The Hellgramite Method
"Miley Judson, an everyman who has strayed from the path; slipped and fallen many times. A man who seeks solace from his problems at the bottom of a glass. A good man at war with himself, slowly drowning in alcohol, swallow by swallow. Pulled down by the insidious undertow of an endless ocean of booze. Helpless to stop doing the one thing he does better than anything else: drink."
Miley Judson (Timothy Bottoms) can't stop drinking to save his life, to the point where he's classified as more of a keg than a man. His rampant alcoholism has driven a notable wedge between him, his wife Frannie (Julie Khaner), and his young son Chad, but he's already tried every method of quitting known to modern times, with little-to-no success. A strange man at his local watering hole, Dr. Jamie Murrick (Leslie Yeo), gives him a matchbox that advertises "The Hellgramite Method" for achieving sobriety. This prompts Miley to visit Murrick's home, who gives him a pill to ingest. Once inside Miley's stomach, the pill hatches into a Hellgramite, a parasitic worm that feeds exclusively on alcohol, which it absorbs right from his body. Miley discovers that each drink he takes no longer intoxicates him and makes the worm grow. He learns that the only way to stop the Hellgramite from growing and possibly killing him is to starve it into a state of hibernation, but this results in the worm attacking him from the inside, leading Miley to undergo the most excruciating case of withdrawal he's ever had.
Tropes
- Affectionate Nickname: Miley and Frannie call their son Chad "Chadder" from time to time.
- And I Must Scream: The second half of the episode, where Miley is left in excruciating pain from the Hellgramite attacking his innards. Though he toughs it out and finally becomes sober, he's going to spend the rest of his life with that worm in his stomach.
- Awful Wedded Life: A rare case where it's unhappy to both husband and wife and they're both aware of it. Miley's drinking is doing a number on Frannie, who worries about the kind of example it'll leave for Chad. Frannie even says that she's planning to leave him and take Chad with her, and we don't know if Miley gets her back.
- The Alcoholic: Miley is essentially a walking brewery, because that's how much alcohol he packs away. Over the years, he's tried to quit many times through psychiatric treatment and aversion therapy, but he always starts drinking again after two or three months at most. Miley's drinking has cost him many friends and is on the verge of costing him his marriage, as Frannie can't cope with the bad examples he's leaving for Chad much more.
- Bittersweet Ending: We never learn whether Miley gets his wife and son back, but the ending shows that he's finally and truly sober at last.
- Body Horror: Dr. Murrich infects Miley with a parasitic worm called a Hellgramite in order to help him overcome his alcoholism. The worm takes up residence in Miley's stomach and absorbs all the alcohol that he drinks. From there, Dr. Murrich offers Miley a choice: he can either continue drinking and allow the worm to remain active, or he can stop drinking and suffer from extremely painful withdrawals to render the worm dormant. Miley goes the cold turkey route and almost succumbs to the terrible pain caused by the starving worm attacking him from inside his stomach, but he sticks it out and finally achieves sobriety.
- Bookends: The beginning and end of the episode have someone giving an alcoholic the Hellgramite Method matchbox.
- Catapult Nightmare: Miley has one during his withdrawal, where he approaches the Hellgramite in a jar of fluid, powerless to stop the thing from lunging at him.
- Children Are Innocent: When he's first introduced, Chad inquires if his father is "sick again". Not only does this let the audience know he's no stranger to his dad's alcoholism but doesn't recognize it as such, but also frames Frannie's personal worry that hers and Miley's son will normalize such an unhealthy lifestyle.
- Deadly Doctor: Though his method for sobriety works, Dr. Murrick developed it as a means of revenge after a drunk driver killed his wife and kids.
- Drunk Driver: Dr. Murrich's wife and children were killed by a drunk driver while they were crossing the street. The pain that he suffered after their deaths led him to create the Hellgramite Method, which involves placing a Hellgramite in the stomach of alcoholics so it can absorb their liquor. It helps the tough ones like Miley get sober, but it still results from a need for revenge.
- Establishing Character Moment: If the narration doesn't give it away, the opening with Miley establishes his alcoholism to a T. It shows him having "one more" drink, to the point his own bartender has to point out the pizza he was supposed to bring home is getting cold. Nonetheless, the next scene shows Miley passed out from so much drinking, his bartender wakes him up to tell him it's closing time. What follows is a drunken Miley coming home very late to a sullen wife and a son who is innocently no stranger to his dad being "sick again". In short, Miley has a problem, and it shows.
- Freudian Excuse: Dr. Murrick is revealed to have created the Hellgramite Method after his wife and kids were killed in a drunken hit-and-run, using it as a tool for alcoholics everywhere to feel the pain he felt while helping them get sober.
- Going Cold Turkey: Miley decides to go cold turkey in order to force the Hellgramite into a dormant state. He sends Frannie and Chad to Frannie's parents' house for several weeks so he can isolate himself, but his attempt is made all the more difficult because starving the worm causes it to attack him, granting excruciating and potentially life threatening pain. One day, he frantically searches for any trace of alcohol and eventually finds a small bottle in his gym bag. Although Miley strongly considers drinking it, he is able to resist the temptation and finally manages to go sober.
- Here We Go Again!: In the final scene, the finally-sober Miley offers a light to an alcoholic in his old bar. He tells him to keep the matchbox advertising the Hellgramite Method, just as Dr. Murrich did in the opening scene.
- Motive Rant: Dr. Murrick launches into one where he reveals the truth about his reasons for creating the Hellgramite Method, which involve a drunk driver killing his wife and kids.
- Stomach of Holding: Miley's stomach becomes one when the Hellgramite takes up residence in it.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Hellgramite Method, created by Dr. Murrick, turns alcoholics permanently sober by infecting them with a parasite that feeds on alcohol, grows bigger with every feeding, and viciously attacks them when they deny it any food. While it's a largely noble cause, it's origins go back to when his wife and children were run down by a drunk driver, and the resultant thirst for revenge he developed.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Frannie and Chad disappear after Miley sends them to the former's parents' house so he can be isolated. We never know whether he was able to get them back, even after becoming sober.
"Miley Judson happened upon the simple discovery that there is no sure-fire cure, no quick fix, no shortcut to either sobriety or peace of mind. Some people achieve it through an individual act of will, others find strength in numbers. What Miley Judson needed was a little... something extra, something that could only be found — in The Twilight Zone.
