[AYAOTD? Recap with Erin Callahan] Season 5 in Review!

T: Well Erin, we did it. We finished all five seasons of the original series. But they decided to do two more seasons a couple years later, so we’ll continue on. And don’t get me wrong, I’m glad there’s twenty-six more episodes to enjoy (mostly).

E: Same! Revisiting this series has been so much fun and I’m not ready for it to be over. I also love that the AYAOTD? creators, writers and showrunners made a great five season series and then got a chance to make even more cool stuff.

T: The Midnight Society was dark again this season. To me, it looked like season one was way too dark, then they overcorrected, with the following seasons getting lighter and lighter. Until they finally nailed it here. This might be the best-looking the Midnight Society segments ever are. And by light and dark I mean the actual lighting of the Midnight Society scenes, not the themes, as we all know the themes got way too dark by allowing Stig to enter...

E: LOL — thanks for clarifying.

T: After four seasons of Kiki telling stories focused on Black characters, this one broke the mold. “Jagged Sign” follows a white girl, but her new friend (who is sensible and the likeable half of the duo) is Black. So that one mostly works as a Kiki story. But then she tells “Unexpected Visitor”? I feel like she should have told “Chameleons” and Betty Ann should have told “Unexpected Visitor,” especially since Kiki’s dad from “Captured Souls” is the dad in “Chameleons.”

E: That would’ve made so much more sense. “Chameleons” has some Betty Ann-style body horror, but Kiki’s dipped into body horror territory before, especially with “Captured Souls.”

T: There are some high highs this season, so I suspected it would be our best rated, but it falls just short of season three (when the series really hit its stride). Most seasons’ ratings are spread out somewhat evenly, but season five is really “meh” or “oh yeah!”

E: Ha! I can totally see that. I love some of the episodes in this season, like “Badge” and “Chameleons,” but was left pretty underwhelmed by others.

T: When the show came back, there was a smaller budget, so they didn’t get special guest stars like seasons two through five, which means Gilbert Gottfried and the Mowry sisters are our final big name guest stars (at the time of filming). And, wow, are all three of them perfectly cast. I can’t pick any of them as the best guest star of the season. Can you?

E: I just love the Mowry twins so much in “Chameleons.” They do such an amazing job as a mildly rebellious teenage girl and the supernatural/alien chameleon trying to steal that girl’s body. They manage to be both scary and hilarious, so I’m declaring them my fave.

T: We talked about it some last week, but looking back at the last few seasons, does the Gary/Sam romance feel earned and fulfilling to you?

E: More than earned — it feels like it took for-ev-er. I guess that rings true, though. Sometimes high school romances are like instalove. And sometimes they’re a slow burn where everyone’s afraid to make a move. That definitely seems to be the case for Sam and Gare Bear, but then he finally put it all out there.

T: I kind of see these five seasons as Gary, Betty Ann, and Kiki’s four years of high school. Seasons one and two are each a year, so three, four, and five only occur over two years for them, which means in universe it took them not quite so long to get together.

E: Two years can seem like a lifetime when you’re a teen but I’ll buy it.

T: This season’s MIDNIGHT SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT GOES TO… basically everyone! The OG gang is getting long in the tooth, and production took a two-year break before starting season six, so most of the cast had aged out. So let’s take a moment to appreciate this cast.

E: *sniffles* I’m going to miss them all so much! Except maybe for Stig.

T: Ross Hull (Gary) is the face of the series to many fans. It’s fitting that Ross was originally cast in the unaired, rejected pilot as David, then when Nickelodeon reconsidered and commissioned a second pilot a few years later, he was the only actor retained, but recast as Gary, so he’s been a part of the show’s DNA since day one. After the series, he co-starred on Canadian teen comedy Student Bodies with a few AYAOTD? alums and became an on-air meteorologist in 2005. He now works as a multi-market weatherman for Global News and always talks very fondly of his time on set. He also came out as gay several years ago and supports LGBTQ charities. So, basically, Ross Hull’s awesome.

E: Hands down the most iconic member of the Midnight Society.

T: Jodie Resther (Kiki) continues to perform, mostly voice acting. She also has a career as an international recording artist. She’s released a few albums in French, and one in English. That’s why American fans might not be as familiar with her singing, because she’s better known in France and Canada. I watched an interview she did just a few months ago about AYAOTD? in which she just seemed to have a blast talking about the series.

E: While Gary may be the most iconic, Kiki is my fave.

T: Raine Pare-Coull (Betty Ann) did very little acting besides AYAOTD? She lives in Toronto and still keeps in touch with Ross Hull. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out much more about Raine, although I know she’s recently talked about the series and will be featured in a soon-to-be released retrospective.

E: Kiki may be my fave, but I identify most closely with Betty Ann. She’s a good girl square on the surface with the heart of a true weirdo.

T: JoAnna Garcia-Swisher (Sam) was possibly the only American Midnight Society cast member. As a Canadian series, production had to hire a certain number of Canadian actors, but some Americans were brought on, like Eddie Robinson who played Pete in “Midnight Madness” and of course some of the celebrity guest stars. She’d done an episode of Clarissa Explains it All and a few other things before joining the Dark cast, and she’s continued to work steadily since. She’s one of those hard-working actresses who just needs that one huge hit to make her a name. I saw an interview with her from last year about her new projects and she spoke fondly about AYAOTD?

E: Sam is feisty and likable and tells my favorite story of the entire series — “Watcher's Woods.”

T: Codie Wilbee (Stig) had a few TV appearances before AYAOTD? and nothing since.

E: I’m certainly not going to blame Codie for my dislike of Stig.

T: The BEST VILLAIN award goes to: … this one’s hard. The Corpse from “Dead Man’s Float” is one of the series’ most iconic, but it doesn’t really do all that much besides shamble toward the characters. Roy from “Station 109.1” is probably the series’ funniest villain, but he’s more an antagonist than outright baddie. My top tier villains are Vampire Margot from “Night Shift” and the titular Chameleon. I’m going to say the Chameleon edges out the victory here. She’s so engaging and playful and so sinister. Well done, Tamera Mowry!

E: Yes! 100% agree with this choice. Tamera goes all in and it’s mesmerizing.

T: Runners-up were Miss Valenti for making me uncomfortable and Marie for being kinda sassy. I’d been hoping to see more female villains and this season delivered.

E: Both Miss Valenti and Marie are totally solid evil-doers who serve as unnerving embodiments of toxic femininity and the internalized male gaze.

T: And our QUEEREST MOMENT award goes to: the romantic undertones between Janice and Sharon in “Tale of the Chameleons.”

E: I’m sad there weren’t more queer moments but I’ll take it!

T: The BEST STORYTELLER award goes to: we have a tie! Betty Ann and newcomer Stig both averaged to 9.425 out of 10 (and poor Gary is just .05 shy of making it a three-way tie). It’s a testament to how this season has stellar episodes and “okay” episodes. I love having Betty Ann go out on top, and it’s further proof of why Stig was allowed to join him. He’s awful, but the boy knows how to tell a scary tale.

E: Given that Stig got to tell two audition stories this season, I suppose that makes sense. 

T: The BEST STORY award goes to “The Tale of the Night Shift.” We talked about this just last week, but it was intended as the series finale, and you can feel the crew dialing it up to eleven on this one. You could easily turn this into a ninety-minute feature without having to add too much. You spend a little more time on the sub-plots and teasing out the tension and throw in a couple more characters. But distilled as it is in twenty minutes, it’s phenomenal.

E: “Night Shift” is absolutely peak AYAOTD? From the pacing to the humor to the stakes to the scares, it’s the perfect balance of everything we love about this show. 

T: Our WORST STORYTELLER RAZZIE goes to: Tucker! Poor kid can’t get a break. Neither of his stories are terrible, and I think it’s a case of him getting the more adventurous tales instead of the funny or scary ones. I love his character, he’s shown a lot of growth, and Daniel DeSanto is a good actor, but poor Tuck got outdone by everyone else.

E: There are many things I like about “Prisoners Past” and “Manaha” certainly attempts to be funny but gets bogged down by its cringey ’90s humor, large cast, and questionable portrayal of Native culture. 

T: And our last award, the WORST STORY RAZZIE goes to “The Tale of the Manaha,” which isn’t awful, it’s just the worst of this bunch. We certainly rated episodes lower in seasons 1, 2, and 4.

E: No surprise. It’s certainly not my least favorite of the entire series but it stands in such stark contrast to “Night Shift.” That episode successfully juggles a large cast, the ’90s humor is funny and timeless instead of cringey, and just enough explanation is provided for the plot to make sense.

T: And that does it for season 5. If I’m not mistaken, you haven’t seen any of the revival episodes?

E: I believe this is totally uncharted territory for me! Eeeeeeeeee!

T: I’m looking forward to it. Join us next week when we meet the New Midnight Society!