The Swap
Bubba (Charles Ludlam), a very lecherous and very wealthy man covered in horrific skin lesions, discovers that his younger, gold-digging wife Anna Belle (Maria Manuche) is having an affair with his handyman Claude Altoose (Jim Wlcek). He also learns that Anna Belle has persuaded Claude to help her in killing Bubba so they can split his fortune and estate. To prevent this plot from succeeding, Bubba turns to the mementos and spells of his dear departed mother, who turns out to have been a powerful "conjure woman". He takes note of one particular spell that allows for a person to swap bodies with another person, and errantly works to complete it before Anna Belle and Claude complete their murder plot.
Tropes:
- Awful Wedded Life: It's no secret that Anna Belle can't stand Bubba, with his skin lesions and slimy personality, since their marriage is just a means for her to get his fortune and escape being dirt poor, so she can't wait to dupe Claude into killing him so the pair can be happy.
- The Bad Guy Wins: It was going to happen one way or another with the atrocious leading characters, but Bubba ends the episode victorious, taking over Claude's body and punishing Anna Belle with Karmic Rape after she tried to kill him.
- Big Fun: Jean may be a crooked judge in cahoots with the slimy Bubba, but he spends all his screen time acting like the life of the party.
- Body Swap: The title and crux of the episode, as Bubba aches to inhabit a newer, younger body to escape his impending murder and his declining health. He does so with Claude, revealing so to Anna Belle only after she and Claude are married.
- Bookends:
- The episode begins and ends with Bubba declaring that Anna Belle is going to "play house" with him for his carnal pleasure.
- Similarly, the opening and closing shots are of a framed picture of Bubba's late mother, the difference being that she's smiling in the end.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Bubba, who adds new terms to the contract that binds him and Anna Belle in marriage when he sees his wife getting frisky with another man, especially Claude.
- Creepy Changing Painting: The framed photo of Bubba's late mother is shown smiling at the end of the episode, watching as her son rapes the unfaithful wife who tried killing him.
- Death Glare: The opening act ends with Claude giving one to Bubba as he forces Anna Belle, their respective lover and wife, upstairs for sex.
- Deep South: The episode is set down in Louisiana, where the grotesque Bubba and gold-digging Anna Belle live, the latter craving the riches her husband got from when his mother first managed to strike oil in the nearby swamp.
- Dirty Old Man: Bubba suffers from grotesque skin lesions and constantly displays an overtly sleazy and lecherous demeanor towards his much younger wife, who forces her to "play house" every night as stated in their marriage contract. He also doesn't show a lot of concern when Claude follows Anna Belle into his office, inviting him to watch or take pictures as she rides him. He even notes that the pair cuffing him to the bed and tying him up with rope is pretty kinky, too.
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Bubba loves his mother as much as he loves his wife, and wants to carry on her witchcraft for her sake. His mother's spells later save his life when he switches bodies with Claude and punishes Anna Belle for betraying his trust in her.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: It's revealed that Bubba knew about Anna Belle's adulterous relationship with Claude, but he didn't interfere because he wanted her to be happy. He only turns against her completely when she and Claude try killing him.
- Evil Is Hammy: Bubba goes all out in demonstrating what a greasy and lecherous slime-bucket he is.
- Evil Versus Evil: The lecherous and diseased Bubba versus Anna Belle, the unfaithful gold digger of a wife who plans to have him killed.
- Feet-First Introduction: Bubba is given one to highlight his vast collection of skin lesions.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Bubba ends up switching bodies with Claude at the exact moment before Anna Belle kills him, giving Bubba a younger body to live in and allowing him to exact vengeance on her.
- Gold Digger: Anna Belle, who wants to kill Bubba both for his riches and so she can be freed of his lecherous demeanor towards her.
- Grand Theft Me: Bubba possesses Claude's body after his original body dies, and reveals this to Anna Belle after she and Claude are wed.
- The Hyena: Jean is a big laugher as part of his role as the comic relief. It's especially present in the ending, as if he knew all along that Claude's body was hijacked by Bubba.
- Ironic Echo: The end of the episode has Bubba, revealing to Anna Belle that he's taken over Claude's body, ominously telling her that she's going to "play house" forever, just as he did in the opening of the episode.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: It's revealed in the second act that Bubba's marriage contract allows for Anna Belle to marry Claude when he finally dies, showing that he knew about their feelings for one another and wanted them to be happy. What she doesn't know is that Claude won't exactly be himself by the day of the wedding.
- I Want My Mommy!: Bubba screams for his mother as Anna Belle and Claude force the poison down his throat.
- Karmic Rape: The ending has Bubba taking over Claude's body and punishing Anna Belle with rape after she tries to murder him.
- Magic Potion: Bubba spends the majority of the episode cooking up one of his mother's old recipes so he can take over Claude's younger and healthier body to escape death.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Since Bubba spends a good amount of time brewing poisons in his study, Claude and Anna Belle decide to frame their murder of him so it looks like he accidentally drank one of the poisons.
- Marriage of Convenience: Anna Belle and Bubba clearly don't love each other, as their marriage was officiated via contract in exchange for the former getting the latter's wealth.
- May–December Romance: Bubba and Anna Belle, with this being one of the reasons she can't wait to kill him and run off with his younger and more handsome handyman.
- Mercy Kill: As they pour poison down his throat, Bubba screams to Claude and Anna Belle that murdering him will render the wealth-granting contract null and void. Claude clarifies that they consider this act a mercy killing... as in, they're putting Anna Belle out of her misery to be his wife.
- Moving the Goalposts: Bubba routinely changes and adds stipulations of his and Anna Belle's marriage contract whenever he catches her touching another man.
- Mr. Fanservice: Claude, the muscle-bound handyman who works for Bubba. It's clear to see why Anna Belle has a thing for him.
- Muggle Born of Mages: Bubba's mother was a sorceress (who he calls a "conjure woman") who practiced powerful witchcraft. Though he's fully human, he spends the episode trying (and succeeding) to recreate an old potion of hers that allows people to Body Swap.
- Not Quite Dead: As Anna Belle and Claude drag Bubba's body to his chair to set up his faux suicide, Bubba springs back to life and knocks Claude out cold by making hit his head on a table, then dies for real on atop his body. The ending reveals that this was the body swapping magic of his mother's potion at work.
- Plucky Comic Relief: Bubba's associate Jean acts as a comedic foil to Bubba's sleazy behavior and shares his desire to live forever.
- Shout-Out: During Jean's first scene, he tells Bubba that he's arrived by declaring "Here come da judge!"
- Slimeball: Bubba, whose every word and deed radiates pure slime, even more so since he's covered in those skin lesions.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Jean Baptiste, the local judge who's in cahoots with Bubba, implements new clauses in his marriage contract to keep Anna Belle and Claude apart. He also sets the climactic reveal in motion when he weds the pair after Bubba appears to die.
- Spot the Thread: Before Claude and Anna Belle consummate their marriage, Anna Belle notes what appears to be a skin lesion on Claude's forehead.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: As sleazy and controlling as he was to Anna Belle, Bubba knew that she loved Claude with all her heart, and added a stipulation to his contract that allows her to marry him when he passes away, wanting her to be happy. By the time she and Claude are wed, however, Bubba's already taken possession of his body.
- Time Skip: After Bubba appears to die and knocks Claude unconscious in the process, the episode skips two weeks into the future, where Anna Belle is finalizing her acquisition of his assets.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: While Anna Belle is a beautiful young woman, Bubba is as grotesque on the outside as he is on the inside, since he's covered in skin lesions.
- Voice Changeling: After he completes the body-swapping ritual, Bubba can mimic Claude's voice perfectly when in his body, only revealing his true voice in the final seconds, just before he begins her Karmic Rape.
- Wham Shot: Anna Belle removing the bandages from Claude's injured hand near the end, revealing that it's covered in lesions and that Bubba has taken control of her new husband.
- World of Jerkass: Reforming either main character is impossible, so all you can do is anticipate who’s going to win in the end.
