Sam Oliver has just turned 21 and discovers that his parents had sold his soul to the Devil before he was even born. Now he is tasked by Satan himself to capture an arsonist that has escaped Hell.
Tropes featured in this episode:
- Brick Joke: After bringing Ben to the hospital for the burns he had gotten in their first encounter with Ned, Sock offers to draw fake eyebrows on him with a sharpie. At the end of the episode, we see Ben with fake eyebrows over his burn scars.
- Bring My Brown Pants: After Sam manages to capture Ned, Sock thinks he's "pretty sure [he] wet [his] pants."
- Chekhov's Skill: Here we're introduced to the concept of Sam's "Devil powers"; an unusual, supernatural ability Sam has that's meant to point him in the direction of the Infernal Fugitives he's supposed to find. In this case, it's Mind over Matter, first using it to save Andi from a falling air-conditioner, and later saves Sock from a trail of fire Ned tries to kill him with.
- Deal with the Devil: It's revealed that The Olivers had offered up the soul of their firstborn (Sam) before he was even conceived. They were then lied to by their doctor that John was sterile, the Doctor having been bribed by the Devil to pay off his gambling debts if he lied to them for him.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- Burt "Sock" Wysocki lets himself into the Oliver's home, makes a few inappropriate jokes about celebrating Sam's birthday, accidentally upsetting Sam's mom (unaware that it was actually because of the whole "sold his soul to Satan" thing) and tries backpedaling. This tells us everything we need to know about Sock; he's the Fat Comic Relief who embodies The Slacker stereotype the most out of the group and tends to say the wrong thing, but he's genuinely Sam's friend and will always be there for him.
- Ben Gonzalez is taking notes of Ted's daily speech and tells his friends to keep it down, but it's clear that he thinks Ted likes to hear himself talk and he's mocking him, cuing us in that he's the most straight-laced of the three, but it ultimately one of them.
- After having an encounter with The Devil suddenly appearing in his backseat, he later reappears to ruin a tender moment (Sam opening Andi's gift). He then fixes chicken-fried steak on his stove, and gives bare-bones sympathy to Sam's predicament before introducing him to the idea of Infernal Fugitives and vessels before threatening to take his mother's soul if he doesn't cooperate. This tells us that The Devil will act as Mission Control to the series, he's Affably Evil, is a massive Troll and is somewhat of an Evil Mentor for Sam.
- Firefighter Arsonist: The Devil lampshades the irony that serial arsonist Ned Schmecker is impersonating a fireman.
- Firemen Are Hot: We're introduced to the escaped soul, Ned, shirtless and bouncing his pecs with Pride. While he's only impersonating a Fireman, it still fits the bill.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: After his father tells him about the deal with the devil they made, Sam meets with his friends at the Brickhouse where he proceeds to pound a large glass of beer and several shots in quick succession.
- Kick the Dog: Almost literally when Sock hits a small dog trying to get at him with a car door, laughing hysterically when he does it.
- Mistaken for Thief: Sam first encounters The Devil after he magically appears in his backseat and he hysterically thinks that he is carjacking him.
- Monster of the Week: Ned Schmecker. Having been an arsonist in the 1950s, he died trying to burn down his parents house. After decades burning in Hell, he escapes and is now burning down the buildings he had burned down before, having gained Playing with Fire powers.
- Portent of Doom: Sam winds up being hounded by a pack of stray dogs (presumably hellhounds) before The Devil actually appears to him.
- The Slacker: It's mentioned that Sam only went to college for a month because it "made him sleepy." His parents only defend him out of guilt for selling his soul.
- Weapons That Suck: The first vessel of the series takes the form of a Dust Devil vacuum. It's arguably the most straight-forward vessel in the series, the group needing to suck Ned into it.
