Retro Recap - Tales from the Crypt: "Four Sided Triangle"

Written by Scotty

Reality is a funny thing.  There are so many different variations of it, it is difficult to know what is really real.  There are many instances where people that have been put in extreme circumstances, they make up their own reality, no matter how farfetched it may seem to others.  But creating one’s own reality may be dangerous for everyone that is involved since it is not what everyone else sees or knows, leading to bigger problems that cannot be fixed by just telling someone that they are wrong.

Mary Jo is in an abusive household where she is in charge of doing all of the work.  She is only allowed to do what she is told and for the homeowners, they wouldn't have it no other way.  Luisa is an older, very demanding woman that treats the young girl as her slave and makes her do even the most tedious of tasks.  But Luisa’s husband, George has other things in mind for their young girl, as he has seen how beautiful Mary Jo is and wants to make her a real woman.

Doing the bidding of both of the farm owners, Mary Jo will not give herself up to George, even though he kept her from being picked up by the police for robbing a Stop n’ Shop.  As George’s advances are fought off by the young woman, it is not enough to keep her safe as she gets hit in the head with a bottle.  Louisa hears the struggle in the barn and comes to find out what is happening, but her husband will not fess up to what is going on between the two.  When he starts to apologize for hitting Mary Jo, the two see that she has escaped and follow her blood trail into their corn field.

Barely able to stay awake, Mary Jo find solace at the feet of the scarecrow that keeps the birds away and knowing that he will always be there for her, she has finally found herself a man.  With this change, Mary Jo’s outlook on life brightens and she is ready to do anything to make her new man happy, so he will make love with her.  Watching Mary Jo go crazy, Luisa knows that she will never be able to go anywhere to get help, but she is also noticing that her husband has a wandering eye fixated on the girl and tells him what will happen if he ever cheats on her.  Although George says he understands, he will not give up his pursuit of Mary Jo and sees his opening.  Dressing up as the scarecrow, George now has his chance to make love to the young woman as he has wanted to for so long and she will believe that it is her man, and love it herself.  But Luisa has the feeling that something bad is going to happen and waking up to find her husband missing, she heads into the field to find him, but finds Mary Jo trying make love with her man. Luisa needs to find a way to show the young crazy girl that the scarecrow is not real and has a pitchfork ready to plunge into his straw filled chest.

Talk about a love affair gone drastically wrong, this story leaves you wondering if Mary Jo was really crazy or just playing the part so she could escape her captors.  I think I was supposed to feel sorry for George as he was only looking for love once again, but I gravitated towards Luisa as she is the only person keeping her mind and the farm together with the new help.  Staring Patricia Arquette as Mary Jo, Chelcie Ross as George and Susan Blommaert as Luisa, this is one of my favorite stories to date.  Everyone brought something special to their performances, as Ross is torn between the two women in his life, Arquette is looking for a way to escape and has to go crazy to do so and Blommaert has to be the only sane one that only wants to keep the farm running with her free labor.  Until next time kiddies, Stay Scared.

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