Skincrawlers
Written By: Paul Dini and Stephen Langford
The overweight Henry Quayle (Dana Gould) visits the headquarters of millionaire health enthusiast Dr. Herbert Sloan (Chad Michael Collins). The offices are currently broadcasting Sloan's latest body management venture: "Skin Deep by Sloan", a miraculous procedure for weight loss. On a tour of the office, Henry discovers that Dr. Sloan had discovered 10 specimens of a highly advanced form of leech trapped in a water reservoir in South America. The leeches are revealed to harmlessly liquify and suck adipose fat cells out of human bodies in lieu of blood. Despite his initial intrigue, Henry opts out of the procedure, deeming it too weird. Two weeks later, Henry orders food from a food truck as he watches athletic people around him show off their muscles. He is then approached by Kelly (Hina X. Kahn), one of the other clients from his trip to Sloan's office. After seeing her new slender physique, Henry becomes interested in the treatment and agrees to undergo it.
The next day, Henry meets with Dr. Sloan and his assistant Debbie (Melissa Saint-Amand) in the studios of the AM America news program to demonstrate the procedure on live television. Debbie tells Henry how excited Sloan is to have him undergo the treatment, as well as the fact that the studio owner and half of its crew also underwent the procedure. Unknown to Henry and Sloan, the newscast is scheduled on the same day when a major once-in-a-century solar eclipse is set to occur. When the eclipse reaches totality, Jim Scott (Darin Toonder), the anchorman reporting live, suddenly has his head explode. Kelly also dies when numerous tiny leech-like creatures, the spawn of Dr. Sloan's leeches, erupt from her face through her eye. The same creatures, reacting to the magnetic waves of the eclipse, burst out of the bodies of Debbie and nearly half of the production crew, showering the newsroom in blood, bile, and baby leeches.
An incensed Henry tracks down the retreating Sloan, angrily accusing him of knowing that his supposed miracle cure would put people in danger, yet willingly subjecting his patients to it to make a profit. Sloan then breaks down, admitting that what's happening isn't normal. He goes on to admit that he was overweight like Henry once, plagued by self-esteem issues and always looking for an easy cure. When his science team discovered the leeches, he claims that they had tested the leeches in every situation imaginable, but hadn't counted on solar eclipses. Before he can say anymore, Sloan himself soon convulses and dies. A massive, tentacled leech-creature erupts from his corpse and nearly devours Henry. Henry is able to free himself and kills the creature by way of crushing it with a vending machine. Henry then picks up a bloody candy bar from the machine's wreckage and wanders back to the studio, still in chaos. He turns and grins smugly at the camera as he takes a bite of the candy bar.
This episode contains examples of:
- Animal Testing: Sloan admits that his science team tested the leeches in every theoretical situation to determine that they were safe for human use. Unfortunately, they didn't count on solar eclipses during their tests.
- Art Shift: The opening commercial for "Skin Deep by Sloan" contains a sequence where a cartoon leech sucks the fat out of a cartoon man, turning him buff.
- Aside Glance: Henry closes the story with a smug one, since not going ahead with the procedure saved his life.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Once he witnesses all the bloody death that occurs during the eclipse, the mild-mannered Henry goes on the warpath, storming after Sloan, manhandling him, and calling him out for supposedly letting hundreds of innocent people gruesomely die so he could get their money.
- Be Yourself: Henry learns this at the end of the episode, deciding that he doesn't need to be thin to stay true to himself. He even tries to console Sloan when the latter reveals he genuinely didn't know what the leeches were doing, trying to get him to learn the lesson as well. The giant leech in Sloan's gut kills Sloan before he can agree with him, however.
- Big Eater: Henry is one, contributing to his obesity. He is seen eating candy bars at two separate points in the story, he's the only person in Sloan's tour group to take a complimentary donut, and he finally decides to undergo "Skin Deep" as he's stuffing his face with a burrito.
- Bittersweet Ending: Even though Henry managed to stop the giant leech from eating him and regained his self-esteem, at the end of the day, numerous people are still dead, including the woman he was growing attracted to. That, and the carnage was broadcast live, exposing God knows how many viewers to an absolute massacre.
- Bizarre Alien Reproduction: The leeches, once they finish absorbing the fat cells unknowing humans, deposit either their eggs or larvae inside them afterwards. The solar eclipse either causes the eggs to hatch, or the larvae that have already hatched to become active and burst out of them.
- Bond One-Liner: After killing the giant leech, Henry triumphantly exclaims "Suck that!"
- Bookends: The story begins and ends with Henry taking a huge bite out of a candy bar.
- Chest Burster: The larval leeches, once active, burst out of pretty much anywhere they want to from the body. The giant leech that emerges from Sloan's body plays the trope straight.
- Combat Tentacles: The giant leech that bursts out of Sloan has these, though it's apparently the only leech that has them at all.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Henry accuses Sloan of being one during the climactic massacre, but it's subverted when Sloan is genuinely horrifed by the brutality, as well as the fact that this is what he was subjecting countless innocent people to.
- Covered in Gunge: This happens to Henry and several other people during the studio massacre, blood, bile, and baby leeches being sprayed everywhere.
- Deadline News: The larval leeches burst out of their hosts live on air, causing several fatalities in the process.
- Death by Irony: The giant fat-sucking leech is killed when Henry crushes it under a vending machine full of candy.
- Didn't See That Coming: Sloan admits that he tested the advanced leeches through every situation imaginable except solar eclipses. In fairness, Sloan does mention that solar eclipses aren't a factor that people always count on during scientific testing.
- Dropped Glasses: Henry slips on some of Sloan's blood when his chest explodes, dropping his glasses in the process. When he finally manages to put them back on, he discovers the giant leech peering out of Sloan's corpse.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Debbie and Sloan make their first appearances in the opening commercial, minutes before they first appear in person.
- Eye Scream: Kelly's death comes from larval leeches bursting out of her eye. A single larva pokes through her pupil before the rest of its kin follow suit.
- Foreshadowing: Early in the episode, Kelly is seen reading a newspaper detailing the upcoming solar eclipse.
- Formerly Fat: Everyone who undergoes "Skin Deep" was once obese, but they turn out attractively slim. Sloan himself was nearly 300 pounds when he first discovered the leeches, and he takes such a deep interest in Henry undergoing the procedure because he sees him as a version of himself.
- Flower Mouth: The leeches have these kinds of mouths, housing sucking jaws that they use to absorb fat.
- Genre Savvy: Henry firmly denied having the leeches put on his body, deeming Sloan's treatment as too weird and unsettling. As the eclipse comes around, Henry is revealed to have made the right choice, saving his own life without even knowing it.
- Growling Gut: Those who have undergone "Skin Deep" have their stomachs begin rumbling as the eclipse reaches its zenith, no doubt a sign of the more active leeches preparing to burst out of them.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Though he seemed slightly slimy and skeezy at first, Sloan is revealed to be one, having been left traumatized after learning and witnessing the fatal reproductive methods of the leeches he was shilling.
- Humans Are Morons: As part of the episode's vicious parodying of body-management fads, most characters in the episode, with the exception of Henry, Sloan, and (at first) Kelly, are seen as idiotic narcissists who only want to look attractive or fit, giving no regards to the potential danger of the leeches. Sloan even narrates how "man has been obsessed with his own image since the beginning of time", to further emphasize the idea.
- Anchorpeople Randy and Suzy are some of the dumbest in the whole episode, to the point where the latter's reaction to Jim Scott telling them about how animals (including the leeches themselves) act erratically during eclipses is a cheery "I don't know what that means!"
- Jump Scare: Henry is the victim of one when a leech in Sloan's aquarium slams its mouth into the glass, trying to feed on him.
- Meaningful Name: The hosts of AM America are named Randy Witten and Suzy Spry, parodying the witty and spry on-air personalities of early-morning newscasters.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Sloan becomes genuinely distraught when his miracle cure turns out to have horrifically deadly side effects.
- Mythology Gag:
- Science reporter Jim Scott is noted to be reporting the eclipse live from Horlicks Observatory.
- The Grantham family ashtray is seen in a glass case in Sloan's waiting room.
- Nice Guy: Weight/obesity issues aside, Henry is a friendly and well-meaning goofball who gets along well with almost everyone in the story.
- Only Sane Man: Henry realizes that putting a rare, newly-discovered, fat-sucking leech on his body may not be the best idea. This ends up saving his life.
- Parody Commercial: The episode opens on an In-Universe advertisement for "Skin Deep by Sloan", complete with a cartoon of a fat man being turned buff after a leech sucks his fat away.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Henry has some difficulty with people skills at times, such as his first time making small talk with Kelly, his little chuckle at Sloan's joke, and his nervousness in front of the camera when he's brought to the AM America studios.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When everything starts going to hell in the studio, a camera operator (who didn't undergo the procedure) promptly makes a run for it.
- Shout-Out:
- Keeping with the story's science theme, Sloan shares the same first name as Herbert West.
- A statue of Pazuzu can be seen in Sloan's office.
- The advanced leeches have mouths reminiscent of the Demogorgon.
- Kelly excitedly exclaims "Take my money!" when she sees how effective Sloan's treatment is. She also refers to Sloan as "Dr. Seuss" before she undergoes said treatment.
- Show Within a Show: AM America, the news program where Sloan prepares to demonstrate "Skin Deep" on Henry.
- Take That!: The story takes potshots at quick-fix fad diets, as well as the lengths that people will go to become attractive and popular.
- Trend Aesop: As the ending (violently) shows, not all trends turn out to be good for people, especially ones regarding a person's health. Sticking to your guns and resisting the peer pressure to partake in said trends also counts as a pretty good aesop.
- Too Good to Be True: "Skin Deep" is treated as "the biggest breakthrough in body-management history", and apparently has people becoming thin to the point where they will never have to diet or exercise again. The only downside occurs during a solar eclipse... and it's a very bloody downside to boot.
- Total Eclipse of the Plot: A total solar eclipse that is rumored to be visible across the entirety of the continental United States (a once-in-a-century occurrence) is a major plot point. The increased magnetic field flows that result when the eclipse reaches totality cause the larval leeches to become active and burst out of their hosts.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Henry has a fondness for Big Hunk bars, eating one in Sloan's office and again in the end while facing the camera.
- True Beauty Is on the Inside: After spending the episode being ashamed of his weight, Henry finally realizes that he doesn't need to be thin to have self-esteem, and should like himself for who he is instead of how he looks.
- Turn Off the Camera: Sloan runs up to the cameras in the studios after the leeches begin bursting out of their victims, trying to turn them off and urgently telling the viewers that what's happening isn't normal.
- The Unreveal: Regarding the origins of the leeches, we only learn that Sloan discovered them in 2012, in a reservoir in South America, and not even he actually knows what kind of species they are. Whether they are a hyper-evolved species, a long-lost prehistoric species, or even a species not native to Earth, are all theories for debate.
- While Henry has been an avid consumer of Sloan's previous products, he was brought to Sloan's office after he was sent an email. We never know who sent that email, but it could've possibly been Sloan himself.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When the eclipse hits, Debbie and several others are seen vomiting a mixture of blood, bile, and larval leeches.
- Weight Woe: Henry is shown to struggle with issues regarding his obesity. This is highlighted in a scene where he eats from a food truck, surrounded by athletic men who show off their muscles. Sloan takes a particular interest in Henry undergoing his procedure because he felt and looked the exact same way many years ago.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Randy and Suzy, along with most of the other studio employees who didn't undergo the procedure, disappear after the carnage is over.
- The original 10 leeches housed in Sloan's office could've likely gone on their own massacre during the eclipse, since the episode only focuses on the action in the TV studio in the last half.
- Your Head A-Splode: One of the early signs warning that things are about to go crazy in the studio is when Jim Scott's head suddenly explodes.
