The Trouble with Mary Jane
Mary Jane (Tanya Fenmore), a young girl living with her wealthy grandmother Mrs. Nugent (Anita Dangler), has recently become possessed by the demon Aisha Candisha, a malevolent seductress who desires above all else to continue devouring the souls of men. As such, Mrs. Nugent has sought out Jack and Nora Mills (Lawrence Tierney and Phyllis Diller), a married couple who work as psychics and claim to have experience with the occult, to exorcize Aisha in exchange for $50,000. Unfortunately for the grandmother in question, Nora and Jack are a pair of bumbling frauds who clearly have no idea what to do when it comes to actual exorcisms, as their attempts to rid Mary Jane of the presence inside her end up making the situation so much worse.
Tropes:
- Achievements in Ignorance: Jack manages to exorcize both Gad and Aisha through pure determination and sheer force of will, after spending a week exercising and drinking only unadulterated spring water.
- Awful Wedded Life: Nora and Jack have it pretty rough in their quest to cleanse the titular girl and save their struggling shop, especially since Jack cares more about doing good than earning money.
- Conveniently an Orphan: Mrs. Nugent is Mary Jane's only caretaker, as her parents passed on a while ago.
- Deadpan Snarker: Nora, as played by the ever sharp-tongued Phyllis Diller.
- Demonic Possession: Mary Jane is the unfortunate victim of such possession, which is doubled when Gad is accidentally sent inside her body and forced to share it with Aisha.
- Determinator: No matter what the demons throw at him and Nora, Jack is dead set on exorcizing them from Mary Jane's body.
- Didn't Think This Through: All of the Mills' attempts to cleanse Mary Jane occur because of their bumbling natures. Mostly Jack's:
- Their first attempt has them bringing in a live pig to transfer Aisha into when she exits Mary Jane's body. The pig unfortunately doesn't hold still long enough for them to place it on the bed and draw a pentangle on it, allowing Aisha to summon a vicious, unexpected wind to knock them unconscious and allow the pig to flee.
- Their second attempt has them summoning a more powerful demon known as Gad, who Jack thinks will command Aisha to leave the girl's body. The commander ends up entering Mary Jane as well, resulting in the girl being doubly evil and the two demons aggravated at having to share a host.
- Their final attempt manages to get the demons out of Mary Jane, but because they don't specify where they need to go next, the demons end up taking possession of them.
- Dissonant Serenity: Mrs. Nugent treats her demonic granddaughter as though she's sick and lashing out instead of being possessed by an otherworldly being.
- Exorcist Head: Since the episode parodies the titular film, it was obviously going to show up. The possessed Mary Jane doesn't do it herself, but she instead makes her dolls' heads do so with a snap of her fingers.Mrs. Nugent: My, that was original! Very creative!
- Expy: Mary Jane is obviously modeled after Reagan McNeil.
- Evil Is Hammy: Aisha and Gad leave absolutely no restrictions on their boastful and wicked natures, giving Mary Jane wide eyes and a foamy mouth.
- Fatal Flaw: Jack and Nora's respective determination and greed, as the former wants to genuinely do a good job while the other only cares about the $50 grand they're being offered.
- From Bad to Worse: Jack summoning Gad was meant to get Aisha out of Mary Jane's body under his orders, since Jack theorized that he was a commander of lesser demons like her. Gad ends up possessing Mary Jane as well, doubling the evil already within her.
- Here We Go Again!: Mary Jane is freed of demonic possession, but the demons within her transfer themselves to Jack and Nora, who exit the room still squabbling with one another.
- Idiot Hero: Nora and Jack, whose attempts at ridding Mary Jane of the evil within her only serve to amplify said evil, then have it transferred to themselves.
- Laser-Guided Karma: For trying to prove themselves as experts when they're actually idiots, Nora and Jack are possessed by the demons they were attempting to exorcize.
- Lighter and Softer: The episode is a comedy version of The Exorcist, with the priests exorcising the possessed girl being replaced by a pair of moronic phony psychics.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Gad and Aisha bicker at one another constantly while possessing Mary Jane, and at the end when they possess Jack and Nora, an actual old married couple who similarly bicker throughout the episode.
- Loser Protagonist: Jack and Nora are seen as pathetic and moronic failures by everyone around them, making them feel that the only way to survive in a world that hates them is to bilk it for everything it's worth.
- Napoleon Delusion: When Jack asks if Mary Jane's family has a history of demonic possession cases, Mrs. Nugent remembers that she has a 92-year-old cousin in Downers Grove who thinks he's George Patton, and that his room at the local rest home is a Sherman Tank.
- Nice Guy: Although he's just as big a boob as Nora, Jack treasures his and his wife's store and wants to cleanse Mary Jane because it's the right thing to do, not because of the $50 grand.
- Only Sane Woman: Nora may be a phony psychic and an utter buffoon, but when she sees Mary Jane undergoing a case of genuine demonic possession, she promptly declares that she's way out of her element and tries to leave, even refusing getting paid $50,000 for exorcising Aisha. Even then, she can't stop talking Jack out of trying to cleanse the poor girl out of the principle of doing what's right.
- Our Demons Are Different:
- In Mary Jane's body, Aisha demonstrates telekinetic abilities on her dolls, an unnatural level of strength, the power to summon hostile winds, and also gives the young girl a pair of goat legs.
- When he is summoned, Gad appears as a floating pinpoint of red light.
- Phony Psychic: Nora makes her living as one, with Jack managing their tea/psychic remedy shop.
- Riddle for the Ages: The circumstances as to how Aisha first possessed Mary Jane are never revealed. But given the comedy stylings of the episode, the lack of context adds to the humor.
- Scatterbrained Senior:
- Mrs. Nugent has some characteristics of the trope, still treating the demonic Mary Jane with tender love and care.
- She also mentions Mary Jane's cousin, a 92-year-old man who thinks he's General Patton, living in a Sherman Tank instead of a rest home.
- Sharing a Body: Thanks to the Mills' failed exorcisms, Aisha and Gad are both forced inside Mary Jane's body, and the demons aren't the least bit shy to express how infuriating it is to share a host.
- Stealth Insult: Upon hearing his latest hair-brained idea to exorcize Mary Jane, Nora exasperatedly flips a Tarot card into the air. When it lands, the card is revealed to be that of "The Fool", illustrating just how Nora feels about her husband.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Jack summons Gad, commander of all demons, so he can hopefully force Aisha back down to Hell. He instead possesses Mary Jane too, making her even more evil and powerful.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To The Exorcist, if you weren't paying attention.
