Comet Watch
Englebert Ames (Anthony Heald), a lover of astronomy and stargazing married to the atrocious and henpecking Charlene (Kate-McGregor Stewart), prepares for the once in a lifetime chance to spot Halley's Comet as it soars across the night sky. By using the antique telescope that's been in the house's attic since he and the missus moved in, this allows for the opening of a "time window" to different points in time that appears when the comet approaches Earth. The telescope soon deposits uninvited guests in the form of Lara Burns (Sarah Rush), the kindly young woman from 1910 (the last year the comet passed Earth) who originally owned the house, and Sir Edmund Halley (Fritz Weaver) himself, both of whom have been riding the comet throughout the cosmos.
Tropes:
- Awful Wedded Life: Englebert's wife Charlene expects him to fall in line with whatever she says and thinks of him as a pathetic failure for not joining her family's business, especially after her father bent over backwards to teach him about finance and bought Lara's old house for them.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Edmund gradually reveals his true colors as an egotistical genius who berates Englebert for his lack of astronomical discoveries and a control freak who feels entitled to have Lara by his side forever.
- Bottle Episode: The episode never leaves Lara's/Englebert's attic.
- Bribe Backfire: In exchange for letting Lara return to Halley's Comet through the time window, Edmund tells Englebert of a supernova that will occur next Tuesday, allowing him to discover it and have it named in his honor. It falls through when Lara offers to return of her own free will, but gets the drop on Edmund and Charlene by re-opening the telescope.
- Broken Pedestal: Being the proud astronomer he is, Englebert at first idolizes Edmund Halley for his namesake comet, but he quickly gets annoyed by Halley's pompous and demeaning attitude throughout the second act, as well as how he tries to drag Lara back onto the comet against her will.
- Chekhov's Gun: Englebert has an alarm clock with an automated voice that lets him know the time of Halley's Comet's arrival. Near the end of the episode, it states that the current time is 8:26, revealing that the comet is approaching and the time window is open again. This allows Edmund and Charlene to gradually get themselves sucked back through the telescope.
- Comet of Doom: Very much downplayed with Halley's Comet. It doesn't bring Englebert and Charlene any omens of doom, just a pair of uninvited guests.
- Commonality Connection: Lara and Englebert, who end the episode falling in love, are both kindly people involved with toxic lovers who expect them to follow all of their demands without complaint and treat them with no actual respect.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Being from a different era, it's implied that Edmund doesn't give Lara much treatment as an equal, citing that "a woman's place is to listen".
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After spending a lifetime putting up with his atrocious wife, Englebert is rid of her and able to have the lovely Lara stay with him.
- Entitled to Have You: Edmund insists that he and Lara are meant to spend eternity riding his comet side-by-side, even as she attempts to escape his grasp. Charlene feels just the same about Englebert, having no patience with his love of astronomy and wanting him to be a financier at her father's company. The fact that both Lara and Englebert are miserable with their significant others is just enough to bring them together.
- Everyone Has Standards: As pompous and egotistical as he is, not even Edmund can stand the demanding and demeaning Charlene, who he plans to toss into a black hole.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Lara comes from 1910, so she's rather confused about the then-present day of 1985. Edmund comes from centuries ago, but he acts more accustomed to the modern day.
- Foreshadowing:
- The very first shot of the episode is a portrait of Edmund Halley, who shows up in person at the halfway point.
- Englebert also tells Charlene that "tonight is a night for lovers", which comes true when Lara and Edmund come through the ancient telescope.
- Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Lara reveals that she greatly enjoys beer, having been "Miss Foam of Upstate New York" back in 1910.
- Hate Sink: Charlene, Englebert's wife who thinks very little of him. She's tricked into returning to Halley's Comet with Sir Halley himself, where he blatantly hints that he's going to throw her into a black hole.
- Henpecked Husband: Poor Englebert.
- Identical Stranger: At one point, Lara declares that Englebert looks just like Dr. Bachman, her original husband-to-be, only without a mustache.
- It's All About Me: Charlene, who demands that her husband bend over backwards to please her, and Edmund, who parades himself as a pompous genius who demands recognition and that Lara worships him as a god.
- Language Drift: Lara uses rather archaic vocabulary when she meets Englebert, such as asking if he has a "glass" to see herself in.
- Magic Meteor: Halley's Comet apparently has otherworldly properties, as it managed to keep Lara and Edmund alive without food or water for decades/centuries while they rode it throughout the universe, and it deposits them in Englebert's attic through the antique telescope via a "time window" that opens when it approaches Earth.
- Meet Cute: Englebert and Lara spend most of the first act bonding with one another after she arrives in the attic.
- Misanthrope Supreme: After spending centuries in the stars, Edmund now thinks very lowly of humanity, calling Earth itself gross and materialistic.
- Negative Space Wedgie: The unseen "time window", which opens when Halley's Comet approaches Earth and previously zapped Edmund and Lara onto said comet through different eras in time when they looked through their antique telescopes.
- Nice Girl: Lara, a sweet young woman who didn't originally want to end up stuck on a comet with the pompous man who discovered it.
- Perspective Magic: Lara and Sir Halley are able to reach Englebert's attic through the antique telescope, thanks to a "time window" that opens in space whenever Halley's Comet approaches Earth. It works the other way to bring Edmund back to the comet and send Charlene with him.
- Really 700 Years Old: After learning that she's in 1985, the young and attractive Lara concludes that she's technically 95 years old, even fearing that she looks old and ugly.
- Runaway Bride: Lara technically counts, as she was zapped onto Halley's Comet shortly before her wedding. She also thinks that it's still before the ceremony when she returns to Earth, telling Englebert to dress himself up and saying they can talk at the reception.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: As Englebert prepares to watch Halley's Comet, he recites Calphurnia's line "When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." from Julius Caesar, Act 2, Scene 2.
- Something Only They Would Say: When Englebert interrogates Edmund to see if he's the real deal, Edmund recites his birthdate, states his cataloging of 341 stars and observation of the transit of Mercury from St. Helena in 1676, and notes his original discovery of what would become Halley's Comet in 1682, proving he's the genuine article.
- Stalker with a Crush: Edmund is thought of as such by Lara, tired of hearing his grandstanding and refusing his advances for 75 years.
- Took a Level in Badass: Englebert snaps at Charlene for what might be the first time in a long time when she goes to call the police, giving a small smile as she actually backs down from his stern tone.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As she threatens Englebert to come to her father's dinner party, Charlene accidentally hits the telescope with her fist, letting her meet Lara, allowing Edmund to enter the attic, and letting both him and Charlene herself gradually get sucked onto Halley's Comet.
