Electrified Bathtub: Difference between revisions

[[File:HitmanToaster_7473HitmanToaster 7473.jpg|link=Hitman|rightframe|Shocking, isn't it?]]

{{quote|''If there's one thing I know about radios and dryers, you'' never ''use them around baths or showers!''|'''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}n6DXkVY8fzs Louie the Lightning Bug]'''}}

Someone drops a mundane electric appliance into a bathtub or some pool of water lying around, often times a toaster. A classic way to attempt murder or [[Bath Suicide|suicide]] in the movies.

* In ''[[Young Justice (Comic Bookcomics)|Young Justice]]'', it's revealed that Secret was originally killed by this method.

* This was how Debbie Jellinsky attempts to kill Fester in ''[[The Addams Family (TV)|Addams Family Values]]''. Fester being ''Fester'' (the TV series had him lighting a bulb in his mouth, a gag actually used here), it doesn't work.

* Bill Murray attempts suicide by tub and toaster in ''[[Groundhog Day (Film)|Groundhog Day]]''. Like with [[Groundhog Day Loop|all his other suicide attempts]], he gets better.

* Chucky does it to his girlfriend in ''[[ChildsChild's Play (Filmfilm)|Bride of Chucky]]''.

** In an earlier draft of the original ''[[ChildsChild's Play (Filmfilm)|Childs Play]]'' this was how the babysitter was suppose to die

* The teaser to ''[[Goldfinger (Film)|Goldfinger]]'', including the very expected [[Bond One-Liner]]:

{{quote| '''Bond:''' Shocking. Positively shocking.}}

* According to [[Word of God]], this later happens to the man who spends the whole of ''[[The Truman Show (Film)|The Truman Show]]'' watching TV in the bath.

* In ''[[The Astronauts Wife|The Astronaut's Wife]]'' (''[[RosemarysRosemary's Baby]]'' [[Recycled in Space|with aliens]]), the wife of one of the astronauts commits suicide this way, after her husband dies of a stroke. When the main character confronts her alien-possessed husband, she's standing with her feet in water dripping down from the sink, preparing to commit suicide the same way... {{spoiler|and after confirming that he's been possessed, water pours down from above, as she's left the tub and sink on the other floor on, causing him to be electrocuted instead}}... [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. But too bad {{spoiler|this frees up the alien to possess her instead}}.

* During the prison riot scene in ''[[Watchmen (Filmfilm)|Watchmen]]'', Rorschach kills one of the inmates by breaking a toilet on him and then letting the water reach an exposed wire near the wet guy.

* The same principle is used isin ''[[Wristcutters: aA Love Story]]'', except instead of throwing an appliance into liquid, Eugene throws liquid (a beer) onto an appliance (his guitar) for a rock'n'roll suicide. Works just as well, apparently.

* The title character in Harlan Ellison's ''Jeffty is Five''. The protagonist doesn't realize until it's too late that {{spoiler|Jeffty's mother deliberately propped the radio by the tub precariously enough that it would tip into the tub as soon as Jeffty changed the channel.}}

* This is the cause of death/murder method in the Carter Dickson mystery {{spoiler|''The Reader is Warned.''}}

* In ''[[Fear and Loathing Inin Las Vegas]]'', Dr. Gonzo asks Raoul Duke to do this during the high point of [[Jefferson Airplane]]'s "White Rabbit," believing that it will get him the ultimate high. Raoul flings a grapefruit instead (though he doesn't bounce it off his head like in the movie), unplugs the radio (leaving it to run on its harmless batteries), and then gets the hell out before Dr. Gonzo can realize what happened. When he gets up the nerve to check, Gonzo's started to come down from his trip.

* ''[[Randall and Hopkirk Deceased (TV)|Randall and Hopkirk Deceased]]'' uses this.

*** And in ''[[CSI New York|CSI: New York]]'', where... it's complicated.

* Tested by ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]'', who confirmed it. However, they also showed that a working Ground Fault Interrupter will cut the power to an appliance in time. Appliances without GFIs, on the other hand, will kill, which is an issue because the overwhelming majority of small appliances don't have GFIs. They didn't test GFIs built into power outlets (required for new bathroom construction by several building codes), but presumably they'd work the same way - but a murderer could simply plug the appliance into an outlet in another room using a cheap extension cord.

* In the ''[[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]]'' episode "Double Shock", the killer uses an electric mixer.

* [[Double Subversion|Double subverted]] on ''[[Life]]'': When facing a hitmanwoman (sic) who [[MacGyvering|kills using household materials]], Charlie thinks that a bathtub was rigged to be electrified as a backup plan to murder the victim in case the murderer's Plan A failed. Bobby says that it's a myth because the circuit breaker would prevent the electrocution from taking place. Charlie then tests this claim by throwing a TV into the bathtub. The TV explodes after hitting the water, and the power for the entire building goes out. They then realize that the killer had circumvented the circuit breaker as well.

** Buffy is given a malfunctioning Initiative taser in [[The Uriah Gambit]] set up by Prof. Walsh. -- sheShe throws it into a pool of water in which a demon is standing.

* ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'': "Unauthorized Obituary"

{{quote| "I traced the cord back to the wall. No wonder, it was never plugged in at all."}}

* Rum Rogers Sr. in ''[[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge]]'' dies in a bathub thanks to his habit of bathing while eating toast. {{spoiler|In ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island (Video Game)|The Curse of Monkey Island]]'' Lechuck reveals that he killed him there, and made it look like an accident.}}

* In ''[[BioBioShock Shock(series)]]'', any Splicer in the same water will instantly die if you hit them with an electric shock. Killing a Splicer in this manner unlocks an achievement called "Toaster in the Tub".

* During one of the [[Put Down Your Gun and Step Away|hostage situations]] in ''[[Urban Chaos: Riot Response]]'', a [[Faceless Goon|burner]] will use a reporter as a human shield. When you successfully shoot him, he will fall backwards into a conveniently filled bathtub and said reporter will then drop a television on top of the guy ("Fry you bastard!") as payback.

* In the 2008 version of ''[[Alone in Thethe Dark]]'', there are some points where you have to pull electric cables out of the water so you can traverse through the area without getting zapped.

* Multiple puzzles in ''[[Half -Life 2]]'' involve a large pool of water in contact with live wires. Gordon must shut off the power source or else suffer severe damage should he find himself swimming.

* Using a [[Lightning Gun]] in the water in ''[[Quake (Video Gameseries)|Quake]]'' instantly gibs the player and anyone nearby.

* Played for laughs in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]''. Raven is perfectly aware that he'll get electrocuted if he goes in a hot spring {{spoiler|because of his blastia heart}}. When Yuri brings it up to him, he simply says that it's [[Worth It]].

* ''[[The Joker Blogs]]'': Joker murders {{spoiler|the best man at Harleen's wedding}} this way.

* [[The Nostalgia Critic (Web Video)|The Nostalgia Critic]]

** He chooses this method when he's [[Driven to Suicide]] during his review of ''[[The Pebble and Thethe Penguin]]''.

{{quote| ''Is this a pep talk? Because pep talks are supposed to make you feel peppy, not make you want to take a shower with a FUCKING TOASTER!''}}

** In a later episode, Sparks kills Murphy by dropping the same Tesla coil into the jacuzzi Murphy is sitting in. However, because of the slow speed of the aforementioned visible arcs of electricity, {{spoiler|Murphy lives long enough to take Sparks down with him}}.

* On the season one ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "A Hero Sits Next Door," ( {{spoiler|it's the episode that introduces the Swansons, for those who haven't seen ''Family Guy'''s first season}}) when Peter mentioned how much he hated new neighbors because they always borrow his stuff and never return it, the scene cuts to a man about to commit suicide in a bath with a toaster (implied to be one of the many things he lent to his neighbor and hasn't seen since).

* The same can be said of French singer [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_François:Claude François|Claude François]].

[[Category:Death Trap Tropes]]

[[Category:Electrified Bathtub{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:TropeTropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]