Recap / Creepshow S 1 E 10 Times Is Tough In Musky Holler

Lester: Hey! Listen up, jailors! Y'all know me! It's your ol' pal, Lester M. Barclay!

Times is Tough in Musky Holler

Directed By: John Harrison
Story By: John Skipp and Dori Miller
Written By: John Skipp and Dori Miller

In an underground prison cell, Lester M. Barclay (Dane Rhodes), former mayor of the southern town of Musky Holler, is ranting at his apparent jailors. Imprisoned with him are his cronies and followers, Sheriff Deke, gossiper Leslianne Dowd, newscaster Don Pomade, and Pastor Mitchell Ryan (David Arquette, Karen Strassman, Tommy Kane, and Kermit Rolison), along with their families and co-workers. It becomes apparent that Lester's incarceration is the aftermath of a revolution that successfully overthrew the corrupt mayor and his followers, who have brutalized the townspeople for far too long. The condemned are then led to their punishment, strapped into chairs with chains attached to them. As the prisoners scream and holler, the chairs are then lifted to the ceiling.

A series of lengthy flashbacks, narrated by new mayor Lottie (Tracey Bonner) reveals that sometime earlier (and for reasons unrevealed), a zombie apocalypse plagued the town. A used-car salesman back then, Lester took advantage of the chaos and convinced Musky Holler's city council to refuse assistance from the National Guard. From there, Lester had gained enough respect from the townsfolk that he was appointed as the town's mayor, claiming to offer his aid to the citizens. As soon as he was made mayor, Lester revealed himself to be a crooked and despicable sociopath. He had his predecessor murdered, sanctioned the police to rape and murder as they pleased, spread propaganda about his insane laws, and executed anyone, regardless of their occupation, who attempted to challenge his authority.

To answer for their crimes, Lester and his cronies are sentenced to death by "Live Pie", a sadistic game created by Lester himself, where the condemned are forced headfirst through pie tins in the high school football field, left to be swarmed by zombies and eaten alive. Lester and his goons are utterly defenseless, only able to watch in terror as the limbless, zombified corpses of those Lester had sentenced to death through his twisted regime devour them all one by one. Lester is devoured last, his face being torn off by the zombified former mayor.

This episode contains examples of:

• 0% Approval Rating: Everyone in the story who isn't on Lester's side despises him and his cronies, and are all too happy to see them go.
• Actor Allusion: David Arquette once again plays a police officer, albeit an evil one this time.
• A God Am I: Even in the face of certain death, Lester can't let go of his monumental ego, proclaiming himself to be "the King of Musky Holler".
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Lester and his followers all plead to be spared from Live Pie, but as Lottie tells the man himself, if he really wanted to negotiate with her, he's far too late to do that now.
• Ambiguous Situation: The most glaring example would have to be the nature of the zombie apocalypse. We already know it has no apparent cause, but we also don't know if it's restricted to just Musky Holler, or if it's affecting the whole world.
• An Arm and a Leg: The zombies that devour Lester and his goon squad are completely limbless. This is illustrated in the comic segues, where we see a man with an ax preparing to chop off the limbs of a restrained zombie.
• Asshole Victim: Since most of their cruelty is limited to flashbacks and comic-book panels, Lester and his cronies spend the entirety of their screen time in the present being kicked around by Lottie and the people they wronged.
• Black Boss Lady: Lottie, previously employed in Musky Holler's city council, led the revolution against Lester, and ultimately became the town's new mayor after he and his goon squad were overthrown.
• Black Comedy: The scene where Lester and his goon squad are devoured by the zombies has announcers commentating on the spectacle like a football game. Considering the execution is performed on a football field and was made an established sporting event by Lester, it's somewhat justified.
• Blatant Lies: Leslianne's claims that she never gossiped about anyone, since we see her do so in a flashback.
• Bookends: Deke's first and last words are commentary about how he thinks nothing about his and the others' situation is funny.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Leslianne wets herself as Lottie and the townsfolk come to collect her and the others for their sentencing. Several of the chairs chained to the ceiling have stains on them, suggesting this is not an uncommon occurrence.
• Call-Back: Ezra refers to his late father as "Daddy", much like how Timmy Grenadine did in Gray Matter.
• Cigarette of Anxiety: Several of Lottie's prisoners are seen smoking as their executions draw near.
• Deadly Game: Live Pie is a sadistic game created by Lester, where people he deems enemies to himself and his administration are thrown to the zombies and eaten alive.
• Deep South: Musky Holler is strongly hinted to be located down here, given that its populace are a god-fearing community and the town itself is pretty ramshackle, even before the apocalypse hit.
• Dirty Cop: Sheriff Deke, a rapist and murderer who was appointed sheriff after he pistol-whipped the actual sheriff, Ezra's father, to death.
• Dirty Coward: Lester and every one of his followers are reduced to crying, screaming, and begging not to become zombie food after carrying about their reigns of terror during the outbreak.
• Eating Contest: Live Pie is a morbid version of one, where spectators watch captive zombies slowly hobble toward condemned people and devour them alive. The guilty are even surrounded by hollowed out pie tins to complete the illusion.
• Evil Is Hammy: Lester, in spades. The man hardly ever lowers his voice.
• Facial Horror: As well as being limbless, the zombies who devour Lester and his cronies are also faceless, since they previously were sentenced to Live Pie. Lester himself is left with nothing but a skull where his face once was when the ex-mayor gets through with him.
• Forced to Watch: Ezra was forced by Deke's deputies to watch as the man pistol-whipped his dad to death.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: According to Ezra, Lester was a used-car salesman prior to the zombie apocalypse. It's safe to say that the power that came from being mayor went straight to his head.
• Gory Discretion Shot: The early victims of Live Pie have their deaths censored by having their pictures on the scoreboard X'd out.
• Gossipy Hens: Leslianne Dowd, one of Lester's followers, is a tried and true gossiper. She is sentenced to Live Pie after said gossip somehow got numerous people killed.
• Great Offscreen War: Much like the Zombie Apocalypse did, the revolution instigated by the townspeople to overthrow Lester took place long before the story began.
• Hate Sink:
  • Lester, full stop. The zombie apocalypse gave him an opportunity to put himself in a position of power, and once he did, he wasted no time in fooling the God-fearing townsfolk into electing him mayor, claiming to be the only person who could protect them from the zombies. From there, he became a dictator in all but name, subjecting any and all of his opponents to be devoured by zombies for the entertainment of the masses.
  • Lester's right-hand man, Sheriff Deke, is no better. From what we hear from Ezra, Deke raped his baby sister in the past, and as seen in a brief flashback, Deke became sheriff after pistol-whipping the original sheriff, Ezra's father, to death while his men made Ezra watch. Under Lester's reign, Deke and his deputies had been given free rein to rape and murder the townsfolk as they pleased. Needless to say, when both of these men get what's coming to them, there's very little reason to be sorry for them.
• Honest John's Dealership: Lester ran one of these before the zombie outbreak, so no doubt his silver tongue and powers of persuasion helped him gain the townsfolk's respect.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Lester tries to play this card to justify all the atrocities that he committed, claiming to be the only man who had the balls to do what he did. The townsfolk don't buy it, nor do they care.
• Infodump: This is the shortest episode in the series to date, and because of the lack of running time, there are a couple of lengthy comic-book sequences where Lottie narrates how the zombie apocalypse occurred without warning, how Lester eventually became mayor in the midst of the chaos, and how he turned Musky Holler into his own private dictatorship, locking up anyone who attempted to challenge his rule and forcing them to be thrown to the zombies.
• In Medias Res: The episode starts moments before Lester and his goon squad are about to meet their demise at the hands of the townsfolk they had wronged. In other words, barring the flashbacks, this is the final act of a longer episode.
• Immoral Journalist: Don Pomade, a news director who willingly spread Lester's lies and propaganda.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Lottie's prisoners all suffer from this, sans Lester. A few of them even have more blubbering than lines.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Leslianne, while apprehended, claims that she didn't spread any gossip about anyone. The flashback of her in the salon is promptly shown to the viewers to reveal she's lying.
• Just Following Orders: As they are lifted into the ceiling for their punishment, Deke's deputies plead that they were only doing what they were told.
• Karmic Death: Leslianne, Deke, and Lester are eaten by the very people whose deaths they caused.
• Mayor Pain: Lester M. Barclay proved himself to be a particularly evil mayor.
• Monochrome Past: The flashbacks of Deke, Leslianne, and Lester, which reveal their crimes.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Similar to the original film, a group of characters face certain doom while only their heads are exposed and they're being filmed. This time, however, what they need to worry about isn't drowning.
  • Leslianne is seen holding and using the ashtray from "Father's Day" during her flashback in the beauty salon.
• Never My Fault: When confronted with a football field packed full of angry townsfolk itching to watch him and his followers die, Lester does not once apologize for his actions, choosing instead to double down on his beliefs that he did what he needed doing because he was the only person who had the balls to do so. He then goes on to shift blame to the townsfolk, yelling that they practically begged him to do all that he did.
• New Era Speech: Lester gives an impressive speech to the citizens of Musky Holler after he's made mayor, aiming to keep them all under his power:
  Lester: I'm here to tell ya they didn't know how to keep you safe, they couldn't keep you safe, and they won't keep you safe! Only I can keep you safe! Y'all will be taken care of by me: Lester M. Barclay! I have seen the vision of our future, and those that cannot see will be punished! With a new world comes new rules! We've halted the advance of the dead after the change, thanks to me! You all have your lives thanks to me!!! But there are those who would have let you die! Those that didn't act! Those that didn't have vision! They must pay for those we lost!
• No Ending: The episode ends immediately after Lester's face is eaten. We have no idea what will come next for the citizens of Musky Holler, or if their town will even last much longer without Lester's sadistic laws to keep the advance of the zombies halted.
• No Indoor Voice: Lester very rarely stops shouting throughout the episode.
• Noodle Incident: Leslianne is sentenced to death for spreading gossip that somehow caused many innocent citizens to die. How exactly her gossip led to people dying is never elaborated.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Lester is given several of them by Lottie, the sportscasters in the football field, and even his own followers for being such a wicked and loathsome individual.
• Riddle for the Ages: It's never once mentioned how the zombie apocalypse happened to begin with. Lottie does mention that there were a few theories tossed around, but nothing conclusive is ever stated. Of course, Lottie also mentions that the situation got so out of hand so quickly that the exact reason why it was happening wasn't really that important at the moment.
• Shout-Out:
  • Mad Max is name-dropped during Lottie's narration, comparing it to the chaotic state that Musky Holler had descended into during Lester's reign as mayor.
  • During the comic book sequences, illustrated versions of characters from famous horror movies, particularly Hereditary, Get Out (2017), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, can be seen being subjected to Lester's punishments.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Lottie and her followers give Lester and his crew several of them after everything that he's done, and every attempt he gives to justify why he did what he did.
• Sinister Minister: Mitchell Ryan, Musky Holler's pastor, is sentenced to Live Pie when he stated that Lester's actions were God's will.
• Small-Town Tyrant: Lester became one as soon he was made mayor, controlling the police, the media, and the church so he could have them lie, rape, kill, and demonize his enemies in his name.
• Splash of Color: During the monochrome flashbacks detailed above, the only color comes from the unfortunate victims of Deke, Leslianne, and Lester.
• Vigilante Militia: The townsfolk left alive assembled themselves into a mob to hunt down Lester and overthrow him, and as we see in the beginning, they succeeded.
• Villain Has a Point: For all his sociopathy, Lester does raise a valid point that the zombies have been effectively kept out of Musky Holler under his rule, apart from those used for his death games, and that the town itself and everyone still alive wouldn't be where they currently are right now if he didn't act as he did.
• Would Harm a Child: Ezra, the teenaged son of the original sheriff, reminds Deke that he raped his baby sister in addition to killing his dad.
• Wretched Hive: Lottie describes Musky Holler is a town that is coming apart at the seams. Her narration also mentions that it was "kind of a shithole" even before the zombie apocalypse, wondering if it was such an unpleasant place that it needed to be wiped off the face of the Earth by an undead horde.
• Zombie Apocalypse: One of them occurred offscreen, allowing for Lester to easily take control of Musky Holler.

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