Welcome back. This is episode 3, ladies and gentlemen. By the way, this is the air date order, as the DVD has this before Creature...weird
This, is The Dead Body
Director: James Head
Writers: Scott Thomas & Jed Elinoff
Weird Fact: the writers of this went on to create to Disney XD'sRandyCunningham 9thGradeMinja...weird
So, this is our first short story episode. It has so little to do with it, that I will sum up the story, before moving on to the episode itself
SHORT STORY
A kid is being bulled One day on a field trip, they find a dead body and it jumps out at them! They all get scared, and the kid takes it. But twist, it turns out it was his uncle! He was playing a prank. But then he goes to his mom, and she tells him his uncle died...yesterday
“You uncle jake…died last night.. I’m so sorry. I know you thought of him as a friend” “yes…he was a very good friend”
d'aww. .. now, what's the plot of the episode? A kid named Will is always being bullied. Which doesn't help his chances will a lovely young lady. One day he runs into a new kid named Jake, who says he will help him get them back. However, will soon realize how...extreme jake is, and that he may be more trouble then he looks
This episode is one of the most poplar. Everyone seems to love it, and puts it on their list of best episodes. They love the story, they love the scares, they love the characters. One user on the show's wiki says “ I was genuinely scared at some points. You can't say you've watched the Haunting Hour till you've watched this. “
what do I think of it?
...it's pretty good. Yeah, it's overrated. Bad? No, I really like it! But only as much as I like any episode. Is it SUPER SCARY AND DARK like the letter episodes? Hell no. does it perfectly mix horror, heartbreak, and character? Nope. Does it still have that in spades? Yes
the thing, is, this episode is not meant to be scary. At least, not in the usual sense. It has a death in it, but it's not that dark nor is it meant to be a scary one. The focus is on the tension, story, and characters.
And i'll be honest, better episodes take on complex themes a bit better, so why this one is praised more is beyond me. But I see EXACTLY why it is loved in the first place, but I;ll say why when I get to the ending
this episode is mostly kind of simple, as it mostly focuses on will reaction to how extreme jake is getting, and stuff like that. So it's sort of a slow burner in a way, and not as scare/plot packed as others
so on that front, I don't quite get why it's praise more than other episodes. But later, i'll explain exactly why it's loved to start with.
One reason, is the villain. He is just, great. Jake, spoilers, is a ghost. When he was alive, he was a dorky, bullied kid. One day, he pranked a bully. The bullies were not happy, so on the night of the spring fling they trapped him and scared in a building, with a firecracker. Only when they walked away ,they didn't see that it started a fire, which killed jake.
Thus, he hated bullies, and the fact that he never got to really do anything. So when he saw someone like him, he decided to help him, but years of being dead has made him...sort of evil. There's an actually scary part where he scares this bully at the gym. And then another with a bully in the woods. But they are brief, so the focus still stays
Jake is a great villain, as he his backstory is great. You see why he is the way he is, but you also seem him as a threat. The way we see that he went from nerdy to being cool and creepy is rather tragic, and well done.
Like the best of the haunting hour villains, he is powerful in every scene, with Matt angel giving off a great performance.
Will is also likable, and he likes this one girl, but of course he's spineless. But unlike other boys, he actually does talk to her before it gets to be too late. But when jake gets a bit extreme, she starts to think a bit lowly of him, since she thinks he told his mysterious friend to be like this.
Will is a normal guy, and just keeps letting bullies get to him, but he doesn't seem too unpopular otherwise. Hell, the girl takes a liking to him without any problems, and they hit off great. While she isn't the most complex person, the romance is still solid.
You feel for Will, and see why he wants jake to help with the bullies. Jake's thing also teaches a moral, about going too far with revenge or something but thankfully, this isn't a moral tale.
But now, for the ending. Oh boy, is it an ending.
Will goes up to jake at school when he scares this one bully, but then he finds himself...taken back in time to when jake died. Yeah..that is never explained. How did jake do this? No idea.
Anyway, he sees past jake locked him..saying that he made a deal with will. So that means this is normal jake confirming it was a ghost thing. So yeah, makes no sense
but anyway, will does save jake from dying, but then he gets knocked out. He wakes up at the school during the spring fling..
He goes to meet Anna (the girl) but Anna ignores him. She laments that will stood her up and that she misjudged him. Then jake comes up and introduces. himself and anna CAN SEE HIM. He asks Anna if she wants to dance. She says she will, since will stood her up.
Will tries to apolgize for being late, and goes to touch her...but walks right through her.
JAKE: Now we're even
THE END.
Yes, Jake becomes alive, while will becomes and he steals his crush. DAMN. This may seem small, but it's the way the episode paced, and the events leading up to it
Mostly cuz of all the shit will went through before. The bullying, jake, and all that stuff. He went through all that, only to freaking die and have his girl stolen by a ghost. Plus, during that whole ending scene, a rather interesting song plays adds to how tragic this ending is
it's not too dark, but it's one of the most tragic endings in the series. Thus, it's one of the best endings. Complex, well written, and awesome
...and the credits has a rock song
MOOD=RUINED
so that's why people love it. The tragic ending with the emphasis on likable characters. But why is it loved to the point it is, when others are MORE complex, MORE tragic, and SCARIER? I'll never know, but the ending alone make me loves it as much I do most episodes]
But if it didn't have this overrated air around it, it would have been one of my faves...and if was filled action filled or scarier. But it's a stylistic thing, so I get it.
This episode is actually getting a sequel. I am...against this. The ending is PERFECT and a sequel would ruin it. I can't imagine a plot line that would be as good or better than the original. But it's happening. Sigh.
But eh, i'll watch it. Maybe it'll be good. But back to this episode, it's very good, even forgetting the overrated-ness of it.
But I don't get why they changed so much from the story. You could have expanded on it without CHANGING THE WHOLE THING. So why adapt it, anyway?
Putting all that aside, this is a very good episode. Not one of the best, but still very good. It has a tense atmosphere, good acting, likable characters, a fun storyline, and a very tragic end the highlights the complex characters and good themes.
It has a lot of that haunting hour good-ness for me to love. It's fun, tense, and well written. It's not exactly TRUE HORROR like that wiki guy says but it is at it's heart, part of a horror series, hence the ending.
Oh, and it's not as unpredictable as other episodes. I could see some turns coming, but not in a bad way. Thus, it's not perfect as other episodes throw something a bit extra at you. Also, how was that guy scared? It has it's freaky scenes, but nothing high octane. Hell, it's not even THAT scary to start with.
But let's wrap this up. It's a good episode that has the series best traits. If you ask me, this should have opened the series. But watcha gonna do?
Grade: A-
see ya.
