The story is set in the 1930s approximately. There are five people in a bar, three guests, the owner, and a barkeeper. One of the guests is an old, poor man called Mike Malloy. Since he is so old, and always drunk, the other four think he is going to die soon. They aren't as poor as Malloy, but they are all in need of money. Then they have the idea of getting a life insurance for Malloy; of course, they are the ones who are going to benefit from it. They treat Malloy to as many free drinks as he wants, hoping he will die very soon. When that doesn't work, they take him for a walk in the cold and leave him outside, sleeping under a layer of snow. But he survives that, too, although he was lying there for about five hours.
How could any human being survive that? And will Malloy also survive their next, even more severe attempts at killing him?
This story is about crime and punishment. The plot is quite simple, but there's a twist at the end that I liked. I liked the actors, too, especially James Cromwell ('L.A. Confidential', 'Star Trek: First Contact'), Geoffrey Lewis ('Every Which Way But Loose') and Douglas Seale (who played Santa Claus in 'Santa '85' (#1.11 of this series)). There's some black humour, for example they mix Malloy's whisky with paraffin, anti-freeze and turpentine and give him a drawing-pin-rat-poison-mustard-sandwich, and the score has some funny music to accompany their attempts at Malloy's life.
I didn't like it as much as some of the other episodes in this series, but it's an enjoyable story in my opinion.
How could any human being survive that? And will Malloy also survive their next, even more severe attempts at killing him?
This story is about crime and punishment. The plot is quite simple, but there's a twist at the end that I liked. I liked the actors, too, especially James Cromwell ('L.A. Confidential', 'Star Trek: First Contact'), Geoffrey Lewis ('Every Which Way But Loose') and Douglas Seale (who played Santa Claus in 'Santa '85' (#1.11 of this series)). There's some black humour, for example they mix Malloy's whisky with paraffin, anti-freeze and turpentine and give him a drawing-pin-rat-poison-mustard-sandwich, and the score has some funny music to accompany their attempts at Malloy's life.
I didn't like it as much as some of the other episodes in this series, but it's an enjoyable story in my opinion.