While travelling on the Metro late at night, Gerry, Edith, Wilma, Cleo, Raymond, Elena, Harold, Mossy, and a paranoid young man who refuses to give his name are stranded when their train breaks down. They are left to wait for a replacement service. During a temporary blackout, Elena's purse is stolen; and when the lights come back on, Raymond takes it upon himself to investigate. He decides that if the other passengers have nothing to fear, they have nothing to hide ...
Tropes:
- Accomplice by Inaction: The aim of the "replacement service" is to cultivate these; they create a hostile situation where passengers will have to choose between standing up to injustice or remaining compliant, then kill everyone who chooses to stand up, with the intention of making sure society is made up mostly of people who won't challenge the status quo.
- Affably Evil: After Edith, Cleo, and Mossy are killed, Finn is polite and friendly to the survivors and even apologises for inconveniencing them.
- Alien Abduction: Harold claims that he was abducted by aliens who put something sinister up his bottom.
- All There in the Manual: Finn and Mossy refuse to identify themselves to the other passengers, and are named in the credits only.
- The Bad Guys Win: While it's not clear who was responsible for the events on the train, they kill three people who are identified as too much of a threat to the status quo; replace them with identical lookalikes; and erase all traces. This has clearly happened many times before, including to Gerry and Harold, and will happen again because of the people who in Finn's words "don't get involved."
- Broken Smile: Wilma gives one as she goes off with the replacement Cleo.
- Camp Gay: Wilma is one and says that her drag persona is partly a way of dealing with the homophobia she experiences.
- Cloud Cuckoolander:
- Harold, although he turns out to be much more aware of events than he looks.
- Gerry, who among other things thinks the famous actress Lesley Manville was in an amateur dramatic society's play, and repeatedly insists there is a "sex pest" around even when Elena makes it clear no one touched her. As with Harold, this may be a side effect of being one of the replacements.
- Continuity Nod: Wilma performs at The Purple Sock, a gay club previously mentioned in "The Last Weekend."
- Crazy Homeless People: While it's never stated whether Harold is homeless, Wilma assumes he is, and dismisses him as this trope.
- Creator Career Self-Deprecation: Steve Pemberton plays Wilma, a flamboyant Drag Queen who tells off-color and sexual jokes even as Raymond gets more and more aggressive towards both Finn and Mossy. Cleo calls her out on making everything a joke and refusing to see this as a serious situation. Though Wilma defends herself, the fact that she sides unknowingly with the bad guys suggests that her role is a self-deprecating commentary on Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's brand of Black Comedy where nothing is "off-limits", but which doesn't actually change anything.
- Cruel Twist Ending: Edith, Cleo, and Mossy are all killed when they are identified as "disruptors" for trying to stand up to Raymond. They are replaced with identical clones, and no one will ever know what happened to them. It turns out that this has been done to many other people, including Gerry and Harold. Elena, Wilma, and Raymond survive but are left traumatised, especially Elena.
- Deadly Euphemism: The "replacement service" turns out to refer to Kill and Replace.
- Deadly Gas: Edith, Cleo, and Mossy are killed with poison gas after they are judged to be too disruptive because they stood up for Finn. Gerry doesn't wear a mask, but survives the gas, presumably because he is a replacement and is immune to it.
- Drag Queen: Jonathan performs as a drag queen called Wilma Dickshow.
- Driving Question: The plot is driven by the question who stole Elena's purse.
- Evil Reactionary: Raymond is one, and is very much of the opinion that discipline and obedience should be enforced on others. This is likely why he isn't replaced despite his willingness to speak out and be unpopular.
- Exact Words: The passengers are waiting for a "replacement service." While this term is familiar to anyone who's traveled by bus or train in the UK, it's literal here: the "disruptive" passengers will be replaced by doppelgängers.
- Extreme Doormat: Elena has elements of this, and Finn praises her for being especially compliant.
- Fag Hag: Wilma calls Cleo out on being one.
- False Reassurance: When Elena asks "what about these people?", referring to those who died, Finn says they're still around (as the replacements) - just a little different. She doesn't look at all convinced, not least because the bodies are still in the carriage with her.
- Foreshadowing:
- The synth soundtrack suggests the episode having a sci-fi element, long before one ever appears.
- The station and inside of the train are covered in security posters warning passengers that they're being watched on CCTV. There are announcements on the train about this as well.
- Edith tells Gerry to do something about Raymond, pointing out that Gerry used to organise strikes at his workplace. He says that was a long time ago and he’s changed now. It turns out this is because he was previously replaced as well.
- Raymond saying that “you can’t just do what you want without consequences.”
- When Edith puts her hand up in support of Finn, Gerry hastily pushes it down. He's previously been replaced himself, and knew the same would happen to her if she objected.
- Raymond is doing a word puzzle in the newspaper, and comes up with answers like "fake", "actor," "taskforce," etc. Finn points this out and uses it as "proof" that Raymond is up to something, but it's actually Finn who is.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: When Wilma chooses to side with Raymond against Finn, Finn can very briefly be seen putting his hand in his bag. He may have added another gas mask for Wilma, since she is now not going to be replaced.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Edith and Mossy, who both have blonde hair, both try to defend Finn. Elena is also blonde and is a kind and gentle nurse.
- Hazmat Suit: A hazmat team arrives to collect the bodies of Edith, Cleo, and Mossy at the station.
- Hypocritical Humour: When Mossy complains that he might have more luck begging if he had a card reader, Finn tells him not to use cards because he can be tracked. Mossy immediately asks if Finn has any spare change and Finn sheepishly says no.
- I'll Never Tell You What I'm Telling You!: Wilma refuses to give up her and Cleo's name but then fluffs it when addressing Cleo by her name.
- Inciting Incident: The plot kicks off when the lights go out in the carriage and Elena’s purse is stolen. At the end, Finn returns it and apologises, saying they needed an inciting incident.
- Infallible Babble:
- Finn tells everyone that "they" are watching and tracking society. He's ignored by all of the other passengers. He's missing out, of course, that he's one of "them."
- Harold sings a song from The Mikado about “societal offenders" who are "underground" and "never will be missed.” Cleo, Edith, and Mossy are ultimately killed ("underground"), and won't be missed because they are substituted with identical replacements. This previously happened to Harold himself.
- Harold's ridiculous-sounding story about how aliens supposedly abducted him at a bus stop foreshadows that there's something going on aboard the train. Since he himself turns out to be one of the replacements, it's possible that what he remembers as an alien abduction is actually when he was killed.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Cleo, a young woman in her late 20s/early 30s, is good friends with middle-aged Wilma.
- Kill and Replace: The train passengers who openly defied authority are gassed to death, and replaced with identical, more compliant clones. This has apparently been happening for quite a while now.
- Lifesaving Misfortune: If not for arguing with Cleo, Wilma might have been convinced to join her in standing up for Finn, and then would have been killed.
- Lights Off, Somebody Dies: The lights go out in the carriage before Elena's purse is stolen, and while this seems like a simple theft, it's a setup that ultimately leads to the deaths of three people.
- Lovable Sex Maniac: Wilma frequently talks about sex and makes perverted jokes.
- Lying by Omission: Finn repeatedly tells the other passengers that something sinister is going on; he just doesn't mention he is involved in it.
- Malicious Misnaming: Cleo maliciously calls Wilma by her "boy name" Jonathan. Although not quite deadnaming (since she isn't trans), it's still a name Wilma doesn't like.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The three people who end up turning against Finn and Mossy. Elena is nice. She bonds with Mossy and is kind to everyone, though it noticeably doesn't change the outcome as she doesn't actually act on it when it comes down to it. Raymond is mean; he has barely-suppressed anger issues and gets physically aggressive. Wilma is "in-between." She's not as kind as Elena, and she's pretty snippy, flippant, and blunt, but she also doesn't participate in Raymond's overt bullying or physical aggression, and it's suggested the only reason she doesn't join the others is her argument with Cleo.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The group of characters who speak up against the bullying teacher get killed for their civil courage.
- No Party Like a Donner Party: Harold tells an Urban Legend about passengers on a broken-down train in Berlin who were forced into cannibalism when emergency services couldn't reach them. Wilma jokes that she'd rather eat her own prosthetic breasts than have to eat Harold.
- Nothing Is Funnier: Harold has something so disgusting in his bag that it makes Raymond gag, and he refuses to search Harold's other bag; but the viewer never sees what it is.
- Not the First Victim: Cleo, Mossy, and Edith aren't even the first victims of the "replacement service" in the train carriage. Gerry, and possibly Harold, were replaced first. It's also heavily implied that both of them were far from the first replacements.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Finn, when he realizes Raymond could actually physically overpower him (which presumably was not part of the plan.)
- Raymond, Wilma, and Elena all have this reaction when it dawns on them what's happened and why they survived.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Raymond is disapproving of Wilma; makes hateful comments about Mossy because he’s homeless; and is biased against Finn partly because of his skin colour.
- Precious Photo: Elena is devastated at losing a photo of her late father that she kept in her purse.
- Properly Paranoid: Played with. Finn repeatedly suggests that there are undercover police/government spies on the train, that the passengers are under surveillance, and someone on board is a "plant." He’s absolutely right - because he is behind it.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Wilma gives one to Cleo, saying that she's a privileged rich kid who has never experienced real oppression.
- Rich Kid Turned Social Activist: Cleo thinks she's one of these, although her idea of "activism" was just getting her nose pierced and hanging around with Wilma.
- Robot Me: What the “replacements” are is unclear, although they may be this (since Gerry and Harold, who were already replaced, are immune to the deadly gas.)
- Sadist Teacher: Raymond is one, and seems to think his authority extends everywhere else outside of school.
- Secret Test of Character: The events of the episode turn out to be a test (seemingly by the government or secret services) to eliminate people who might threaten the status quo.
- Shameful Strip: When Raymond wants to search Mossy's pockets, Wilma, who finds Mossy quite attractive, eagerly suggests they strip-search him as well.
- Shout-Out:
- Several musicals are referenced in the episode, including Kinky Boots, Hamilton, Salad Days, Oliver!, and The Mikado.
- Wilma also mentions Columbo, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and OnlyFans.
- Harold claims that aliens put "an R2-D2" (to scale) up his bottom.
- Wilma's "You tell 'em, Cleo!" is very similar to the famous "Don't tell him, Pike!" line in Dad's Army.
- Wilma refers to Kramer vs. Kramer when her vote becomes the deciding one on whether to open Finn's bag.
- Sinister Suffocation: There is an intense moment of Raymond strangling Finn which gets interrupted by Mossy's return.
- Sinister Surveillance: This is suggested through the cameras and train announcements, and Finn confirms that someone's definitely watching.
- Someone's Touching My Butt: Elena complains that she has been touched while the lights were out. Then her purse is found missing.
- Title Drop: Finn delivers one, saying that the replacements for the deceased “wouldn’t say boo to a goose.”
- Violent Glaswegian: Raymond is an aggressive Scottish man who physically assaults both Finn and Mossy.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: At the end of the episode, Harold isn't seen either inside the carriage or getting off the train.
- You Didn't See That: Finn asks the survivors to sign something agreeing that officially, the events on board the train never happened.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Said by Wilma when the lights suddenly go out.
- Zipping Up the Bodybag: At the end, the death of the three victims is confirmed by their body bags being zipped up.
