Directed by
Rob Schmidt. The marriage of Cliff (Martin Donovan) and Abbey Addison (Julia Anderson) is going through dire times when the couple suffers a dramatic car accident. Cliff gets minor wounds but Abbey is burned alive completely, losing all skin and senses and falling into a coma. Cliff resolves to disconnect Abbey's life support and end her suffering, but finds that everytime she flatlines her ghost comes back with a vengeance.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Abbey Addison.
- Alone with the Psycho: Abbey only attacks people while they are alone.
- Amoral Attorney: Cliff's lawyer, Ira.
- Asshole Victim: All three people killed - Ira, Cliff, and Trish - are bad people in their own way.
- The Baby Trap: Before the accident, Abbey tells Cliff that she is pregnant and fully intends to use it to get a bigger share in the divorce.
- Bandage Mummy: Abbey after the accident.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Cliff is not the afflicted husband he plays before the cameras. He intentionally burned Abbey to not lose money from the divorce, and murders Trish when he thinks he can get rid of Abbey's ghost that way.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Ira burns alive after being stuck to a supermagnet, Trish is skinned and quartered while still alive, and we can only speculate on what happens to Cliff after the end.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: It's hard to watch this episode and not think of the Terri Schiavo case.
- Eyes Are Unbreakable: Averted Trope. Abbey loses her eyelids and her eyes end with different dull colors. The hospital not covering them likely means they are blind besides her being in a coma.
- Fanservice: Julia Benson has easily the biggest bust in the series and is fully nude when her spirit first appears to Cliff. However, this quickly turns into Fan Disservice when her skin begins to peel off.
- Face Death with Dignity: Upon being informed that Abby has finally given up the ghost, Chris dejectedly returns home to consign himself to her spirit's wrath.
- Flaying Alive: In a last ditch attempt to find a skin donor for Abbey, Cliff skins Trish alive himself.
- Greed: Expected of an amoral lawyer like Ira, but Cliff also wants to kill Abbey purely for money.
- Grey-and-Gray Morality: No character is genuinely good.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: Cliff is carrying Trish's dismembered corpse in a bag on top of his car when some pieces fall off. He stops to pick them and a police car arrives, only for the driver to yell at him to get out of the way and disappear as quickly.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Abbey can make herself appear looking like she was before the accident or after.
- Jump Scare: Cliff hallucinates the burned Abbey suddenly turning her head to look at him a couple of times.
- Man on Fire: Besides Abbey, Ira also dies in a fire.
- Medical Horror: Most of the plot takes place in a hospital, which is played for horror. Abbey is completely covered in third degree burns, with no ears, eyelids, or lips left; Ira burns after being stuck to a supermagnet, and Trish is skinned alive in a dentist's office.
- The Mistress: Cliff's assistant Trish is also his secret lover while he is married to Abbey.
- Nightmare Face: Post-accident Abbey has no hair, skin, eyelids, ears, or lips, and her eyes have a dull gray color.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Cliff's intention to disconnect Abbey is opposed by her mother.
- Spooky Photographs: Trish sends some erotic photos to Cliff's cellphone, with Abbey appearing behind her.
- Strapped to an Operating Table: Abbey at the hospital and Trish when she is killed.
- Twist Ending: The car didn't catch on fire spontaneously. Cliff coated it on fuel and lighted it with the intention of murdering Abbey - who, to make things worse, was pregnant with his child at the time. This changes the viewer's opinion of Cliff and his early actions, as it is now obvious that his intention to disconnect Abbey wasn't her will, but his.
- Uncertain Doom: Cliff's fate. While taking an ice chest with the skin he harvested from Trish to the hospital in a crazy attempt to heal Abbey, he is told by doctors that Abbey died last night. He drives home dejectedly and finds Abbey's ghost waiting for him at the door. He hesitates briefly, but only to wipe his shoes on the doormat and enters, fully resigned to her vengeance.
- Woman Scorned: Abbey is aware that Cliff is sleeping with his assistant, Trish.
