Recap / Creepshow S 2 E 1 Model Kid

Creep: Welcome back, fellow fright fans. You're just in time for another fearsome fable! So don't toy around too much, and pay attention to this tiny tale I like to call...

Model Kid

Directed By: Greg Nicotero
Written By: John Esposito

A prologue scene has the Creep seated in a child's bedroom, rooting through a collection of film reels. He finds one titled Gillman Meets the Mummy and places it into an 8mm projector, laughing as he watches the opening of the film. The film itself, presented in the style of a Silent Movie, has a brave hero breaking into the Mummy's tomb to rescue a maiden meant to be sacrificed. The Mummy approaches the hero and disarms him, but the Gillman enters before the former can go in for the kill. The monsters enter a battle as the hero and maiden make their getaway, before they are interrupted by a woman's voice calling for "Joe", abruptly revealing the scene to be a daydream before cutting to the real world; Aurora, Illinois, 1972.

12-year-old Joe Aurora (Brock Duncan), a lover of monsters and all things horror living with his cancer-stricken mother June (Tyner Rushing), is visited by the kindly Aunt Barb and abusive Uncle Kevin (Jana Allen and Kevin Dillon). The pair announce that they're going to have to stay with Joe and his mom for a while to help out around the house. While Joe is upset with this turn of events, June comforts him by telling him that they won't be staying forever, only until her next round of chemotherapy is finished. She also offers to watch a movie with him, even after she expresses her hopes that Joe lays off the monster talk at school. After watching the movie, Joe wakes up to discover that his mother has died in her sleep. He stays by her grave at the funeral, even when everyone else has long gone.

Months later, Barb and Kevin are made Joe's legal guardians and have ultimately taken ownership of his house. Joe is not particularly happy about the new living situation, for when he reminds his uncle that he and Barb actually needed to move into his house because he was fired from his job, Kevin angrily insists that his being laid off is temporary and destroys one of the models Joe's mother gave him. Later, Joe watches Billy Niles (Chris Schmidt), a bully who regularly beats him and mocks his love of monsters, get his neck snapped by Frankenstein's Monster, which unfortunately only turns out to be in his imagination. Kevin soon receives a call from his old boss Mr. Warren, who confirms that he will remain jobless. Kevin quickly becomes enraged and throws out Joe's models, slapping him across the face when he backtalks him and threatening to do the same to his wife.

That night, Joe watches as his projector turns on by itself. On the screen, Joe watches in awe as June crawls out of her grave, tells her son that she and his friends are watching over him, and presents him with a Creepshow comic. Joe wakes up from the experience to find his actual Creepshow comic opened on a page advertising a model known as "The Victim". Joe fills in the shipping information and writes his uncle's name on the model. When he receives the package and constructs the model, Joe finds that it works like a voodoo doll. He uses the model to twist his uncle's ankle, then puts it on the radiator to give Kevin a fever.

Later that night, after Barb goes to work, Kevin hears noise upstairs and, thinking Joe to be responsible, threatens to break down the boy's bedroom door with a baseball bat. The Gillman from Gillman Meets the Mummy appears on the other side and attacks Kevin. As Kevin tries to escape up the stairs, Joe rips one of the model's legs off, crippling his uncle. The Mummy from the same movie appears at the top of the stairs and joins the Gillman in murdering Kevin. Barb returns home to find her husband torn in half. Barb finds Joe in his room, dressed up like Dracula and sitting calmly on his bed. Speaking like Bela Lugosi, Joe shows off his fangs, implying that he has become a real vampire. The camera pans over to Joe's dresser, where his diorama of the Gillman and the Mummy has the monsters looming over the Victim, now torn in half. The lights in the room then dim, whereupon the Victim's screaming face glows in the dark.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Actor Allusion: Kevin Dillon once again plays an Asshole Victim who gets what's coming to him in an episode of an EC Comics-inspired horror anthology series.
• Affectionate Nickname: June and Barb are both known to refer to Joe as "Joe-Joe".
• Ambiguously Absent Parent: Joe's dad is never mentioned. Because he's living with his aunt and uncle after his mom's death, it can be assumed that his dad is out of the picture in one way or another.
• Ambiguous Situation: How exactly do the Gillman and the Mummy enter the real world to kill Kevin? For that matter, how exactly does Joe manage to turn himself into a vampire?
• And the Adventure Continues: Once Kevin is killed, Joe is revealed to own another model called "The Skater", hinting that he plans on using his new voodoo powers to get revenge on Billy Niles, his skateboarding bully.
• Asshole Victim: Kevin, despite his goofy nature.
  • Billy Niles isn't shown being punished for his actions directly, but now that Joe has reality-bending powers and has purchased another model in Billy's likeness, that won't be true for long.
• Becoming the Mask: Joe is introduced pretending to be a vampire to illustrate his love of monsters. The end of the story reveals that he's used his newfound powers to turn himself into a real vampire.
• Berserk Button: Kevin has a variety of things that send him on the warpath, such as reminding him about his job loss, insisting that he isn't a man, and any mention of him being a loser.
• Bioluminescence Is Cool: As shown at the very end of the episode, the Victim is shown to be able to glow in the dark.
• Blood from the Mouth: June coughs up blood as she goes to make Jiffy Pop for her and Joe's movie night, revealing that her cancer is taking a turn for the worse.
• Bookends: When we first meet Joe, he's dressed as a vampire and pretending to be Dracula. His last appearance in the episode sees him back in his vampire get up, but he shows off realistic fangs, revealing that he's a real vampire.
  • The episode also begins and ends on a closeup of his diorama of the Gillman and the Mummy duking it out (barring the opening daydream).
• Break the Haughty: After spending the episode flaunting his ego and abusing his family in the name of masculinity, Kevin is cathartically reduced to a screaming, crying, and begging mess as the Mummy and Gillman tear him apart.
• The Bully: Billy Niles, a skateboarding punk who regularly beats Joe up and mocks him for his monster obsession.
• Call-Back:
  • The scarecrow from The Companion can be seen among Joe's models. His model of the Creep is even seen holding a miniature Creepshow issue that features that same story's cover.
    • Joe's bully is even given the name "Billy", the same name as Harold's abusive brother from the above episode.
  • In Joe's dream, the issue of Creepshow June hands him has the same cover as Gray Matter, the very first episode of the series. Kevin is also seen drinking a bottle of Harrow's Supreme when he watches his wrestling match.
  • The issue of Creepshow that Joe reads after ordering "The Victim" has the same cover as The Finger.
  • The various novelty items Joe has around his room are life-like replicas of products advertised in previous issues of Creepshow, seen during the transitions between stories.
• The Cameo:
  • The Creep himself appears as another one of Joe's models.
  • Another model in Joe's collection resembles him in his delivery man disguise from Creepshow 2.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Gillman Meets the Mummy, as well as other films on Joe's projector.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: June dies from her cancer as she and Joe watch a movie, hugging each other in the process.
• Domestic Abuse: Kevin is shown to be physically abusive to both Barb and Joe when they get on his bad side.
• Dream Intro: The story opens on a scene of Gillman Meets the Mummy, a silent film where the Mummy terrorizes a hero and a damsel-in-distress before being interrupted by the Gillman. As the two monsters come to blows, June suddenly begins calling for Joe, causing the monsters to stop and look around in confusion. It's then revealed that Joe, who was painting a diorama of the monsters in question, was picturing the whole thing in his head.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: With a little help from his mother's ghost, Joe manages to remove his abusive uncle from his life, and he even becomes a genuine monster himself, which thrills him.
• Enemy Mine: While they were smacking each other around in their crossover film, the Gillman and the Mummy work together to kill Kevin on Joe's behalf.
• Evil Is Hammy: Kevin, given that he manages to be legitimately threatening as well as a laughably pathetic loser.
• Evil Uncle: Kevin, who begins growing abusive to his family when he loses his job.
• Expy: Uncle Kevin is basically Les Wilton, middle-aged and with a Porn Stache, who has transposed the abuse of his pledges onto his family after finally leaving college. He's even played by the same actor.
• Extreme Doormat: Barb usually lets Kevin smack her around and takes the blame for anything that might rile Kevin up.
• Fading Away: The attendants of June's funeral slowly walk away from her grave, fading into nothing as they do so, until only Joe is left.
• Fantastically Indifferent: When he first watches his projector turn on by itself without any film to play, Joe nonchalantly turns it off and goes to sleep. When it turns on again and displays his mom's grave, that's when it gets Joe's attention.
• Flat Character: Billy Niles is known solely for being Joe's bully.
• Foreshadowing: The giant tarantula from Pesticide can be seen among Joe's models, right next to a model of an exterminator engaging it in battle.
• Friendless Background: Joe's obsession with monsters makes it clear that the boy doesn't have a lot of friends. June brings this up when she talks to him early in the episode, telling him that in spite of how she enjoys his interest in monsters, if he could perhaps lay off the monster talk at school. Joe pays her concern very little mind, noting that his monster models and memorabilia gives him all the companionship he needs.
• Homage: As well as being a remake of the original movie's wraparound, the story can also serve as one to the classic Universal Monsters.
• Half the Man He Used to Be: Kevin is killed when the Mummy and the Gillman team up to tear him in half.
• Hate Sink: Uncle Kevin. He used to be a successful boxer and served in the Army, but has since become a bitter, rage-fueled, alcoholic washout who loses his job and resorts to taking over his nephew's house. The loss of his success has made him dangerously abusive to his family, as he leaves bruises on his wife's arm when she begins taking extra shifts at her own job, trashes Joe's monster models in an attempt to make him "normal", and even smacks the kid across the face when he back-talks him, threatening to do the same to Barb for sticking up for him.
  • Billy Niles, the one-dimensional bully who regularly assaults Joe, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Thankfully, it's implied that Joe's newest model will be the end of him.
• Horror Host: Kevin glimpses one on the TV set as the Gillman goes after him, who looks somewhat like an older Joe.
• I Do Not Drink Wine: Joe quotes the phrase when he's dressed as Dracula at the kitchen table, substituting the wine for the Tang his aunt is serving.
• Imagine Spot: Joe has one where he watches Frankenstein's Monster snap Billy's neck.
• Jerkass Has a Point: It may seem like an insult that's meant to put Joe down, but Uncle Kevin's claim about Bela Lugosi being a dope addict is actually true, as dramatized in Ed Wood.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: Billy Niles, the skateboarding bully who has been harassing Joe for who knows how long, very nearly gets away with the abuse he deals out. Frankenstein's Monster does snap his neck, but that turns out to be an Imagine Spot conjured up by Joe. At the very end of the story, we can determine that he's going to get what's coming to him quite soon, since we see that Joe now possesses another model known as "The Skater".
• Kick the Dog: When Joe brings up the fact that Kevin and Barb actually had to move in with him because the former lost his job, Kevin retaliates by wrecking the Grim Reaper model Joe was working on, which he states was a present from his late mother.
• Laser-Guided Karma: After abusing Joe for being a "freak" for being obsessed with monsters for almost the whole segment, Kevin is torn in half by some of the very monsters he was mocking, who do so under orders from Joe.
• Laughably Evil: Uncle Kevin may be a wicked and despicable uncle, but that doesn't stop him from also being an obnoxious goof.
• Meaningful Name: Joe's last name, Aurora, is the same as the town he lives in: Aurora, Illinois, which also houses the Aurora Plastics company. In the 70s, where the story takes place, Aurora Plastics was known for producing monster models advertised in comic books, which is how Kevin meets his well-deserved death.
• Miles Gloriosus: Kevin, who used to box and served in the Army many years ago, still insists that he calls all the shots, even after he loses his job and is forced to live in his nephew's house. Any challenge posed to his status as a true man, or any statements made contradicting his word, usually leads to him getting violent.
• Mythology Gag: Several references to the original film are made:
  • Joe is named after Joe Hill, who played Billy, the tortured child in the frame narrative of said film.
  • Like Stan, Billy's father, Kevin refers to Joe's memorabilia as "horror crap".
  • A mask of Fluffy, the monster of "The Crate", can be seen in Joe's room.
  • At one point, Kevin is seen watching a wrestling match, much like Jordy Verrill does. He also exclaims "Well, I'll be dipped in shit!" at one point, similar to what Jordy did when he discovered his meteor.
  • The ashtray from "Father's Day" is seen on Joe's dresser as he uses the Victim for the first time.
• Neck Snap: Joe watches as Frankenstein's Monster does this to local bully Billy Niles in his Imagine Spot.
• Nice Girl: June is shown to be a very caring mother to Joe, loving how passionate he is about monsters and playing along when he dresses up as Dracula and pretends to hypnotize her.
  • Aunt Barb is a pretty sweet woman as well, as she shares Joe's interest in monsters and treats him much like June did, even protecting the kid from her abusive husband at one point.
• Nightmare Fetishist: Being the monster fanatic that he is, Joe is utterly delighted after he turns himself into a vampire.
• Offscreen Teleportation: The Gillman originally manifests in Joe's room. After the creature tosses Kevin down the stairs, it soon reappears by bursting through the living room wall. Its model form is also seen in an aquarium that wasn't originally in the room, likely to keep the Gillman from drying out.
• Passed in Their Sleep: June succumbs to her cancer when she falls asleep watching a movie with Joe.
• Porn Stash: Kevin roots around under Joe's mattress to see if he has any dirty magazines, hoping to find proof that he fits his description of "normal".
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: Like the original film, Joe spouts one of these as his "friends" finish Kevin off.
  Joe: Are you ready for your closeup, Uncle Kev?!
• Reality Warper: Joe may or may not have become one after he continuously uses the Victim to torment Kevin. He manages to use his other models to bring his favorite monsters to life, project an image of an older version of himself on the TV set, and is somehow able to turn himself into a vampire in the ending.
• Recursive Canon: While the physical Creepshow comic is known for making appearances every now and then throughout the series, this episode actually has the comic playing an important role in the plot. Joe is often seen reading it at certain points, and the issue June gives him in his dream is where he orders the Victim. At one point, Kevin even pulls out a copy of the comic that bears the same cover as the episode itself.
• Rise from Your Grave: June is depicted clawing out of her grave in Joe's dream.
• Serious Business: Kevin takes it pretty roughly when Joe stays inside working on his models instead of doing chores on a Saturday, which he even deems "Chore Day".
• Shout-Out:
  • June and Joe spend their last moments together watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, which also features classic monsters uniting in one place.
  • The "missing child" image of Laddie can be seen on a milk carton inside the Auroras' refrigerator.
  • Barb is revealed to work as a waitress at Beakman's Diner.
  • Joe is revealed to own a movie poster advertising a triple feature: IT Came Back, IT Came Back Again,, and IT Won't Stop Coming Back! This is actually a subtle reference to IT, as Pennywise transforms into the Mummy, the Gillman, and Frankenstein's Monster (the same monsters featured in the episode) in the novel.
  • The brave hero and the captured damsel featured in Gillman Meets the Mummy are dead ringers for Indiana Jones and Marion.
  • While he's dressed as Dracula, Joe denies his aunt's request for a refill by quoting "I never drink... Tang."
  • Kevin's boss is given the name "Mr. Warren".
  • The Zuni doll from Trilogy of Terror can be seen on Joe's floor during the closing shots of the episode.
• Show Within a Show: Gillman Meets the Mummy, a movie that Joe daydreams about at the beginning of the episode.
• Silent Movie: Gillman Meets the Mummy is depicted as one, along with the other films viewed with Joe's projector.
• Splash of Color: Just before the black and white Gillman Meets the Mummy prologue ends, the Gillman is slowly colored in as though he were being painted. After this, the episode cuts to Joe painting the creature's model.
• Straw Loser: Kevin, who is called as such by Joe. Once a boxer who served in the Army, he's now a pathetic washout who loses his job and is forced to move into his nephew's house for financial security. Unfortunately, he's also an abusive loser, usually smacking his wife and nephew around (the former for still having her own job and the latter for not being "normal", respectively) to vent his frustrations on the only people he has any sense of control over.
• Struggling Single Mother: June makes no mention of Joe's father or even being married at all. She's also growing weaker and weaker every day thanks to her cancer, and primarily invites Barb and Kevin to stay at the house so they could help around the house.
• Supernatural Aid: In his dreams, Joe's mother visits him from beyond the grave. She hands him a Creepshow comic that advertises a model known as "The Victim", which he uses to torment and ultimately kill his abusive uncle.
• Testosterone Poisoning: Kevin, who oozes toxic masculinity, usually tries to get his nephew more interested in sports and girls, believing that the kid's obsession with monsters is making him a "freak".
• The Television Talks Back: As Joe witnesses his projector showing his mother crawl out of her grave, June uses the projector's captions to talk to him, telling him that she and his friends are watching over him and they'll be together forever.
  • The TV set in the Auroras' living room turns itself on to showcase a horror host, resembling an older Joe, tell Kevin that the Gillman is coming back for him.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: June, Joe's mother, who encourages Joe's monster fixation and cares about his well-being above all else, sadly succumbs to her cancer while she and her son watch a movie together. Her ghost soon appears to Joe in his dreams, giving him the means to get Uncle Kevin out of the picture.
• Voodoo Doll: The Victim functions as one when constructed. Joe is able to twist and fix his uncle's ankle as his first test of the model, and later gives Kevin a fever by putting the figure on the radiator.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The episode is essentially a remake of the original film's wraparound, as they both center around a boy who loves monsters and horror, is abused by the male authority figure in his life, and ultimately uses voodoo to get his revenge.
• Your Mind Makes It Real: This may be why the Gillman and the Mummy manifest in the real world to kill Kevin, assuming that Joe didn't become a Reality Warper with voodoo-based powers.

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