Every Inside No. 9 Twist Ranked
22. How Do You Plead? - The Barrister Sold His Soul To The Devil
Plot: A nurse (Shearsmith) looks after an ill former barrister (Derek Jacobi), who is trying to come to terms with some past mistakes.
The first two acts of this season six episode are a bit slow, but it certainly pays off with one hell of a third act.
It turns out that Webster, the barrister, sold his soul to the devil (Pemberton) in order to reach his phenomenal level of success and now, the devil has come to collect him.
How Do You Plead? sets up a horrifying ending in which Webster gets the devil to take his nurse, Bedford, instead as Bedford is a good and innocent man and therefore a greater reward for the devil.
But then the second part of the twist kicks in. Bedford reveals he was in fact a school bully who caused a boy's death. Following this revelation, the devil takes Webster.
It's difficult to know how to feel about this. On the one hand, it's a relief that we were spared the sight of an innocent man being taken away but the twist that the seemingly good nurse was in fact far more sinister than he looked was also a real gut-punch.
Whatever way you look at it, it's a jolly powerful twist that'll leave you feeling pretty sobered, although it's not as striking as the twists ranked above it.