History Recap / TheWildWildWestS2E16TheNightOfTheTotteringTontine

-->''' Maurice:''' As a novelist, I should think you would enjoy the {{gothic}} atmosphere here.

* NastyParty: The shareholder's retreat. A bunch of not especially nice people who don't much care for each other trapped in a large house on a DarkAndStormyNight - and slowly being killed off one by one.

Disguises used by Artie: ; [[http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/l8dreamr/media/bWVkaWFJZDoxODAwNTA3MQ==/?ref=1 Angus Mc Gordon, Secretary of Doctor Raven]]

* HighVoltageDeath: One tontine member, MysteryFiction writer Edward Baring (William Wintersole), finds a book in his room titled ''[[SchmuckBait The Death of Edward Baring]]''. He opens it--and finds it contents both deadly and [[{{Pun}} shocking]].

* BondOneLiner: After Dexter dies, Jim quips that he got "stuck in the rumpus room".

* SiblingMurder: The killer turns out to be Martin Dexter (Mike Road), twin brother of the architect who designed Grevely's mansion. Nobody knew about Martin, which makes it easy for him to kill his brother to get in on the tontine action.

* BackwardsFiringGun: Used in the murder of Harry Stimson. It's substituted for his own weapon - by no coincidence, since he's a TriggerHappy {{Sociopath}} who enjoys shooting up saloons for fun.

* BountyHunter: Harry Stimson used to be one, specializing in killing unarmed men. He gave it up when he got rich, but he's still a {{Jerkass}} who enjoys lording it over the people around him.

* ComplexityAddiction: The murderer suffers from it; his schemes for murder keep getting more and more elaborate.
* DeadGuyOnDisplay: After Applegate's corpse is stored in the cellar, the murderer props it up at the door leading to the passageway ForTheLulz.
* HighVoltageDeath: MysteryFiction writer Edward Baring finds a book in his room titled ''[[SchmuckBait The Death of Edward Baring]]''. He opens it--and finds it contents both deadly and [[{{Pun}} shocking]].
* ImNotHereToMakeFriends: Applegate the banker uses a very similar phrase--decades before the advent of RealityTV.

* MalevolentMaskedMen: The murderer's {{mooks}} wear hood-like masks that hide their faces as part of their all-black outfits.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: The murderer tries to get rid of Jim by tying him to a sled (which for some reason gets left off the drawing come freeze-frame time - see above, lower left corner), using rockets to propel it over a cliff, ''and'' arranging to have it explode just after it begins its flight.
* OldDarkHouse: Cattle baron Martin Grevely (Robert Emhardt), one of the tontine's members, hosts the group at his very large, not particularly pleasant mansion. It doesn't help that the place is full of {{Death Trap}}s and {{Secret Passage}}s.

%%* SuspectExistenceFailure

* OldDarkHouse: Cattle baron Martin Grevely, one of the tontine's members, hosts the group at his very large, not particularly pleasant mansion.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The tontine only has one female member. And she's TheMole.
* SpikesOfDoom: Jim gets trapped in a room with a spiked wall--which starts [[TheWallsAreClosingIn closing in]] on him. He blasts a hole in the ceiling, then climbs up the spikes to escape.

West and Gordon are assigned to protect Dr. Raven (Harry Townes), inventor of an important new weapon. They soon discover that Raven is a member of a tontine - an investment group operating on the law of survival. A meeting of the tontine's members is imminent and several attempts are made on Raven's life as they travel to it; additionally, the agents learn that three other members of the group are already dead. They arrive at the meeting with the body count still rising and find themselves trapped in their host's house with a mysterious killer.

* OldDarkHouse: Martin Grevely, one of the tontine's members, hosts the group at his very large, not particularly pleasant mansion.

* LargeHam: This week's award for scenery-chewing goes to Lisa Pera as Amelia, who goes way over the top in the seance scene.

* BackwardsFiringGun: Used in one of the murders. It's substituted for the member's own weapon - a particularly TriggerHappy member, by no coincidence.

* NastyParty: The shareholder's retreat. A bunch of not especially nice people who don't much care for each other trapped in a large house on a stormy night - and slowly being killed off one by one.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The tontine only has one female member. [[spoiler: And she's TheMole.]]

* TenLittleMurderVictims: The remaining members of the tontine at Grevely's house. [[spoiler:In this case there's not only a [[TheMole mole]] but an identical twin involved.]]

* BackwardsFiringGun: Used in one of the murders. It's substituted for the member's own weapon - a particularly trigger-happy member, by no coincidence.

West and Gordon are assigned to protect Dr. Raven, inventor of an important new weapon. They soon discover that Raven is a member of a tontine - an investment group operating on the law of survival. A meeting of the tontine's members is imminent and several attempts are made on Raven's life as they travel to it; additionally, the agents learn that three other members of the group are already dead. They arrive at the meeting with the body count still rising and find themselves trapped in their host's house with a mysterious killer.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: The murderer tries to get rid of Jim by tying him to a sled (which for some reason gets left off the drawing come freeze-frame time - see above, lower left corner). using rockets to propel it over a cliff, ''and'' arranging to have it explode just after it begins its flight.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: The murderer tries to get rid of Jim by tying him to a sled (which for some reason gets left off the drawing come freeze-frame time - see above, lower left corner) and using rockets to propel it over a cliff, 'and'' arranging to have it explode just after it begins its flight.

* NastyParty: The shareholder's retreat. A bunch of not especially nice people who don't much care for each other trapped in a large house on a stormy night - and slowly being killed off one by one - aren't in much of a mood to play games.

* TenLittleMurderVictims: The remaining members of the tontine begin to be picked up off one by one at Grevely's house. [[spoiler:In this case there's not only a [[TheMole mole]] but an identical twin involved.]]

* NastyParty: The shareholder's retreat. A bunch of not especially nice people who don't particularly care for each other trapped in a large house on a stormy night - and slowly being killed off one by one - aren't in much of a mood to play games.

West and Gordon are assigned to protect Dr. Raven, who is developing a secret weapon and also a member of a tontine, i.e., an investment group whose bylaws state that the last surviving member of the group will receive the group's assets.

* BackwardsFiringGun: Used for one of the murders.

* ComplexityAddiction: The murderer suffers from it.
* NastyParty: The shareholder's retreat.
* OldDarkHouse
* TenLittleMurderVictims