Creepshow Season 2 finale recap: Night of the Living Late Show

The season 2 finale of Shudder’s Creepshow begins with the beloved Creeper playing a virtual reality (VR) zombie video game, as a harbinger of what’s in store. Unlike most Creepshow episodes, this one actually has one main story.

Fortunately, it’s well done enough that it runs smoothly through the 44 minutes. Justin Long stars as Simon Sherman, inventor of the Immersopod, a revolutionary VR technology that lets people immerse themselves in their favorite films and TV shows.

As one might expect, this idea has some tantalizing possibilities. For Simon himself, this involves the classic horror film, Horror Express, which is about a mysterious, mummy-like monster in a crate, and stars the iconic Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.

The actors are depicted through archival footage, though Simon interacts with them as if they are real. Things get a little complicated, however.

When don’t they, though?

“Creepshow” and immersion

Simon’s invention was financed mostly by his wealthy wife, Renee (D’Arcy Carden), who seems less thrilled about the VR immersion home theater system. She feels iffy about hooking up to a neurotransmitter, and who can blame her?

When she tries it out herself, she’s reluctant to move inside the dream-like fantasy state. It seems like she’d want to escape from ever reusing the ultimate form of escape.

If that’s not enough, Simon’s work on the invention put a strain on their marriage. Her father thinks he only married her for the money.

Either way, one can hardly fault Simon for his excitement, and he sneaks out of bed at night to continue his Horror Express experience. Things take an even dicier turn when Simon meets the character of Countess Irina (played by Silvia Tortosa in archival footage and by Hannah Fierman in contemporary scenes).

The controversy isn’t that the countess’s dog, Alucca, is afraid of Simon, but that the Countess is at obvious risk of becoming “the other woman.”

Romancing the Countess

Simon follows the Countess around in the Horror Express universe, when the film’s monster escapes from the cargo hold, like in the movie. All the while he is neglecting his wife, who wants to celebrate the invention, and presumably their marriage.

After a few scenes of Simon being captivated by Peter Cushing, he turns his attention back to the Countess. He confesses his love for her, saying he’s loved her since he was a boy.

As Simon spends more time under immersion, Renee catches on that he’s even willing to fake sickness to avoid dinner. Wanting to unwind, Renee goes to a fancy restaurant, but comes home to find Simon nude in the machine!

On top of that, he says “goodnight Countess” to her later. By this point, she knows he has been too immersed in the Immersopod.

The question is, what will Renee do about it?

Revenge!

Creepshow regularly employs a revenge motif, and this story is no different. Renee’s anger is perhaps not solely due to Simon’s simulated cheating on her.

He also used her family’s wealth to do so, which is sort of a double whammy. However, Renee does finally try the Immersopod herself, to see what her husband has been up to.

That’s right, she also boards the Horror Express. Renee indeed gathers that Simon was familiarizing himself with the Countess, while the monster was taking more victims.

As an extra insult, the monster attacks Renee, making her feel even less welcome in Simon’s world! However, she does survive the encounter, due to it (apparently) not being 100% real, and she emerges from the Immersopod.

In the spirit of revenge, Renee changes its settings to immerse a user in the Night of the Living Dead universe. When Simon re-enters the machine, Renee actually snips off his thumb so he can’t remove himself from the scene!

It’s a brutal act, no doubt, but why would you expect anything less out of Creepshow?

What are your thoughts on this Creepshow episode? Let us know in the comments!