"It's deja vu all over again when a comic-book artist finds events in her life are eerily repeating."
-- DVD description for the episode
Plot[]
Rolanda — a comic book artist for Tales From the Crypt — pitches her latest story idea to her boss Vern Caputo. Her story about a man rising from the dead to strangle his lover is shunned by Vern, who calls it “a piece of shit”. Angry that the newest issue could be missing a story, he calls Rolanda into his office to berate her. He talks about how she used to be his best employee, asks if she has been drinking, then fires her on the spot. A frustrated Rolanda is escorted out by security. Later that night, she returns to the office drunk and pitches a new story about a girl who snaps after losing her job and takes back her edge. She pulls out a gun and shoots Vern dead, but a swarm of cops corner her as she tries to escape and shoot her dead.
The next morning, Rolanda wakes up as if nothing had happened. After being unsettled by a comic sketch of a whirlpool on her desk, she goes into work. Her strangling story is once again panned by Vern — she tries to explain her deja vu to him, but he fires her regardless. She returns to the office that night, but this time Vern pulls a gun on her. After he threatens to kill her and stage it as an act of self defense, she lunges for the gun — a brief struggle for it results in her shooting him dead. Her escape is once again stopped by a swarm of cops who gun her down.
The time loop begins again. Rolanda wakes up, tears up the whirlpool sketch, and calls work to let them know she won’t be coming in today. Moments later, an angry Vern shows up at her apartment looking for her story. When he realizes she’s empty handed, he threatens her with a gun before turning it on himself. He kills himself; the cops bust in and arrest Rolanda. She is later executed by a firing squad after proclaiming to know what’s going on.
The firing squad plot is revealed to be a comic story pitched by Vern, who’s actually in Rolanda’s lower job role. Rolanda — who is actually the boss — calls the story “a piece of shit” and doesn’t take kindly to her likeness used as the main character. She demands to see Vern in her office.
Opening Segment[]
"Looks like it's curtains for me, kiddies. Then again, maybe the Venetian blinds would look better. I don't know. When I started this little makeover, I was pretty excited. I thought a little Slaytex Paint, some new scream doors, maybe even some scare conditioning, I could turn my little doomicile into a regular pied-a-terror. But, I tell you, kiddies, between the dust and the ghost overruns, your pal the Crypt Keeper is going out of his mind! Which is kind of like the woman in tonight's terror tale. It's about a comic book artist who's about to experience a terrible case of deja boo. I call it "Whirlpool."
Closing Segment[]
"Poor Rolanda. All she wanted was another shot, and that's exactly what they gave her. Talk about character assassination! So, what do you think, kiddies? Am I ready for Architectural Die-gest or what? It took a while, but this old haunt is finally coming together. Nice shudders over there. A lovely fright fixture over here. As a matter of fact, I've even started thinking of some new improvements I want to make, and I'm going to use the same contractor. I'm already taking bits."
Trivia[]
- The basic premise of this episode resembles that of The movie Groundhog Day.
- When proposing replacement stories, one of the suggestions is "He's a werewolf, she's a vampire, but neither of them knows it." This is a reference to another episode, Werewolf Concerto.
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