Masters of Horror: Episode 15 Family

I don't usually do sitcoms, so I've never seen a single episode of Cheers. That said, however, being introduced to George Wendt by Family made me want to seek out a few episodes. I don't know his role on that show, but here's he's a great villain. It's not clear if he's evil or simply mentally ill, but either way you find yourself liking him and feeling sad for his situation.

Wendt plays a serial killer named Harold. While we don't get his full back story, it's strongly implied that he was abused as a child. As a result, he desperately wants a family, so he kills people who fit the idyllic look he imagines, removes all their skin, and dresses them up in a Norman Bates-esque manner. The influence of Psycho is clearly here, but Harold comes across as quite different from Norman, somehow more aware of his mental illness and in turn more dangerous.

Harold's family is finally complete, with a wife, daughter, and both grandparents. Then, a monkey wrench is thrown into the plans: Celia and David (Meredith Monroe and Matt Keesler), a new couple, move in next-door, and Harold becomes obsessed with Celia.

This is the point at which we run into some ambiguities regarding Harold's condition. We see that he hallucinates his skeletons as living humans who interact with him, and he also imagines Celia making sexual advances on him right in front of her husband. On the other hand, Harold clearly knows that he has to take steps to cover up his murders, with his “wife” (Frances Flanigan) even advising him that Celia is “too close to home.” So, I'm not entirely sure whether Harold is fully responsible for his own actions.

He eventually “kills” his wife, smashing her skeleton. It's implied that this is a repeated occurrence, with Harold destroying old family members when he becomes obsessed with new people. While he only references one previous wife, we see two new victims and an attempt before he goes after Celia, so either he's been through dozens, or his killing is really starting to take off.

Celia and David, meanwhile, are having a fight over whether or not to have a second child after the loss of their daughter. Eventually, David leaves, and Harold lures Celia over for dinner. Just before he can finish her, though, David ambushes him. As it turns out David and Celia were the real parents of his daughter, who tracked him down so they can torture and kill him. David, being a doctor, intends to keep him alive for as long as possible.

The thing that's amazing in the relationship between these three people is that all are fundamentally evil, and yet still friendly and likable. Even if we excuse the vigilante justice, David and Celia seem to treat Harold's murder as a sick sexual turn-on, planning to have a second child once they've eliminated the man who killed their first.

I don't think anything in this episode really scared me, except perhaps the ending. The idea of being tortured by someone with such an extensive knowledge of human biology is pretty sickening to me. Otherwise, I viewed the episode more as a black comedy, but a very good one. I imagine that someone within the demographics Harold targeted might be more frightened by it (I'm too old to be his child, too young to be his grandpa, and he shows no interest in a same-sex marriage). Even then, George Wendt is just hard to not like.