Red Leader
Alex Hayes (Joe E. Tata) is a shady, shiftless, and unscrupulous construction mogul who owes his good standing in life to sin, committing one of them after another to end up on top of the world. An ordinary day on the job ends up veering into the supernatural when Alex meets Jacob Caine (Carmine Caridi), his former business partner, who literally climbs out of the Underworld to inform him that he has a meeting with someone important. The Devil himself, taking on the appearance of a construction union boss named "Red" (Peter Bromilow), soon enters the office through Jacob's tunnel. Noting how impressed he is by Alex's lifetime of sin, Red offers Alex a position among his forces of darkness. Alex refuses to make any kind of devilish deal, but Red isn't giving up on his offer, even if he has to force it upon him.
Tropes:
- Affably Evil: The Devil, or "Red" as he’s called here, takes the form of a union boss who’s genuinely impressed by Alex’s sin quota, offering him a powerful position among his army.
- Always Someone Better: In death, Jacob tells Alex how he's been playing second fiddle to someone all his life, and is dead set on revealing as much of his and Alex's dirty laundry as possible to show the forces of Hell that he can easily become one of Red's minions instead of just a rookie. To combat him, Alex lies to the minion who comes to take him back down that he's a saint who used his money charitably, prompting the minion to demote Jacob to full-time torture in a deeper level of Hell.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Thanks to his mental manipulation making Amanda shoot him dead, Red gets Alex to join him. Given that he immediately sides with Red after Amanda leaves, the pair will no doubt increase their evil influence in Hell and on Earth tenfold.
- Batman Gambit: Red plays one of them to get Alex to join his legion of minions, detailed below.
- Benevolent Boss: Red is one, as he genuinely offers Alex a chance to become The Dragon of his evil forces.
- Bottle Episode: The episode is set entirely in Alex's office.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Alex is a clear case, and Jacob actively tries to be one too, searching for incriminating evidence so he can prove to Red and the other minions that he's fit to join their ranks, instead of being stuck as a drone.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Walther that Alex keeps in his desk is a literal case, as Red conjures it before Amanda to give her a means to get Alex to enter his kingdom.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Amanda, who Red manipulates into shooting Alex with his own gun so he'll be forced to join his army. As stated below, she's already a gold-digging Woman Scorned, so manipulating her was no difficult task.
- The Chessmaster: Red reveals to Alex, Jacob, and the minion who tries demoting Jacob that he left the jackhammer Jacob used to see Alex where he can easily find it, then planted the idea of using it to visit the office above in his mind so he could meet Alex himself. After he descends back to his realm, Red then plants the idea to kill Alex inside Amanda's head, and leaves Alex's gun where she can easily find it so Alex can't weasel his way out of damnation. With the exception of Jacob dying by falling from the faulty ladder meant for him, Red's plans for Alex work perfectly.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Alex. It's displayed all episode through one way or another, and after he realizes he's been shot dead, he hitches his saddle to Red 100% willingly.Alex: Alright, Red. What kind of a deal are we really talking about here? I want salary, commissions, stock options...
Red: Ha, ha! That's my boy! - Deal with the Devil: Red tries to make one of them with Alex to join his army, but since he's thoroughly impressed by his rampant sinning, it has none of the usual trickery that his deals possess.
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Alex has none of what Red promises him regarding the power he can wield in Hell and tells him to leave. He complies, but not without a way to ensure Alex's swift and painless death.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Alex is a technical case, as he's shot dead, then has his body kicked down the hole to Hell Jacob made in his office. He isn't too broken up about it and sides with Red all the way.
- The Dragon: The episode revolves around Red recruiting Alex to become one, and he succeeds in the end.
- Escaped from Hell: Jacob tunnels through Alex's office floor with a jackhammer, but he doesn't necessarily "escape" so much as he comes to collect incriminating files in the name of boosting his standing in Hell's hierarchy. He also notes that he's taking a big chance seeing him in this manner, since he's not a minion of Red and hasn't given consent to ascend.
- Establishing Character Moment: Alex is introduced in the middle of a phone call, telling the party on the other end to erase all evidence of Jacob after his death, so Amanda gets nothing and he gets everything.
- Exact Words: Red's promise of granting Alex a "swift and painless" death to get him to join him, and tells him before he leaves that they'll see each other again one day. Alex unfortunately finds out that that day is today, as Red manipulates Amanda into shooting Alex with his own gun, granting him his swift and painless death.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Red appears as a union boss because Alex and Jacob were both head honchos of a construction company.
- Femme Fatale: Amanda, who got together with Jacob and Alex behind the others' backs so she can get rich. Out of anger for being robbed of her wealth and possessions, and with a little help from Red, she shoots Alex dead and kicks him down the tunnel to Hell.
- Gold Digger: Amanda married Jacob and cheated on him with Alex in the name of her own greediness. She tries coming on to Alex as a means of giving her Jacob's assets, which he stole from her after Jacob died in his accident, but he refuses to do so in the name of his own greed.
- Immune to Bullets: Alex tries to shoot Jacob when he ascends from Hell to obtain files that'll incriminate the former, but the latter is already dead, so he's not even phased.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed:
- Alex can easily be seen as a parody of a certain billionaire entrepreneur, as stated below.
- Jacob can also be seen as one of Rodney Dangerfield, with his similar voice and his griping about how Hell gives him "no respect".
- No Honor Among Thieves: Alex and Jacob were partners who started Hayes & Caine, Inc., but the former intends to take total control of the company and its profits after Jacob dies. When Jacob claws his way to Earth and searches the office for incriminating files to improve his standing in Red's army, Alex sabotages him by lying to the minion that tunnels in after him that Jacob is a complete and utter saint as a means to keep his own soul from going South.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Jacob dying by falling off a faulty ladder, which prompts Amanda and Alex into a battle of wits over his assets, and Red to meet Alex and offer him a strong position.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Red may be the Devil himself, but he looks and acts like a union boss giving orders to the damned souls he calls his workers.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Jacob's role in the story is largely posthumous, and his physical appearance before Red takes the spotlight is brief. Despite this, the tunnel he made crawling into Alex's office goes on to serve a pretty important role itself.
- Trumplica: Alex is an early example, being an outer boroughs construction mogul whose shady dealings have raised Hell's interest.
- Villain Respect: Red has nothing but the highest respect for Alex and his life of sin, completely honestly offering him a position in the armies of Hell. When he tries to weasel himself out of damnation, only then does Red decide to use his mental powers to get Alex where he wants him.
- Woman Scorned: Amanda, the Gold Digger who slept with both Alex and Jacob, ultimately kills the latter in cold blood under Red’s influence. It didn't help that she already had most of her monetary possessions, the millions of dollars Jacob had in stock, and her rightful position on the board of directors, stolen by Alex in the name of his rampant greed.
- World of Jerkass: The Devil himself is the most honest and well-meaning character here. That should tell you all you need to know.
- Would Harm a Senior: During his visit, Jacob reminds Alex how the pair bought a bunch of rent-controlled buildings and threw their elderly inhabitants out on the street in temperatures over 20 below.
