My Zombie Lover
Once a year in a sleepy neighborhood, the dead rise from their graves to eat the flesh of the living for reasons unknown. On this night, the residents either barricade themselves in their homes or arm themselves to hunt the zombies. Nerdy college student Dottie LeMeche (Tempestt Bledsoe) has a weeklong break from school during this night, choosing to stay in and read instead of joining her parents (Marcella Lowery and Ed Wheeler) on the zombie hunt, or accompanying her annoying younger brother Brad (Eugene Byrd) in protesting the "murders" of the undead. After the folks leave, Dottie is met by Paul Nichols (Steve Harper), a former classmate from high school who died in a car accident and is now similarly undead. As Dottie reluctantly invites him inside, Paul reveals that he's always had a thing for Dottie, but he struggles to keep his flesh-craving tendencies under control as he tries to win her favor.
Tropes:
- Abusive Parent: Dottie's parents get so sick of Brad's behavior, they allow Dottie and Paul to eat him. Though given how he's spent all his time on camera being a little shit, can you really blame them?
- Aside Glance: The last shot of the episode is of Brad turning to the camera, wide-eyed and seconds away from screaming, as he realizes he's about to become zombie food.
- Berserk Board Barricade: It's not "berserk" as it is "prepared", but the LeMeche parents board up their windows and kitchen door to keep out the zombies. They evidently never took the front door into the equation when Paul came up to it.
- Bookworm: Dottie, who has notable glasses and decides to spend her week off from college reading while her family goes to the zombie hunt. Needless to say, Brad is unable to stand having such a nerd for a sister.
- Boomerang Bigot: As part of his obnoxious personality, Brad goes to the zombie hunt with his parents holding a picket sign declaring that zombies are/were people who don't deserve to be hunted. When he and the folks find Dottie and Paul together, he immediately switches opinions and rebukes his older sister for dating, and later becoming, a zombie.
- Bratty Half-Pint: Brad's sole characteristic. Everyone in the episode gets so tired of him that his folks allow the zombified Dottie and Paul eat him alive.
- Class Clown: Dottie remembers Paul from her high school French class because he was known to be quite the joker.
- Denser and Wackier: This episode is explicitly depicted as a goofy sitcom in every way, shape, and form, minus the Laugh Track.
- Didn't Think This Through: For whatever reason, Mr. LeMeche boarded up every entrance point in the house except the front door, which is where Paul meets Dottie for the first time.
- Disproportionate Retribution: After spending the whole episode being a bratty little wiseass, Brad's parents let their zombified daughter and her boyfriend eat him.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Paul and Dottie's time alone, where Paul bites Dottie while momentarily not in control of himself, is clearly a stand-in for sexual tension. Similarly, Brad's attitude and the parents' gradual approval mimic the complications that often come with interracial (or interspecies in this case) dating.
- Dramatic Thunder: A flash of lightning lights up the background behind Paul when his zombified self is first revealed.
- Ear Ache: Paul tugs on his ears when he gets flustered, and his undead nature accidentally makes him pull one of them off, managing to reattach it when Dottie isn't looking.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Dottie spotting the phone on the wall when Paul knocks on the door. It doesn't help her, unfortunately.
- Expy: Dottie's parents are expies of Cliff and Vanessa Huxtable, which is appropriate given that Tempestt Bledsoe plays Dottie herself.
- Finger Wag: Mrs. LeMeche is prone to do this to Brad when he acts up.
- Foreshadowing: Dottie's wistful declaration to Paul about how she wishes she could be like him comes true after Paul bites her in a moment of impulse and her father shoots her in a scuffle.
- For Inconvenience, Press "1": As Paul attempts to get into the house, Dottie tries to call an emergency service for help. She ends up dialing a service presumably operated by the town itself, which actively helps its callers deal with zombies. Unfortunately, the hassles of automated dialing stand in her way, as the service puts her on hold while waiting for an operator to pick up.Automated voice: (monotone) Hello, and welcome to the Zombie Hotline, your first line of defense against the undead. For zombies approaching your house, press 1. For zombies in your house, press 2. For zombies eating your body, press 3.
- Friendless Background: Per Brad, Dottie's nature as a textbook bookworm means she doesn't have any friends.
- Friendly Zombie: Paul has no desire to eat Dottie at all (save for a brief moment when his undead impulses take over), and he just wants to confess his love for her like he never got to do in life.
- The Glasses Gotta Go: Dottie removes her glasses before she kisses Paul for the first time, and later loses them for good when she becomes undead, since a zombie like her doesn't need them.
- Hate Sink: BRAD. He spends the whole episode being an obnoxious little shit who insults everyone and everything he sees. Though he's introduced protesting how the undead have just as big a right to exist as anyone alive, he quickly switches gears when he rebukes Paul and his older sister for getting together. The episode even ends with his parents, who've had enough of his horrid behavior, letting Dottie and Paul eat him alive.
- I Kiss Your Hand: Paul does this to Dottie's hand as they snuggle on the couch together. Unfortunately, the taste of her flesh drives his zombie instincts to the surface, and he bites into it with ferocity since he hasn't eaten since July.
- I Love the Dead: Dottie reciprocates Paul's feelings for her and even kisses him, such acts being treated as disgusting and horrific by her family. Thankfully, she reanimates into a zombie herself, making the relationship much more appropriate.
- Interspecies Romance: Paul and Dottie go through a tumultuous one during their time alone, but they manage to overcome the rocky patch when Dottie dies from her bite and becomes a zombie herself.
- Ironic Echo: Mrs. LeMeche tells Dottie that her children shouldn't ever be hungry before she leaves for the zombie hunt, asking if she has enough to eat. At the end of the episode, she repeats this to both Dottie and Paul as a subtle invitation to have them eat Brad.
- It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: The zombie hunt is set on such a night, appropriate for an invasion of the living dead.
- Late to the Realization: It takes Brad so long to realize he's about to be fed to his zombified sister and her boyfriend, the episode ends right as he's about to scream in horror to the camera.
- My God, What Have I Done?: In a moment of twisted comedy and heartbreak, Mr. LeMeche greatly regrets shooting Dottie, who was trying to protect Paul from his fanatical hatred of zombies.
- Non-Malicious Monster: Save for the brief moment when he tries (and later succeeds) to bite Dottie's hand, Paul doesn't want to hurt her at all, only wanting to confess the feelings he never got to confess in life.
- Oh, Crap!: Dottie lets out a huge scream upon seeing the zombified Paul at her front door, one that apparently continues throughout the commercial break.
- Riddle for the Ages: The exact reason as to why the dead in Dottie's town rise from the grave every year is never revealed. Her mother even lampshades it by asking her husband why it happens at all, to which he notes that theories range from an old gypsy curse, to the results of atomic testing, or even shoddy embalming techniques.
- Shrinking Violet: Paul tells Dottie that he had a huge crush on her, but was too shy to express it before he died in that car accident. The sole reason he comes to the LeMeche house is to use the second chance at (un-)life he was given to confess to her.
- Taking the Bullet: Dottie shields Paul from her father's gun and collapses dead from the wound. Since Paul bit her hand earlier, she quickly reanimates.
- Waving Signs Around: Brad is introduced making a picket sign reading "Save the Zombies!", planning to wave it around during the zombie hunt. He quickly switches his opinion when he and his parents find Paul and Dottie together.
- Zombie Gait: Paul walks this way, and Dottie does as well once she reanimates, with the two lovers meeting each other in this fashion to embrace.
