Fear of Floating
Arnold Barker (Sherman Howard), a haggard man wearing a pair of lead shoes, barges into a US Army recruiting post, where he meets Master Sergeant Buzz Caldwell (Leon Russom) and his associate Corporal Marcia Smith (Anne Lange). Arnold begs for protection by claiming that he's an escaped circus performer who was marked for death, taking his shoes off to reveal he can float whenever he tells a lie. Buzz and Marcia take pity on Arnold and allow him to stay, the former growing curious about Arnold's power and how it can be used for the military and the latter trying to convince him that he's a good person. Sometime later, the young and heavily pregnant Betty Ann Cooper (Yeardley Smith) and her angry, shotgun-toting father (John Ridge) barge into the post, offering their own story as to why Arnold was on the run.
Tropes:
- All Men Are Perverts: Arnold impregnated Betty Ann, ditched her at the altar after agreeing to marry her, and after agreeing to marry her a second time, he immediately makes a move on Marcia.
- Bad Liar: Arnold makes up lies on the spot when he needs an excuse or a story to cover for something, and they're all of remarkably poor quality.
- Bittersweet Ending: Arnold gets his karma by being killed when his floating sends him face first into the ceiling fan, but Marcia loses her faith in him, Buzz is disappointed that his floating couldn't be studied for military applications, and Betty Ann is still going to be eagerly awaiting who she thought was the love of her life when she gets out of the hospital, the poor girl no doubt going to be heartbroken when she hears what happened.
- Blessed with Suck: Arnold floats uncontrollably whenever he lies, forcing him to weigh himself down with lead shoes.
- Bookends: The episode starts and ends with Arnold floating into the ceiling fan. The only difference is that the first time, he's pulled down before reaching the blades.
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely within an Army recruiting post on a hot summer day. The only characters present are two army recruiters, a man with the ability to float, the girl he knocked up and ditched, and her dad.
- Broken Pedestal: Throughout the episode, Marcia tries to see the good in Arnold, unable to see his inherent flaws. When he tries to have his way with her right after promising to marry Betty Ann, she sees him for the scumbag he is, and is nothing short of angry when she tells him that he can float to Hell for his lack of morals.
- Chekhov's Gun: The ceiling fan.
- Circus of Fear: Arnold lies that he escaped from one of these to Marcia and Buzz, and that Betty Ann and her father are a pair of fellow performers out to kill him.
- Compulsive Liar / Consummate Liar: Arnold may be adept with lying, but he has trouble getting his stories straight, especially when his life is on the line. He fools Marcia and Buzz into giving him sanctuary by claiming he's a runaway circus performer who freed himself from slavery. In the hopes that they'll be shot, he also claims Betty Ann and her father are fellow sideshow attractions, like a killer dwarf and the world's fattest man.
- Deadly Rotary Fan: Arnold floats right into the blades of the ceiling fan as karma for his misdeeds.
- Disney Villain Death: Inverted, with Arnold floating into the ceiling fan.
- Foreshadowing: The scene where Arnold shows off his condition basically telegraphs how he'll die.
- Gory Discretion Shot: Arnold's death by the ceiling fan is censored via a blood splatter splashing on Buzz's face.
- Gun Nut: Mr. Cooper is all too willing to fire his shotgun at Arnold's head, even having the nerve to shoot out the Army post's window. Buzz manages to remove it from his grasp, but he manages to pick it up again before long.
- Imperiled in Pregnancy: It almost happens to Betty Ann, as Arnold tries to goad war hawk Buzz into shooting her and her father.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Arnold seduced and impregnated young Betty Ann, promised to marry her, left her at the altar, nearly prompts Buzz to shoot the heavily pregnant Betty Ann and her father, lies to her face about loving her, and tries to have his way with Marcia soon afterwards. At the end of the day, Arnold getting killed by the ceiling fan with his floating ability (symbolic of his inability to stay grounded) shows that he really had it coming.
- Lighter and Softer: The episode is played for comedy in every aspect, with the characters, music, and general supernatural presence.
- Love Martyr: Betty Ann claims to love Arnold even after he knocked her up and left her at the altar, as well as when her father plots to kill him.
- Mexican Standoff: One occurs near the end of the episode, where Arnold is held onto by his tie by Marcia, while Mr. Cooper aims his shotgun at him, and Buzz holds his service pistol against him.
- Not Quite Flight: Arnold possesses the mysterious ability to float like a balloon whenever he tells a lie. He has no control over the ability, forcing him to wear a pair of lead shoes to keep himself grounded.
- Only Sane Woman: Marcia is the only character in the episode who has any form of common sense, trying to protect Arnold when he's said to be on the run, looking past both his floating and his lies, and trying to keep her war-mongering commanding officer from exploiting Arnold and turning him into a weapon. However, she realizes what a scumbag Arnold truly is after he nearly makes out with her after promising to marry Betty Ann.
- Papa Wolf: Mr. Cooper treasures Betty Ann, wanting nothing more than to either kill Arnold where he stands or force him to marry her after impregnating her and ditching her at the altar.
- Redemption Rejection: Arnold promises Betty Ann that he'll marry her for real and apologizes for running out on her, plummeting to the ground thanks to the honesty of his words. As soon as Betty Ann and her father leave, he promptly goes back on his promise and tries to suck face with Marcia, leading to the floating coming back and getting himself killed in the ceiling fan.
- Save the Villain: Buzz wants to save Arnold because his floating power could work wonders for the US Army. It doesn't pay off, as Arnold ends up killing himself via the ceiling fan.
- Self-Disposing Villain: Arnold refuses to reform himself and thus lets his floating ability carry him to the ceiling fan, where he's killed.
- Shotgun Wedding: Betty Ann's father wants Arnold to marry his daughter to make up for impregnating her.
- Skewed Priorities: The episode ends with Buzz watching as Arnold floats into the ceiling fan. Not only is he more focused on the fact that Arnold is floating again than the fact that he's heading into the fan, but he's bummed out upon seeing him get chopped up.
- Stupid Evil: With his decisions and the fact that his own power kills him, Arnold is easily the dumbest villain in the series.
- Symbolism:
- Arnold's floating. It first manifested five months ago, when he first met Betty Ann, reflecting how he's not at all grounded or weighed down by anything metaphorically. When he promises to marry her after all near the end, his weight returns, showing he's finally been grounded by his responsibilities. He loses his weight when he goes back on his word and tries to seduce Marcia.
- Similarly, while trying to have his way with her, Arnold accidentally rips Marcia's sleeve in the process. In the military, this represents desertion, and fittingly, it reflects that Arnold deserts Betty Ann for Marcia. It doesn't get any more apropos than that as Marcia leaves her post.
- Tempting Fate: A minute after Marcia complains that she and Buzz haven't had any new recruits enter their post in three weeks, Arnold furiously knocks on the door and begs for sanctuary.
- The Unreveal: We never concretely learn how Arnold got the ability to float, though it's hinted to be a metaphorical representation of his inability to stay grounded, as noted above.
- World of Ham: The compulsive liar Arnold, the warmongering Buzz, the tearful Betty Ann and her beyond-pissed father go nuts on chewing the scenery, leaving Marcia as the only character who tries to act like a regular human being.
