Heretic
Harte (Bruce MacVittie) makes a living as a collector and dealer of rare works of art, particularly focusing on paintings that have been stolen, fenced, and illegally excavated. The unscrupulous collector's latest acquisition is a 16th century tempera painting of the Spanish Inquisition, where a condemned prisoner is tortured before Grand Inquisitor Torquemada (Roberts Blossom) himself. Harte is soon visited by a monk (Alan Scarfe) who offers him an old fashioned beggar's bowl, then begs him to repent his sins and return the painting to its rightful owners. When Harte refuses to believe this is real, he's suddenly transported inside the painting, taking the place of the prisoner and being punished with excruciating torture until he repents his laundry list of crimes.
Tropes:
- Aesop Amnesia: After being sucked into the painting he illegally acquired and being tortured to repent his sins, Harte learns nothing and tries to burn the painting to spare himself further torture. This backfires on him horrifically.
- Asshole Victim: Harte deals in stolen works of art for a living, and is said to have a list of sins much longer than that. His defiance in the face of Torquemada and his court ultimately results in him getting strung back up on the rack and possibly killed.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Harte gets on his knees and pleads with Torquemada when he appears at his door, to no avail.
- Bullying a Dragon: Harte hurls threats and insults at Torquemada and his court, paying no mind to the punishment they can easily inflict on him, until it's too late.
- Chromosome Casting: No women are present, given the episode's historical theme.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Harte is strung up on a rack after being transported to the Inquisition, where Torquemada hopes to have him confess his sins.
- Creepy Changing Painting: The painting of the Inquisition Harte ends up illegally obtaining.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: Harte firmly refuses to believe that he's in the 16th century after being dragged through his stolen painting, thinking that everything is some kind of sick joke and hurling insults to Torquemada's face. When he's sent back after his torture session and vows to repent, he burns the painting to get rid of any repercussions.
- Historical Domain Character:
- Torquemada, the infamous Grand Inquisitor, is depicted within the cursed painting, and oversees Harte's torture when he's brought inside it. His name isn't stated, but it's pretty obvious that he is who he is.
- The monk notes that Harte's beggar's bowl was originally owned by St. Bartholomew, who extended it to heretics to have them confess and repent their sins, and has been passed from generation to generation after he passed away.
- Hypocrite: True to the time period and his historical profile, Torquemada subjects thousands of prisoners (Harte included) to the sinful acts of murder, mutilation, and manipulation under an air of piety.
- Karma Houdini: Though Harte gets what he deserves, Jimmy, the fence who originally gave him the painting, receives no such punishment.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Harte is subjected to the mercy (or lack thereof) of the Inquisition after rejecting redemption and returning the stolen painting. The end of the episode has him being strung up after trying and failing to destroy the painting.
- No Name Given: The monk who offers the beggar's bowl to Harte and begs him to repent.
- Offscreen Teleportation: The monk appears in Harte's living room after a gust of wind blows out the candles surrounding his stolen painting, with the man himself bumping into him.
- Oh, Crap!: When Jimmy reenters Harte's apartment and finds the collector strung up on a rack.
- Portal Picture: The stolen painting of the Inquisition acts as a portal to the 16th century, as Harte is brought inside it when he refuses to admit where he went wrong before the Inquisition.
- Redemption Rejection: After his trip to the 16th century, Harte firmly confesses to his crimes and vows to return all his stolen art, but he tries to sell the painting to another buyer after he leaves it, then tries burning it when he's unable to sell, which horribly fails. Harte even gets sent inside the painting in the first place when he slaps the beggar's bowl out of the monk's hand, refusing to repent.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: The magic painting of the Inquisition is hidden in the false bottom a crate of similar illegally excavated artifacts, though it's technically evil largely from Harte's point of view.
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: The monk who visits Harte rebukes him as a thief leading an army of similar thieves, and does so with utter tranquility in the face of his increasing rage.
- Too Dumb to Live: Stated above, Harte's first reaction upon finding himself back home after a torturous trip to the 16th century via his new painting, after finally repenting his sins, ends with him burning it and provoking Torquemada's wrath.
- Villain in a White Suit: Harte wears a white robe throughout the episode.
- Villain Protagonist: Harte, the arrogant art collector who deals exclusively in stolen works.
- Wicked Cultured: Harte may be an unscrupulous associate to criminals, but he's knowledgeable in art and history, fitting for a collector like him.
