The Devil's Advocate
Luther Mandrake (Jerry Stiller) is the host of a late-night radio show; The Devil's Advocate. It's on this show where he takes calls from people aching for advice about the world's growing number of problems, and he tears each of his callers a new one, unleashing the sheer, unrelenting rage he's accumulated through a life of misery, hardship, and suffering. While he merely insists that he's just "telling it like it is", it's clear that Mandrake doesn't care who he insults or drives to tears. One night, Mandrake takes some peculiar callers from throughout time, leading him to discover that his constant anger and nihilism have led him into a dangerous position.
Tropes:
- The Bad Guy Wins: Thanks to Mandrake's horrible attitude driving them to his religion, Satan ends up having more followers than he knows what to do with.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Mandrake rebukes the watchman by boasting that he can't tune his listeners out, that they're drawn to him. His words come true when the damned start calling in from across time and space.
- Bottle Episode: The episode takes place entirely within a broadcast booth at a talk radio station and has two characters (not counting the voiceovers).
- Catchphrase: Mandrake has "I give up." As it's revealed that he committed suicide in the ending, it's disturbingly accurate to his situation.
- The Cynic: Per his own words, Mandrake "tells it like it is", displaying nothing but contempt for the world and its people. Satan himself is beyond proud of him for his constant cynicism driving more people to turn to him than ever before.
- Dead All Along: Mandrake is revealed to have committed suicide before the episode began.
- Downer Ending: Mandrake finds out that he's been Dead All Along and is trapped in his personal hell, turning into a furry demon and taking calls from the damned for all eternity. He even slumps on the control panel and weeps in the closing shot, just to drive it home.
- Driven to Suicide: Mandrake is revealed to have killed himself (likely through monoxide poisoning) before the episode began.
- Dramatic Irony: The news reporter that comments on Mandrake's death hopes that he's continuing his work down below, unaware that he's doing just that.
- Establishing Character Moment: Mandrake arrives at the studio griping about a dead guy in his car and the police who hassled him, then driving a poor woman to tears with his abuse.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The only time Mandrake expresses anything other than contempt for humanity is when he weeps over the loss of his family. Namely, his dead parents, his dead son, and his comatose wife, who may likely follow them.
- Evil Laugh: Satan gives a victorious one as the now-demonic Mandrake weeps over his control panel.
- Extremely Short Timespan: The episode takes place over the course of a single night.
- Forced Transformation: Mandrake slowly transforms into a demon over the course of the episode, with extra hair growing around his face and a pair of tiny horns sprouting from his forehead.
- Foreshadowing: At the beginning, Mandrake reveals he had to walk all the way to the studio after finding that some guy died in the front seat of his car. When Satan speaks to Mandrake at the end of the episode, he stops to let a news bulletin through... a bulletin that reports how Luther Mandrake was found dead behind the wheel of his car. There's also his catchphrase of "I give up!", which the ending reveals he truly did.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Fed up with all the calls he's getting, Mandrake goes into a tirade, explaining his backstory and giving some insight into his cynical nature: his mother died in a plane crash, his father died in a union picket line, his son was the passenger of a fatal DUI crash into a train, and his wife has slipped into a coma three years ago from terrible medical treatment. While the watchman who's calling at the time sympathizes with him, he still points out that this is no excuse for Mandrake's deplorable treatment of others.
- Hated by All: Everyone who calls Mandrake loathes him as they discover what kind of person he truly is, to the point where the newsman who reports his death reminds the listeners that everyone hates him and blatantly hopes that he's rotting in hell.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Even though Mandrake's listeners know he's an enormous asshole, they still go out of their way to idolize him and call him up for global advice, forgetting the abuse he hurls at them.
- Irony: The opening act of the episode has Mandrake repeating "I'm a human being." The ending reveals his true self to be anything but.
- It's All About Me: As part of his atrocious character, Mandrake is incredibly egotistical and self-centered, deciding that anything not involving him is utterly meaningless.
- Jerkass: Luther Mandrake, an abrasive talk radio host who hurls abuse at his listeners and thrives on getting it back.
- Literal Metaphor: Mandrake lives up to the title of both his show and the episode itself, as his horrid attitude drives his callers to Satanism.
- Misanthrope Supreme: Mandrake loathes the world and all its problems, and he has no qualms with insulting everyone who calls him up.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The night watchman who Mandrake rebukes for being a working stiff who gets paid "to watch" for $4 an hour returns fire to the DJ, saying that he's a working stiff himself, similarly getting made to talk and listen to people for a meager paycheck.
- Satan: He doesn't appear physically, but his booming voice congratulates Mandrake for his service in recruiting new followers through his sheer cynicism.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The ending of the episode, where Mandrake turns into a demon and takes calls from the damned for all eternity, is set to pleasant-sounding jazz music.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Mandrake's engineer disappears halfway through the episode, though given the reveal, it's possible he was never there to begin with.
- What You Are in the Dark: Mandrake slowly turns into a demon as his wickedness takes over.
- World of Jerkass: Mandrake views human society this way, and since he's revealed to have been driving his callers to worship Satan, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
