Power/The Soldier and Death is the third episode of The Jim Henson Hour. It consists of two segments: The standard "Muppetelevision" opening half-hour, and The Storyteller episode The Soldier and Death.
In Muppetelevision, Gonzo has no idea what to do when Kermit goes for a vacation and leaves him and his friend Leon to run the show. Meanwhile, Fozzie Bear decides to give being a comedian and become a weatherman (well, weatherbear) instead, trying to get a job with Willard Scott; and the monsters host a telethon. Music group The Nylons guest star.
The Soldier and Death follows a soldier returning home from a war, with no possessions except for three biscuits, which he offers in turn to three beggars he meets during his journey home. The third beggar gifts him a magic deck of cards that will never lose, and a sack that will entice any living creature he orders to get inside it. The soldier goes to a palace haunted by devils, with whom he plays a game of cards and wins. He traps the devils in his sack, eventually letting all but one go; the last devil, whose foot he cuts off, he orders to be his servant. Years later, the soldier's son becomes ill, and the devil shows him a magic glass with which he can see Death itself, and predict if someone is going to do. But the soldier manages to catch Death itself in his sack, effectively making everyone immortal. Directed by Jim Henson.
Power contains examples of
- The Cameo: TV weatherman Willard Scott makes one.
- Glass-Shattering Sound: In the Batman Cold Open, a singer presented by Leon does this when she hits a high note, shattering several TV screens in [MuppeTelevision.]. When Kermit shows a clip of her doing that, it ends up shattering the screen it's playing on.
The Soldier and Death contains examples of
- Barred from the Afterlife: The soldier, who is denied entry into both heaven and hell.
- Blessed with Suck: The soldier winds up immortal because Death is afraid to come near him. As time passes, he discovers the drawbacks of the situation.
- Chekhov's Boomerang: The sack. A beggar gives the titular soldier the sack, which has the power to entrap any creature inside if the owner says something along the lines of "Get in the sack!" The soldier uses this to catch a goose to eat at the hotel, a devil in the mansion so he can ask a favor later, and later Death itself. When Death is released and flees from him, he tries to convince a heaven-bound soul to say "Get in the sack!" to him once on the other side, only it never does because there is apparently no memory in heaven.
- Death Takes a Holiday: Although it's not so much taking a holiday as it is being trapped in a sack.
- Didn't Think This Through: the soldier attempts to trick his way into Heaven by handing his magic sack to one of the souls waiting to enter Heaven, and asking the soul to call him into the sack once he is within Heaven. However, the soldier forgot that all souls entering Heaven lose all memory of mortal life, so once he is in Heaven, the soul has no memory of why he has a sack or what he is supposed to do with it. So the soldier remains Barred from the Afterlife and left to wander the earth without his magic sack.
- The Dreaded: The Soldier is able to strike fear into any demon, as well as Death himself. Unfortunately, this comes back to bite him when Death refuses to take him out of fear and the demons deny him access to Hell (as well as being too sinful to be allowed into Heaven) when he grows tired of living.
- The Grim Reaper: Death is a variation of this.
- The Problem with Fighting Death: It won't reap him once he's freed it, and neither heaven nor hell will take him.
- Rule of Three: The soldier meets three old men and gives each of them one of his three biscuits; each of them gives him something back, but it's the third man who gives him the magic deck of cards and magic sack that get him through most of the rest of the story.
- Sore Loser: The devils. After the soldier beats all of them in cards, they decide to attack him. Luckily, the Soldier uses his magic sack to subdue them.
- Walking the Earth: The titular soldier does this after he is denied entry into both heaven and hell, making him immortal. The Storyteller even says that for all he knows, the soldier is walking the earth still.
- Wandering Jew: At the end, the soldier has been Barred from the Afterlife: Death refuses to claim him, heaven will not take him because of his sins, and hell will not admit him for fear he will take over. After he attempts to trick his way into Heaven and fails, the soldier is left to walk the earth for all eternity.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The titular soldier captures Death in a magic sack, and is convinced to set him free after seeing aging men in the streets waiting for death that will never come. Only problem? Death is so traumatized from being trapped in the sack that he refuses to come near the Soldier. Then both heaven and hell refuse to accept him after he gets sick of life.
