Source: IFC
Episode Recap
This story begins with our beloved Stan drinking a brew and watching television, then quickly pans over to Evie working tirelessly in Claire’s room, reading books upon books. The scene switches over to Denise drinking boxed wine through a straw and then to Leon yawning in the precinct. Followed by Murgatroyd, Denise’s pig, running through a hallway. These scenes are rapid fired creating a sense that time is moving quickly and without much distraction from the supernatural world. It appears that all is quiet in Willard’s Mill. Until the screen flashes with the title Coocoo for Murder Puffs, and descends onto a billboard reading, “Hank Hurley’s Hamster Yurt”. A dirty thumb jets out, hoping to catch a ride with a good Samaritan. Unfortunately, for the good Samaritan, that dirty thumb belongs to a killer. A sweet gentleman picks up the owner of the thumb offering to take him to town that is until the hitchhiker mutters that he is here to collect souls. The driver quickly escorts him out of the car and begins to leave when his neck is snapped.
Back at Stan’s home, he is faced with a problem so vile he had to call in for back up. His plumbing is in terrible straights, sinks and toilets backed up because Denise enjoys flushing bread down the drain. Stan rings up the plumber and within seconds he is there. As Stan watched the plumber do his thing, he suddenly got attacked! Well, sort of, the plumber was a demon named Bill (Scott Adsit), but he was a weakling. He was so meek that Stan ordered him to continue fixing the plumbing.
After Bill snaked the toilet, the two decided to sprawl out on the couch and enjoy a brewski. As Evie joins the pair, it is revealed that the Bondsman is hanging around the town killing citizens while on his way to kill Stan and Bill. Before Bill is ready to die he wants to teach Stan all he knows about Constable Eccles this obviously intrigues Stan and the two hit it off.
Bill decided that there was one thing left he had to do before he died, visit his grave. As the trio stands around his plot, Bill mentioned that it’s a shame that Stan and Evie don’t know the spell that would release all the witch’s spirits effectively eliminating Constable Eccles. Stan jumped with joy and raced to Claire’s library to find the spell. With Evie still unsure, the group finds the incantation and head back to the cemetery.
On their way to the plot, they spot Denise and Kevin (Dana Gould), her boyfriend the graveyard keeper, attempting to have a date. The incantation needs five people, so they tag along as well. With the team at full force, they draw a pentagram over the lawn. Kevin, Denise, Evie, and Stan say the spell when a powerful red beam descends upon them. Well, all of them except for Bill, he wasn’t reciting the words and he discloses that he is in fact, sending them all to hell. He goes on the say that the Bondsman wasn’t real, and the madman was just dumb luck. As he is expressing his excitement for pulling one over on Stan, his head is removed from his body in a gory fashion. The Bondsman is actually Billy, the Cleanser of Souls, and he recently escaped the mental hospital.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
My Thoughts
As one will notice, I left out two major parts of the episode, Denise and Kevin’s date as well as Drinkwater’s fancy baton. I’ve got to say I really felt for Denise, all she wanted was a normal date with her boyfriend and death kept creeping its way in. I fear, that this will be an ongoing occurrence for her which may actually lead to her independence. This may be the season she leaves home and has a great relationship with a sweet guy. On the other hand, Drinkwater, his portion of the episode, while funny, didn’t seem too valuable to the episode, aside from when he arrested the Cleanser of Souls. I feel whenever he is in an episode, he gets in the way rather than contributing. In the end, I hope this is the beginning of Denise blossoming into the woman she craves to be.
