Printer's Devil
Junior P. Harmon (Larry Manetti), struggling writer, meets with the jolly and obese Alex Kellaway (Charles Knapp), whom he hires as his new publisher. Alex tells Junior that the only way he can succeed as a writer is through sacrifices. As a result, Junior begins ordering and sacrificing numerous animals, his writing becoming more and more successful with each sacrifice. He severs his partnership with Alex after his girlfriend Brenda (Kate Charleson) tires of the animals, but his work begins tanking again. To further complicate his situation, Alex also tells Junior that if he wants his dream novel to succeed, he'll need to up the ante.
Tropes:
- 555: Alex's radio ad lists his phone number as 212-555-8010.
- And the Adventure Continues: With Brenda out of the way, Junior will no doubt continue to sacrifice living creatures in Satan's name.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Rosie/Satan has complete control of Junior's soul, as the writer ends the episode preparing to sacrifice Brenda to her.
- Big Eater: Alex never stops eating throughout his screen time.
- Bill... Bill... Junk... Bill...: Junior goes through his mail early in the episode, consisting solely of junk and bills.
- Call-Back: Justine Bancroft from "The Satanic Piano" is namedropped by the DJ on Junior's radio, who plays one of her latest hits. Evidently, she made a name for herself just as her father did, but switched to rock 'n roll instead of synths and piano.
- Chekhov's Gag: Rosie undoes Junior's tie and collects it as a means to presumably make him more comfortable. Near the end of the episode, Alex asks her to fetch that same tie to make a voodoo doll of him as a painful means of persuasion to get back to killing.
- Chekhov's Gun: Junior's original/dream novel, Into the Void, was deemed as a flop that was nowhere near ready to sell. The end of the episode has Alex revisiting it to persuade Junior into upping the ante of his sacrifices.
- Coincidental Broadcast: Possibly. Alex broadcasts an ad for his publishing service over Junior's radio just after Brenda refuses to loan him her company's funds to get by, which motivates him to get into his sacrificial racket. Given their demonic natures, it's likely that Alex and his boss have been keeping their eye on him for a while and only chose now to reach out.
- Creepy Red Herring: The occult paraphernalia in his office, combined with his rampant gluttony and his devil-may-care attitude, may lead the viewer to think that Alex is the Devil. He turns out to be a minion to the real Satan: Rosie.
- Deadly Closing Credits: The episode ends just as Junior prepares to slit an unsuspecting Brenda's throat with the dagger Alex showed him during their meeting.
- Deal with the Devil: In order to get his books promoted, Junior stumbles across Alex, who promises to deliver the success the struggling writer desires... in exchange for animal sacrifices. When Junior ultimately drops him as his agent for the sake of his girlfriend, his career promptly tanks. He's forced to get back in contact with Alex, who says that if he wants his dream novel to have the same level of success, he needs to raise the stakes. The end of the episode shows that he's fully under the Devil's control, preparing to slit Brenda's throat as his latest sacrifice.
- The Dog Was the Mastermind: Alex's secretary Rosie turns out to be Satan herself, and was using her minion Alex as a figurehead to work her devilish magic from behind the scenes.
- Evil Is Hammy: Alex and Rosie, with the former's grandiose and bombastic speech and the latter's high-pitched Bronx accent.
- Evil Wears Black: Alex only ever wears a black robe to establish his demonic allegiance. Rosie also wears an all-black outfit when she delivers a black bear cub to Junior.
- Fat Bastard: Alex, who is always stuffing his face and persuading Junior to turn to Satanism for success.
- Foreshadowing: Alex's secretary Rosie tells Junior "You'll thank me later." before his first meeting with him. We learn near the end of the episode that Rosie is Satan, and following Alex's advice to sacrifice animals to her grants Junior the success he's always wanted.
- Genuine Imposter: Alex isn't actually the Devil. That title goes to his secretary, Rosie.
- Gold Digger: Implied with Brenda, who doesn't care about Junior when he's struggling to make money or when he refuses to get rid of the animals like she wants him to. This is said to be a side effect of Alex's magic and Junior's sacrifices.
- Human Sacrifice: Alex informs Junior that he'll need to escalate from animal sacrifices to this, if he wants his dream novel to be as successful as his other works.
- Offerings to the Gods: Junior is told that animal sacrifices are the way for him to achieve success as a writer, every offering to Satan granting him more and more fame.
- Plot Allergy: Brenda lets out a huge sneeze when a mountain lion Junior plans on sacrificing walks by her, reinforcing her decision to leave Junior behind her.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: Satan wears a red and black outfit while posing as Rosie.
- Satan: Rosie is revealed to be the Devil, who Alex was working for.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: During his climactic rant to Alex, Junior tells him that all the sacrifices he's performed have made him feel like Lady Macbeth, noting that the blood on his hands won't come off no matter how hard he scrubs.
- Smooth-Talking Talent Agent: Alex alludes to them when he tells Junior that they all practice his kind of magic "to one degree or another".
- Starving Artist: Over the phone, Junior tells Harold Gilford's secretary that he hasn't eaten in three days, his rent's due, his phone is about to be disconnected, and Harold is trying to get out of paying a check he owes him.
- Time Skip: After Junior and Alex first meet, and the latter demonstrates his magic, there's a skip to where Junior has already put out the Western novel Alex needed, having spruced up his apartment and winning Brenda's heart in the meantime. The second act opens a year later, where Junior has his sacrificial animals crowding the apartment and frustrating Brenda (who's been living with him) when they make a mess of the place.
- Voodoo Doll: Alex makes one by dressing a squeaking rubber baby in a special cloth diaper he's been saving to prod Harold Gilford, who owes Junior money for a trashy article he wrote for him, to pay up, disguising the pins stabbing the doll as ulcers and migraines. He later gives one of Junior to Rosie so she can take total control of him.
- Writers Suck: Junior is introduced typing numerous new pages in his typewriter, then crumpling them up when they don't meet his expectations. Later in the episode, when he stops sacrificing animals for Satan at Brenda's request, Junior discovers that his work is tanking and his finances are draining again.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Junior quits Alex's agency, the fat man decides to make him the latest plaything for Rosie/Satan.
