No Strings
Eddie Minelli (T.J. Castronova), a sociopathic mob boss, has his subordinate Nicky (Bradley Fisher) kidnap Aldo De Calasuro (Barry Dennen), the world's most famous puppeteer, and bring him to Eddie's warehouse hideout in the middle of the night for a private performance. The catch is that Eddie forces Aldo to use a special marionette: the corpse of his ex-partner Fat Paulie (Derek Doughran), who he recently had killed. With his floozy Tiffany (Cameron Milzer) at his side, Eddie celebrates the defeat of his old partner by watching as Aldo, desperate to survive the most macabre show he's ever put on, puppeteers the corpse to put on a one-man show where "Paulie" praises Eddie. Unknown to everyone, the corpse Aldo is puppeteering might not just be a lifeless puppet after all.
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Puppeteer Aldo is played by Barry Dennen, who voiced skekSil the Chamberlain in Jim Henson's film The Dark Crystal.
- Asshole Victim: Everyone besides Aldo, though Eddie gets it the worst.
- Bad Liar: After discovering Paulie's corpse for the first time, Eddie tells Aldo that his old business partner died of old age an hour ago, despite the fact that there are numerous bullet holes in his face.
- Bittersweet Ending: Aldo is clearly traumatized by the events of the night, but as the only surviving character, he has more than earned the right to take his damaged puppet and return home in peace.
- Boom, Headshot!: Eddie shoots the possessed clown puppet in the head to get rid of Paulie's ghost, but this doesn't stop him.
- Bottle Episode: The episode consists of four characters, one puppet, one corpse, and one set.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Given what a blatant sociopath he is, Eddie makes no attempt to hide his pride as a mob kingpin, even as he's being polite.
- Casting Gag: As stated above, Barry Dennen, voice of skekSil the Chamberlain from The Dark Crystal, plays Aldo the puppeteer. It's appropriate because the episode is written and directed by the film's writer, David Odell.
- Chekhov's Gun: The clown puppet Aldo demonstrates during the opening act, which Nicky tosses aside. Paulie's ghost possesses it near the end to get the drop on Eddie.
- Chromosome Casting: Among the minimal cast, Tiffany is the only woman present.
- Cop Killer: Through Eddie's script, Aldo reveals that the man himself killed a cop for Paulie, and also bribed the judge presiding over the trial to let Paulie go free.
- Crazy-Prepared: The beginning of the episode has Eddie reminding Tiffany that he's been planning to celebrate becoming king of the world of crime, and doing so by turning Paulie's corpse into a puppet, for 18 years.
- Creator Cameo: Protagonist Eddie is played by T.J. Castronova, the executive producer of the series.
- Creepy Circus Music: The episode's soundtrack is composed of this, as fitting the ghoulish puppetry motif.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Aldo rants about puppetry gods that would punish him for defiling a corpse like Eddie wants him to do, which the boss deems as nonsense. He turns out to have been right all along when Paulie's ghost returns from the grave and takes control of both the clown puppet stolen from Aldo and his own murdered body.
- Dead Guy on Display: Fat Paulie's corpse is turned into a puppet who "sings" Eddie's praises in a private showing. The episode ends with Eddie himself joining Paulie up there.
- Deadly Euphemism: At one point near the end, Aldo notes that the script Eddie gave him is full of private stuff that shouldn't be said aloud. Nicky, holding him at gunpoint, tells him to keep reading, ominously promising that he won't remember a thing the next morning.
- Demonic Possession: Paulie's ghost takes over both Aldo's clown puppet and his own murdered corpse.
- The Don: Eddie, who is said to have the entire city under his control, including restaurants, casinos, a prostitution ring, a bank, and the city council. He's also said to have killed a cop for Paulie and bribed a judge to let him go.
- Due to the Dead: Sharply averted with Eddie, as he has the corpse of the "partner" he had killed turned into a puppet to praise him constantly.
- Dumb Blonde: Eddie's floozy Tiffany, who we ultimately learn cheated on him with Paulie, and on him with Nicky, and with Nicky for a whole bunch of other guys.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Paulie may have been a notorious mobster like Eddie, but he thought the world of Tiffany, treating her nicer and gentler than Eddie ever did and sending her flowers for her birthday every year.
- Everybody Has Standards: Tiffany may be a Dumb Blonde meant to serve as Eddie's arm candy, and is later found to have been cheating on both him and Paulie with a slew of other guys, including Nicky, but she clearly doesn't want to be any part of the episode's events, knowing that it's not right to desecrate a person's corpse and use it as a puppet.
- Every Man Has His Price: Averted. Aldo firmly refuses to puppeteer a human corpse, even when Eddie slips a stack of bills in his robe pocket; more money than Aldo ever got for a single performance. He's only persuaded when Nicky holds him at gunpoint and threatens to flush what's left of him down the toilet.
- Faux Affably Evil: Eddie may have a polite attitude with his subordinates and guests, but he's an unrepentant psychopath who frequently uses people and throws them away like Kleenex.
- Foil: Aldo is a man who handles his puppets as though they were real people, treating them gently and humanely. Eddie, on the other hand, treats people like puppets to manipulate to his whims.
- Foreshadowing: Tiffany tearily reminisces about Paulie, who she was with before Eddie, and all the nice things he did for her as his body is strung up. When his ghost takes control of the clown puppet, he reveals that she and him had an affair behind Eddie's back.
- Freudian Slip: Eddie tells Aldo that he's been brought to his derelict warehouse hideout in the dead of night to celebrate the fact that the boss recently "made a big killing... in [[his]] business."
- Hell Is That Noise: The gruesomely wet sounds we hear as Nicky stabs Paulie's corpse with meat hooks.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Eddie is shown to think very lowly of women, given that he treats Tiffany like a slave and cracks insults about the female gender throughout the episode.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: Eddie is the most irredeemable villain in the whole series, and the ghost of the man he murdered acts as the episode's "hero".
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Eddie's fate, becoming a man-made "puppet" by the puppet he already had made.
- Invincible Villain: Before Paulie's ghost kills him, Eddie rants that he has control over the whole city, including the bank, all the businesses, and the city council, while no one is able to stand up to him.
- Irony: Aldo's puppet song includes the lyric "Though I'm not made out of meat", which is disproven when he's forced to manipulate Paulie's corpse.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: David Odell, writer of The Dark Crystal, wrote and directed this episode. As such, it revolves around puppetry, and comes complete with Barry Dennen (the voice of the Skeksis Chamberlain skekSil) playing a puppeteer.
- Karmic Death: Eddie ends up strangled to death by the Paulie "puppet" he so eagerly desecrated.
- Lack of Empathy: Eddie's defining trait. It doesn't make any difference whether he's desecrating a corpse or unceremoniously tossing aside a giant puppet; to him, it's all the same. Tiffany point-blank describes him as someone who "uses people and throws them away like Kleenex".
- Laser-Guided Karma: The entirety of the episode is about four rotten people getting what's coming to them. Paulie, who was dead to begin with, helped build his and Eddie's criminal empire, Nicky and Tiffany are shot dead by Eddie (the former for his thuggish behavior and the latter for cheating on him and Paulie with a whole bunch of other guys, including Nicky), and as for Eddie, the worst of them all, Paulie's ghost puppeteers the corpse to stab a wire hook into his throat.
- Literal Ass-Kissing: Through Aldo's very reluctant manipulation, Paulie's corpse kisses Eddie's ass as the cherry on top of his ego-stroking sundae. It's immediately after this act that Paulie's ghost takes control of Aldo's clown puppet.
- Look Behind You: Aldo shouts this to Eddie as Paulie's possessed corpse goes in for the kill, and Eddie refuses to do so because he's not going to be made a fool.
- Mad Artist: Aldo looks the part with his disheveled appearance and his ranting about "gods of puppetry" that would punish him for doing Eddie's show, but he's way more decent and good-hearted than Eddie, and he's at least somewhat right about the presence of "gods of puppetry".
- The Mafia: Eddie is a mob boss, and everyone aside from Aldo either worked for him or crossed him.
- Monster Clown: Aldo's clown puppet, which Eddie had stolen, becomes one of these when Paulie's ghost possesses it.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Paulie was a notorious mobster like Eddie, but his ghost returns from the dead to give him, Tiffany, and Nick what they deserve.
- Perverse Puppet: Aldo’s clown puppet, once Paulie possesses it.
- Puppet Permutation: Two variations occur here. Eddie wishes to string up Paulie, the "business partner" he had killed, like a puppet to be used in a private show. Then, Paulie's spirit possesses both Aldo's clown puppet and his own corpse during the climax.
- Real After All: Aldo's mentioning of "the gods of puppetry" deserting him for puppeteering a dead body seems like the random eccentricity of an artist, though Paulie's ghost soon makes an appearance, indicating that someone or something was keeping an eye on things in the warehouse.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: After killing the cop for Paulie, as Aldo states, Eddie bribed the judge presiding over his trial to let both men go free.
- Shout-Out: As Eddie complains about what's taking his private show so long to start, he tells Aldo and Nicky that they're not doing a production of Gone with the Wind.
- The Sociopath: Though his attitude is genial and friendly in public, Eddie is a full-fledged psychopath who you don't want to spend any amount of time in a room with. He goes to the trouble of having his favorite puppeteer kidnapped in the middle of the night just so he can put on a special show in celebration for his recent offing of an old "business partner", using said partner's freshly-killed corpse as the puppet.
- Nicky possesses an even greater love for killing than his boss, eager to shoot Aldo dead when he accomplishes what Eddie has in mind for him.
- Something Only They Would Say: Only Paulie knows the nickname he gave to his old girlfriend Tiffany: "Little Goosie".
- Sole Survivor: Aldo is the only surviving character of the episode, and he thoroughly deserves to live through its events.
- Token Good Teammate: Aldo and Tiffany.
- Aldo wants nothing to do with Eddie and his mob, only putting on the private show Eddie desires under the threat of death.
- Tiffany can't stand how much of an unrepentant sociopath Eddie is, refusing to take any part in his plans for her old boyfriend.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Eddie offers some beluga caviar to both Tiffany and Aldo early in the episode.
- Vengeful Ghost: Paulie, who uses his own dead body to kill the old partner who did the same to him.
- Villain Respect: Eddie tells Aldo that he's a big fan of his work, and eagerly applauds his talent as the world's greatest puppeteer, even after he's had him kidnapped and forced to puppeteer the corpse of his recently-murdered rival.
- Wham Shot: The moment when Eddie opens the huge crate he has on hand and what he wants Aldo to puppeteer: the still-fresh, bullet-riddled corpse of Fat Paulie.
- Winds Are Ghosts: As Paulie's body is strung up, his ghost, in the form of a violent and bitterly cold wind, storms into the warehouse to get his revenge. The wind is so powerful that it manages to break the bolts on the door, forcing Eddie and Nicky to use a makeshift door stop to keep it shut.
- World of Jerkass: With the exception of Aldo, everyone in the episode is/was a criminal or an associate to criminals.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Eddie casually kills everyone around him when they aren’t able to give him what he wants anymore. Nicky also promises the same to Aldo once he's finished with the performance.
