The man walks into the television studio. Today, he will replace the long-running host on America’s number-one television game show. He has perfected his smile, though he is nervous for his upcoming debut. In the dressing room, he sees the current host having scotch. He tries to talk to him, praising him for his legacy, but the current host berates him and tells him to leave. Later on air, the current host reminisces about his years on television as he hands everything over to the man.

The man reads from a teleprompter and introduces the game show. The game is considered the best quiz show in all of America, and it has been rated number-one every year for the last two decades. Before it begins, he says a few words for the old host. He then welcomes today’s contestant, a tall blond woman who will be competing for ten-million dollars. When asked, she says that she wants to use the money to take her family on vacation and send her four kids all to college. She talks about how her family is working-class, struggling to make ends meet. Her story, though heart-wrenching, is considered typical for the game show’s contestants.

The first quiz category is Modern Times, which the contestant cleanly sweeps without a single answer wrong. When asked to cash out or move on, she confidently decides to move on. While on commercial break, the man tells the contestant that it’s okay to cash out and not pursue the biggest prize. When the game show resumes, the second category announced is Looks Like Rain, which the contestant speeds through again. She sweeps the third category as well, At the Movies, so quickly that the game show skips another commercial break.

Afterward, the game show runs through commercial break. His producers tell the man that he’s doing great, though there will be consequences if he ever dares to skip a commercial break ever again. When the game show resumes, the man announces round four, What a Dish. He asks the first question, which is about how many pieces of silverware are normally laid out at a formal dinner. The contestant answers nine, but the man unexpectedly asks her to name each piece of silverware. Nervous, the contestant hesitantly names all of them, though she gets them correct.

Currently at sixty-six thousand dollars, the contestant is asked whether she will take her Bonus Time, which would allow her to compete for the biggest prize today, or instead come back tomorrow to resume playing. The man hopes that she’ll quit now, but the crowd eggs her on. During commercial break, the man tries to persuade her out of it, but she insists on trying to win all the money.

When the game show resumes, the contestant is asked again for her story, and she restates that she needs the money to support her children. Everyone cheers, as they see themselves in her, an American who has been unlucky and unfortunate. She is asked again if she wants to cash out now, to which she declines. The last category, then, is Across the Universe. The contestant is asked what the estimated diameter of the universe is. She is gobsmacked at the question but tries to work out an answer in the nick of time. Her answer, which is infinity, is wrong.

The television studio, and its crowd, go silent. The man apologizes. The bank vault behind the man and the contestant opens, from which an executioner emerges to the sound of a live orchestra playing. The contestant is immediately struck with fear, while the crowd cheers on the executioner’s arrival as he brandishes his axe. The man then leads her to the chopping block, where her head is lowered to it. She pleads for her life and then screams out loud, but the man simply keeps the television show rolling. After her decapitation, the man shares a few words from the television show’s sponsors.