‘Tales from the Darkside’ Retro Recap: ‘The Devil’s Advocate’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

There was a time where radio and podcasts were filled with wondrous programming. Where your favorite deejay or host would simply talk about the topics they loved or set up a show around a particular theme that was designed to just entertain. All so we could lose ourselves in the music if that was part of the show or just get lost in the musings of someone whose voice we enjoyed and whose thoughts ignited our brains and our imaginations. Granted, a lot of that still exists on the radio and in the world of the podcast, but somewhere along the way, the purity of such shows was utterly sullied by the arrival of a type of host and a type of show that quite frankly…. has caused more harm than good. 
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Because just like that, hate radio… for lack of a better term… hit the airwaves. Where the hosts in question talk about awful topics that are disgusting in nature. Such as claiming that wounded and suffering families are nothing more than character actors, or they spew utter hate toward other races, or they push conspiracy theories and false information. The kind of nonsense one would think would never have an audience… but it does, and these hosts enjoy a powerful following. Thankfully though we are finally seeing cracks in the foundations of hate radio’s popularity, since people are fighting back against their lies, which will likely, eventually, lead to the end of the hate jock, if only for a little while. Because guys like that, can’t stay silent for long. Which leaves us wondering, how we prevent their rise again and oddly enough… the next episode of Tales from the Darkside pondered upon that question in a prophetic manner in its next episode.

For ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ is a story that transports us into the studio of a radio station. Wherein wildly popular late night host Larry Mandrake is settling in to broadcast his show, ‘The Devil’s Advocate’, and it doesn’t take long for us to learn… that people are tuning in to Larry’s show for all the wrong reasons. Because Larry is a bitter and sour man, who has suffered and endured loss and moments of karma and that has motivated him to use his show to air his grievances with the world and spew hate to those that listen. And if by chance they challenge him via calling in, he’s happy to lash out further and make them pay for even thinking of challenging his precious and dark world views. But on this night, Larry’s show is going to be vastly different. For something has happened to Larry that he’s not aware of yet, something so dire that he may need to rethink his career and his life choices when he realizes that this broadcast is coming from a very special station in a very scary place.

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Which is… a story that truly does explore how we stop these guys from constantly spewing hate on the air, and it pulls that off by first tasking us… to understand the monster. Because all we hear on the radio or in our podcast app, is the hate. The slurs. The lies and pushback against science. But what we don’t know… is why they spew so much hate. And this episode informs us, that is related to the fact that these dudes feel marginalized and unremarkable, and they’ve dealt with hardships and setbacks in life and strife, and that pain combined with not being heard or seen in a manner that will complete them, pushes them onto the web or the airwaves. Where everyone must hear their concerns, and they say horrible things that attract other kindred spirits and the rest as they say is history, since we’ve seen where the microphone takes them and what it provides them with. 
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But what makes understanding the why so critical, is that it is what helps us to formulate a true plan to putting an end to their special brand of hate and stupid. Since that helps to inform us that these men are weak and bully to feel strong and well… when you push back against a bully, they tend to fold and hide away. Something we’ve seen begin to happen courtesy of those well-deserved judgments against… well… typing his name would do him a service, but you know who we are talking about and not typing his name… leads to the other solution to getting rid of these asshats. In that, we have to rob them of their power and take away their voice. Because an idiot shouting into the void accomplishes nothing and puts them right back where they started. Which will be the hardest task in this matter, since they inspire, but there has to be a way to draw attention away from them and whatever that is… needs to be done so we can move beyond this nonsense. 

However, while all of this is fascinating commentary, some of you, dear readers, are likely wondering what makes this story scary or horror-worthy and well… it’s the reveal of where Larry is broadcasting from that takes care of that. Since we learn he’s dead and descending into Hell itself and that transforms him into an impish nightmare that reflects his soul and that makes for some creepy elements for certain, as does his behavior, since it reflects the horror of the real world. All of which makes this, an episode on the same level of quality of ‘Halloween Candy’. Since it is smart, spooky, and prophetic in nature, since this was released in 1985 before this was an actual issue. Which is a testament to George Romero’s whip smart screenplay, one that once again reminds us he was ahead of the curve as a writer, and we’d be remiss to also not point out that his words come to life brilliantly by way of Jerry Stiller’s fantastic performance as Larry Mandrake. Since he embodies the future of radio and podcasting perfectly, by bringing to life the worst parts of little men, that would be better served airing their grievances to a therapist instead of the dark corners of the internet. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.

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