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Recap / Inside No 9 S 1 E 2 A Quiet Night In

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Inept burglars Eddie and Ray manage to break into the beautiful country mansion where millionaire Gerald and his trophy wife Sabrina are arguing over the television remote. After an accident with one of Gerald's dogs and avoiding being caught by the housekeeper they fill a suit-case full of spoils and are about to escape when they find that Gerald has killed his wife. More mayhem ensues after the arrival of the supposedly deaf-mute cleaning product salesman Paul.


This episode contains examples of:

  • All There in the Script: Due to the episode having no dialogue, Paul is the only character whose name is revealed before the closing credits.
  • Armed with Pepper Spray: The housekeeper attacks one of the burglars with pepper spray.
  • Ate His Gun: Gerald attempts this, but can't go through with it.
  • Bathos: Serious moments are undercut by the absurd actions of the two Stupid Crooks.
  • Bloody Hilarious: All the killings are played for fun.
  • Body in a Breadbox: The husband is surprised to find the sedated housekeeper in a cupboard.
  • Boom, Headshot!: How the two burglars are offed.
  • Compromising Call: The one burglar texting the other almost leads to them being found out.
  • Dance of Romance: The husband and his wife perform one but it gets subverted when the latter gets killed by the former.
  • Death by Looking Up: The husband gets smashed by his dead wife's suitcase which doubles as a Death by Irony.
  • Ding-Dong-Ditch Distraction: The burglars lure the house owner to the front door so they can sneak in through the back door.
  • Ethnic Menial Labor: The housekeeper is of Asian descent.
  • "Everybody Dies" Ending: Out of the six characters in the episode, four die and one of the survivors, the maid, could be dead.
  • Expy: The bearded burglar looks like Harry Tuttle.
  • Eye Scream: Eddie is pepper-sprayed in the eyes by Kim. He later tries to rub soothing cucumber halves into them but grabs a chilli pepper instead. Ouch.
  • Fakin' MacGuffin: One of the burglars replaces the painting with kitchen paper.
  • Funny Background Event: The burglars struggling with the motion detector while the house owner eats his tomato soup.
  • Instant Sedation: The maid goes out in seconds after having the chloroform administered.
  • Karma Houdini: Thus far, at least: Paul is present to steal a valuable painting and cold-bloodedly murders his two rivals to get it, but walks out of the house perfectly fine. But he might yet get his comeuppance when he presents his employers with a few worthless sheets of kitchen paper.
  • Missed Him by That Much: For some reason the two burglars manage to always stay out of sight of Gerald and his wife.
  • Mister Muffykins: The annoying little dog that almost foils the plan.
  • No-Dialogue Episode: Paul's phone call is the only time a character speaks. note 
  • No MacGuffin, No Winner: The painting is ultimately lost to everyone.
  • Obfuscating Disability: Paul can hear and speak just fine.
  • Pillow Silencer: The enraged husband kills his Trophy Wife this way when she rejects his kiss. He grabs a gun, places a cushion on her face and pull the trigger.
  • Plethora of Mistakes: The two burglars are committing one faux pas after the other.
  • Pop-Up Texting: The text messages are displayed this way.
  • Room Disservice: The supposedly mentally challenged vendor.
  • Stocking Mask: The two burglars wear them to hide their identity in case they were caught.
  • Symbolically Broken Object: One of the burglars accidentally breaks a photograph of the husband and his wife. The husband comes to believe this was an act of his wife and decides to kill her.
  • Toilet Humor: The different noises the sex doll makes while getting drained of air through all its openings.
  • True Art Is Incomprehensible: The valuable painting is so incomprehensible that neither the wife, the housekeeper nor the hitman can tell it apart from a replica/a piece of clothing.
  • Unnecessary Combat Roll: The bearded burglar crawls on the floor while his partner points out that the owner and his wife are not looking.
  • Unsettling Gender-Reveal: The Trophy Wife turns out to be transgender much to The Peeping Tom burglar's dismay.

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