Rod Serling: Good evening. I'm your tour guide through this unusual salon of unusual statuary and paintings. These are the sort of things that may not please you, but very likely may chill you, because this is the Night Gallery.
The Sins of the Fathers
Original story by: Christianna Bran
Teleplay by: Halsted Welles
Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Rod Serling: Now this one here, unabashed and unashamed, I submit to you as a dandy. It delves into an ancient funeral rite having to do with a person that's called a "sin eater"; one who attends a wake and partakes of the funeral food, and in the process, digests all the transgressions of the deceased, so that he departs the earth a much cleaner and sweeter little item. Proving that we've become a bit more sophisticated in our tribal rites, but we are much the poorer for our 20th century chromium intellect. You might agree with me after you've seen: Sins of the Fathers.
In Medieval Wales, a land ravaged by death and famine, the Craighill family sends a servant (Michael Dunn) to the home of a "sin eater" (a person who devours and takes on a dead person's sins so the deceased can ascend to Heaven) to the patriarch's memorial service to eat the ritual feast of sin. The only sin eater around is Mr. Evans, who unfortunately has contracted the plague. His wife (Geraldine Page) notes that her starving teenage son Ian (Richard Thomas) will have to go to the Craighill house and devour the feast himself. This creates great conflict for Ian, as he hasn't been trained in the family trade and is terrified of potentially damning his own soul, but is desperate for a decent meal. His mother suggests that Ian just make things up as he goes before he smuggles the ritual feast back home, as well as so his mother can be paid gold coins for the service. Unfortunately for poor Ian, this task is much harder said than done.
Tropes
- Abusive Parent: Though Ian's mother appears to mean well, she very obviously gaslights her starving son into performing his sacred duty when he clearly doesn't want to, and all for three gold coins. Which Ian doesn't even collect.
- All for Nothing: After all the struggles Ian goes through to avoid absorbing any sins, the ending reveals that it was all for naught, as his father died while he was at Mr. Craighill's house, and he needs to eat the sin-laden food he smuggled out of the house to save his father's soul, while likely leaving Mr. Craighill to go to Hell after the botched ritual. What's worse, he didn't even stop to collect the gold Mrs. Craighill paid him, meaning that his mother didn't get anything out of it, other than a saved husband.
- And I Must Scream: Ian's screaming as he eats the ceremonial food he smuggled out of Mr. Craighill's house indicates that the sensation of sin-eating, specifically eating the sins of another sin-eater, is unbearably painful.
- Bad "Bad Acting": While left alone with Mr. Craighill's body, Ian wings the "Sin-Eater's Prayer" and lets loose some half-assed screaming as he pretends to absorb his sins to fool the mourners present.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Partially, as Ian's mother, with her manipulative attitude, succeeds in making Ian eat the immensely painful ritual feast that he clearly doesn't want to eat, though she doesn't get the payment for Mr. Craighill's service.
- Batman Gambit: In a potentially villainous case, it's hinted that Mrs. Evans knew her husband would die. As such, she had Ian smuggle the Craighill family’s ritual feast, meant for their patriarch, and had the boy eat it to absorb his father's sins, both to let him ascend to Heaven and as a flipped bird to the rich folk who bled him dry.
- Crapsack World: It's the 14th century, and Wales is being stricken by the Black Plague, resulting in a famine devastating the country even further.
- Darker and Edgier: The segment is one of the bleakest and most mean-spirited products of this series, as poor Ian is put into a grave position with devastating and excruciatingly painful repercussions on either him or his late father against his will.
- Depraved Dwarf: The Craighill's servant, who describes the ritual spread laid out for Mr. Craighill's memorial service in an almost sexual terminology to Mrs. Evans, which she repeats to the teenaged Ian.
- Downer Ending: Ian ends up being made to eat the sinful feast he smuggled out of the Craighill house to save his dead father, after everything he went through to avoid the agonizing pain, while his abusive mother looks on in satisfaction. Also, since Ian stole all the ceremonial food instead of eating it, Mr. Craighill's soul is still going to Hell.
- Everyone Has Standards: Ian is desperate for food, but he couldn't fathom eating a dead man's sins, willing to starve to death rather than damn his soul.
- Exact Words: Ian's mother's promise to her son that he'll have all the food he can eat after he smuggles it out of the Craighills' house comes true... when he needs to eat it to cleanse his dead father's sins.
- Faint in Shock: Ian does this when he sees that his father has finally died, as well as what this means he has to do now...
- The Famine: Wales is suffering an immense famine after the Black Death left its mark on the country, with those who haven't died of the plague dying of malnutrition. Ian only volunteers to perform the sin eating ceremony at the Craighills' house so he can smuggle the ritual food back to his family's cottage for just one decent meal. Early in the segment, he even bemoans how selfish he's being thinking about food when his father lays dying.
- Food Porn: The Craighills' servant describes Mr. Craighill's ritual feast of sin with almost sexual imagery to entice Mrs. Evans to send Ian to the family's home, the mother repeating his descriptions to Ian to get him to agree with her plot. Ian finds that neither of them were lying, as the camera takes the time to observe the ritual food for the viewers' benefit.
- Gaslighting: Mrs. Evans does this continuously to poor Ian, manipulating him into putting himself through agony in the name of food for her and three pieces of gold.
- Hell Is That Noise: Ian's screaming as he miserably consumes the ritual feast of Mr. Craighill, both when pretending to do so for the mourners and for real on behalf of his dead father, has been called this by numerous reviewers.
- Karma Houdini: Ian's mother gets absolutely no punishment for her deplorable treatment of her weak and haggard son, who miserably eats the sin-laden feast he stole to save his dead father's soul for a measly three gold pieces. However, Ian ended up forgetting to take Mrs. Craighill's payment for his services as he fled, so it could be said that his mother doesn't get off completely scot-free.
- Knight Templar Parent: Ian's mother manipulates and gaslights her poor, starving son into performing the sin eating ritual he so desperately tries to avoid. She's even seen giving a truly wicked smile as her son writhes in agony while devouring his father's sins, and there's no reason she couldn't have performed the ritual herself, though it's hinted that only men can be sin eaters, as per tradition.
- Kick the Dog: Ian. The poor boy is starving and desperate for one decent meal, yet he's seen solely as a bargaining chip by his abusive mother, and is forced to absorb a feast worth of sins in an immensely painful process, damning his soul while the soul of his dead father ascends to paradise.
- Legacy Character: The role of a sin eater is ritualistically passed from father to son. This isn't a happy example, since Ian is forced to take on his father's role, and therefore devour the collective sin of all the dead people his late father had previously eaten, to keep his father's soul from being damned. He'll also be forced to shift the same burden onto his own son to ensure that he'll likewise be spared.
- Only Sane Man: Ian constantly points out flaws in his mother's plan to swindle the ritual feast from the Craighill house, which she either ignores or comes up with contingency plans to counter them with.
- Sadistic Choice: The life of a sin eater is one big instance of the trope, as you either subject yourself to unadulterated agony in devouring the sins of a dead person so they can travel to Heaven while you're damned to Hell, or spare yourself that agony so the departed can be damned in your place. What's worse, as you grow older and start a family, you'll have to pass that burden onto your son to ensure that you yourself aren't damned at death.
- Sin Eater: Mr. Evans is dying, and his starving son Ian, who hasn't been trained in sin eating, must travel to the home of the late Mr. Craighill in his father's place. Ian pretends to have eaten the ritualistic feast and absorbed Mr. Craighill's sins, then returns home with the uneaten food. When he gets home, his mother tells him that his father has died, and he needs to eat the food anyway to absorb his father's sins. He miserably does so, horrifically screaming as he absorbs the accumulated sins.
- Starts with Their Funeral: The segment begins during the candlelight vigil of Mr. Craighill. To establish the horrific and desolate nature of the segment, there's absolutely no background noise until the Craighills' servant rides up to the house.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ian's mother is controlling and emotionally manipulative, and sends her starving son to suffer for a mere three gold coins, but she still needs Ian to complete his task because she's starving and needs her husband's soul to be saved from damnation, especially after the myriad of sins he's absorbed.
- Ms. Craighill has her diminutive servant offer the gold to the Evans family in the first place so her own husband's soul will be saved, and Ian's the only person left who could possibly complete the job.
- Wicked Witch: Averted. Mrs. Evans is fully human, but with her manic appearance, her contempt for the rich folk, and the torment she puts her son through in the name of his "sacred mission", she might as well be one.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Mrs. Evans demonstrates strong contempt for those wealthier than her family, noting that her husband used to put himself through agony eating the sins of the rich folk before they tossed him away.
You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore
Written by: Rod Serling
Directed by: Jeff Corey
Rod Serling: Offered to you now, an item having to do with labor and management. An employment office, where is offered a collection of potential employees whose skills are unique. For in addition to their loyalty, industriousness, punctuality, and impeccable cleanliness, they also run at least 100,000 miles without a lube and an oil change. It's no wonder we call this one: You Can't Get Help Like That Anymore.
Robot-Aids, Inc. is a company that manufactures robotic servants to be sold to wealthy families in the near-future. One day, the company's sales director Malcolm Hample (Henry Jones) is confronted by chief engineer Dr. Kessler (Severn Darden), who is outraged over the destroyed state of a recently returned maid, as he treats the robots as more than mindless machines. The maid's owners, the atrocious Joe Fulton and his sadistic wife (Broderick Crawford and Cloris Leachman), demand either a new maid or a refund, prompting Malcom to offer them such a maid to quell their tempers. That night, as the Fultons host a party, the new maid (Lana Wood) cleans up the mess they made when they begin to abuse her. But unfortunately for them, this allows the maid to add a new facet to her programming: the capacity for self-defense.
Tropes
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Initially intended to be lifeless, unthinking machines, the robotic servants develop emotions and the capacity for self defense without Kessler's influence. In particular, the Fultons' new maid develops her own potential for violence when her employers try to destroy her. She evidently returns to the Robot-Aids office and instigates a takeover, having all humans within killed and skinned so her fellow robots can wear the skins and take over the world, even falling in love with the robot who replaces Kessler.
- Asshole Victim: The Fultons, who destroyed their last robotic maid when she didn't do her job well enough, are killed when their new maid develops the capacity for self-defense, after which their skins are worn by more robotic servants.
- Awful Wedded Life: As abusive to others as the Fultons are, they're also hinted to be cheating on one another, as they're seen drunkenly making out with different guests at their party, and Joe attempts to sexually harass the new maid when the guests leave.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Fultons are killed by their new maid, punishing them for their despicable behavior, but the robots conquer the company by killing everyone at the head office and wearing their skins, and are implied to be planning a takeover of the whole planet.
- Create Your Own Villain: Nearly every character shares the responsibility for the ending of this segment, either fully or partially. Kessler notes to Malcolm that the robots displaying emotions and the capacity to learn had no input from him, but it's when the Fultons abuse their latest maid that she fully fights back, kills them, returns to the offices, and instigates a mutiny to Kill and Replace all of humanity.
- Defying the Censors: The segment clearly wasn't afraid of the powers of a 70s censor. The Fultons' new maid is accosted by Joe, his wife calls her a "slut", and when she kills the pair in self-defense, it's revealed they were skinned and used to create new robots.
- The Dog Bites Back: After destroying their last maid and nearly doing the same to their new one, the Fultons are killed by the maid in question when she develops the ability to defend herself. Their skins are then worn by other robots on display in the Robot-Aids office.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Humanity is doomed, but the abused robots are free to pick up where they left off. The maid who kickstarts the robotic revolution even finds a lover in the robot who impersonates Kessler.
- The End of the World as We Know It: The implications that the robots took over the company, started wearing the skins of everyone there, and are planning to send more and more of them out to numerous customers, indicate that they'll eventually replace humanity as a whole.
- "Everyone Dies" Ending: Every character that isn't already a robot becomes one when the robots kill and skin them so their own kind can wear said skins.
- Foreshadowing: Malcolm is first seen entertaining a prospective couple with a sales pitch of how the robots are "just as real as you and I." The end of the segment has his words becoming a prophecy when the robots conquer the company, Kill and Replace everyone there, and prepare to conquer the entire world.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Mrs. Fulton's death is censored by the camera zooming in on a shot of the new maid's face, blurring increasingly as she takes action to survive.
- Grievous Bottley Harm: Mrs. Fulton attempts to bash the maid's in with a booze bottle before she's subdued and killed.
- Hate Sink: The Fultons, who are horribly abusive to their robotic servants and everyone around them, to the point where they destroyed their last maid when she didn't do her job well enough. Kessler outright calls them "two neurotic sadists who find pure joy in the act of destruction", and accuses them of pulling wings off of flies and pouring kerosene on cats before they got their grubby hands on a robotic maid to torture.
- Humans Are Bastards: The Fultons are living proof of the trope, as far as Dr. Kessler is concerned. After their new maid is abused by the atrocious couple and kills them in self-defense, she evidently returns to the Robot-Aids, Inc. HQ and instigates a takeover, having every human found, good or evil, killed so they can wear their skins and replace them.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Malcolm's rant about how his products are just mindless machines meant to imitate people falls flat when he notices that the broken maid is crying.
- Kill and Replace: The robots are strongly implied to have learned how to do this as a means to impersonate humanity, and they do so by skinning their victims and wearing said skins.
- Mean Boss: Malcolm thinks very little of Kessler's belief that the robots he creates are more than unthinking, unfeeling machines, and demands that he give the Fultons a formal apology for his rebuttal to them before he resigns.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: The Fultons, Mrs. Fulton especially, are horrifically prejudiced against robots, telling them that they don't hire, but own them, and explicitly telling them that they're going to take their rage out on them with physical force.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- Kessler gives the Fultons a scathing one when they demand a refund for the maid they abused through their own streak of destructive sadism.
- The couple's new maid also tells them off with Tranquil Fury after Mrs. Fulton demeans her as "a vacuum cleaner with pretty legs".
- Ridiculously Human Robots: The robotic servants become capable of adaptive learning, feeling emotions like pain, distress, and love, and as the abusive Fultons learn (the hard way), defending themselves by force. It's even revealed at the end that their human appearances came from skinning the people they killed, either in defending themselves or out of genuine malice.
- Robosexuals Are Creeps: Joe makes a drunken pass at his new maid, knowing full well that she's a robot.
- Robotic Reveal: Two examples are demonstrated:
- Near the beginning of the segment, Malcolm reveals that the receptionist of the office is a robot by turning her off with a remote control.
- The end of the segment reveals the skins of the Fultons, Malcolm, and Kessler on display in the main halls, revealing that the robots killed them and wore their skins when they took over the company.
- Tempting Fate: Malcolm's rant about how the broken robotic maid is just an amalgamation of unfeeling mechanical parts, during which he notices that she's crying.
- Time Skip: After the Fultons are killed, the end of the segment skips ahead sometime after the robots took over the Robot-Aids office, wearing the skins of everyone present to take over the world.
- Token Good Teammate: Dr. Kessler was the only character in the segment who didn't treat the robots as mindless automatons, like the abusive Fultons and the money-hungry Malcolm. Despite this, he's also skinned alive when they go rogue.
- Tranquil Fury: The robots aren't programmed for anger, so the Fultons' second maid tells them both off in a stoic tone.
- Turned Against Their Masters: The robotic servants take over Robot-Aids, Inc. and skin every human they can find, wearing their skins to replace them and take over the world.
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: The segment centers around a company that offers robotic servants to wealthy consumers, and the Fultons go to the head office to complain and demand their robotic maid be replaced after it "broke down". This particularly pisses off head technician Dr. Kessler, who sees right through their lies and reveals that they destroyed the robot themselves. Malcom writes off his concerns, until he gets a better look at the damaged robot.Malcolm: (gestures to the damaged robot) This... this thing here is just a machine!
Dr. Kessler: (quietly) They're not just machines.
Malcolm: (deadpan) "This is not just a machine." (kneels down to the robot) This isn't just flesh colored plastic? (grabs its hands) These aren't just wires and computer circuits? (gestures to the robot) This isn't just an inanimate, lifeless, synthetic- (notices tears pouring down the robot's face)- The second act pushes it further as the Fultons have their new maid clean up the mess from their party that night, and they immediately start abusing it... until it's made clear that this one has self-preservation instincts.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Malcolm's reaction to hearing Dr. Kessler's insinuation that the robot's aren't just mindless automatons.
