By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Ezra Thornberry (Moses Gunn) is a mortician who is void of morals, integrity, and a conscience. He steals from his deceased clients. Anything he can get his hands on is fair game. He even pulls the gold teeth out of the mouths of the dead justifying it by saying, “God helps them who helps themselves.” He drains the bodies without using the proper chemicals simply to save a buck. To put it plainly, Ezra is really bad guy.
When Ezra’s sister dies, her son Bobby (Jon Clair) goes to live with him. Rather than take care of his family, Ezra forces his nephew to sleep on a mortician’s table in a room with nothing else. Immediately, he puts Bobby to work. When Bobby questions Ezra’s unscrupulous methods, Ezra hits and berates him. Still wanting to please his uncle, Bobby does everything he can to help but the abuse just gets worse. When the faucet drips, Bobby gets hit. Even when Ezra orders a pine coffin rather than oak to save money and is caught by his customer, Bobby gets blamed and beaten.
One night, Ezra beats Bobby with a crowbar leaving him with an awful spinal injury. The doctors proclaim he will never walk again. With Bobby unable to work, Ezra begins selling off the young man’s belongings and then decides he’s better off dead. He concocts a plan to murder Bobby.
Not knowing his uncle’s plans, Bobby struggles up the stairs with his crutches. Ezra waits for him at the top of the stairs and throws a basketball at him full force. As a result, Bobby falls all the way down and Ezra’s despicable mission is accomplished. People in town question the death of Bobby but no one has any proof that Ezra is behind it.
Without any remorse Ezra drains the blood from Bobby and puts him in the pine coffin. Bobby is too tall and his feet hang off the ends of the box. He callously tells the body that he will not be buying another one, and cuts his nephew’s feet off.
Of course, the tale doesn’t end there. Ezra has to pay for his sins.
I don’t recall ever seeing this episode before and I have to say it’s one of the best. The villain is so evil and diabolical that the viewers will cheer for his demise. Surprisingly, despite his awful nature, the scenes where he is getting his just deserts is actually unsettling. I was happy to see him punished but there were a few moments that were genuinely scary.
The pace is terrific, the dialogue is fantastic, and the atmosphere easily pulls the viewers in.
One thing that really stood out as such a good choice was to have Ezra quote the bible in effort to defend his heinous actions. I know so many who attempt to do that, of course on a lesser level, but to see that implemented added realism to the character. Though, Ezra was horrible, he wasn’t comically awful. There was a genuineness about the portrayal that made him absolutely unlikable.
The acting all around was topnotch. Moses Gunn was such a phenomenal actor and this was no exception. He delivered his lines with such force and added an aura of entitlement to Ezra making him even more hated.
Jon Clair was great too. Bobby could not have garnered anymore sympathy. Clair’s performance really highlighted the struggles his character was going through after his mother died. It focused on his willingness to please Ezra and the battle within himself knowing that his uncle’s actions were wrong. There was also a silent strength to Bobby that the audience can’t help but hope comes out.
I cannot suggest this episode enough. I was surprised with the quality and I actually found myself wishing it was longer.
Scared Stiff Rating: 9/10
