Let the Games Begin
Harry Carson (Earl Hindman) travels to a lavish hotel for his class reunion, during which he spends the night drinking, only to drop dead of a heart attack in his room. As it turns out, Harry's life choices have made him a rather complicated case, as Heaven and Hell have both sent representatives to his room, an angel and a devil who argue with one another about who's getting the poor guy's soul. They ultimately decide to make a little contest out of their affair, with the angel taking the form of Harry's best friend Aldo Anderson (David Groh), and the devil taking the form of his sister-in-law Doris Kramer (Jane Summerhays). The duo manage to revive Harry and proceed to put him to a test of morality, working to bring his best (his loyalty to his friends) or worst (his desire to have "a good time") instincts to the surface to determine who he exits the room with, as whoever he chooses gains his soul.
Tropes:
- Back from the Dead: An interesting case occurs with Harry. In order to settle the debate on who gets to claim his soul, the angel (in the form of Harry's best friend Aldo) and the devil (in the form of Harry's sister-in-law Doris) resurrect him with a makeshift defibrillator in order to test his morality.
- Been There, Shaped History: The angel and devil were both aboard the Titanic on the night it sank, the former in steerage and the latter in first class. The devil also notes how wondrous it was as the passengers begged for their lives.
- Both Sides Have a Point: Heaven and Hell each send their chosen representatives because both of them have valid notions about Harry, with "Aldo" noting that he was a good son, a loving father, and a loyal friend, while "Doris" also notes that he was a drunkard and an adulterer.
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely in Harry's hotel suite and the surrounding hallway.
- Bound and Gagged: The devil tricks Harry into doing this to the angel, after pretending to display suicidal tendencies to win Harry's soul, under the guise of restricting him from killing himself.
- Broken Heel: "Aldo" wrecks one of "Doris'" heels to stop her from dancing Harry out of the room and to the hotel's lounge.
- Character Tic: The devil conjures up her hellish magic by stroking a necklace shaped like a pitchfork around her neck. Similarly, the angel conjures divine power by flapping his hands like wings.
- Dating Catwoman: After constantly fighting with each other over Harry's soul, the angel and devil ultimately hook up at the end of the episode. They kick the revived Harry out of the room so they can get intimate in their true forms, but Harry isn't bothered and goes off to find Sylvia Pennwater, his old sweetheart, and hopefully make amends.
- Deal with the Devil: A literal case for the angel, as he agrees with the devil to settle who claims Harry's soul via their test of morality.
- Despair Event Horizon: After being pelted with trash by the bellhop, as compliments of Sylvia, Harry grows morose at the revelation that his old lover hates him.
- Driven to Suicide: The angel fakes being suicidally depressed to get Harry over to his side, even pointing a gun to his head and tying a noose around his neck at different points.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The angel and devil have no true names spoken, so they're referred to as "Aldo" and "Doris" while they're in disguise.
- Foreshadowing:
- Harry arrives at the hotel for a class reunion, allowing the angel and devil to use his old high school sweetheart Sylvia to their respective benefits. The ending has Harry walking off to look her up.
- The bellhop situates Harry with the honeymoon suite, the only room available after the class reunion was in full swing, which he describes as a "romantic love nest for two". The episode ends with "Aldo" and "Doris" falling for one another and deciding to kick Harry out of the room so they can get it on.
- Get Out!: Harry declares this to both "Aldo" and "Doris" when their obsessions with him go too far. At the end, the pair instead toss him out of the room when they get together, leaving him free to find his old flame Sylvia.
- Gilligan Cut: Under "Doris'" suggestion, she and Harry loom over "Aldo" to make sure he can't harm himself. Cut to the angel bound and gagged on Harry's bed.
- Gun Struggle: Harry struggles with "Aldo" with the gun he produces to "snuff himself" at one point, but "Doris" ends the struggle by turning it into a water pistol.
- Heartbeat Soundtrack: Harry's heart can be heard pumping after he initially complains of a pain in his chest, and continues until he finally keels over. It happens again when the angel conjures another attack to stop the devil from taking him.
- Heaven Versus Hell: The near-entirety of the episode is a contest where an angel and devil, representing their respective realms, decide to revive the dead Harry and get him to unwittingly choose where his soul ends up, trying to use the guy's best and worst qualities against the other.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Harry drops dead from one after spending the night drinking, prompting the angel and devil to start their confrontation.
- Hot as Hell: The devil takes the form of Harry's sister-in-law Doris, who she notes Harry had a strong attraction to for years, ultimately stripping herself down to a short and tight red dress both as a means to seduce him and to act as a counterpart to the angel, who takes the role of the conservatively-dressed Aldo.
- Interspecies Romance: The angel and devil hook up as the episode concludes.
- Leg Focus: "Doris" attempts to get Harry over to her side by showing off her stocking-clad gams after "Aldo" apparently sprained her ankle, with the camera taking a good look at her doing so.
- Leitmotif: Both supernatural entities have one when in their human disguises, "Aldo" having the gentle notes of synth keyboards and a toy piano, and "Doris" a sultry saxophone soundtrack.
- Lighter and Softer: The episode is a comedy where an angel and devil battle against each other over who gets to take Harry to the afterlife. The ending is also a rare win-win situation where everyone benefits.
- Locked Out of the Loop: After spending half of the opening act and the first minute after the break dead, Harry is nothing but confused and flummoxed as to why his best friend and sister-in-law are in his hotel room and why they're so eager to have him leave with them.
- MacGyvering: The devil manages to revive Harry (but not wake him up) by hotwiring the remote for his room's TV with some of her demonic magic, allowing it to turn him "back on" when she points it at him.
- Mood Whiplash: As Harry tells off the angel and devil and prepares to storm out, the bellhop suddenly hurls a bucket full of trash at him, which he says are compliments of Sylvia.
- No Name Given: The bellhop that Harry runs into throughout the episode.
- Only Sane Man: Harry, due to his being Locked Out of the Loop after his heart attack. Despite this, he still tells the pair who come for him that he can't help their suicidal tendencies or go out for a night on the town.
- Our Angels Are Different: The one called to collect Harry's soul has the typical wings and halo, but he takes the form of Harry's best friend Aldo.
- Playing with Fire: "Aldo" first convinces Harry to escape the room with him by pretending there's a fire in the building, but "Doris" promptly conjures a full-scale inferno on the other side of the door to stop them, even telling Harry that playing with fire will get him burned.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Harry's heart attack, which prompts Heaven and Hell to send representatives to determine where his conflicting soul is going.
- Public Domain Soundtrack: The Hallelujah chorus is heard as the angel revives Harry after his second heart attack, doing so in his own way. It soon changes into a rowdy 50s rock and roll number as he and the devil get caught up in his grandiose movements.
- Rage Breaking Point / "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The second act has Harry reach his limits with the twisted game his visitors are playing on him, and he promptly begins tearing into both "Aldo" and "Doris" for trying to take control of him through fear and temptation, explaining that he's his own person and the choices he makes are nobody's business but his.
- Sexophone: When disguised as Doris, the devil is constantly accompanied by sultry sax music to highlight how seductive she is both in appearance and to Harry.
- Sinister Silhouettes: The angel and devil appear as silhouettes when undisguised, though only the latter is truly "sinister".
- Take a Third Option: Instead of letting Harry go to either Heaven or Hell, the angel and devil grow attracted to one another. As such, they tear up their repsective contracts for his soul and decide to let him stay alive so he can hopefully get back together with Sylvia, while they develop their own relationship.
- Title Drop: The devil tells the angel the title right at the end of the opening act.
- Voice of the Legion: The angel and devil possess them when in their natural forms.
- Win-Win Ending: Everybody gets a happy ending in this episode, as the angel and devil become a couple and they decide to let Harry stay alive, the formerly dead man walking off to look up his old sweetheart Sylvia and ask her to give him another chance.
- World of Ham: The stoic angel, rowdy devil, and drunken Harry allow for plenty of ham to be thrown around.
- Woman Scorned: Sylvia, who Harry dumped back in 1958, pays the bellhop to return the favor by hurling trash at him.
