Carrion Death
In short: spoiler alert.
(the Crypt Keeper, in the attire of a motorcycle cop, rides a motorcycle into the Crypt; he dismounts and sits down at his table)
Crypt Keeper: Good evening, felons! Time to assume the position (if you know what I mean) and prepare for another assault and battery on your senses. Tonight's seamy saga is about a nice young man with a very bad attitude. In fact, it's positively criminal! (cackles) I call this little game of chops and clobbers: Carrion Death.
Earl Raymond Diggs (Kyle MacLachlan), a convicted rapist and murderer, escapes from prison shortly before his scheduled execution. He steals the prison doctor's car, robs a bank, and flees across the Arizona desert, headed for the Mexican border. A motorcycle cop (George DelHoyo) pursues Diggs and crashes his bike into Diggs' getaway car, destroying both vehicles and forcing them to continue the chase on foot. A vulture shows interest in both men after taking notice of the explosion, and while it annoys Diggs repeatedly, it also seems to point the way for the cop. Diggs soon finds a sign advertising a cantina, but when he reaches the building, he finds it empty and abandoned. The cop catches up to Diggs, and in their struggle, he handcuffs their wrists together. Diggs shoots the cop with his own gun, but the cop swallows the key to the cuffs before he dies.
With the gun empty and no way to remove the cuffs, Diggs is forced to carry and drag the cop's body toward the border, constantly shooing away the vulture as heat and fatigue take their toll on him. He reaches the top of a line of hills that marks the border, but the cop's corpse pulls away from him, causing him to tumble down on the American side. In desperation, Diggs fashions a makeshift hatchet from a piece of wood and the cop's badge, and tries to cut off the cop's hand to free himself. However, Diggs' vision has blurred from exposure to the desert, and he accidentally hacks part-way through his own wrist. Diggs stumbles backwards and ends up hanging over the edge of a rock formation by the cuffs, falling to the bottom when his injured hand snaps off from the weight. Diggs finds that the fall has broken his neck and left him paralyzed, and the vulture, seeing that Diggs can no longer defend himself, finally swoops down and eats him, starting by plucking out his eyes.
Tropes:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: For a makeshift hatchet made from a crudely sharpened badge, Diggs' makeshift tool manages to cut through his flesh and bone pretty easily. Of course, that proves to cause problems for Diggs.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comic, the robber did commit murder (first a bank teller, and later the cop trying to arrest him), but Diggs is noted for killing a larger number of people and committing numerous other crimes as well. The news on his car radio, along with Diggs himself, admits that he was on death row prior to the episode.
- All for Nothing: In the end, Diggs' escape of death was in vain. He still died, only in a far more agonizing way.
- And I Must Scream: Diggs realizing, to his horror, that he's still alive from his fall down the border, but paralyzed from the neck down... and the vulture's flying down to devour him.
- An Arm and a Leg: Diggs accidentally hacks into his own wrist with his makeshift hatchet, causing him to stumble backwards and hang over the edge of a cliff. The wounded hand snaps off due to his weight, but that soon proves to be the least of Diggs' worries.
- Asshole Victim: Diggs is an unrepentant rapist and murderer who escaped death row, killed the prison doctor and two different security guards (one from the prison and the other at the bank), and kills the cop pursuing him. As such, his sheer wickedness has him being given one of the most painful and excruciating deaths in the whole series. Even the Crypt Keeper thinks that the guy has a bad attitude.
- As You Know: The car's radio tells the viewers everything about Diggs, what he's done, and what his goals are.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Happens twice to Diggs, since he wants to flee to Mexico and escape prosecution. He tries to chop off the dead cop's hand in order to make it, but he ends up losing his own hand in a fall just short of the border and breaking his neck, leaving him paralyzed and eaten alive by the vulture.
- Body Horror:
- Diggs' fall down the cliff leaves him with multiple fractures, including a broken neck that paralyzes him.
- Diggs takes a swing of his makeshift hatchet to cut the dead cop's hand off so he can slip free of the cuffs, but his blurred vision causes him to miss and chop into his own hand.
- Card-Carrying Villain: Diggs, who repeatedly boasts about his many crimes.
- Chained Heat: Diggs is forced into crossing the Arizona desert while handcuffed to a dead body.
- Circling Vultures: A persistent vulture keeps following Diggs throughout the episode. He quickly takes it personally and progressively panics over the idea of it getting him in the end. Sure enough, it does.
- Composite Character: In the original comic, there was a whole wake of vultures who stalk and eventually eat the criminal. Here, only one vulture is seen.
- Covers Always Spoil: Would you like to take a guess as to when in the story the comic's cover takes place?
- Determinator: The cop braves the scorching desert on foot for a chance to bring in Diggs.
- Didn't Think This Through: One of Diggs' most notable flaws, such as the moment he decides to gloat and turn his car, only for the cop's motorcycle to crash into said car and ruin both vehicles. It happens again when he kills the cop after he was handcuffed to him (not considering that he would swallow the key to the cuffs).
- Eaten Alive: Diggs ends the episode getting eaten by the vulture while he's still alive.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- We first see Diggs making his escape during his bank robbery. He shoots a guard, knocks him down, and shoots him again to finish him off.
- The cop comes up after crashing Diggs off the road, noting to the vulture who clearly has designs on Diggs. He points at the vulture and tells it "Remember. I saw him first.", to which the vulture appears to acknowledge it.
- "Eureka!" Moment: The glint of sunlight on the cop's badge gives Diggs the idea to fashion it into a hatchet and free himself from the corpse. Of course, it doesn't work out like he hoped.
- Evil Detecting Bird: While the vulture wants to eat Diggs when he dies, it can also apparently sense that he's a wanted criminal, and even points out his trail to the cop a couple of times.
- Evil Is Hammy: Diggs is unrepentantly sinister about what he does for a living, vocalizing all of his atrocities to himself while he's trekking across the desert.
- Eyeball-Plucking Birds: Diggs gets both of his eyes plucked out and eaten by the vulture that's been stalking him the whole episode.
- Face Death with Dignity: The cop, because he has the perfect way to get the last laugh on the cuffed Diggs.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: After he first tumbles down the hill, Diggs berates the vulture and starts experiencing blurred vision, which ultimately brings about his true downfall.
- From Bad to Worse: The whole episode is a non-stop helping of the trope for Diggs. He starts freed from prison and freshly rich, but things get progressively worse for him after the cop's motorcycle crashes into his stolen car and strands him in the desert.
- The shining example is how, after his last fall, Diggs panics over being paralyzed, then sees his feathered friend watching him and getting ready to move in.
- Funny Background Event: As Diggs points out the seemingly-dead cop to the vulture and tells him that it's a much better meal for it, the vulture can be seen taking a crap on the roof of his wrecked car.
- Hero Antagonist: The nameless motorcycle cop who crosses the desert in search of Diggs.
- Hope Spot:
- Diggs finds a sign advertising for a nearby cantina. He reaches the place, only to find that it's been abandoned for sometime.
- Diggs almost makes it over the border to Mexico... except the dead cop's heavy body falls back down the other side, taking Diggs with it.
- Irony: Diggs escaped prison hours before he was set to be killed, only to suffer and die an even more excruciating death. It's even lampshaded by Diggs himself:Diggs: I didn't bust outta death row to end up like this!
- Karmic Twist Ending: Diggs almost gets away with multiple murders and robbing a bank, but he ends up meeting a fate worse than a prison execution.
- Little "No": Diggs repeatedly and desperately screams these as the vulture swoops down and finally eats him.
- Mercy Kill: The vulture gives Diggs one of them non-intentionally, eating him immediately instead of letting him suffer for a few more hours and eventually succumbing to his wounds.
- Misplaced Wildlife: The vulture that pursues Diggs is a European griffon vulture, rather than a species of American vulture.
- Named by the Adaptation: In the comic, the robber was not given a name.
- No Name Given: The cop pursuing Diggs.
- No, You: When Diggs shoots the cop in the chest:Diggs: Fuck you!
Cop: No. (holds up the key) Fuck you. (swallows it) - Not Quite Dead: After the vehicle explosion, the cop is seen lying on the ground and thought dead by Diggs, but he eventually regains consciousness.
- Oh, Crap!: Diggs has many of them:
- When he sees that the cop's motorcycle is about to collide with his car.
- When he discovers that the cantina has long been abandoned.
- When the cop swallows the key to his handcuffs after cuffing the pair together.
- When he realizes that the vulture keeps following him.
- When he swings his ramshackle hatchet onto the handcuffs, only to realize he's nearly chopped his own hand off.
- When he learns that he's paralyzed from the neck down and sees the vulture finally swooping in...
- Properly Paranoid: Diggs suspects that he'll have to keep an eye on that vulture. In the end, he's right.
- Sanity Slippage: Diggs starts the episode a very lucid and competent criminal, but his sanity takes a major hit from his lengthy trek through the desert, making said trek attached to a corpse, and his continuing dread over the persistent vulture that's hounding him.
- Serial Killer: Diggs racked up quite a body count, and purportedly mutilated some of his victims (though he insists he only did so after killing them).
- Shout-Out: Picking up Diggs' trail thanks to its help, the cop likens the vulture to Lassie.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Diggs has one of the dirtiest mouths in the entire series, casually dropping F-bombs like he got them at a bulk discount.
- Special Effects Failure: During the climax of the episode, where Diggs falls off the cliff after his hand is severed, his intact hand can be seen during the fall.
- Stupid Evil: Diggs, big time. His constant gloating and showboating play a huge part in his fate, but so does killing a cop who he was handcuffed to.
- Suddenly Shouting: Diggs, after his plan of hacking off the dead cop's hand... goes awry, to say the least.Diggs: 1...2... (swings down his hatchet) 3! (realizes he's just hit his own hand) FUUUUCK! OH MY GOD! FUUUUUUUUCK!
- Super-Persistent Predator: The vulture. It follows Diggs everywhere, just waiting for the opportunity to get him. Diggs becomes aware of this and insists it's not gonna happen. Come the end of the episode, the vulture finally gets its meal.
- Swallow the Key: The cop manages to do this before dying, giving him the last laugh on Diggs.
- Taking You with Me: The cop effectively plays the long game with this after Diggs shoots him. Knowing he's done for, the cop swallows the key to the cuffs, pretty much guaranteeing that Diggs will die in the desert.
- Talking to Themself: To go with his hammy evilness, Diggs repeatedly talks to himself as he travels across the desert, though it could be said that he's doing so to keep himself from going insane.
- Tempting Fate:
- Diggs' spends his last moments repeating his claims of not being dead, just before the vulture goes in for the kill.
- Diggs explicitly says that he's going to keep an eye on the vulture. In a manner of speaking, it does indeed work out that way.
- Upon seeing Mexico over a line of hills, Diggs claims to the dead cop that "It's all downhill from here!". Cue the cop's body toppling over the other side of the hills and taking Diggs with it.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Diggs has this look on his face after the cop's body falls out of the cantina's window. It's at that moment it truly dawns on him just how much the cop swallowing the key to his cuffs complicates his escape.
- Vile Vulture: In Diggs' eyes, the vulture who stalks him is one, just waiting for him to collapse and die so it can have dinner.
- Villain Ball: Diggs could have avoided many of the problems he faces throughout the episode if he wasn't so prone to gloat, swear, talk, and show off. He turns his car to face the cop in the means of showing off, only to ruin it. Then, he expounds tirades about his crimes when he should be conserving his energy as he crosses the desert. And he just had to stop to comment on Mexico's borderline, resulting in the dead cop's body falling down the opposite side of the cliff face, taking Diggs down with it.
- Villain Protagonist: Diggs, one of the most wicked and unrepentant villains on this show.
- Villains Want Mercy: A paralyzed Diggs pleads for someone to help him. The only being present is that darn vulture.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Diggs was able to break out of prison by faking an illness, and when the prison doctor came to check on him, Diggs took him hostage. He summarily killed the doctor and a guard on his way out of the building, ultimately making his escape in the doctor's car.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: In the end, Diggs gets eaten a short distance away from Mexico, within literal arm's length of his potential freedom.
Crypt Keeper: (takes a severed eyeball out of the beak of a stuffed vulture sitting next to him) Poor Diggs. Here today, leftovers tomorrow. Boy, talk about flipping someone the bird! (cackles) Personally, I'm with the buzzards... except I like my meat a little more well done. (picks up and points a severed foot at the camera) Cook 'em, Danno! (cackles and bangs the foot on the table)
