The Odds
Tommy Vale (Danny Aiello), a veteran bookie known for never turning away a bet, meets Bill Lacey (Tom Noonan), the supposed son of a perennial loser who took "the coward's way out". Thinking that Lacey is nothing more than another customer, Tommy is completely blown away when his challenger begins winning every bet that he places. To save his reputation of never losing or being cheated, Tommy bets on the time of his death, and has to do everything he can to outsmart a bettor who's never lost.
Tropes:
- Bald of Evil: Lacey removes his hat near the end to reveal that he's completely bald, as well as the fact that he's really Lacey Sr. rather than his younger, head-full-of-hair son.
- The Bet: Lacey's last bet to Tommy is that he dies at 8:00 AM from natural causes. Tommy does end up living until 8, but he dies a few minutes afterwards because he sets the clock and Horace's day planner alarm ahead five minutes.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tommy manages to beat Lacey by tampering with the clock and the alarm on Horace's electronic day planner, thus securing his reputation of never being broken, but he dies mere minutes after Lacey leaves.
- Bottle Episode: The entire episode is spent in the bar.
- Chromosome Casting: All seven main characters are male.
- Dead Hat Shot: Tommy's death is marked by a shot of his pencil rolling off the table.
- Die Laughing: Tommy finally dies while in the middle of deliriously laughing about how he's never been broken.
- Face Death with Dignity: Tommy is at peace with the fact that he's about to die, spending his last moments laughing about how he broke Lacey twice, and trying to write his last will and testament.
- Foreshadowing:
- Tommy's lackey Horace buys his boss a digital day planner; one of its features is playing chiptune songs. During a horse race, Lacey bets $500 on Ryan's Daughter, a horse in dead last with 40 to 1 odds. Horace decides to smugly play Chopin's "Funeral March".
- One of Lacey's bets is on "Bold Avenger". As Tommy notes, the name is very apropos and foreshadows who Lacey is: the ghost of Lacey Sr. come back to avenge Tommy's supposed wrongs.
- Genre Savvy: Tommy knew who Lacey really was the minute he walked in, as well as the fact that he was seeing the future, but he anticipated this by tampering with the bar's clock and Horace' day planner alarm.
- Jerkass Has a Point: As abrasive as Tommy is, he takes the time to tell Lacey that his losing streak had no assistance from him. All he did was take his bets, not actively try to screw him. Whether or not he's saying this to abdicate his responsibility is vague.
- Loophole Abuse: Tommy boasts that he's never refused a bet. However, he gives Lacey pretty low odds, as well as putting him on "rolling odds", where the odds go down further if Lacey shares his "hunches" with other bettors.
- Please Wake Up: Horace ends the episode by prodding Tommy's dead body, trying to get him to wake up.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Tommy gives Lacey a contemptuous speech at the end, tearing into him for having always been a coward.Tommy: You know, Lacey, you should never underestimate the powers of the human will. That's the one thing I've learned sitting in this seat for the last 30 years. It's the doggondest thing. Either you've got it, or you don't. You were a scared rabbit. You're going to be a scared rabbit again.
- Straw Loser: Bill Lacey was one in life, making horrible bets that Tommy may or may not have screwed with that rendered him destitute, to the point where he took his own life.
- Vengeful Ghost: It's never clarified exactly what Lacey is. Since Tommy describes his betting on "Bold Avenger" as appropos, Tommy suggest that Lacey's getting his tips from "the other side". Lacey also comes and goes like a ghost, and is accompanied by a bodyguard who acts very demonic/angelic. Why Heaven or Hell would support Lacey in his quest for vengance isn't clear, but it's equally unclear how big a part Tommy played in Lacey's death.
