- The Control Voice: Even in the most innocent of minds, there are still secrets best left unrevealed.
A housewife accidentally shoots herself in the head. She survives, and starts hallucinating that a photo of a man is talking to her.
- The Control Voice: Perhaps the descent into madness... is not a solitary journey, after all.
The Tropes of Becka Paulson:
- Adaptation Deviation: In the original Stephen King short story, the picture Becka keeps talking to is that of Jesus. Here, it's a generic insert photo of a man in a suit that came with her picture frame.
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Done deliberately: the plot is kicked off by Becka learning the hard way that Joe's gun is still loaded when she accidentally fires it while staring down the barrel as she slips off of her footstool. And her way of trying to determine it still was loaded prior to this... was by shaking it around.
- Bulk Buy Only: Variation: while at Liquidations, Becka notices an entire rack of picture frames, all containing the 8-by-10 Man... and so decides to buy all of them. To be fair, he did say he was on sale...
- Christmas Episode: The events of the episode take place a few days prior to Christmas.
- Creator Cameo: Steven Weber, who directed the episode, plays the 8-by-10 Man.
- A Glass in the Hand: Joe Paulsen is electrocuted while holding a beer bottle, which he proceeds to crush in his hand.
- High-Voltage Death: The title character rigs the television so that it will electrocute her unfaithful husband Joe when he touches the knob. When the electrocution process begins, Becka realizes that what she has done is wrong but is electrocuted herself in her failed attempt to save Joe.
- Kill It with Fire: Although the point is moot, as Joe and Becka were already dead from electrocution, the episode ends with their trailer starting to catch on fire from the fried TV.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Upon seeing Joe's painful, prolonged electrocution, Becka soon realizes what she has done. Interestingly, it's implied she only reached this revelation due to seeing the TV itself act up due to the act, in particular seeing a cop say "Don't listen to him! You've got a bullet in your brain!"
- Pretty Little Headshots: Although you can make the argument it's because it got lodged in her brain, Becka still walks away from getting shot in the head with a hole the width of a pencil.
- Snarky Inanimate Object: The 8-by-10 Man is occasionally rather snarky towards the title character.
-
Squick: After Becka accidentally shoots herself, we're treated to a delightful shot of inside the hole. - The Tape Knew You Would Say That: The soap opera Becka keeps watching throughout the episode has a plotline concerning a woman getting shot in the head, with the bullet getting lodged in her brain. The parallels between this and Becka's own situation are blatantly obvious.Doctor on TV: [talking to a cop] I heard a gunshot. Are you alright?
Becka: [head still bleeding; nonchalantly] I'm fine.
[the cop turns to the screen in concern] - 'Tis Only a Bullet in the Brain: The title character accidentally shoots herself in the head. The bullet is hinted to have hit a tumor, and afterwards she starts to hallucinate and even has flashes of genius based on the hallucinations.
- Too Dumb to Live: No proper explanation is given why, but at one point, Becka decides to put a makeup pencil inside of the bullet hole and poke the bullet.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: Becka accidentally shoots herself in the head with a small-caliber pistol while cleaning house. The trauma to her brain gives her Psychic Powers and makes her more intelligent as well.
