Line #17 Recap/TheTwilightZone1985S1E14


1	!! Still Life
2
3	Daniel Arnold (Creator/RobertCarradine) is a photographer who, while attempting to buy a new bed for his wife Becky (Marylin Jones), ends up winning an old trunk in an auction. Inspecting the trunk, Daniel and Becky find that it holds an old Kodak 100 camera in a false bottom. When he finds the camera has photos contained on it and has them developed, Daniel learns that the pictures originate from a National Geographic expedition to the Amazon circa 1913. Talking to Alex Sotell (Creator/JohnCarradine), the last survivor of the expedition, Daniel learns that the explorers met the Kurucai, a hostile tribe of natives who attacked them for taking their pictures and possibly stealing their souls. Daniel finds that the Kurucai might have been onto something, as the tribal warriors escape from the photos and hide throughout his home, hoping to turn Daniel and Becky into their newest targets.
4
5	[[folder:Tropes]]
6	* ActorAllusion: Photography geek Daniel is played by Robert Carradine, who's no stranger to playing [[Film/RevengeOfTheNerds a nerd.]]
7	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: If Daniel had just gotten Becky a new bed like she asked him to instead of winning the old trunk, the entire episode could've been avoided.
8	* TheExtremistWasRight: The Kurucai attacked and almost killed the members of the 1913 expedition because they believed their cameras would steal their souls. As Daniel finds out, they were right all along.
9	* HauntedTechnology: Daniel discovers a Kodak 100 camera in an antique trunk that he won in an auction. When he develops the photos inside, he finds that they are of a ''National Geographic'' expedition to the Amazon in January 1913. Daniel soon meets with Professor Alex Stottel, the last surviving member of the expedition, who tells him that the explorers barely escaped with their lives when they were attacked by the Kurucai, a hostile tribe that believed creating an image of them stole their souls. It turns out that the Kurucai were correct in their beliefs, as Daniel releases them when he develops the photos. The Kurucai attack Daniel and his wife Becky, but he manages to trap their souls once again by taking photos of them.
10	* HollywoodNatives: The Kurucai are portrayed this way, adorned in typical tribal attire and fashioning booby traps out of random objects throughout the Arnolds' house.
11	* HomeAloneAntics: The Kurucai use random items throughout Daniel's house to make traps and weapons to hunt him and Becky down.
12	* HungryJungle: The Arnolds' house gradually grows tropical flora as the Kurucai take it over, along with the calls of jungle animals being heard in the distance, and Becky even spotting a parrot before she's found out.
13	* MagicalCamera: In this world, the old belief that having a picture taken of someone steals their soul is revealed to be true. The Kurucai were evidently sealed inside an old Kodak 100 when they had their pictures taken, and Daniel developing the photos released them to wreak havoc. He manages to defeat them by taking their picture with his own camera, trapping them back on film. Becky's pocket camera is able to do the same thing to the last remaining warrior, hinting that all cameras have the ability.
14	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Daniel lets his love of photography go to his head and wins the old trunk that the Kodak 100 is inside instead of buying a new brass bed like Becky wanted. As he discovers the camera's photographs and develops them, he releases the souls of the Kurucai, who almost kill him and his wife.
15	* SealedEvilInACan: The Kodak 100 houses photos of the Kurucai containing their souls. The camera itself was hidden inside an old trunk Daniel won in an auction.
16	* SoleSurvivor: 86-year-old Alex Stottel is the last surviving member of that 1913 expedition to the Amazon River, having been just 13 years old at the time.
17	* SoulJar: The Kodak 100 happens to hold the souls of the Kurucai, and Daniel manages to put the hostile natives back inside their prison by taking their picture.
18	* SpookyPhotographs: The pictures of the Kurucai Daniel finds in the Kodak 100. When he has the photos developed, he learns that his doing so has allowed the tribe in question to be released inside his house.
19	* WeaksauceWeakness: Though they are effective and vicious warriors, the Kurucai are defeated simply by having their picture taken.
20	* WeaponizedCamera: Daniel manages to defeat the Kurucai by taking their pictures, sealing them back in their prisons of film. When a remaining warrior pins Daniel, his wife Becky manages to trap the tribesman inside her cheap pocket camera.
21	[[/folder]]
22	-> "Ancient maps included unknown lands labeled "terra incognita," and warnings like, "Here, There Be Tigers." Modern maps of an enlightened world show no such disclaimers. Perhaps they should. Perhaps even today, there are realms which cannot be charted anywhere -- outside the Twilight Zone."
23	-----
24
25	!! The Little People of Killany Woods
26
27	Liam O'Shaughnessy (Creator/HamiltonCamp) is an Irishman who is seen by the people of his village as a laughingstock and nuisance for being a moocher and excusing it by making up stories. As he wanders into the local pub, Liam begins spouting out claims that he saw "the little people" sitting under a giant toadstool in the nearby Killany Woods. Thinking this to be another one of his cockamamie stories, Mike Mulvaney, (Michael Aldridge) one of the pub's customers to whom Liam owes money, throws him out. Not long after this, Mike spies Liam carrying around pieces of gold that the "little people" gave him for buying supplies. Before long, Mike tries to hassle Liam for some of the gold and chases him into Killany Woods, where he sees the "little people" weren't exactly what he thought they were.
28
29	[[folder:Tropes]]
30	* AlchemyIsMagic: The aliens give Liam triangular gold pieces to buy supplies so they can repair their damaged ship. He tells a villager that this gold will not last in the hands of a sinner, which the villager passes along to Mike. Sure enough, the gold piece Mike forces Liam to give him turns to lead.
31	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Liam is the pariah of his village due to his incessant mooching, and his fabricating of tall tales to cover himself. The aliens seem to like him, though, enough that they trust him to buy supplies to fix their ship.
32	* CassandraTruth: No one in Kelly's pub believes Liam when he says that he saw leprechauns under a giant toadstool in Killany Woods. When Mike follows Liam into the woods in the hope of getting more gold, he discovers that the leprechauns are actually aliens and that the toadstool is their spaceship. He returns to the pub to tell the townspeople what he saw, but just like they did with Liam, none of them believe him.
33	* CryingWolf: Liam has a reputation of making up stories to excuse himself when he needs to pay people back, hence why his claims about meeting "the little people" are seen as a joke. When Mike returns to the pub after Liam and the aliens leave, everyone laughs at what he says just as they did with Liam.
34	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: While everyone else dismissed his story as one of his usual excuses, Mike manages to see the "little people" and their "giant toadstool" for himself when he chases after Liam. Liam himself even points and laughs at Mike while he does a celebratory jig, getting the last laugh and proving that he was right all along.
35	* DisproportionateRetribution: Mike ''did'' have a right to be mad at Liam for not paying back money he owed him, but he loses the moral high ground when he demands the gold Liam's carrying, claiming that he wants it for all the torment Liam put him through over the years, even though all he did was mooch off him and make up stories to cover himself.
36	* FightingIrish: Mike, being a boorish Irishman and a heavy drinker, is all too happy to pound Liam so he can get his gold, even throwing him out of the pub headfirst.
37	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Liam's first scene has him barging into the pub and demanding Kelly for a drink, running himself ragged between spying "the little people" and doing their shopping for them. Mike does the same when he finally meets the "little people" himself.
38	* InnocentAliens: The titular little people are actually three-foot aliens whose spaceship broke down near Liam's village. They gave him the gold pieces to buy supplies to fix the ship, and as a reward for his assistance, they end up taking Liam with them back to their home planet.
39	* {{Jerkass}}: Mike Mulvaney, who Liam owes money to and hassles him for the gold he's carrying.
40	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Liam is established to mooch off the cash of everyone in his village and makes up stories to get out of paying them back, but he ''does'' sincerely wish to help the "little people" fix their ship.
41	* {{Leprechaun}}: Liam spends the episode trying to tell his fellow villagers that he spotted what are said to be leprechauns sitting under a giant toadstool in the nearby forest. We later learn at the climax that they're actually three-foot tall green aliens whose spaceship is shaped like a toadstool.
42	* LighterAndSofter: The episode plays things for laughs, as everyone has hammy Irish accents and it's backed by a light-hearted Irish score.
43	* LittleGreenMen: The aliens that land in Killany Woods are green and waist-high to the average man, and they travel in a spaceship shaped like a giant mushroom, hence why Liam initially thought they were leprechauns.
44	* {{Oireland}}: The episode is set in a small Irish village, so everyone has the requisite accent and there's talk of what seem to be leprechauns in the nearby forest, who give Liam gold for a certain purpose.
45	* RewatchBonus: Re-viewings of the episode can clue viewers in on the twist thanks to a special clue: Liam only talked about meeting "the little people"; he never said anything about ''leprechauns''.
46	* StayWithTheAliens: Liam decides to travel with the aliens after their ship is repaired, instead of remaining in his village and being a laughing stock. According to the closing narration, he also brings shamrocks with him and plants them on the aliens' home planet, which humanity will find when they explore space in the distant future.
47	* TotallyNotAWerewolf: Liam keeps claiming that he has seen leprechauns under a giant toadstool in Killany Woods. When Mike chases him into said woods, it's revealed that they're actually three-foot tall green aliens from a distant galaxy who enlisted Liam's to help repair their ship, which is shaped like a toadstool.
48	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Liam tries telling everyone that his sighting of "the little people" isn't just one of his half-assed excuses.
49	[[/folder]]
50	-> "In the days to come, when human beings navigate the great depths of space, they'll eventually come to a small planet in a distant galaxy. It's a pleasant place, but quite unlike the Earth. There's one unusual similarity, however: shamrocks grow there in great profusion. Brought they say by one Liam O'Shaughnessy, lately of Earth, and now residing in one of the greener corners -- of the Twilight Zone."
51	-----
52
53	!! The Misfortune Cookie
54
55	Harry Folger (Creator/ElliottGould) is a highly respected food critic for a major newspaper, so influential that restaurants live and die by his reviews. Despite his fame, he's also quite the unsatisfiable customer, ensuring that any restaurant that doesn't live up to his astoundingly high standards is shut down. His latest restaurant on the chopping block is "Mr. Lee's Chinese Cuisine", and when Harry arrives, he orders several dozen meals, but asks for the check without having a single bite. Nonetheless, he is given a fortune cookie that tells him of a great reward around the corner, before he accidentally discovers stolen jewelry and is given $1,000. Harry continues to hassle Mr. Lee for these special fortune cookies, hoping to bring more good fortune upon himself.
56
57	[[folder:Tropes]]
58	* AdaptationalJobChange: Harry is a newspaper critic who loves writing scathing reviews of restaurants, whether they deserve it or not. In the short story by Charles E. Fritch, his occupation isn't given.
59	* AdaptationExpansion: The episode goes into more detail about the kind of person Harry is than the short story. In the episode, Harry is an ImmoralJournalist who loves to write terrible reviews of restaurants so they will be shut down. Whenever this happens, he adds a matchbook to a model graveyard on his desk. In the short story, Harry is cheating on his wife with his old flame Cynthia Peters, but nothing else is revealed about his personality and his profession is not given.
60	* AdaptedOut: The episode omits Harry's wife, his lover Cynthia Peters, and Cynthia's husband.
61	* AssholeVictim: Harry, who is killed through unknown means and damned to be eternally hungry no matter how much he eats.
62	* BigEater: In his IronicHell, Harry suffers from excruciating hunger pangs, so he stuffs himself to make them go away, to no avail.
63	* BittersweetEnding: Harry suffers an IronicHell for his appalling behavior and choices, but Mr. Lee's restaurant is still carrying his bad review, so it's unknown whether it will stay in business for long.
64	* CausticCritic: Harry only gives his seal of approval to the finest restaurants, who cater to his incredibly hard-to-please taste. Those that don't hold to his standards get a review scathing enough to guarantee that they're out of business. He also takes matchbooks from every restaurant he shuts down and uses them as tombstones for a miniature graveyard on his desk.
65	* EverybodyHasStandards: Harry's co-worker is appalled that the guy is going to give Mr. Lee's Chinese Cuisine a bad review ''before he even visits the place''.
66	* ExactWords: Harry's second fortune states "April arrives today, bringing romance." He tries to call the inconsistency on this fortune by saying that it's September, but not long after, he meets and falls in love with a beautiful woman... named ''April'' Hamilton.
67	* FamilyBusiness: While engaging in conversation with Harry, Mr. Lee tells him that his family has been in the restaurant business for many, many years.
68	* ForTheEvulz: The reason why Harry loves having restaurants shut down.
69	* FourIsDeath: Harry receives four fortune cookies over the course of the episode. While the first two give him good fortunes, the third hints that he's going to die, and the fourth confirms it when he's stuck in his IronicHell.
70	* HateSink: The 80's remake of ''The Twilight Zone'' is relatively light on completely despicable main characters, but Harry Folger is a ''notable'' exception. The man is an abusive, petty, short-tempered snob who '''relishes''' in putting restaurants out of business and ruining the owners' lives. Even when he brings April on a date to Mr. Lee's and tries to act polite and civil, his shouting and physical threats make her break up with him. He doesn't even have any particular issues that he's going through to influence his attitude and decision-making; he's just an asshole.
71	* ImmoralJournalist: Harry is an extremely unethical journalist who loves writing restaurant reviews to shut them down, just to be mean, to the point where he begins writing a negative review of Mr. Lee's Chinese Cuisine before he visits it. When he ''does'' visit, he orders a great deal of food, but demands to be brought his check without touching any of it. His review of the restaurant is published in the next day's paper, causing Mr. Lee to lose many customers.
72	* InsistentTerminology: Harry quotes to a co-worker that his reviews don't "trash" restaurants; they "expose" them.
73	* IronicEcho: Harry has a habit of collecting matchbooks from the restaurants his reviews put out of business and using them as tombstones for a tiny cemetery on his desk. At the end of the episode, there's a new matchbox in the tiny "cemetery" that reads his name.
74	* IronicHell: After his death, Harry is condemned to be trapped in a neverending street of Chinese restaurants, eternally hungry no matter how much he eats.
75	* IWarnedYou: Mr. Lee tries to tell Harry that asking for more than one of his "Special Fortune Cookies" is a bad idea, since people aren’t always happy with what the fortunes say. When Harry is livid at Lee because his latest fortune says "You’re going to die", Lee's response is a simple "You only get the fortune you deserve".
76	* KickTheDog: Harry absolutely relishes giving negative reviews to restaurants and getting them closed down just to be cruel and feed his own ego. He even keeps matchbooks from all the ones he's ruined as a reminder.
77	* MisfortuneCookie: The very title of the episode, where Harry gets fortune cookies whose messages come true, but not always with his interests in mind.
78	** His first fortune says "A grand reward awaits you just around the corner." As he leaves the restaurant, a petty crook carrying $100,000 in stolen diamonds runs into him, allowing the police to catch him, and the manager of the jewelry store gives him $1,000 as a reward.
79	** The second fortune says "April arrives today, bringing romance." Harry dismisses this one since it's September, but he later meets a woman who asks him for directions. When they arrange a date, she tells him that her name is April Hamilton.
80	** On his third visit to the restaurant, Harry's fortune cookie says "You're going to die." He furiously storms out, but immediately experiences severe hunger pangs. He finds himself stuck in an endless street of Chinese restaurants, eating at one after the other continuously, but his hunger is insatiable. He then receives his fourth and final cookie, which simply says "You're dead.", revealing that he's now in an IronicHell.
81	** At the same time, April gets a fortune cookie that reads "A grievous error in judgment will soon be made apparent to you. Take heed." When Harry gets his fortune about dying, he manhandles a waiter and threatens him to get Mr. Lee, prompting April to realize she fell in love with a complete jackass and dump Harry.
82	* NotHyperbole: Harry's first special fortune cookie says "A grand reward awaits you just around the corner". He thinks the fortune is baloney, as such a melodramatic prophecy couldn't really happen. But the instant he steps out of Mr. Lee's restaurant, a burglar comes running from around the corner, abandons his prize of stolen diamonds, and the pursuing banker and police officer follow not long after. On seeing Harry's alleged heroism, the banker gives him a reward for salvaging the diamonds. So indeed, a grand reward did come to Harry from around the corner.
83	* PickyEater: The very instant Mr. Lee brings him several piping hot plates of Chinese food, Harry asks for his check without eating a single bite.
84	* PunBasedTitle: It's blatantly made to be a pun on "fortune cookie".
85	* RiddleForTheAges: Even though Harry's last fortune says that he's going to die, and he is indeed dead when the episode ends, we have no idea ''how'' he dies in the first place.
86	* SmallRoleBigImpact: The newswoman who brings up Mr. Lee's Chinese Cuisine, which gets Harry interested in adding a new tombstone to his graveyard.
87	* VillainProtagonist: Harry, the ultimate hard-to-please critic.
88	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Though Harry is profoundly immoral, his reviews bring in quite a few readers.
89	[[/folder]]
90	-> "Check please, for Mr. Harry Folger, for whom the phrase "dim sum" is not merely a description, but a damnation. A man who finds himself sitting down to a single, never-ending course of just desserts; prepared for him in the kitchens -- of the Twilight Zone."

Context Recap / TheTwilightZone1985S1E14