‘Creepshow’ Episode 4 Recap: “The Companion” / “Lydia Layne’s Better Half”

Up to this point in Shudder’s Creepshow’s run, it has become clear that much love and effort has gone into crafting a show that serves as an extension of the franchise that began in 1982 and continued in 1987. Easter eggs, alumni of the films, homages. They’ve all been present in the first three episodes. The tone and look has been spot-on. However, none of them have felt like they could have slid into either of the films and fit right in. That is, until now.

The opening story of Creepshow’s fourth episode is “The Companion.” Directed by David Bruckner using a story by Joe, Kasey, and Keith Lansdale, “The Companion,” at its core, is a classic revenge tale. This is something that the Creepshow franchise has always done incredibly well and “The Companion” is no exception.

The episode opens with a teen boy, Harold (Logan Allen), sitting at a creekside edge. Harold’s friend Smitty (Dylan Gage) notices some cuts and scratches on him and asks what happened to him. Harold confesses that his brother Billy (Voltaire Council) has beat him up again and, shortly after Smitty leaves, Billy finds Harold and begins to torment him again. Harold escapes and enters a fenced off old cemetery, where he passes by an ominous-looking scarecrow hanging from a cross with a cane through it’s crocheted heart. Harold removes the cane to protect himself from Billy but, in doing so, inadvertently brings the scarecrow (back) to life. Harold then enters an old farmhouse to hide from Billy, but it turns out the newly animated scarecrow is the more immediate threat.

After narrowly escaping the scarecrow by falling into the farmhouse’s basement, Harold discovers a cobweb-covered corpse with a gun and a suicide note next to it. The note explains that the homeowner, Brenner (Afemo Omiliani), had lost his wife, Mavis, after nearly 40 years of marriage and, due to the severe loneliness caused by her absence, had created a “companion” out of old animal bones he found on his property. The final piece of his creation was a crocheted heart made by Mavis. That heart, coupled with his desire for a companion, brought the scarecrow to life.

Initially happy to have someone around again (even if it is a golem-like creature), Brenner sees how deadly the scarecrow can be towards others when it kills a young girl scout who had walked on to his farm. Realizing he now has to destroy his creation, he “kills” the scarecrow by driving his cane through the heart. His guilt over the girl’s death then leads him to take his life with a shotgun (which, by the way, seems to be an homage to the Stephen King segment “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” from the original Creepshow). 

Back to Harold’s present situation, the scarecrow manages to get into the basement and nearly kills Harold. Utilizing his newly acquired knowledge, Harold plunges the cane back through the scarecrow’s heart. Soon after, though, Harold has a revelation: this situation with the scarecrow may be of great use with his other situation. We cut to Harold stitching something together, and for a brief moment, we think Harold may be constructing his own scarecrow. But then we see that he has in fact sewed his brother’s bed sheets together, trapping Billy in bed. Harold has Also brought the scarecrow with him, now under his control via the cane. Our final reveal is a direct homage to the wraparound segment of Romero’s Creepshow: the Creep is watching the whole thing go down outside Billy’s bedroom window.

Maybe it was a bit much on the fan service, but I felt the story worked extremely well. The atmosphere and set decoration were outstanding, really creating an eerie, spooky vibe. The story felt like it could have easily fit in with the first movie, with the tone and look feeling very much like “Father’s Day” from Creepshow 1, with a little bit of “Old Chief Wood’nhead” sprinkled in. I don’t know if it’s my favorite of the series so far (although it very well may be), but it certainly is the most Creepshow-like.

Our second story is smaller in scale, but it also feels very true to the franchise. Probably closer in line with Creepshow 2, it feels most similar to “The Hitchhiker,” albeit a bit more subtle than that one. Directed by Roxanne Benjamin off a story by Creepshow vets John Harrison and Greg Nicotero, “Lydia Layne’s Better Half” starts with the titular character informing two of her employees, one male, one female, that she has chosen Tom Harding (Michael Scialabba) as the company’s new CFO. The other candidate, Celia Mendez (Danielle Lyn), who also happens to be in an intimate relationship with Lydia (Tricia Helfer), does not take the news well. She expresses her extreme displeasure with Lydia and the argument soon turns physical, resulting in Celia falling head first on to Lydia’s “Woman of the Year” award. Ironic for someone who just passed over another woman for a major promotion.

Understandably shaken by the turn of events, Lydia attempts to cover up the incident by moving Celia’s body out of the high-rise office. Along the way, she also begins to suspect that Celia may not be done with her, in spite of her current condition. When she begins to transport Celia’s body out of the building on a rolling chair, the elevator she uses gets stuck, trapping Lydia and Celia. Since it is a Friday night, help is very slow in coming and they remain in the elevator for several days. Slowly losing her mind (or maybe not), Lydia lashes out at Celia’s carcass, finally unleashing her true motives in denying her the promotion. “You don’t get to be me unless you’re me!” Convinced that Celia is out for revenge, Lydia attempts to escape the elevator through a small opening in the doors. Just as it looks like she is going to succeed, Celia’s corpse comes alive and prevents Lydia from fully extricating herself just as the elevator begins to move. This results in Lydia Layne losing her better half to her better half.

Once again, Creepshow gives us another strong outing. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of “Lydia Layne’s Better Half,” it was still quite entertaining and magnificently macabre. “The Companion,” though, may have been the best segment of the series. It hit all the right notes and felt perfectly in place with George Romero and Stephen King’s vision. One last thing: Although my recaps are meant to catch everyone up on this fantastic series, I strongly recommend subscribing to Shudder and watching all the episodes for yourselves. The series is really good and deserves to be seen by horror lovers everywhere. Trust me, it’s the most fun you’ll ever have being scared!

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