Alvin Brickrock Presents: Murder, Fish, and Fables: A Hilariously Dark Adventure in Bedrock
It seems that Fred and Barney have an eccentric neighbor named Alvin Brickrock, who collects strange objects and constantly fights with his wife. When these fights die down, the two Stone Age sleuths deduce that Brickrock has chopped up his wife and hidden her remains in an old trunk.
This classic 1961 episode of The Flintstones borrows its title from the late 1950s television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents and parodies the plot of one of Hitchcock's most famous films, Rear Window (1954). Much like Jimmy Stewart's character L.B. Jefferies in the film, Fred and Barney spend most of the episode trying to convince their wives, Wilma and Betty, that they aren't crazy and that Brickrock has indeed done away with his wife.
Fred and Barney position themselves in chairs to watch through the Flintstones' rear window as they witness a series of violent squabbles between their mysterious new neighbor and his shrewish wife. Although the wife is unseen and unheard, the man of the “big, old, gloomy” house situated behind Fred and Barney's homes is diminutive, monocled, and has a bandaged cut on his forehead. He also has a tendency to greet them with an exaggerated English accent, saying, "Good evening."
When Brickrock comes to the Flintstones' door to introduce himself, he asks to borrow a spade from Fred and mentions that he has been "transferred to a new territory," implying he will soon be moving away from Bedrock. He notes that he has already sent his wife, Agatha, to his next community ahead of him, claiming, “She fights moving." He adds that she "goes all to pieces" during moves, and he must "do all the packing,” lamenting that it will “take a week to clean up everything.” The double entendres in Brickrock's statements and his request for a spade lead Fred to suspect that Brickrock is, in fact, Albert Bonehart, who is described in Fred's Weird Detective Magazine as a man suspected of having killed three wives. Although he does not physically resemble Brickrock, Bonehart is known for his English accent and propensity for saying, “Good evening.”
Fred manages to convince Barney of his suspicion that Brickrock/Bonehart has killed Agatha and is planning to bury her remains using the spade. Together, they investigate Brickrock, spying on the little man and his bizarre possessions, including a mastodon skeleton.
However, Brickrock discovers Fred and Barney in his "study" and confesses to being an archaeologist in Bedrock, where he excavates rare treasures of scientific interest with his spade. Among his collection are a mummy and a man-eating flying fish he calls a piranha-keet. Fred and Barney still believe that Brickrock is Bonehart, and when they see a trunk with the initials A.B., they assume it contains Agatha Brickrock's corpse (similar to the plot of Hitchcock's Rope and Rear Window). Although Brickrock is oblivious to Fred and Barney's grim assumptions, he admits that the trunk is indeed for Agatha's body. He opens the trunk to reveal not a corpse, but Agatha's body-building materials—weights, barbells, and similar items. He then talks on the phone to his "pussycat," Agatha, ultimately putting an end to Fred and Barney's suspicions.
However, in a monologue to the audience, Brickrock hints that his man-eating fish could certainly consume a "pussycat."
In the end, it is revealed that Brickrock did kill his wife, but not in the manner that Fred and Barney believed. In reality, having a trained piranha-keet is a very effective method for disposing of a disagreeable spouse—very neat and tidy indeed, with no messy body to hide away.
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