (known for playing various Stricklands in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy), and Fox's prosecutor questions him during the trial.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Lou thinks he's a big shot who makes all the decisions in his life, but he's really a worthless deadbeat who has know idea what other people are capable of.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tales_from_the_crypt_the_trap_499888504_large.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:350:This isn't the end for him. His real end is much sweeter.]]

->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(wearing a suit and sitting behind a desk that reads "Crypt Keeper Assurances Ltd."; he pushes a stone slab over an open coffin, then notices the viewers.)'' Greetings, bores and ghouls. I'll be with you as soon as I finish with this customer. ''(pushes an exposed arm into the coffin)'' We were just going over some of the terms of his coverage. ''(finally pushes the slab completely on top of the coffin)'' I'll bet this is one clause he won't be getting out of. ''(cackles)'' Tonight's nasty nugget concerns a man with a problem. He wants to collect on his life insurance without dying in the process. I call this little annuity: '''The Trap.'''

After being fired from his latest job as a pizza delivery driver, Lou Paloma gets into an argument with his wife Irene over the dismal state of their finances. Irene's doubt over his ability to provide for the couple has become a long-standing frustration between the two of them. With the reluctant help of his brother Billy, a police coroner, Lou concocts a scheme to fake his own murder and collect $500,000 on his life insurance policy so he and Irene can start a new life in Rio.

At his memorial service, Billy and Irene become attracted to each other and have sex on top of Lou's coffin, nearly sending it into a cremation furnace with him still inside. As the three celebrate afterward, Billy and Irene suggest that Lou go to Rio first, leaving Irene and the money behind until it is safe for her to join him without raising suspicions. He does so and has plastic surgery to alter his appearance, but after six months of hearing nothing from Irene, he loses his patience and flies back to the US.

Lou is shocked to find his house completely remodeled and Irene now married to Billy. Neither of them claim to know him, and when he calls the police to explain the insurance fraud scheme and the double-cross, he is arrested, tried, and convicted of his own murder. He is executed in the electric chair, while Irene and Billy fly to Rio.

!!The episode contains the following tropes:

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the comic, Irene was a gold-digging nag who manipulated her HenpeckedHusband into the scheme she thought up, and she has an affair with the local undertaker. Irene and Larry betray Matt at the first opportunity and gladly accuse him of being the killer in order to cover their tracks. The TV version of Irene and Billy (standing in for Larry) ''do'' have an affair and keep the money, but they're portrayed in a positive light (such as sympathizing with the other over the abuse that Lou inflicts on them and neither of them being the one to think up this scheme).
* AdaptationalJobChange: Originally, the third member of the scam (Larry) was just a local undertaker who was only involved because of Irene. In this version, Billy is Lou's brother and a coroner working for the police department, which justifies him being directly involved in the case and able to sell the lie.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Matt Hall had to be nagged into the insurance scam and was made the fall guy for his own murder in the end. Lou is an abusive sack of garbage who thinks up the scam himself and brings about his own demise by provoking the couple.
* AssholeVictim: Lou definitely gets what he deserves in the end.
* BadLiar: Early on, Irene struggles with keeping Mr. Neve off their backs and stumbles through Lou's coaching. She develops a way better poker face later on, however, after she marries Billy.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: When Billy asks what he wants, Lou says he wants to be dead. He certainly gets that in the end.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Irene falls in love with, and later marries, Billy due to this trope.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Billy and Irene are genuinely nice people who want to do the right thing, but as Lou finds out, mistreat them one too many times, you'll meet your own peril.
* BigBrotherBully: Lou, so very much, and he constantly abuses the fact that he's the older brother to get Billy to do what he wants.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Lou is an utter scumbag who treats his family horribly and would rather make a quick buck than an honest living. Billy and Irene commit perjury and insurance fraud, but both of these felonies were brought about by Lou's actions, and he completely deserves everything they subject him to in the climax.
* {{Blackmail}}: Lou has been so desperate for money that he's had Billy take cash out of their mother's retirement account. To get him to help in the scheme, Lou threatens to tell Mother Paloma that Billy alone took the money (citing how Billy manages the account and signed all the withdrawal slips). Irene later says she would've vouched for Billy, but Billy knows that that wouldn't have mattered (for reasons that become quite apparent during the memorial service).
* {{Bookends}}: The episode begins and ends to the tune of "I Go to Rio".
* CassandraTruth: Nobody believes Lou when he comes back. And when they find his fingerprints on the murder weapon, well...
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Paolo, the waiter in Rio who continually visits Lou at his table, constantly commenting about the sunset. Interestingly enough, he's called as a witness during Lou's trial:
-->'''Paolo:''' Of course I know this man. His name is Smith, Señor Smith. We have watched many beautiful sunsets together.
-->'''Lou:''' ''(gesturing in disbelief)'' ...Fuckin' waiter.

* CreatorCameo: Creator/MichaelJFox directed this episode, and he also plays the prosecutor during the trial.
* DeadpanSnarker: Irene, when Lou is trying to play dead, but keeps scratching a persistent itch on his crotch.
-->'''Irene:''' Oh, great. That's what we're gonna tell the police when they get here. "Oh, yes, Officer, he is dead, but he just can't stop scratching himself."

-->'''Lou:''' I'm Lou Paloma. '''''Blow me.'''''
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Lou spills the beans to the cops to try to take Billy and Irene down with him, but he has absolutely no way to prove his identity (especially with his surgically altered face). Worse, after [=McClaine=] arrests him, his blood and fingerprints are matched to the knife and poker. With his body having officially been cremated, there's no way to prove his claims without Billy and Irene telling the truth.
* DueToTheDead: [=McClaine=] goes to Lou's sparsely attended memorial service out of respect, being the only non-family member there.
* EpicFail: As part of his EstablishingCharacterMoment, Lou says he got fired from his job as a pizza delivery man after spending hours looking for his car after delivering a pie to an office tower, which he still doesn't find when he comes home.
* EurekaMoment: After yelling at Mr. Neve (the insurance collector) on the phone, Lou bemoans how he's been giving them money his whole life and ditching him when he really needs it, which leads to him thinking up his fraud scheme.

* EyesNeverLie: When he comes over to hear what Lou has to say, we get close-ups of Billy and Irene looking at each other, which make their attraction immediately clear.
* FakingTheDead: Part of Lou's scheme, with help from Billy, in order to collect his life insurance policy.

** Billy is everything his brother isn't and could never be. While Lou is a LazyBum with no scruples about making a quick buck (even stooping so low as to fleece his mother's retirement fund), Billy is a respectable police coroner who only goes along with his brother's schemes because Lou keeps blackmailing him. Lou also treats Irene [[DomesticAbuse like crap]] and [[StayInTheKitchen won't let her get a job]], whereas Billy shows nothing but kindness toward his sister-in-law (later wife) and encourages her to get a career.
** From what we briefly hear of him, Mr. Neve has an ego and attitude quite similar to Lou, the two of them even yelling at each other in similar ways. The difference is that Neve has a steady job and is berating a deadbeat with a list of excuses, whereas Lou can't hold down a job and treats everyone like crap without justification.
* FlippingTheBird: Variation: Prior to turning off the TV [[YourTelevisionHatesYou over an insurance collection commercial]], Lou flicks his chin, a gesture on the same level as the bird.
* GetRichQuickScheme: The scheme in question boils down to Lou "FakingTheDead to collect his life insurance".
* GoneHorriblyRight: Lou's plan. He does such a great job making it look like he's been murdered that no one, even the cops and D.A., believes his claims of who he is...and that the only way he could know all of this is if he's the murderer.
* HappilyEverAfter: A rare example of this series using this trope. Everybody gets their just reward: Lou receives a satisfying KarmicDeath, while Irene and Billy live the high life on his insurance policy.
* HateSink: ''LOU'', being one of the most horrific people ever to appear on the show. The episode continually hammers it in that you're supposed to hate him with every fiber of your being and dance for joy when he gets his just desserts. And trust us, you ''will''.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Call it senility, dementia, or blatant stupidity, but Mother Paloma loathes Billy, the kindly son of hers who actually has a stable job, and dotes endlessly on Lou, the other son of hers who grew up to be an abusive deadbeat who was ''actively fleecing her retirement money.''
* HumiliationConga: Lou goes through a ''very'' well deserved one after returning from Rio. He finds out that his wife and brother are married, kept the insurance money, spruced up the house, and have basically pushed him completely out of their lives. When he tries to get back at them by exposing their scam to the cops, they refuse to believe him and arrest him for his own murder. At the subsequent trial, Lou is verbally shat upon by nearly every witness (even his own mother unintentionally screws him over by mistaking the defense attorney for him and calling herself Eleanor Roosevelt), sentenced to death, and executed.

* IronicEcho: Lou ends his phone call with Mr. Neve by yelling at the collector to blow him before hanging up. Lou's last words? "Blow me."
* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: In this Creator/MichaelJFox-directed episode of a show co-produced by Creator/RobertZemeckis, [=McClaine=] is played by Creator/JamesTolkan (who appeared as various Stricklands in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy). Fox's prosecutor character briefly questions him during the trial.
* {{Jerkass}}: Lou, no question.

* KarmicDeath: Early on, Lou reminds Billy that he took money from their mother's retirement account, and threatens to rat him out for it. When Billy says the money was actually given to him, Lou retorts he'll deny everything and adds that it's Billy's name on the withdrawal slips, giving motivation for Billy to do so for himself. In the end, Lou is convicted and executed for his own murder because Billy denied any knowledge of his involvement in his scheme and ensured that there was no way to prove he handled the supposed murder weapons.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Lou definitely gets what he deserves in the end, but Mother Paloma, who always rebuked Irene and Billy, gets her share of karma as well, being driven to insanity by the grief of Lou's death.
* LaughablyEvil: Lou is an awful, ''awful'' person, but he comes across as largely comedic in his delivery.
* LazyBum: Lou can't hold down a job to save his life. His job as a pizza delivery man is only the latest in a long line of jobs he's been canned from.
* LighterAndSofter: This is one of the more easy-going and mild episodes of the series. With very little gore presented, some light-hearted musical cues, and everyone being a pretty big ham, this episode come off as more of a thriller-comedy than a full-fledged horror episode.

** While going over the story they've prepared, Billy and Irene are about to kiss, but Lou stumbles back in, cursing about his corpse make-up.
** With the others out of the room, Billy and Irene start making out on the coffin, but they have to give it up when Mother Paloma suddenly storms back in. Good thing, though, due to the mechanism for sliding the coffin into the furnace having accidentally been activated during the interim.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Lou gets this through Billy and Irene getting back at him.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Since Lou can't fake unconsciousness on his own, he tells Irene to knock him out with the fireplace poker. To motivate her, he lists off several horrible things he's done to her, including cheating on her with her best friend. This prompts Billy, who ''hates'' how his brother treats Irene, to snatch the poker out of her hands and whack Lou in the head until he's knocked out.
* NoYou: During their brief phone conversation, Mr. Neve tells Lou to get a job and calls him a bum.
-->'''Lou:''' Hey, you can't talk to me like that! This is Lou Paloma you're talkin' to!
-->'''Mr. Neve:''' Hey, hey, hey! ''You'' can't talk to ''me'' like that!
* ObnoxiousInLaws: Mother Paloma has even less regard for Irene than Lou does.

* ParentalFavoritism: For whatever inexplicable reason, Mother Paloma favors Lou, the child who turned into an asshole deadbeat who indirectly embezzles her retirement fund, and constantly berates Billy, the kindly child who actually made a comfortable and respectable living with his life.
* PoliceAreUseless: Sgt. [=McClaine=] and his men are [[UnwittingPawn unwitting pawns]] throughout the episode, never once considering that Lou might be telling the truth.
* RageBreakingPoint: As part of the scam, Lou needs to be knocked out with a fireplace poker, but Irene is reluctant to try. Lou goads her by saying he cheated on her with her best friend. Irene proceeds to wail on him with the poker for that, though her efforts don't knock him out. However, it turns out that Billy is also enraged by this and gives Lou a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: As part of his closing argument, the prosecutor utterly tears into Lou (disguised as Mr. Smith), calling him a pathetic and worthless bastard who's ruined the lives of everyone close to him.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In the comic, the husband and the undertaker were not related.

** In her grief, Mother Paloma accuses Billy of killing Lou. He certainly did take part in his brother's scheme and hit him with the fireplace poker. She also blames Irene for the supposed death, but only in the sense that Irene allegedly wasn't there to protect Lou.
** Like everyone else, the prosecutor thinks Lou is just some disgusting lowlife murderer playing a sadistic game, but he is technically right when he accuses Lou of trying to weasel his way back into a married couple's lives for financial gain.

* ShoutOut: Lou describes the months he spent waiting for Irene in Brazil as "[[Music/JimmyBuffett wasting away in Margaritaville]]".
* SiblingTriangle: Irene is married to Lou, but she falls in love with his brother Billy, who genuinely returns her feelings. They get together in the end after Lou's KarmicDeath.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Lou thinks he's a big shot who makes all the decisions, when he's really a worthless deadbeat.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The episode may very well have not happened if not for Mr. Neve yelling at Lou over the phone about his life insurance policy.
* SympatheticAdulterer: Irene, who grows attracted to her husband's brother after Lou keeps beating her, insulting her, and admits to having sex with her best friend.

* ThreatBackfire: Lou threatens to give up Billy and Irene's role in his plan if they don't give him his money. They don't even bother worrying as they know the cops will never believe that Lou is who he says he is.
* TropicalEpilogue: Billy and Irene end the episode enjoying their new life in Brazil, having given Lou what he deserved for all his abuse.
* {{Tuckerization}}: The episode opens with Lou having already been fired from Zemeckis Pizza, named after executive producer Robert Zemeckis.
* TheUnfavorite: As if Mother Paloma inexplicably favoring Lou isn't bad enough, she's openly disdainful of Billy, the child who actually did something with his life. This was hinted at early on, but it's made clear later. And at Lou's memorial service, no less.
-->'''Mother Palmoa:''' I wanna be with my son!
-->'''Billy:''' Ma, I'm your son, too.
-->'''Mother Paloma:''' Don't rub it in!
* UnwittingPawn: [=McClaine=] and the other police officers are this to Lou's scam. However, Lou finds out too late that he's become a pawn himself to Billy and Irene.
* VillainousBreakdown: Lou, when found guilty for his own murder. He screams in a rage as the bailiff snaps the cuffs on. However, on execution day, Lou is more defeated in his final words.
* WifeBasherBasher: Billy absolutely hates the way Lou treats Irene. And when given the chance, Billy hits Lou over the head with a fire poker out of revenge for what he did to the lady.

* WorldOfHam: Thanks to the LighterAndSofter nature of the episode, pretty much every character is a big ham, but the main examples would be Lou, Mr. Neve, and the jury forewoman, who furiously and repeatedly pronounces Lou's guilty verdict loud enough for the angels to hear it.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Invoked. Billy and Irene out-gambit Lou by denying his claims and taking advantage of how his prints and blood are on all of the evidence. As such, the authorities believe him to be a cold-hearted, sadistic murderer trying to shamelessly score money out of the grieving relatives of his victim, instead of a guy whose relatives helped him pull off an elaborate insurance fraud scheme.
* XanatosGambit: Billy and Irene convince Lou that Irene leaving the country with the insurance policy so soon after the memorial service would look too suspicious, so he leaves for Rio on his own, gets plastic surgery, and spends months waiting for her. In the meantime, Billy and Irene hook up, get married, and keep the money for themselves. They fully expect Lou to come back and make a scene so he'll incriminate himself (and only himself), which fully happens with no one believing him when he tries to explain what happened and him getting juiced as a result, but they'd also win if he just stayed away.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Nobody believes Lou's claims about him not being an imposter.
* YourTelevisionHatesYou: Early in the episode, Lou is seen watching an advertisement about how to make insurance collectors leave you alone, which prompts him to turn the set off.

->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(stamps "CANCELLED" on an insurance form)'' Poor Lou. I bet he wished now that he'd gone for the term life. Even a ''life term'' would have been an improvement. Although you've got to admit, he's never looked so ''juiced'' about his future! ''(cackles)'' So what do you say? ''(holds up another insurance form)'' Can I interest you in a policy? The benefits are great, but the ''scream-iums'' will kill ya! ''(cackles)''

* PoliceAreUseless: Sgt. [=McClaine=] and his men are [[UnwittingPawn unwitting pawns]] throughout the episode.

* VillainousBreakdown: Lou, when found guilty for his own murder. He screams in a rage as the bailiff snaps the cuffs on.

* HateSink: ''LOU'', being one of the most horrific people ever to appear on the show. The episode continually hammers it in that you're supposed to hate him with every fiber of your being and dance for joy when he gets his just deserts. And trust us, you ''will''.

* HateSink: ''LOU'', being one of the most horrific people ever to appear on the show. The episode continually hammers it in that you're supposed to hate him with every fiber of your being and dance for joy when he gets his JustDesserts. And trust us, you ''will''.

* XanatosGambit: Billy and Irene convince Lou that Irene leaving the country with the insurance policy so soon after the memorial service would look too suspicious, so he leaves for Rio on his own, gets plastic surgery, and spends months waiting for her. In the meantime, Billy and Irene hook up, get married, and keep the money for themselves. They fully expect Lou to come back and make a scene so he'll incriminate himself (and only himself), but they'd also win if he just stayed away.

-->'''Paolo:''' Of course I know this man. His name is Smith, Senor Smith. We have watched many beautiful sunsets together.

* LazyBum: Lou can't hold down a job to save his life. His job as a pizza delivery man is only the latest in a long line of job he's been canned from.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_trap_opening.png]]
->''Fake his own death, then collect the life insurance. But a thug's get-rich scheme can go dead wrong.''
-->-- '''DVD description for the episode'''
After being fired from his job as a pizza delivery driver, Lou Paloma gets into an argument with his wife Irene over the dismal state of their finances. Irene's doubt over his ability to provide for the couple has become a long-standing frustration between them. With the reluctant help of his brother Billy, a coroner, Lou concocts a scheme to fake his own murder and collect $500,000 on his life insurance policy so he and Irene can start a new life in Rio.

Lou is shocked to find his house completely remodeled and Irene now married to Billy. Neither of them claims to know him, and when he calls the police to explain the insurance fraud and the double-cross, he is arrested, tried, and convicted of his own murder. He is executed in the electric chair, while Irene and Billy fly to Rio.
----

* AdaptationalHeroism: In the comic, Irene was a gold-digging nag who manipulated her HenpeckedHusband into the scheme she thought up, and she has an affair with the local undertaker. Irene and Larry betray Matt at the first opportunity and gladly accuse him of being the killer in order to cover their tracks. The TV version of Irene and Billy (standing in for Larry) do have an affair and keep the money, but they're portrayed in a positive light (such as sympathizing with the other over the abuse that Lou inflicts and neither of them being the one to think up this scheme).
* AdaptationalJobChange: Originally, the third member of this scam (Larry) was just a local undertaker who was only involved because of Irene. In this version, Billy is a coroner working for the police department, which justifies him being directly involved in the case and able to sell the lie.
* AdaptationalVillainy: Matt Hall had to be nagged into this insurance scam and was made the fall guy for his own murder in the end. Lou is an abusive sack of garbage who thinks up this scam himself and brings about his own demise by provoking the couple.
* AssholeVictim: Lou gets what he deserves in the end.
* BadLiar: Early on, Irene struggles with keeping Mr. Neve off their backs and stumbles through Lou's coaching. She's develops a way better poker face later on, however.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Billy and Irene are genuinely nice people who want to do the right thing, but mistreat them one too many times at your peril. Lou found this out the hard way.
* BigBrotherBully: Lou. Lou, Lou, Lou.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Lou is an utter scumbag who treats his family horribly and would rather make a quick buck than an honest living. Billy and Irene commit perjury and insurance fraud, but both felonies were brought about by Lou's actions, and he completely deserves everything they subject him to in the climax.
* {{Blackmail}}: Lou has been so desperate for money that he's had Billy take it out of their mother's retirement account. To get him to help in this scheme, Lou threatens to tell Mother Paloma that Billy alone took the money (citing how Billy manages the account and signed the withdrawal slips). Irene later says she would've vouched for Billy, but Billy knows that wouldn't have mattered (for reasons that become quite apparent during the memorial service).

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Lou and Billy's mom thinks the prosecutor is her son Lou and she herself thinks she's Eleanor Roosevelt!

* CreatorCameo: Creator/MichaelJFox directed this episode and plays the prosecutor during the trial.
* DeadpanSnarker: Irene when Lou is trying to play dead but keeps scratching a persistent itch.

* DefiantToTheEnd: Unable to prove his "innocence" and sentenced to death, Lou has only one thing to say to the prison guards: "I'm Lou Paloma. Blow me."
* DidntThinkThisThrough: Lou spills the beans to the cops to try to take Billy and Irene down with him, but he has absolutely no way to prove his identity (especially with his slightly altered face). Worse, after [=McClaine=] arrests him, his blood and fingerprints are matched to the knife and fireplace poker. With his body having officially been cremated, there's no way to prove his claims without Billy and Irene telling the truth.

* EurekaMoment: After yelling at Mr. Neve (the man from the insurance company) on the phone, Lou bemoans how he's been giving them money his whole life and really needs some now, which leads to him thinking up his fraud scheme.

* FakingTheDead: Part of Lou's scheme, with help from Billy, in order to collect the fortune on his life insurance policy.

** Billy is everything is brother isn't and could never be. While Lou is a LazyBum with no scruples about making a quick buck (even stooping so low as to fleece his mother's retirement fund), Billy is a respectable mortician who only goes along with his brother's schemes because Lou keeps blackmailing him. Lou treats Irene [[DomesticAbuse like crap]] and [[StayInTheKitchen won't let her get a job]], whereas Billy shows nothing but kindness toward his sister-in-law (later wife) and encourages her to get a career.
** From what we briefly hear of him, Mr. Neve has an ego and attitude quite similar to Lou. (They yell at each other in similar ways.) The difference is that Neve has a steady job and is berating a deadbeat with a list of excuses, whereas Lou can't hold down a job and treats everyone like crap without justification.
* GetRichQuickScheme: The scheme in question boils down to "FakingTheDead to collect life insurance".
* GoneHorriblyRight: Lou's plan. He does such a great job making it look like he's been murdered that no one, including the cops or D.A., believes his claims of who he is...and that the only way he could know all this is if he's the murderer.

* HateSink: The episode hammers it in that you're supposed to hate Lou with every fiber of your being and dance for joy when he gets his JustDesserts. And you ''will''.
* HumiliationConga: Lou goes through a well deserved one after returning from Rio. He finds that his wife and brother are married, kept the insurance money, spruced up the house, and basically pushed him completely out of their lives. When he tries to get back at them by exposing the scam to the cops, they refuse to believe him and arrest him for his own murder. At the subsequent trial, Lou is verbally shat upon by every witness (even his own mother unintentionally screws him over by calling herself Eleanor Roosevelt and mistaking the defense attorney for him), sentenced to death, and executed.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Lou (who admitted to cheating on her at least once) denounces Irene for hooking up with Billy while he was away.

%%* {{Jerkass}}: '''Lou.'''
%%** Mother Paloma, as well--[[GenerationXerox must be where Lou got it from.]]
* KarmicDeath: Early on, Lou reminds Billy that he took money from their mother's retirement account and threatens to rat him out for it. When Billy says the money was actually given to him, Lou retorts he'll deny everything and adds that it's Billy's name on the withdrawal slips. In the end, Lou is convicted and executed for his own murder because Billy denied knowledge of his involvement in this scheme and ensured there was no way to prove he handled the supposed murder weapons.
* LazyBum: Lou can't hold down a job to save his life.

** While going over the story they've prepared, Billy and Irene are about to kiss, but then Lou stumbles back in cursing about his corpse make-up.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Since Lou can't fake unconsciousness, he tells Irene to knock him out with the fireplace poker. To motivate her, he lists off several horrible things he's done to her. This prompts Billy, who ''hates'' how his brother treats Irene, to snatch the poker out of her hands and whack Lou in the head until he's knocked out.

-->'''Lou:''' Hey, you can't talk to me like that! This is Lou Paloma you're talkin' to!\\
'''Mr. Neve:''' Hey, hey, hey! You can't talk to me like that!

* OhCrap: Billy when he thinks his beatdown of Lou actually resulted in AccidentalMurder.
* ParentalFavoritism: Lou and Billy's mom inexplicably favors Lou.
* PoliceAreUseless: Sgt. [=McClaine=] and his boys are [[UnwittingPawn Unwitting Pawns]] throughout the episode.

** In her grief, Mother Paloma accuses Billy of killing Lou. Well, he certainly took part in this scheme and hit him with the fireplace poker. She also blames Irene for the supposed death, but only in the sense that Irene allegedly wasn't there to protect Lou.
** Like everyone else, the prosecutor thinks Lou is just some disgusting murderer playing a sadistic game, but he is technically right when he accuses Lou of trying to weasel his way back into a married couple's lives for financial gain.
* SanitySlippage: Lou's apparent death has driven Mother Paloma off the deep end.

* SiblingTriangle: Irene is married to Lou but is falling in love with his brother Billy who genuinely returns her feelings. They get together in the end after Lou's KarmicDeath.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Lou thinks he's a big shot when he's really a worthless deadbeat.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: The episode may very well have not happened, if not for Mr. Neve yelling at Lou over the phone about his life insurance policy.
* SympatheticAdulterer: Irene.

* ThreatBackfire: Lou threatens to give up Billy and Irene's role in the plan if they don't give him his money. They don't even bother worrying as they know the cops will never believe this is really Lou.
* {{Tuckerization}}: The episode opens with Lou having already been fired from Zemeckis Pizza, so named after executive producer Robert Zemeckis.
* TheUnfavorite: As if Mother Paloma favoring Lou isn't bad enough, she's openly disdainful of Billy. This was hinted at early on, but it's made clear at Lou's memorial service, no less.
-->'''Mother Palmoa:''' I wanna be with my son!\\
'''Billy:''' Ma, I'm your son, too.\\
'''Mother Paloma:''' Don't rub it in!
* UnwittingPawn: [=McClaine=] and the other police officers are this to the scam. However, Lou finds out too late that he's become this to Billy and Irene.
* VillainousBreakdown: Lou when found guilty for his own murder. He screams in a rage, as the bailiff snaps the cuffs on.
* WifeBasherBasher: Billy absolutely hates the way Lou treats Irene. And when given the chance, Billy hits Lou over the head with a fire poker out of revenge for what he did to Irene.
* WithFriendsLikeThese: Not only did Lou cheat on Irene, but he did so with her best friend.
* WrongGenreSavvy: Invoked. Billy and Irene out-gambit Lou by denying his claims and taking advantage of how his prints and blood are on all the evidence. As such, the authorities believe him to be a cold-hearted, sadistic murderer instead of a guy who had help pulling off an elaborate insurance fraud scheme.
* XanatosGambit: Billy and Irene convince Lou that her leaving the country with that insurance check so soon after the memorial service would look too suspicious, so he leaves for Rio on his own and stays away for months. In the meantime, Billy and Irene hook up and keep the money for themselves. They fully expect Lou to come back to make a scene that'll incriminate himself (and only himself), but they'd also win if he just stayed away.
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Nobody believes Lou's claims about not being an imposter.

* {{Jerkass}}: '''Lou.''' UpToEleven.
** Mother Paloma, as well--[[GenerationXerox must be where Lou got it from.]]

* ShoutOut: Lou describes the months he spent waiting for Irene in Brazil as "[[Music/JimmyBuffet wasting away in Margaritaville]]".

* SiblingTriangle: Irene is married to Lou but is falling in love with his brother Billy who genuinely returns her feelings. They get together in the end after Lou's KarmicDeath.

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: In this Michael J. Fox-directed episode of a show co-produced by Robert Zemeckis, [=McClaine=] is played by James Tolkan (who appeared as various Stricklands in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy). Fox's prosecutor character briefly questions him during the trial.