Martin Zeller (Terry O’Quinn), a fire inspector, has received nudes of his daughter, Hiley (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), in the mail. He believes they’ve come from Puck (Esai Morales), the owner of a men’s establishment known as The Naked Experience. Puck tells him that it would be easier if he’d take a bribe. Martin wants to shut him down.

“My fellow Americans, I’m running for office because I think the political process needs a little stiff competition. It needs new bleed-er-ship! It needs someone like me in the Fright House! But, you may ask, aren’t there a few skeletons in your closet? Sure there are. And a vampire or two, and a werewolf. What of it? At least I’m not like the man in tonight’s terror tale. He’s a fire inspector who’s about to learn the difference between rot and wrong. I call it: “The Bribe.””

When he returns home, Martin learns that Hiley has lost her scholarship and rich boyfriend Ron (Ron Carlson) over the photos, so he finally has to accept that bribe so that she can go to college. Upset that he’s lowered himself this far, he pays an arsonist, Bic (Max Grodenchik), to burn down the club.

Life gets better for Hiley as Ron returns to her and Martin gifts her the gold bracelet he gave her mother on their wedding day. That night, Bic turns the club into a firepit, and everyone inside- there was a private party- dies. Puck claims it was an engagement party for Hiley and Ron. Martin blows his brains out, only for us to discover that the following day, Hiley comes back. She’s alive and has eloped with her new husband. It’s not Ron, but Bill (Benicio del Toro), the manager of the strip club who referred to her earlier as “a friend” as well as the photographer of her nudes. She’d sent them to her father and left the party early, leaving behind the bracelet that meant so much to her mother.

Directed by Ramón Menéndez (Stand and Deliver) and written by Scott Nimerfro, this is one of the darkest episodes of this series that I’ve seen. Everyone, other than Martin, has no morals, and even his daughter, who he sells himself out for and who he would do anything to make happy, is only out for herself, marrying the worst person for her and using her body to get what she wants. When Martin takes the step to erase his sins, he believes that he’s caused the death of the one person he sees as innocent — his daughter — but then we learn that she’s anything but. As for Ron, her supposed boyfriend, one is led to believe that he’s died in the fire while Puck makes it out alive if burned beyond recognition.

This is based on “The Bribe” from Shock SuspenStories #17, which was written by Al Feldstein and William Gaines and drawn by Wally Wood, the best artist in the E.C. Comics stable. Martin’s daughter is a bit more innocent in this story, which doesn’t have the double twist ending.