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Escape Room (2019) KILL COUNT is the two hundred and eightieth video of The Kill Count.
Overview[]
Six people from varied backgrounds are sent puzzle cubes: Zoey, a physics student; Jason, a wealthy day trader; Ben, a stock boy; Mike, a truck driver; Amanda, an Iraq War veteran; and Danny, an escape room enthusiast. When they solve the puzzle, they are invited to take part in an escape room with a $10,000 winning prize. The participants arrive at an office block and gather in a waiting room waiting, but, after a few minutes, no one comes to greet them.
When Ben tries to leave, the door handle falls off, revealing that the challenge has begun. The room turns out to be a giant oven that begins to heat up the room. The players discover an escape passage and climb out before the room is filled with fire. Next, they find themselves in a winter cabin. When trying to escape, Ben's tragic past is revealed, assisting them in solving the puzzle. They escape the cabin and step out into an icy room where the temperature is dropping. They eventually find the key, but Danny falls through the ice and drowns, confirming that they are dealing with potentially fatal rooms rather than just an elaborate game. Some players notice reminders of traumatic events in their past: A song Ben heard before almost dying in a car crash and a red coat Jason wore when he escaped a shipwreck. The remaining five players enter an upside-down billiards bar, where parts of the floor periodically fall into a deep elevator shaft below. In helping the others escape, Amanda plummets to her death.
The next room is a hospital ward with six beds, each representing a player. It is revealed that all six players were each sole survivors of various disasters: Mike escaped a mine cave-in, Zoey survived a plane crash, Danny survived when his family died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Amanda survived an IED blast, Jason survived a shipwreck in frigid weather, and Ben survived a car accident that killed all his friends. Zoey realizes that the purpose of the game is to determine which player is the luckiest of all. Jason discovers that the room is about to be filled with poisonous gas. Zoey refuses to continue playing and instead destroys the room's surveillance cameras. A clip about a heart surgeon called "Dr. Wootan Yu" suggests that someone needs to record a certain heart rate to escape. Mike has the highest heart rate, but not high enough to work. Jason suggests using the defibrillator on Mike. Mike is unwilling at first, but Jason manipulates him to participate. Jason accidentally electrocutes Mike in the process. He then realizes that they need a slower heart rate and solves the puzzle as the gas is released. Jason and Ben escape, but Zoey refuses to follow, as she is bent on breaking the hidden cameras, and disappears into the gas.
Jason and Ben enter a black and white room with optical illusions and strobe lights. Ben confronts Jason with his dark and tragic truth of his path. The two discover a door out of the room, and when they touch the door handle, discover it is laced with a hallucinogen. While drugged, they fight over an antidote. Ben kills Jason and injects himself with the antidote. He then falls into the last room, where a wall moves inwards to crush him. In the hospital room, employees enter in hazmat gear to dispose of the dead bodies. Zoey appears and attacks them with an IV stand. Ben manages to solve the last room and meets the Gamemaster, who controls the game that the Puzzle Maker designed. The Gamemaster then states that he is surprised that Ben escaped the room and that he had his bet on Jason. He explains that each year they lure in players with something in common – college athletes, savants, etc. – and wealthy viewers bet on the result, with the current game luring in sole survivors of previous disasters. The Gamemaster tries to kill Ben, but Zoey intervenes, and together they kill the Gamemaster.
As Ben recovers, Zoey returns to the building with a detective. The police do not believe Zoey, as all evidence of the game has disappeared. They do not believe Ben either, as he was found to have drugs in his system. While looking at the graffiti on the wall, Zoey notices the words "No Way Out", an anagram for "Wootan Yu", suggesting the game is not over. Six months later, Ben Miller is the new regional sales representative for Logan Square. Zoey meets up with him and shows newspaper articles that passed off the other players' deaths as everyday accidents: Mike Nolan died of a heart attack in a bathroom in Union Station, Jason Walker was thrown from his bike on the I-64 (DMT found in his system), Danny Khan drowned in Lake Michigan, Amanda Harper, rock-climbing alone, fell and died. When Ben suggests Zoey should move on, she refuses. She reveals clues to Ben that point to an unlisted building in Manhattan. Ben agrees to go with her. However, the Puzzle Maker is already preparing to make their flight a new deadly game of survival.
Deaths[]
Counted Deaths[]
- Soldier - Seen dead in background from IED - 31 mins in
- Ben's Friend #1 - Car accident in flashback - 36 mins in
- Ben's Friend #2 - Car accident in flashback - 36 mins in
- Ben's Friend #3- Car accident in flashback - 36 mins in
- Ben's Friend #4 - Car accident in flashback - 36 mins in
- Danny Khan - Drowned beneath ice - 47 mins in
- Zoey's Father - Plane crash in flashback - 59 mins in
- Zoey's Mother - Plane crash in flashback - 59 mins in
- Unknown Person - Plane crash in flashback - 59 mins in
- Amanda Harper - Fell to her death - 1 hr 2 mins in
- Miner - Killed in mine collapse - 1 hr 8 mins in
- Mike Nolan - Heart stopped w/ defibrillators by Jason - 1 hr 13 mins in
- Jason's Roommate - Drowned by Jason - 1 hr 17 mins in
- Jason Walker - Head cracked open against corner by Ben - 1 hr 20 mins in
- Games Master Wootan Yu - Shot 3-4x by Zoey & Ben - 1 hr 27 mins in
Non-Counted Deaths[]
- 2 HAZMAT workers - Beaten by Zoey
- 9 Other Miners - Killed in mine collapse
- Spanish Football Team - Killed by first room in deleted scene
Trivia[]
- The original Kill Count script for this episode, was written in the beginning of 2020.