Recap / Nightmare Time S2E4: "Yellow Jacket"

"Yellow Jacket" is the fourth and final episode of Nightmare Time 2, the second season of Nightmare Time.

Like the season premiere, this season finale consists of a single story.

Remember, recap pages are spoilers off!

Yellow Jacket

edited by Jeff Blim, Matt Lang, Nick Lang, Curt Mega, and Joey Richter

A mysterious vision causes Hannah to lose a finger in her woodshop class, leaving Hannah, Lex, and Ethan with a bill that they have no way to pay - that is until Hannah is taken to the abandoned Hatchetfield Roller-rama, which has been transformed into a fighting ring for kids her age. Kids with powers like hers. Hannah has the chance to win big, but someone - or something - is pulling the strings behind the scene. Something ancient, something powerful. Something that Hannah might not be able to beat.

Musical Sequences:
"Yellow Jacket" performed by Angela Giarratana; directed by Angela Giarratana, Mariah Rose Faith, and Paul Gabriel
"Use It or Lose It" performed by Jaime Lyn Beatty; directed by Shashona Brooks
"Next Time" performed by Dylan Saunders, James Tolbert, Bryce Charles, Jae Hughes, and the cast; directed by Dylan Saunders

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Yellow Jacket contains examples of the following:

• Apologetic Attacker: In her fight against Spitfire, Hannah apologizes before making her first offensive move, making a blast of psychic energy that flings Spitfire out of the arena.
  Hannah: Sorry, I need to hit you now.
• Berate and Switch:
  Lex: You made a hundred thousand dollars, and you spent a quarter of it on games and pizza? Ethan... you're a genius!
• Bittersweet Ending: With the help of Webby, Lex blows up Otho before he can assimilate Hannah and Ethan helps the sisters escape Charles. However, Lex, despite loving Ethan, chooses to leave him during the night to protect herself and Hannah.
• Call-Back:
  • When Otho tries to assimilate Hannah, he tells her "Your apotheosis is upon you." He also tells Hannah that he will eat the citizens of Hatchetfield, "right the fuck up," said with the same delivery as Wiggly in Black Friday, and alludes that he will reduce everything to one "singular voice", a phrase which was sung by Professor Hidgens in TGWDLM before Word of God revealed it as Pokey's official epithet.
• Convenience Store Gift Shopping: Lex remembers Hannah's birthday late at night - too late for the party store to be open, so she's left to shop at the local liquor store. She ends up with a cupcake and a single, sad balloon.
• "Dear John" Letter: Lex leaves one of these for Ethan, explaining that she took Hannah in order to avoid Charles and his men from finding them.
• Every Man Has His Price: Charles makes a deal with Ethan to have Hannah fight the Roller-Rama's champion. He made the same deal with Spitfire's dad, who was hesitant since losing to Otho means being absorbed into a hivemind and losing her humanity. Spitefite's dad changes his tune when Charles offers fifty million dollars. Ethan doesn't budge, but it's Hannah herself who finally forces him to accept the offer for one hundred million.
• Explosive Leash: Charles uses one of these to keep Otho in check, promising to detonate an explosive in Otho's head if he tries to harm him.
• Fight Clubbing: The Roller-Rama has been turned into an underground fighting ring for the psychic teens of Hatchetfield, with the wealthy citizens betting on the fights.
• Fingore: Hannah's finger is sliced off with a buzzsaw in shop class. The gore is somewhat downplayed - all we see is a splatter of blood, and in the next scene the surgically re-attached finger is bandaged.
• Forgotten Birthday: Lex forgets about her sister's birthday due to being so wrapped up with work and the stress of taking her high school equivalency test. It doesn't help that she remembers halfway through the test, rendering her unable to focus on the questions.
• The Greys: Pokotho's human form, Otho, looks a lot like a stereotypical gray alien, including gray skin, blue veins, and long fingers.
• Hive Mind: Otho's strategy in the ring involves assimilating his opponents into a hive mind. His ultimate goal is to assimilate the whole world.
• Interrupted Declaration of Love: Ethan tries to propose to Lex, but is repeatedly interrupted, first by Hannah's loud television watching, then by a knock at the door.
• Leitmotif: Like the other episodes of Nightmare Time, Yellow Jacket uses motifs from other Hatchetfield stories.
  • "What if Tomorrow Comes" is used whenever Hannah uses her powers.
  • A lighter, bouncier version of "CaliforM.I.A." is used for the more lighthearted scenes between the Foster family.
  • "Our Doors Are Open" is used for scenes involving Frank Pricely and Toy Zone.
  • A slower, piano rendition of "Join Us and Die" is used whenever Otho uses his powers to assimilate people into his hivemind.
  • "Let It Out" returns briefly in a dramatic piano form as Hannah steels herself to face Otho.
  • The backing from the opening song of "The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals" plays as Hannah and Otho's fight is about to begin.
• Mundane Utility: Hannah uses her psychic powers to win - she's able to tell exactly when to press the button to stop the light on a cyclone game.
• Not-So-Imaginary Friend: Hannah's friend, Webby, is a being who takes the form of a white spider, or an ethereal woman with white hair. Most people believe that she is a figment of Hannah's imagination, but in reality, she is an elder god. It's revealed that she was also Lex's not-so-imaginary-friend in the past, but Lex forgot about her by the time Hannah started speaking about her.
• On the Money: Hannah's injury leaves the Fosters in $24,000 of debt, with no way to repay. This leaves Hannah desperate for any way to make money.
• Playing with Fire: Spitfire (aka Sophia), is a teenage fighter with fire-related powers, including creating fireballs, making streams of fire, and filling the arena with smoke.
• Power Nullifier: One of Hannah's abilities allows her to reach into the minds of her opponents and turn off their powers. It doesn't stop her from being physically dragged from the ring by the older and taller Spitfire.
• Rags to Riches: Hannah's winnings in the ring bring the Foster family into a lot of money, which they immediately spend on a fancy apartment, go-karts, and a bounce house.
• Shop Class: The first scene of the episode starts with Hannah in a shop class, making an intricate carved design, and ends with her finger being sliced off with a bandsaw.
• Summon Magic: Lex's powers allow her to grab items through space and time. She uses them to teleport herself to the Roller-rama, and to teleport Otho's detonator into her hand.
• Supernatural Martial Arts: Spitfire weaponizes her powers through martial arts, attacking her foes with flaming kicks and punches.
• Time Master: Stopwatch, aka Daniel uses time-based powers in his fights, stopping time in order to dodge blows. He can keep time paused for as long as he hold his breath.
• Your Head A-Splode: Lex detonates the explosive in Otho's head, leading to a head explosion that covers the roller rink in a grey sludge.