A New Lease on Life
To be closer to his new job, Archie Fenton (Robert Rothman) has moved into the St. George apartment building. He receives a modern, fully-equipped apartment for a noticeably low cost, with the only condition being that he needs to follow specific rules. After his new neighbor Helen (Patricia Pelham) warns him to get out of the St. George and subsequently goes missing, Archie discovers that his new living quarters is a giant building-shaped dragon that is fed both leftover dinners and disrespectful tenants by its landlady Madame Angler (Marie Windsor) and her repair/henchmen.
Tropes:
- Arc Symbol: The illustration of the dragon found on the gong above the dumbwaiter, above every door's peephole, on the control mechanisms by the door, on the henchmens' uniforms, and as a tattoo on Madame Angler's arm. Archie suddenly gains his own tattoo before the St. George eats him.
- Berserk Button: The St. George really doesn't like it when people hoard its fair share of leftovers for themselves. It furiously roars at Archie and makes the utilities in his apartment go haywire when he bites into the leftovers Madame Angler gave him to feed it with.
- Big Brother Is Watching: The "light switches" in every apartment have cameras that act as the St. George's eyes. Helen tells Archie that she knows about his promotion and raise at work, hinting that "News travels fast around the St. George." She's later disposed of for spilling the building's secrets with Archie, hinting that she too was being watched.
- Big "NO!": Helen screams some of them when she's "disposed of".
- Black Blood: The St. George has such blood, which trickles after Archie tries nailing a picture into the wall.
- Broken Bird: Helen, who has grown traumatized from living in the St. George so much that until Archie moves in, she never opens her door anymore.
- Bullying a Dragon: A literal version in Archie's case. He fully spites Madame Angler's warnings about contributing his share to the St. George by feeding it a trash bag filled with broken dishes and cleaning fluid. As Angler rebukes him, the dragon comes back to life and drags him down its throat with a prehensile tongue.
- Chekhov's Classroom: Madame Angler lectures Archie on how to "dispose of" his garbage and leftover food, insisting that bottles, non-biodegradables, and plastic bags aren't permitted. At the climax, he attempts to kill the St. George by stuffing a plastic garbage bag full of broken dishes and noxious chemicals down the disposal, but fails.
- Cult: Madame Angler's devotion to the St. George and the repeated dragon motifs give her a lot of evidence that she's a cult leader.
- Deadly Euphemism: Al and Mac tell Helen that her "lease is up" before they toss her down the disposal.
- Downer Ending: Archie tries and fails to kill the St. George, ending up as dragon food and leaving Madame Angler free to keep luring more tenants in.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: The primary fault of Archie's idiotic behavior is that he doesn't take Madame Angler's rules, Helen's warnings, or the St. George's behaviors seriously.
- Eaten Alive: The fate of anyone who angers the St. George building, including Archie.
- "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Madame Angler and her henchmen laugh at the joke Mac cracks below, joined by the St. George.
- Evil Old Folks: Madame Angler, who feeds disrespectful tenants to the dragon that acts as her property.
- Exact Words: Archie tells Al and Mac, carrying his appliances, to "put those things down". Al promptly throws Archie's microwave oven to the floor, destroying it.
- Feghoot: As mentioned above, the episode ends with Mac joking how, as a tenant, he found Archie "especially hard to stomach". This is followed by him, Al, Madame Angler, and even the St. George itself laughing uproariously.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Madame Angler warns Archie against nailing pictures on the wall of his new apartment by citing that nail holes are as unsightly as wounds. After she leaves, Archie idiotically nails a picture into the wall to spite her. The St. George promptly forces the picture to fall and spits out the nail before the hole starts bleeding, further hinting that it's a living thing.
- Foreshadowing: The microwave Archie's mother left him is smashed by Al at the start of the episode, after which he is told by Al, Mac, and Madame Angler that microwaves emit radiation, cause cataracts, and create "vibrations in the air". Once we learn the St. George is alive and the rules tenants need to follow for it, it becomes clear that the microwave was broken because the radiation could have potentially harmed the building.
- Idiot Hero: Archie doesn't suspect anything about the eerie apartment building he's moved into, thinking that he can do whatever he wants because of the low rent he's offered. When he finally learns the truth about the St. George, he ends up eaten after a futile attempt to kill it.
- Ironic Echo: Archie insists that he's "just providing [his] share" when Madame Angler senses his attempt to kill the St. George.
- It's All About Me: Archie is as self-centered as he is dumb, establishing that he's not going to let who he thinks is a kooky old woman to tell him what to do and trying to kill the St. George himself out of spite for not sharing his leftovers with it.
- Karma Houdini: Madame Angler and her goons come out on top, free to keep feeding the St. George with any tenant who disrespects it.
- Living Structure Monster: The St. George apartment building, which is actually a giant building-shaped dragon that devours anyone who doesn't treat it with respect.
- Meaningful Name:
- The St. George, a giant dragon shaped like a building, is named after the legendary dragon slayer of the same name.
- The building's landlady, Madame Angler, lures new tenants into the building so they can become food for it.
- Multi Purpose Tongue: The St. George sprouts a prehensile tongue to swallow Archie with at the end of the episode.
- Names The Same: In-Universe, Archie's mother was named Helen, much like his new neighbor. She brings this up when the cup of water he lends her has the name on it.
- Not Quite Dead: After the St. George appears to die from Archie's "offering", it springs back to life and suddenly eats him.
- Obviously Evil: Madame Angler and her henchmen, who Archie stupidly suspects nothing about.
- Saying Too Much: Helen is thrown down the garbage chute when she lets Archie in on some of the secrets of his new home.
- Scatterbrained Senior: Archie thinks of Madame Angler as one, hence why he doesn't take her seriously.
- Those Two Guys: Madame Angler's goons, Mac and Al.
- Thousand-Yard Stare: Helen wears one to accentuate her trauma at living in the St. George.
- Too Dumb to Live: Archie moves into an apartment complex that bleeds when he tries to nail a picture to the wall, rumbles and roars occasionally, and is staffed by blatantly sinister maintenance workers committing bizarre actions every day, but he doesn't suspect anything strange from any of this, even when Helen tells him point-blank to get out and is "disposed of" that night. Then, when he finally finds out that the St. George is a dragon that eats disrespectful tenants, the first thing he does is... try to kill it. Apparently, it never occurred to him that attacking a building-sized monster by himself would result in his death, which is reinforced when Madame Angler herself calls him an idiot before he's eaten.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Archie's neighbor Helen only appears for two scenes in the first act, subtly hinting to Archie that he needs to leave before outright begging him to get out.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Madame Angler and her goons feed disrespectful tenants to the dragon they manage, but they genuinely treat people who respect the St. George with kindness and offer them a place to stay for life, provided they follow their rules.
