My Brother's Keeper
Frank and Eddie Duran (Timothy Stack and Jonathan Stark) are a pair of conjoined twins fused at the hip. The brothers are different as night and day, with Frank being a cultural, hygienic, and well-mannered bookworm, and Eddie being a crude, slovenly, lecherous pervert. While visiting a bar (where Eddie does all the drinking as Frank tries to read), Frank meets a woman named Marie Hilton (Jessica Harper), who is similarly reading and gradually grows intrigued with Frank's personality. While she and Frank attempt to get down on the dance floor, Marie is rammed into the mass of tissue that fuses his and Eddie's waists, making a hasty exit upon the discovery.
The brothers then meet with a doctor who specializes in separating conjoined twins. Astounded with the brothers' unique abnormality, the doctor agrees to have them separated, but warns them that the surgery has a 50% chance of their deaths. Eddie happily signs the release form that will allow the surgery, eager for a separate life, but Frank is reluctant, not only because of the chance that the brothers could die, but from the fear that losing his brother will render him truly alone for the first time in his life.
That night, Eddie persuades his brother to sign the release, noting that if he does so, he'd no longer have to put up with any of the stuff Eddie wants to do, and he would finally be able to do all the stuff that he wants to do. He even goes as far as to hide the release throughout the brothers' apartment in the hopes that Frank will eventually say yes. Frank soon gets a call from Marie, who apologizes for her behavior at the bar and offers another chance to go out with him. Frank eagerly accepts the offer, treating her to a trip to the symphony and a home-cooked French dinner. Eddie acts increasingly obnoxious during the date to get Marie to break it off with his brother, and he also gets himself incredibly drunk in the process, knowing that since both brothers share a bloodstream, the drunkenness will carry over to Frank. Despite this, Frank tells his brother that he's not stopping his relationship with Marie.
Weeks later, Frank and Marie lie chastely in bed as Eddie is abused by a dominatrix. When Marie enters the bathroom to freshen up, the dominatrix meets with her, where she reveals that Marie is actually a hooker who Eddie came into contact with and hired to persuade his brother to sign the release form, promising her with a cash settlement big enough to help her get off the streets. Exiting the bathroom, Marie tells Frank that even though she loves him, she rejects his marriage proposal as long as he's stuck to Eddie, which spurs a brutal fight between the Duran Brothers. Just as Frank is seconds away from signing the form, Marie barges back in and reveals the truth about her and Eddie's plan to him, but also reveals that she genuinely fell in love with him and agrees to marry him, even if he is attached to Eddie.
Incensed that his plan to rid himself of his brother failed, Eddie turns psychotic and kills Marie with a meat cleaver. Eddie even digs into his brother's pain by calling the police and confessing to the crime, touting that they won't be able to give him the death penalty so long as the innocent Frank is still attached to him. Enraged, Frank cuffs Eddie to the kitchen counter, collects his pills and vodka, and attempts to commit murder/suicide by overdosing. While the pills kick in, Frank begins ranting about how he's sick and tired of having to clean up Eddie's messes, apologize for his brother's actions all the time, and how he's fed up with how being "the good one" is a lot of responsibility. As Eddie passes out, Frank uses the last of his strength to sign the release form with Marie's blood.
The Duran Brothers soon awaken in the hospital, where they are greeted by the police, arriving to arrest Eddie for Marie's murder. Eddie's smug attitude fades away when Frank tells him that he finally signed the release form he was forcing on him, leaving Eddie pleading and screaming as he's taken away. Afterwards, Frank's behavior seems to perform a complete 180, repeating one of his brother's inappropriate pick-up lines to the nurse and ordering a drink.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Name Change: Eddie was named Mark in the comic, and Marie was named Alice.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Believe it or not, Eddie.
- In the comic, Mark was a complete psychopath from childhood, even going so far as to burn a cat alive. None of this is mentioned in the episode, making him more of an obnoxious jackass than a full blown psycho. At least until the climax.
- His motivations are also different as well. In the comic, Mark was so destructive because he was perpetually jealous of Frank, and would destroy anything of his that he couldn't have, up to and including his fiancé. In the episode, Eddie just wants freedom from being attached to Frank, and notably tries the diplomatic approach before Marie decides to give Frank a chance. After that, he steps up his game, but he doesn't truly get violent until she convinces Frank not to go through with signing the release form.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the comic, both brothers were in love with Alice, but she eventually chose Frank, leading Mark to kill her to ensure neither of them could have her. In the episode, Eddie has no interest in Marie and paid her to act interested in Frank so that he could be convinced to go through with the operation, though she did come to truly love him.
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Eddie screams and raves for Frank to help him as he's being taken away by the police.
- The Alcoholic: Eddie is a heavy drinker, and since he and Frank share a bloodstream, both brothers are able to get drunk at the same time.
- Armor-Piercing Response: "We're not freaks, Eddie. We're free. Or at least, I am."
- Artistic License – Law: It seems rather suspect that the hospital staff would consent to the surgery, as the release form they found was signed with a woman's blood.
- Batman Gambit: Eddie learned about the doctor's experimental surgery shortly before the episode started. He subsequently hired hooker Marie to woo Frank, then did everything he could to make their dates as uncomfortable as possible (including not bathing, constantly mouthing off, and hiring a dominatrix for a double date). The final straw is for Marie to dump Frank on the grounds that their situation is unworkable "the way things are" and walk away. Eddie fully expected Frank to get so angry about his wrecked relationship that he would agree to sign the release form. It almost works, only for Marie to confess at the last second.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: After all the hassles Eddie puts him through, Frank finally signs the release and allows the brothers to be free at last. Unfortunately for Eddie, Frank did so after he killed his fiancé and blabbed about it to the police.
- Becoming the Mask: At first, Marie only acts like she loves Frank because Eddie paid her, but she came to truly love him and accepted his marriage proposal. Unfortunately, she picked the worst time to confess.
- Being Good Sucks: Frank's rant to Eddie has him admit that he's sick and tired of having to apologize for him, clean up his messes, and all the additional responsibility that comes with being "the good one". Case in point, when the brothers are finally separated, Frank orders a drink and flirts with his nurse, not unlike his brother did.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Frank is a squeaky clean, unassuming guy who resorts to violence when Eddie murders his lover, not at all hesitating to ensure his brother gets what he deserves.
- Big "OMG!": Frank, in response to Eddie viciously killing Marie.
- Bittersweet Ending: Frank has lost the love of his life, but he's finally free from Eddie and can live the life he wants to... a life suspiciously similar to his brother's.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: Frank borrows his brother's "studded leather corset" line as he hits on the nurse.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Eddie's handcuffs and sleeping pill/vodka combination are used against him to knock him unconscious so Frank can sign the release form.
- He also nearly uses a cleaver to chop his and Frank's connective tissue apart, and later uses the same one to kill Marie.
- Classical Music Is Cool: Frank is a big fan of classical music, while Eddie is most definitely not. Frank tells Marie that he and Eddie have worked out a system for their outings; every three bar trips equals one symphony trip.
- Commonality Connection: Frank and Marie meet at the bar that Eddie wanted to go to, the latter pointing out that they're the only ones there reading books and suggesting they previously saw each other in passing at the symphony. We later learn that Marie's a hooker who Eddie hired to seduce Frank into getting the release form signed.
- Conjoined Twins: Frank and Eddie are joined at the hip, and the doctor who analyzes them is astounded to find a biological abnormality as unique as theirs (calling it "the Pago-Pagi Formation") in such pristine condition. Both brothers have a full set of organs and limbs, but the primary issue is that the mass of flesh which connects their hips together is full of veins and arteries. This means that the brothers also share a single bloodstream, and as Eddie demonstrates, when one brother gets drunk or medicated, the other brother can feel just as much.
- Cool Car: The Duran Brothers own and drive a red Ferrari. Eddie is said to have been the one who negotiated its purchase, since Frank says that he wanted a Volkswagen instead.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Or rather, some ink, since Frank dabs his pen in Marie's blood to sign the release form.
- Crazy-Prepared: Eddie seems to have planned almost everything in the episode ahead of time, hiding the release form throughout the brothers' apartment, meeting and hiring Marie to fall in love with Frank, even finding the doctor who could sperate the pair. What's even more impressive is that he apparently pulled it all off by himself, which should realistically be impossible given that neither brother can do anything separate from the other.
- Deadpan Snarker: Eddie, as part of his personality as "the bad one".
- Death by Irony: Eddie suffers the trope a couple times over, as he gets hauled away by the police after Frank finally signs the release form for the surgery that he so desperately wanted, even doing so by dabbing the pen in the blood of the woman that Eddie had just murdered.
- Didn't Think This Through: In his crazed state, Eddie doesn't think about ripping up the release form that he already signed and ultimately left within arm's reach of Frank.
- Dirty Coward / Miles Gloriosus: Eddie is a very tough person so long as he has Frank to cover him. The moment his protector is gone, he starts to beg and cry.
- The Dog Bites Back:
- After several long and grueling years of abuse, Frank finally gets the final word with Eddie (and indirectly takes his life as a result).
- As the brothers wake up in the hospital, Eddie immediately sets about ordering the nurse for a drink and slaps her on the ass. She's all too happy to introduce him to his visitors: the cops intending to arrest him.
- Dominatrix: Eddie gets frisky with one as Frank and Marie lie in bed. Marie meets the dominatrix in the bathroom, where the latter reveals that they're both hookers and that Marie was hired to persuade Frank into signing the release form in exchange for enough cash to get off the streets.
- Evil Gloating: Eddie does this to Frank after he kills Marie and confesses to the police, bragging that as long as he's still attached to the innocent Frank, the Justice System can't sentence him to execution, citing it as an example of cruel and unusual punishment.
- Exact Words: Eddie thinks that his brother's declaration of "I can't live attached to a murderer!" is his means of killing both of them in one go, but it actually means that Frank is now more willing than ever to sign a certain release form.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Frank is well-mannered and well-behaved, while Eddie is reckless, rude, and cruel. Frank's personality is shown to slowly swap with his brother's near the ending, considering that he's sick and tired of being "the good one".
- Hates Being Alone: This is the primary reason why Frank won't sign the release at first. Being a conjoined twin, he's never been alone in his entire life, and he worries about what isolation could do to him.
- Have We Met?: At the bar, Frank seems to find Marie oddly familiar, to which she suggests that they saw each other in passing at the symphony.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Marie is actually a hooker who works with the dominatrix who gets kinky with Eddie. Eddie managed to find her and hired her to fall in love with his brother and persuade him into signing the release form with the promise of enough money to get off the streets. Near the end, she breaks away from Eddie's plan and tells Frank everything, having genuinely fallen in love with him and agreeing to be his wife, even if it means having to put up with Eddie.
- Hope Spot: Two for Eddie:
- When Frank is seconds away from signing the release, Eddie's actions having finally driven him over the edge, Marie comes back and ruins it.
- After they wake up in the hospital and the police come to arrest him, Eddie smirks and believes that they can't touch him since he's joined at the innocent Frank's hip. As it turns out, they just woke up post-surgery.
- Hypocrite: For someone who lives recklessly, especially when it comes to haphazard driving, heavy drinking, taking sleeping pills with vodka, and even threatening to disconnect them manually, Eddie tries to stop Frank when he's overdosing on his sleeping pills and vodka in an act of murder/suicide after Eddie kills Marie.
- Ironic Echo: Eddie ridicules his brother for supposedly acting like a coward. Frank says the same thing to Eddie when he starts to beg and scream as the police take him away.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When Frank expresses hesitancy regarding the surgery, Eddie rationally lists the many benefits of being separated from one another: getting the kind of privacy others enjoy, no longer having to do activities the other brother hates, getting to do all the things they've always wanted to do, but never could, etc.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Eddie gets arrested for Marie's murder, and has a date with the gas chamber when he's convicted. He certainly had it coming to him after the years of misery he brought to his brother, especially killing the love of his life.
- Little "No": Eddie, after the cops snap on the handcuffs.
- Miranda Rights: The detective arresting Eddie reads them after he admits to killing Marie. Thinking he's safe, Eddie brushes them off, but soon regrets it.
- Mundane Made Awesome: One of the benefits Frank considers if he decides to be separated from his brother is the chance to roll over in bed.
- Nice Guy: Before the ending comes around, Frank is well-mannered and polite, and tries to live life the best that he can while attached to the compost heap that is Eddie. The climax has him admit that he's sick and tired of having to put up with all of the responsibility that being "the good one" foists upon him, and the end has his attitude match that of his late brother.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Eddie openly gloats about how being a conjoined twin attached to an innocent brother means that the law can't touch him, and this is what gives Frank the last push to sign the release form.
- Oh, Crap!: Eddie, when he finds out that just before he and Frank slipped into unconsciousness, Frank finally signed the release form to have the brothers separated. He also finds out just as the police arrest him for Marie's murder.
- Plot Hole: How exactly did Eddie meet with Marie and hire her to fake falling in love with Frank, given how neither brother can do anything without the other?
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner: "Now, I'll never get rid of him!"
- Rage Breaking Point: Both brothers hit theirs in succession:
- In Eddie's case, when Marie confesses his plan to Frank, ruining his last chance to get Frank to sign the release form, and making Eddie kill Marie with a meat cleaver.
- In Frank's case, after Eddie kills the love of his life, ruining his chance at happiness, making Frank attempt murder/suicide by overdosing on Eddie's sleeping pills and vodka, and also signing the release form in the chance they both survive, which they both do.
- The Reveal: It's during the double date (of sorts) where we learn that Marie is actually a hooker who Eddie hired to push Frank into signing the release form.
- Sanity Slippage: Marie confessing to his plot causes Eddie to lose it. He kills her in a fit of rage and remains quite unbalanced when gloating about how he'll get away with it to Frank.
- Sarcasm Mode: Frank happily indulges in this when he says that he "forgot" to warn Eddie in advance that they finally underwent surgery.
- Shout-Out: Eddie hits on Marie at the bar, calling her appearance a "Marion the Librarian exterior".
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Frank is a well-mannered and hygienic man who enjoys reading, French cooking, and classical music. Eddie is a crude and slovenly pervert who enjoys drinking, gambling, baseball games, and hookers.
- Single-Minded Twins: While they're getting ready for bed, Frank and Eddie brush, gargle, and use the (conjoined) toilet at the same time before exercising on a stationary bicycle built for two. A good amount of their scenes also feature them wearing the same outfits as well.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Marie's dominatrix associate, who reveals the truth about her affiliation with Eddie and puts him in handcuffs, which play a role in the climax.
- Stepford Smiler: Marie's smile seems rather forced during her and Frank's (and Eddie's) first date, hinting at the fact that she's in cahoots with Eddie.
- Suspiciously Apropos Music: Frank and Marie (and Eddie) dance at the bar to a love song about how the singer tells their lover that they're "Stuck on You".
- This Is Unforgivable!: Frank is completely disgusted with Eddie for murdering Marie, decreeing this to be the last straw after spending his whole life having to apologize for him and clean up his messes. He ensures that Eddie gets what he deserves and openly ignores his pleas for help.
- Toilet Humor: There's a brief scene where Frank and Eddie piss in a special conjoined toilet. Eddie persuades Frank to sign the release form during this time so each brother could experience the luxury of peeing in peace.
- Villainous Breakdown: Eddie turns into a complete mess as the police take him away for the murder he just confessed to.
- Wham Line: "Eddie says you're doin' a real good job. You got his brother Frank right where he wants him."
- Worth It: The doctor estimates that there's a 50/50 chance of the Duran Brothers' surgery being successful. Eddie is all too eager to take the risk.
- Xanatos Gambit: After Marie dies, Frank handcuffs Eddie to the counter before downing his pills and booze. He justifies this action by saying that he refuses to live attached to a murderer. Eddie thinks that this is some kind of murder/suicide attempt, and it certainly could've worked out that way, but Frank also uses his last bit of strength to sign the release form so the surgery could finally be performed. No matter what happens next, Frank passes out knowing that he's taken Eddie down for good.
- You Monster!: Eddie openly gloating about how he'll get away with Marie's murder prompts this reaction from Frank.
