Tales from the Crypt 2.01

Dead Right

starring Demi Moore, Jeffrey Tambor

written by Andy Wolk

directed by Howard Deutch

Cathy (Demi Moore) goes to see a fortuneteller who informs her that she will meet a large man who stands to inherit a lot of money from a relative. She meets Charlie (Jeffrey Tambor) who is very large. She finds him disgusting but decides to trust the fortune teller and marry him. She puts up with him as long as she can. She is reassured when she learns that he has a rich uncle but then she learns that the uncle has a wife and children.

Cathy wins a million dollars when she is the millionth customer at an automat. She decides that's it. She's had it with Charlie. She goes up to pack her things. She insults him and tells him she's leaving him. It drives him crazy. He picks up a knife and stabs her to death.

Thoughts

Jeffrey Tambor must have been wearing a fat suit for this episode. I'm pretty sure he was never that large.

What era was this episode supposed to take place? There was something about it that felt very retro for 1990, the year it first aired. I think some of the elements from this episode must have come straight from the comic book, like the automat. Did they still exit in 1990? Do they still exist today?

I didn't foresee the twist in this tale until the last five minutes of the episode. I thought that Cathy would realize what was going to happen but she didn't.

This was better than most of the episodes in the first season but I still wouldn't say it was great or that I loved it. The ending was kind of intense when it happened but the story took it's time getting there. 

Notes

The story for this episode was adapted from a story of the same name from Shock Suspenstories 6 (Dec 1952-Jan 1953) by Bill Gaines, Al Feldstein, and Jack Kamen.

This is the only episode of this show in which Demi Moore appeared. I have seen her in at least nine movies. I saw her most recently in The Substance (2024).

This is the only episode of this show in which Jeffey Tambor appeared. He was in at least five movies that I have watched. The most recent thing in which I have seen him is an episode of The Orville, 1.02 Command Performance. 

Natalija Nogulich played the part of the fortuneteller. This is the only episode of this show in which she appeared. She played the part of Admiral Nechayev in four episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including 6.26 Descent, and two episodes of Deep Space Nine. She also appeared in an episode NewsRadio, 2.10 The Negotiation.

There are a couple other actors in this episode that I recognized from other things I have watched but neither of them played significant roles: Troy Evans and Earl Boen.

Andy Wolk wrote the screenplay for this episode. It is the only episode of this show that he had a hand in writing. He also directed one episode of this show.

This is the second of two episodes of this show that Howard Deutch directed. The first was 1.04 Only Sin Deep.