[AYAOTD? Recap w/ Erin Callahan] 8.2 "Opening Night"

RECAP

After learning that one of their fellow students has disappeared and the creepy carnival from Rachel’s story is coming to town, the Midnight Society call an emergency meeting. They initially accuse Rachel of “stealing” her story from the real Carnival of Doom, but she sticks to her guns and insists that she’s been dreaming about the carnival and Mr. Tophat for months.

It takes some convincing, but the other members agree to attend the carnival with her that night to investigate. And what a night it is! Rachel and Gavin get attacked by zombies in the Tunnel of Love (because of course), Akiko and her cinematographer get chased by clowns, and Louise and Graham almost die on the ferris wheel. But then it turns out to be “all part of the show!” Or is it???

Rachel wonders if she’s losing her mind, but then Gavin goes missing and none of the other Midnight Society members have any recollection of the carnival.

REVIEW

Troy: Plot wise, this was a little paint-by-numbers for me. They talk about the carnival, they go to the carnival, they’re scared, but then it’s all part of the show. It’s not a dealbreaker for me, and often second acts consist of following through on what’s been set up in act one.

Erin: This one started off rocky and doesn’t seem *quite* as strong as episode one, but I really enjoyed the second half. I thought the crew breaking off into pairs and confronting different creepy aspects of the carnival, only to then question whether or not something supernatural was actually in play, was quite effective.

T: The daytime Midnight Society meeting is fun (I wonder if Gary held any back in the day). Rachel’s surprised that horror savvy kids don’t want to investigate the nightmare carnival?

E: I laughed so hard at that scene. Rachel gives this great speech and the audience expectation is that all the members will be like, “count me in!” Instead they’re like, “hells to the no, new girl.” Too funny.

T: Um, excuse me, but Gavin, Louise, and Akiko eat lunch together? I thought none of them socialized in public, but apparently, they just avoid Graham and Rachel in school? Wow.

E: Yeah, totes not cool, cool kids. As much as I appreciate the show exploring what we always suspected about the social dynamics of the original Midnight Society, Louise’s line to Gavin about being seen with Graham potentially ruining the social status she’s built was a little too on the nose. It also doesn’t quite ring true to me and makes Louise much more unlikable than she needs to be.

T: Graham’s just as solid as last week. That accent bit was so well played and, “That smile will haunt my dreams forever.”

E: For real, I just adore him. “I can freak out about multiple things. I contain multitudes!” Amazing.

T: We spent more time with Akiko (so glad she points out placing 100 fliers on one wall isn’t effective), but Louise is still a mystery. It feels like she has a backstory that we haven’t glimpsed yet, so she’s just coming off as stuck-up. I’d like to know what her deal is.

E: Her convo with Gavin definitely hints that she used to be uncool but has worked hard to become one of the populars. This is sticky territory, but I do hope we get some more info in the final episode.

T: Is Hideo’s ringtone the theme to Beverly Hills Cop?

E: Yes!! Again, so many fun little details in this show.

T: Since Mr. Tophat is an evil version of Willy Wonka, it makes perfect sense he’d hide a golden coin in the carnival. I’m still not entirely sold on him being creepy, but he is magnetic. I do appreciate that his image doesn’t record, and that shot of him on the ceiling was solid.

E: I’m really digging him as a villain. His keynote speech at the start of the carnival is both solidly written and solidly acted, and is basically a manifesto for horror fandom. We watch horror to escape the tedium of real life, but we know it’s not really going to hurt us. Or is it??? I also loved the scene of him freaking out in his trailer for a bit before Hideo shows up. So intriguing!

T: You know, when you conceptualize him like that, it helps sway me. Actor Rafael Casal is solid, I just can’t help but wonder if he’d come off as more menacing if he were older and less attractive? That’s probably not an issue for a tween audience who think every one of us in our thirties is decrepit, but I wouldn’t kick Mr. Tophat out of bed.

E: LOL - same! As Terry would say, “he’s kinda daddy.”

T: Brandon Routh pops up for one scene as Gavin’s hot dad?! I suspect we’ll see more of him next week, otherwise why not get one of the former teen actors from the original series back for that quick scene?

E: I was like, “OMG is that Superman???” So random.

QUEER OR NOT?

T: For a minute, I thought Akiko and Josie would turn out to be a secret pair, but then they lost the camera and Josie peaced out of there, taking with her my hopes for anything queer this episode.

E: I had the same thought. Alas. My guess is we’re not going to get anything explicitly queer out of this series, but one can dream.

T: Yeah, sadly I feel like we used to get queer coded characters, but now that audiences are much savvier, we get fewer ambiguous characters on TV. Maybe today there’s more explicit queer representation than in the ’90s, but far less gray area.

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: The dusty library/microfiche gag is a great shout out to how times have changed since the original series. Plays great against the joke that the Carnival must be sinister because it doesn’t have a Wikipedia entry.

E: Y’all already know how I feel about microfiche. *squeeeeeee*

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: I caught one blink or you’ll miss it reference to the classic series. While the clowns are chasing Akiko, there’s a creepy clown standing around in a Zeebo mask.

E: I had to go back and watch that scene again -- nice catch!

T: Gavin mentions the long history of the Midnight Society, and how his pocketknife’s been passed down. I hope they’re planning some connection to the original crew.

E: Same! Though either way that was a nice touch.

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: We’re holding off on our scientific rating system until the next episode airs, but generally, I preferred the first episode to this one. I was starting to worry it would all be filler, that they’d just regroup and return to the carnival the following night, but then it took a great turn with Gavin’s disappearance. What’s your general take away from this one?

E: I really enjoyed the second half and I have high hopes that three episodes together with be a compelling story arc.

PREDICTIONS

T: What if when the story ends, it’s revealed to all be Rachel’s story to get into the Midnight Society? Like maybe the first half of episode one was real, but since then, it’s all been her story?

E: Oooooooh -- you might turn out to be right, but prefer your theory that Rachel is the little girl in the story, so I’m sticking with that. Now, excuse me, I’m going to go munch on some scorpions.