Main cast: Brion James (Steve Dixon), Michelle Johnson (Liz Kelly), Billy Wirth (Ted), and John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper)
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Wow, it took this season ten episodes before it delivers its first official evil whore episode. That is a considerable sign of restraint. And here, I will reiterate that I have no issue with the whole evil whore thing – I don’t see any sexism at work here as the men aren’t exactly portrayed as saints here either – but rather, the unimaginative and lazy manner in these evil whores are often portrayed. Split Second is possibly the closest this show has ever come so far in presenting a fun evil whore. Eventually, though, the overt misogyny in this episode can be a bit too much even for me.
Liz Kelly is stuck in one of those lumberjack camps in the north. She currently waits tables in hopes of saving enough for a bus ticket out of there, but in the meantime, our bored lady fools around with the local men without making any apology for it. However, the pickings are becoming increasingly slim. When camp supervisor Steve Dixon rescues her from a persistent ex-lover one day, they share a few drinks and a slow dance, and he proposes. She is bored and listless, and she also likes that he is wealthy, so why not?
Unfortunately, Steve turns out to be a very jealous and possessive husband, and Liz soon becomes bored of him. Her eyes begin to stray again, and it looks like her birthday has come early when young, handsome Ted shows up one day looking for work. She decides to seduce him, but unfortunately, she will soon learn enough that it may not be wise to offend a man in an environment in which they are surrounded by all kinds of axes, chainsaws, and more…
I like Liz as she is so nasty and unrepentant about it, but right off the bat, the show has her promiscuity cast in a really dreadful manner, with various men – most of which had slept with her before – calling her sloppy seconds and mocking Steve for wanting to marry such a “lady”. This won’t be so bad if these buffoons didn’t end up getting away scot free despite egging both Ted and Steve into extreme actions when it comes to Liz. As a result, there is a very thick whiff of slut shaming and misogyny here that can be off-putting.
Still, the cast gives a pretty enjoyable, if rather over the top, performance, and the denouement is pretty inventive and gruesome. The star of the show remains the deliciously evil Liz, though, who shows no remorse right to the rolling of the credits, and as much as I like watching her, I wish she’d been in a better episode.
