The Other Way Out
Bradley Meredith has to stop at a country house on his way to pay hush money, only to find he has stumbled right into the hands of his blackmailer.- Affably Evil: Aside from brutally murdering a go go dancer and being short with his wife, Bradley Meredith seems charming and polite.
- Batman Gambit: The whole plan turns out to be one very, very elaborate one.
- A Deadly Affair: Bradley Meredith had been cheating on his wife with the slain go-go dancer, Marilou, and had killed her in a fit of passion when she threatened to tell his wife.
- Chekhov's Gun: Or, rather... Chekhov's bullet.
- Driven to Suicide: Invoked. Marilou's grandfather leaves her killer, Bradley Meredith, in a pit with an injured leg while he takes Sonny for a month's vacation. Just before leaving, he gives Bradley the eponymous "other way out" — a bullet for his pistol. It's left unclear whether he takes it or not.
- Dropping the Bombshell: The Old Man is about to leave Bradley in the hole for a month:Bradley Meredith: You said there was another way out! There is no other way out is there?! You lied to me!The Old Man: No, I didn't. [pulls something out of his pocket] Here, Mr. Meredith. Here's the other way out. [tosses the object down... and it's a bullet for his gun].
- Fright Deathtrap: Marilou's grandfather keeps calmly talking about Sonny's meanness and Meredith's coming doom once he arrives, driving him to desperation to escape. He falls into a pit, and the old man says he'll leave him there while he takes Sonny on vacation. He then tosses him a bullet in case the thought of slowly dying in the pit he was frightened into scares him enough to use it.
- How Did You Know? I Didn't: When Bradley asks the murdered dancer's grandfather how he knew he had killed her, the old man answers that he didn't. He sent blackmail letters to each of the man mentioned in Marilou's diary, and only Bradley, who had something to fear, responded.
- Karmic Death: One way or another, Bradley Meredith is paying for that murder with his life.
- Sadistic Choice: The episode ends on this: either Bradley Meredith dies a slow, possibly painful death in the pit he can't escape from, or he takes the titular "other way out"... and shoots himself.
- Wham Shot: Sonny finally arrives... and we see he's a child of about eight years old. His grandfather used his name in a Paranoia Gambit to trap his sister's killer.
