History Recap / TalesFromTheCryptS2E15MuteWitnessToMurder

!! This episode provides examples of:

On the eve of her anniversary costume party, Susan Hastings (Creator/PatriciaClarkson) stares from her balcony as the man in the apartment across the street gruesomely murders his wife in front of the window. The brutality of the act and the subsequent shock renders Susan mute, and when her husband Paul (Reed Birney) finds her unable to speak, he goes to get a doctor to help her get better. The doctor in question, Dr. Trask (Creator/RichardThomas), is unfortunately the same man who Susan witnessed killing his wife. When Dr. Trask learns that Susan knows what he's done, he has her committed to the state hospital he's in charge of, where the mute woman must fight for her life before Trask has her permanently silenced.

[[caption-width-right:350:The worst time to be tongue-tied.]]

->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(dressed as a doctor)'' Good evening, kiddies. I just had quite a scare. I actually thought my heart was beating again! ''(cackles)'' Tonight's twisted tale is a villainous voyage of murderous medical madness that screams out the ''crypt''-sequences of getting too nosy with your neighbors. So the next time you stare into someone's window... remember: '''curiosity killed the cat.'''

On the eve of her anniversary party, Susan Hastings (Creator/PatriciaClarkson) stares from her balcony as a man murders his wife in an apartment across the street. The brutality of the act and the subsequent shock renders Susan mute, and her husband Paul (Reed Birney) goes to get a doctor to help her get better. Unfortunately, the doctor in question, Dr. Trask (Creator/RichardThomas), is the same man who Susan witnessed killing his wife. When Dr. Trask figures out that Susan knows what he's done, he has her committed to the state hospital he's in charge of, where the mute Susan must fight for her life before Trask has her permanently silenced.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Once his heart begins to act up, Trask begs Susan to call the front desk, but she doesn't bother to do so until after he's dead.
* BedlamHouse: Long Hill, completely owned and operated by Trask, is where the wicked doctor locks Susan up after he finds out that she knows what he's done.
* BittersweetEnding: Susan manages to stop Dr. Trask by letting his heart give out, but the entire ordeal (including the death of her husband) breaks her and causes her to actually become insane.
* BreakTheCutie: The whole episode is a nonstop parade of agony for Susan, who is rendered mute, falsely institutionalized, and forced to watch her husband be killed in front of her, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even at the end, when she manages to win against the man who subjected her to all the pain, her victory lasts only a minute before she succumbs to insanity.
* ControlFreak: Dr. Trask has complete control over the sanitorium where he has Susan locked up.
* DeadlyDoctor: The sociopathic Dr. Trask kills his wife and Paul, and he deliberately locks Susan in an asylum he has absolute control over, planning to give Susan a lobotomy (and intentionally killing her as well in the process) to cover his tracks, so he does fit this trope as well.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, Paul disappears from the story after Susan is committed. In the show, he begins to realize something is up and confronts Trask, and is shortly killed thereafter.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Dr. Trask kills his wife simply because she wouldn't stop yelling at him for dragging her away from Paul and Susan's party after 5 minutes.
* DumbStruck: Watching Dr. Trask kill his wife renders Susan mute from shock.

* ElectiveMute: Once she gets her voice back, Susan gets her revenge by pretending to still be mute to get the drop on Dr. Trask.
* EurekaMoment: Susan uttering Paul's name after she watches Trask kill him, making her realize that her muteness has been overcome and allowing her to plot her revenge against Trask.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: While Trask is a murderous sadist who locks Susan in his own private asylum, he assures her that he won't take sexual advantage of her while in her imprisoned state.
* ForWantOfANail: If Susan hadn't stayed on her balcony after the party, she would've never witnessed Trask kill his wife and go mute.
* HappilyMarried: Susan and Paul have a pretty happy marriage, and despite letting Trask lock his wife up, Paul believes he's doing the right thing because he loves Susan. He eventually barges into the asylum and almost learns the truth, but Trask kills him before he can learn it.
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: Whenever he gets worried or stressed, Trask's heart is heard pumping furiously over the episode's score.
* HollywoodHeartAttack: Trask is killed by one of these, which triggers during a fight with Susan.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Paul is totally persuaded by Trask to have his wife sedated and locked in an asylum when she's rendered mute, simply trusting him because he's a doctor (with an obviously ominous demeanor).
* {{Hypocrite}}: Dr. Trask, after he kills his wife and Susan's husband, has the nerve to call Susan a murderer when she [[LaserGuidedKarma lets him die of a fatal heart attack after a fight between the two.]]
* {{Irony}}: Dr. Trask has Susan committed under false pretenses to cover his tracks. At the end of the episode, the trauma of her ordeal causes Susan to go insane for real.
** The beginning of the episode has Susan recount how she and Paul met through a total coincidence. A total coincidence is also what makes her end up losing him, albeit through a rather more ForWantOfANail variety.
* ItsAllAboutMe: Given his heart condition, Trask kills his wife and tries to keep Susan locked up just to let himself stay alive.
* LaughingMad: Susan utters deranged giggles at the end of the episode, having actually gone insane from her ordeal.
* LeaveNoWitnesses: Dr. Trask intends to do away with Susan so the killing of his wife goes unnoticed.
* {{Lobotomy}}: Dr. Trask prepares to give Susan one, killing her in the process, to silence her once and for all.
* LogicalWeakness: Trask's heart condition, which renders himself vulnerable to cardiac arrest should he be exposed to great amounts of stress. Susan triggers a fatal attack by fighting with him, then stands and watches as he dies a slow and painful death.
* MoralMyopia: Trask justifies every one of his killings as self-defense, but when Susan attacks him in ''genuine'' self-defenses, he rages out.

* ObfuscatingInsanity: A rare variant of the trope where another person paints an innocent person as insane. In Trask's case, he paints it so that Susan is a dangerous lunatic who needed to be saved from herself, once he figures out that she knows he killed his wife.
* PoeticSerialKiller: Trask has shades of one of these, given how he waxes philosophical about the nature of marriage and love.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Even though it's not her fault, Susan's muteness keeps her from revealing the truth to Paul, who allows Dr. Trask to have her committed.
* ScaryBlackWoman: Dr. Trask's nurse, who is completely stone-faced and stoic while tending to Susan.
* SlasherSmile: Trask gives one to the camera in Suzy's cell as he prepares to kill Paul. Susan gives one herself after she kills Trask and is overtaken by insanity.
* TheSociopath: Dr. Trask, one of the most wicked doctors to ever appear on TV. His first onscreen action is bludgeoning and strangling his wife just because she wouldn't stop arguing with him.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Dr. Trask. He has no choice because of a heart condition, and any excitement or aggravation will put him at risk of a heart attack.
* ThemedParty: Paul and Susan's anniversary party is apparently a costume party, as each guest is dressed up like it's Halloween.
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch They Know Too Much]]: Dr. Trask kills his wife, then kills Paul and tries to do the same with Susan to cover his tracks.
* TooDumbToLive: Paul fully allows Dr. Trask to have Susan committed, fully believing every word he says. His sister, who herself happens to have medical experience, calls him out on it, noting that people don't just go insane in the span of a few minutes. He ''does'' begin figuring out the truth, but by that point, Trask kills him.
* VillainsWantMercy: Trask begs Susan to call his assistant and save him when [[LaserGuidedKarma he suffers a heart attack after Susan attempts to apprehend him]].
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The last we see of Susan, she's quite possibly going insane after her ordeal with Trask right as the episode ends. The Crypt Keeper even invokes the trope during his outro, giving a vague response for the viewers who want to know what happens to her.
* WhatTheHellHero: Paul's sister, who works in a medical lab, chews her brother out for believing a doctor he's never met before and fully allowing his wife to be committed, telling him that people just don't succumb to insanity in five minutes.

->'''Crypt Keeper:''' ''(laying in a coffin and wrapped up in a straitjacket, struggling to free himself)'' Where's Houdini when you need him? Well, that was quite a scream, wasn't it kids? And what a surprise for poor Dr. Trask. There's a villain with a heart... ''attack'', that is. ''(cackles)'' Just when he thought he was going to silence Susan forever...she ''walked all over'' him. I suppose you're wondering what became of Susan. If you give me a scream, I might just tell you! ''(cackles)''

[[quoteright:140:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dpnmpizv4aam_vc.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:140: The worst time to be tongue-tied.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Paul is totally persuaded by Trask to have his wife sedated and locked in an asylum when she's rendered mute, simply trusting him because he's a doctor (with an oboviously ominous demeanor).

On her wedding anniversary party, Susan (Creator/PatriciaClarkson) witnesses a murder take place across the street in another apartment, the shock rendering her mute. Her husband Paul (Reed Birney) goes to get a doctor to help her, but unfortunately, the doctor in question was the same man who she witnessed killing his wife. When Dr. Trask (Creator/RichardThomas) figures out that Susan knows what he's done, he plans to have her committed to the state hospital he's in charge of.

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* AintTooProudtoBeg: Once his heart begins to act up, Trask begs Susan to call for help, but its too late.
* DeadlyDoctor: Dr. Trask kills his wife and Susan's husband, and deliberately plans to give Susan a lobotomy (and make a deliberate mistake to kill her as well in the process) to cover his tracks, so he does fit this trope as well.
* DeathByAdaptation: In the comic, the husband disappears from the story after his wife is committed. In the show, he realizes something is up and confronts the doctor, and is killed.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Dr. Trask fits this because after he kills his wife and Susan's husband, he has the nerve to call Susan a murderer when she [[LaserGuidedKarma lets him die of a fatal heart attack after a small fight between the two.]]
* {{Irony}}: Susan was committed under false pretenses because of Dr. Trask, but at the end of the episode, the trauma of the entire ordeal possibly causes Susan to go insane for real.
* MoralMyopia: Trask justifies his every crime as self-defence but when Susan attacks him in self-defence he rages out.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Dr. Trask in this case, but he has no choice because of a heart condition, and any excitement or aggravation will put Dr. Trask at a risk of a heart attack.
* [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Dr. Trask killed Susan's husband and tried to kill Susan to cover his tracks.
* TooDumbToLive: Susan's husband fully allows Dr. Trask to have Susan committed, fully believing every word he says. His sister, who also happens to have medical experience, calls him out on it, noting that people don't just go insane in the span of a few minutes. He ''does'' begin figuring out the truth, but by that point, Trask kills him.
* VillainsWantMercy: Trask begs Susan to call his assistant and save him when [[LaserGuidedKarma he had a heart attack after his fight with Susan]].

* DeathByTheAdaptation: In the comic, the husband disappears from the story after his wife is committed. In the show, he realizes something is up and confronts the doctor, and is killed.

* DeathBytheAdaptation: In the comic, the husband disappears from the story after his wife is committed. In the show, he realizes something is up and confronts the doctor, and is killed.

* DeathbytheAdaptation: In the comic, the husband disappears from the story after his wife is committed. In the show, he realizes something is up and confronts the doctor, and is killed.

* TooDumbToLive: Susan's husband fully allows Dr. Trask to have Susan committed, fully believing every word he says. His sister, who also happens to have medical experience, calls him out on it, noting that people don't just go insane in the span of a few minutes. He ''does'' begin figuring out the truth, but by that point, Trask kills him.

[[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]: Dr. Trask killed Susan's husband and tried to kill Susan to cover his tracks.

* DeadlyDoctor: Dr. Trask kills his wife and Susan's husband, and deliberately plans to give Susan a lobotomy to cover his tracks, so he does fit this trope as well.

On the eve of her wedding anniversary party, Susan Asting (Played by Patricia Clarkson) witnesses a murder take place across the street in another apartment, causing Susan to lose her voice. Her husband Paul (Played by Reed Birney) goes to get a doctor to help her, but unfortunately, the doctor in question was the man who she witnessed killing his wife. When Dr. Trask (Played by Richard Thomas) figured it out, he plans to have Susan silenced forever by having her committed to the state hospital he's in charge of.

* DeadlyDoctor: Dr. Trask kills his wife, Susan's husband, and deliberately plans to kill Susan in a lobotomy to cover his murders, so he does fit this trope as well.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Dr. Trask fits this because after he kills his wife and Susan's husband, Paul, he has the nerve to call Susan a murderer when she [[LaserGuidedKarma lets him die of a fatal heart attack after a small fight between the 2.]]
* {{Irony}}: Susan was committed under false pretenses because of Dr. Trask, but at the end of the episode, Susan goes insane for real.
* SoftSpokenSadist: Dr. Trask in this case, but he has no choice because of a health condition with his heart, and any excitement or aggravation will put Dr. Trask at a risk of a heart attack.