Based on "The Perfect School", the seventh story in Even More Tales to Give You Goosebumps (the third short-story collection from the Tales to Give You Goosebumps anthology series).
Brian O'Conner is a practical joker who gets sent away to a reform school called "The Perfect School", which harbors a strange secret.
The episode provides examples of:
- Adaptational Alternate Ending: The story that the episode is based on had a Downer Ending, with Brian being betrayed by his "friend" and locked up to be replaced with a robot. In the episode, he switches places with the robot, pretending to be a model child to fool his parents while he plots to break out his classmates.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the short story, Brian was sent to the school due to simply not being the ideal kid. In the episode it's because of a cruel prank he played on his brother.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: In the short story, Brian's parents send him to the school because he doesn't live up to their standards, and are expecting to get a robot back in his place. In the episode, they're just hoping he learns his lesson, and don't realize the school is planning to sent them a replacement.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original ten-page short story, gets expanded into a two-part TV episode.
- Adaptation Title Change: The word "The" is dropped from the start of the episode's title.
- Air-Vent Passageway: The main character of the day sneaks past the faculty/guards through the vents.
- Artificial Human: The "robots" that are created to replace the students are grown in a lab.
- Foreshadowing: Brian suspects Joe of working with the school because he seems to get along with the staff. Joe tells him this isn't the case, as he is just acting so that he can be on their good side. The ending has Brian using this idea, pretending to be a perfect clone so he can be sent home.
