Harry Ballantine, a young lawyer, is going to defend a man who has killed three lawyers. The murderer had led an inconspicuous life till, about a week before, he bought a toupee. Then, two more lawyers are killed, and when the murderer is arrested, Harry finds out that there is a parallel to the first case: the second murderer has recently bought a toupee, too. Harry finds out that the toupee has a life of its own and has escaped from the prison. Why is it so dangerous, and will Harry be able to stop it before even more lawyers fall victim to it?
I liked this episode very much. The story is over the top, but it's not meant to be a serious thriller / horror story, it's meant to be a funny story. And it really is funny in my opinion. I liked the scenes in which Harry chases the toupee, and there are lots of jokes that I liked, for example what Harry says about defending the toupee, or Harry's answer to the murderer's question why they have sent him instead of an experienced lawyer. And there were some small details that I think are funny and well done, for example Harry has a picture of President Nixon on his wall, and there's a worm's-eye view shot (or toupee's-eye view shot) when the toupee tries to escape from the prison.
I've read that this one may have been inspired by an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' (1959) titled 'Dead Man's Shoes'. Or perhaps it's meant to be a spoof of that one, but I don't know it since I haven't seen that episode. It's also possible that there is another source; I've read that the concept of 'sympathetic magic' is part of a lot of old folktales, that is there is a link between the villain of the story and an object, and the villain can only be killed (or, as in this episode, stopped) if the object is destroyed, so perhaps one of these old tales was the inspiration for this episode. There's also a funny remake (spoof?) of it in 'The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror IX' (#10.4).
I think if you liked the previous episode ('Secret Cinema'), which is also in the style of a farce, you will probably like this one, too.
I liked this episode very much. The story is over the top, but it's not meant to be a serious thriller / horror story, it's meant to be a funny story. And it really is funny in my opinion. I liked the scenes in which Harry chases the toupee, and there are lots of jokes that I liked, for example what Harry says about defending the toupee, or Harry's answer to the murderer's question why they have sent him instead of an experienced lawyer. And there were some small details that I think are funny and well done, for example Harry has a picture of President Nixon on his wall, and there's a worm's-eye view shot (or toupee's-eye view shot) when the toupee tries to escape from the prison.
I've read that this one may have been inspired by an episode of 'The Twilight Zone' (1959) titled 'Dead Man's Shoes'. Or perhaps it's meant to be a spoof of that one, but I don't know it since I haven't seen that episode. It's also possible that there is another source; I've read that the concept of 'sympathetic magic' is part of a lot of old folktales, that is there is a link between the villain of the story and an object, and the villain can only be killed (or, as in this episode, stopped) if the object is destroyed, so perhaps one of these old tales was the inspiration for this episode. There's also a funny remake (spoof?) of it in 'The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror IX' (#10.4).
I think if you liked the previous episode ('Secret Cinema'), which is also in the style of a farce, you will probably like this one, too.