"Honey Queen" is the first episode of Nightmare Time 2, the second season of Nightmare Time.
Unlike previous episodes, this season premiere consists of a single story.
Remember, recap pages are spoilers off!
Honey Queen
- edited by Nick Lang
"It's that time of year again... time for the Hatchetfield Honey Festival! And, of course, the whole town is wondering, "Who will be crowned this year's Honey Queen?" When upper-crust socialite Linda Monroe sets her sights on the crown, she makes an enemy of cutthroat barista Zoey Chambers. Soon, what's meant to be a pleasant pageant becomes a bloody nightmare as the two bitter rivals lie, cheat, steal, and kill their way to the top. It's a battle to the death for the coveted throne of the Honey Queen." - @therealteamstarkid on instagram
- Musical Sequences:
"Honey Queen" performed by Jeff Blim
"Latte Hatte" performed by Mariah Rose Faith
"Queen B" performed by Lauren Lopez; directed by Corey Lubowich
"Nibbly Ditty" performed by Curt Mega, James Tolbert, and Dylan Saunders
This episode provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Linda’s professional choreographer, Trevor, is played by James Tolbert, who has choreographed several starkid shows, including A Very Potter Sequel, Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, and Black Friday.
- Call-Back:
- "Latte Hatte" begins with the "black coffee, I'm your coffee gal" melody that Emma began singing in TGWDLM before Paul cut her off.
- At the end of the song, Zoey quips "I don't know who this Emma bitch is", calling back to how Paul and Ted disagreed on which Beanie's barista was the true latte hatte.
- In the presence of the latte hatte, the Homeless Man slips into a Borat impression, a glimmer of Ted's identity bubbling up to the surface.
- Creator Cameo: Linda's accompanist is played by Matt Dahan, musical director of the Hatchetfield series, in his only onscreen appearance in NMT2 and his first diegetic appearance in all of Hatchetfield.
- Dirty Cop: Sam Sweetly uses his authority as a cop to help Zoey win the competition, using it to get into Mima's hospital room to kill her and to convince River to follow him out of the bathroom.
- Disinherited Child: Zach Chambers is taken out of his grandmother’s will after being outed by Zoey.
- Downer Ending: Like a lot of Hatchetfield's stories, this one ends with Zoey, Sam, Gerald, and Linda all dead, with Linda's sons being raised by members of the cult that sacrificed their mother.
- Double Meaning: The Honey Queen is described as "the sweetest woman in Hatchetfield." In this case, "sweetest" doesn't refer to her personality, but her literal taste. To the ancient god Nibblenephim, her desire to win makes her taste sweeter.
- Eldritch Abomination: Nibbly. He's described as a furry pink creature with hundreds of teeth, made from melted pig corpses.
- Embarrassing Nickname: Roman Murray refers to his daughter as "piggy," a reference to her nose before her first nose job.
- Evil Versus Evil: Linda and Gerald are pretty evil. Zoey and Sam are worse. Between the four of them, they sabotage other contestants, drive a woman out of town, murder an old woman, blackmail, kidnap a child, and kill one another.
- Family Theme Naming: Linda’s four sons are all named after rivers. Jordan is named after the Jordan River in the Middle East, Seaton and Trent are named after the River Seaton and River Trent, both in England. And River is named, well, River. Fitting for the president of the Hatchetfield Boating society.
- A Fête Worse than Death: The Hatchetfield Honey Festival is a cute small-town party and pageant where the winner is sacrificed to an Eldritch Abomination.
- Foreshadowing: While in the car with Sam, Zoey mentions that the weed they’re smoking is called “Perky’s Buds,” and that she got it from her coworker Emma. The very next episode, also titled “Perky’s Buds,” focuses on Emma and her pot farm.
- Hand Stomp: During the final fight between Linda and Zoey, Linda is thrown over the edge of a catwalk, and Zoey breaks three of her fingers by stomping on them, in an attempt to make Linda fall.
- Hanging Around: During the final fight between Zoey and Linda, Linda throws a rope around Zoey’s neck, and drops the sandbag attached to the other side off the catwalk, hanging Zoey from the rafters.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Gerald drives his car into Sam in order to save his son, dying in the process.
- Human Sacrifice: After the pageant ends, the winner, Linda, is sacrificed by the Church of the Starry Children, in order to bring Nibblenephim to life.
- "I Am" Song:
- "Latte Hatte" is this for Zoey, where she sings about how she is known for being attractive.
- "Queen B" is Linda's, in which she sings about her wealth and influence.
- Inept Talent Show Contestant: Linda gets rid of a large number of her competitors for the Honey Queen Pageant, but not all of them. It’s clear that the ones who are left aren’t anything to worry about, like Ashley Robins, whose juggling routine ends up with a number of her bowling pins on the ground.
- Inheritance Murder: Sam kills Zoey's grandmother Mima so that she can get her inheritance.
- Ironic Echo: Zoey repeats the same line that Linda used to blackmail her into dropping out of the competition.Zoey: The crown is rightfully yours. That's why it's such a shame you're dropping out.
Linda: Am I having deja vu? You can't threaten me, copycat. - Leitmotif:
- When Sam picks Zoey up from the retirement home, the melody of “Show Me Your Hands” from The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals plays.
- The background music that plays during the scene where Gerald and the Homeless Man convince Zoey to sing, the melody of “Cup of Roasted Coffee” plays.
- When Hidgens is introduced as the director of the Honey Queen pageant, the instrumental vamp from “Show Stoppin’ Number” is played.
- Throughout the episode, "Adore Me" from Black Friday acts as Linda's theme.
- Medication Tampering: Sam does this to Mima, by changing the dosage of medications in her file.
- Noodle Incident: Gerald talks about a skiing competition Linda won in college, winning by doing something to her competitor's skis. Something that the police couldn't prove she did.
- Oh, Crap!: Zoey's reaction to losing her voice.
- The Prima Donna: Zoey Chambers is this for the Hatchetfield Community Players. She has a big ego, and often shows up to rehearsal late.
- Rich Bitch: Linda Monroe (and to an extent, Gerald). Linda is rude, snooty, and willing to use her money to take down her enemies.
- Show Within a Show: We see the Honey Queen pageant, or at least parts of it.
- Small Town Rivalry: Seemingly everyone in Hatchetfield hates Clivesdale, to the point that Liz Cunningham is strongly pressured to drop out of the pageant, even though she hasn't lived in Clivesdale for ten years.
- Stealth Insult: Zoey, to Linda:Zoey: Look, I don't wanna fight you.'Cause you should respect your elders. But don't you think you're a little old for this competition?
Linda: I'm 36.
Zoey: Oh, I'm so sorry. If it makes you feel any better, you're a lot younger than you look. - Trail of Blood: Sam tries (and fails) to follow one of these to find Gerald.
- Unseen No More: Linda’s husband had previously only appeared as the unheard half of Linda’s phone calls in Black Friday. This episode marks his first appearance, where it’s revealed that he’s just as evil as his wife.
- Weirdness Censor: While it's indicated that every Honey Queen has moved away from Hatchetfield to make something more of herself, nobody seems to find it odd that they disappear the very night of the pageant, in truth ending up a sacrifice to Nibbly. As we learn in Nerdy Prudes Must Die, Hatchetfielders are a bit numb to mysterious disappearances, considering them mundane.
- Would Hurt a Child: In a desperate attempt to make Linda forfeit, Zoey has Sam kidnap Linda's son, River, and she makes it clear she doesn't mind hurting the six-year-old if she doesn't comply to her threats.Zoey: So what should I tell Sam? To let the kid go, or to throw him off the Nantucket Bridge?
