Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. No one appreciates this more than Victoria Morgan. And who could blame her?
A haggish old dowager is murdered by her put-upon niece and young boyfriend, only to return to haunt them in mirrors. Originally aired May 4th, 1998. — Rip Torn, opening narration of episode.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Victoria Morgan, the main antagonist for Douglas.
- A Family Affair: Douglas is Victoria's suitor but he is her niece Edith's lover in secret.
- Ambiguous Situation: Did Douglas fall to his death? Or did Edith push him? Was it really Edith or her dead aunt Victoria possessing her at the end?
- Beauty Is Bad: The point of the episode. Aunt Victoria has always been vain, self-obsessed and cruel when it comes to her beauty. And as soon as Edith starts becoming more beautiful, her vanity starts blossoming as well.
- Betty and Veronica: Edith is the Betty and her aunt Victoria is the Veronica to Douglas's Archie.
- Big "NO!": Douglas screams this as he backs away from Victoria's ghost before meeting his demise.
- Cruel Twist Ending: Just as Edith and Douglas become engaged, Edith becomes like her late aunt Victoria and Douglas dies.
- Downer Beginning: The episode begins with Victoria obsessing over her beauty, Douglas having to date her and her niece Edith having to wait on her hand and foot.
- Downer Ending: Douglas dies and Edith becomes just like her aunt Victoria, beauty, vanity and all.
- Familial Body Snatcher: It's heavily implied that Victoria's ghost possesses Edith's body at the end.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Edith is giving a Death Glare when her aunt Victoria asks her suitor Douglas to help remove some cookie crumbs from her bust. Turns out, this is because Douglas is also Edith's secret lover.
- Here We Go Again!: The episode "Mirror, Mirror" ends with Douglas's death and Edith becoming like her evil aunt Victoria and tormenting her caregiver, just like Victoria tormented Edith.
- Interrupted Intimacy: Just as Edith and Douglas start to celebrate, the romance dies because Edith can see aunt Victoria in the mirror above them. And again at the end, when Douglas sees aunt Victoria in the mirror too.
- Ironic Echo:
- "I look at you and I see myself, as if I'm seeing my own mirror image."
- In Edith's words, "She said I was her mirror image."
- Kick the Dog: Victoria is always quick to criticize Edith for her appearance and clumsiness. Long afterwards, Edith ends up doing the same to the new caregiver who looks just like she did before.
- Love Triangle: Edith/Douglas/Victoria.
- Mirror Scare: So many in the episode due to aunt Victoria's ghostly presence haunting her niece and lover through the mirrors and many surfaces in the house.
- Not Quite Dead: aunt Victoria is dead but her spirit won't rest until she's made life a living hell for the people who murdered her: her niece and her lover.
- Paranoia Fuel: Invoked in the episode after aunt Victoria's murder. Edith can't look into any reflections (doorknobs, mirrors, windows) without seeing her dead aunt Victoria haunting her from the grave.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Just as Edith is rid of her aunt, gets the house, the money, everything and she and Douglas become engaged, this happens.
- Title Drop: In the episode's ending narration.
- Wham Shot: As Douglas hugs Edith following their engagement, he catches a glimpse in the mirror and suddenly sees her aunt Victoria in her place frightening him.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: In the ending, just as Edith and Douglas get engaged to each other, aunt Victoria's presence decides to come back and haunt them one last time which results in Douglas' death.
If beauty truly lies in the eye of the beholder, then perhaps greed and vanity dwell there as well. Just ask Edith Morgan. She sees it clearly now. Every time she looks in the mirror.
— Rip Torn, ending narration of episode.
