Air date: December 1, 1961
Alan Richards (John Dehner) and his wife Doris (Emily McLaughlin) have recently returned from a business trip to Africa, where Alan's company is constructing a hydroelectric dam. Alan discovers that Doris has secretly kept several items given to her by a shaman of the Kekouyu, a native tribe living in the area that the dam will cut through, for protection. When he confronts her, she insists that the items are nothing more than souvenirs. Deciding to test her theory, Alan burns them, which causes her to become upset and beg him to stop the construction. Ignoring her pleas, Alan opens the door to leave for work, but stops dead in his tracks as he discovers, right outside his apartment, is a dead goat.
Later that day, Alan attends a board meeting, where he and his colleagues discuss the dam and the situation regarding the Kekouyu. Alan mentions that while the tribe will ultimately benefit from the dam in the long run, they are upset that their ancestral homes will be destroyed and they will have to be displaced from the land they tended for generations in order to build it. He warns that the tribe's witch doctors have threatened to use some kind of black magic called "Uchawi" to gain revenge against anyone associated with the dam. While the other board members scoff, Alan is quick to point out their own superstitions: one member carries a rabbit's foot, another practices astrology, the building itself even seems superstitious, lacking a 13th floor.
That night, Alan heads over to a bar to have a drink with a friend before heading home. He shows his friend a kipitu, a lion-tooth charm Doris had given him, supposedly meant to protect its wielder against a lion attack. Both men laugh at the idea of a lion mauling someone to death in the heart of the city. As Alan begins to head home, he discovers that his car won't start. He attempts to return to the bar, but he finds it locked, and that he's left the kipitu inside. He attempts to use a pay phone to call a taxi, but finds that it's out of order. As Alan walks away, the phone suddenly begins to ring. When he answers it, Alan hears the sounds of the jungle over the line.
Alan nervously heads home on foot, still hearing the sounds of the jungle all around him, becoming more and more jumpy with every step. He tries to take a taxi home, but the driver drops dead while stopped at a traffic light. Meeting a bum on the street, Alan asks him about the jungle noises, which the bum claims not to hear. Alan then offers the bum some money to escort him through the park, but before he can accept the offer, the bum disappears while Alan's back is turned.
Alan continues on, becoming even more frightened, until he finally reaches the safety of his apartment. The noises suddenly stop and, utterly relieved, Alan pours himself a drink. Suddenly, he hears a lion's roar from the bedroom. When he enters, Alan finds Doris' body on the bed, along with the live lion that killed her. The lion promptly pounces on Alan, mauling him to death offscreen.
Welcome to the Jungle. We have Tropes and games:
- Aesop Collateral Damage: While it ends with his being mauled to death by the lion, Alan's curse also causes a cab driver to drop dead, a homeless man to suddenly disappear from existence, and his wife Doris to be mauled by the same lion that kills him.
- Asshole Victim: Alan, who is building a hydroelectric dam that will destroy the Kekouyu's village. As a result, one of their witch doctors curses him for ruining their home, which ends with him being mauled by a lion.
- Black Magic: The Kekouyu use a form of magic they call "Uchawi" to put a curse on Alan as revenge for his company building a hydroelectric dam that will result in the loss of their homes. It first manifests in the form of a dead goat being dumped outside his door. In the early hours of the following morning, Alan is bedeviled by the sounds of the jungle, like bird calls, the roar of lions, and tribal drums. When he returns home, he finds that Doris has been killed by an actual lion, which then kills him.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Alan's company is building a hydroelectric dam in an unnamed African country. The Kekouyu, the natives of said country, strongly object to the construction, as their homes will be destroyed in the process. When he fails to heed their warnings, they curse him to be surrounded by the phenomena of the jungle.
- Establishing Character Moment: The episode's prologue clearly shows that Alan resents all forms of superstition. He finds the very concept of supersition so utterly ridiculous in fact, that he goes against Doris' wish not to burn the protective charms she brought back from Africa, simply because they "aren't for [civilized people]".
- For Want Of A Nail: Alan accidentally leaves the kipitu Doris gave him in the bar after it's locked up. Because of this mistake, he and Doris are left to be mauled to death by a real lion.
- I Warned You: Even though she isn't left alive to prove it, Doris was right all along that Alan needed those charms she got to save his life.
- Kill the Cutie: Doris, Alan's pretty and supportive wife. All episode long, she was trying to use the protective charms that the shaman gave her as a means to save her husband's life, but he destroys them out of his hatred for superstition, driving her to tears. In the end, her reward for trying to save her husband from being cursed by the Kekouyu is to become collateral damage of said curse, getting killed by the lion that manifests in their apartment.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Alan meets his demise when he's mauled by a lion, shortly after he thinks he's home free.
- Lucky Rabbit's Foot: Mr. Sinclair, the president of Alan's company, wears a rabbit's foot on his watch chain. Alan uses this to point out that he's almost as superstitious as the Kekouyu.
- Misplaced Wildlife: Various aspects of the African jungle come to haunt the cursed Alan. At several points, we hear kookaburras laughing in the background, though they live in Australia rather than Africa.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: It's implied that the lion statues Alan passes on his walk home come to life and chase him, but we never actually see them do so, only hearing distant roars.
- "Not So Different" Remark: When the board joins Alan in mocking the Kekouyu for their primitive sense of superstition, he disdainfully points out that they themselves hold to superstitions like lucky charms, horoscopes, and avoiding certain numbers. When the board members insist those things have worked out well for them, Alan replies that the Kekouyu make the same claims.
- Nothing Is Scarier:
- Alan's walk home through the dark, deserted streets in the early morning, with the sounds of wild animals and tribal drums and chanting following him. The worst part is we never actually see what's causing the noises.
- Alan's death by lion is done completely offscreen, and we only hear his dying scream as the big cat mauls him. The results are left up to your imagination, and that's what makes the scene effectively scary.
- Real After All: Alan finds out far too late that the curse of the Kekouyu is all too real.
- Skepticism Failure: Alan scoffs at Doris' warnings about the Kekouyu and their curse, destroying the protective items she had gotten from a shaman meant to protect him. Mere minutes later, he finds a dead goat outside his door, and it only gets worse from there.
- Wham Shot:
- Alan's taxi driver doesn't move when the traffic light turns green. Alan tries getting his attention with a few taps on the shoulder, only for the cabbie to slump into the passenger seat, dead as a doornail.
- At the end of the episode, as Alan is about to indulge in a stiff drink to steady his nerves, he suddenly hears the low growling of an animal. He opens the bedroom door and finds his wife's corpse on the bed, next to a huge lion, which lunges at him and mauls him to death as the episode ends.
- You Are Already Dead: After Alan burns his wife's protective charms, Doris tells him in an empty voice that he won't be coming back from work tonight (and likely that she's going to die as well). She can even sense the dead goat outside the door, which she tells him not to open.
