[AYAOTD? Recap w/ Erin Callahan] 8.3 "Destory All Tophats"

RECAP

In the final act of Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? revival, Rachel finally masters the hero’s speech and convinces Louise, Akiko, and Graham to go look for Gavin. Akiko ropes Hideo into the quest, and the crew piles into his police cruiser to track down the Carnival of Doom at its next stop. Hideo gets kidnapped by Mr. Tophat at a highway rest stop, and a very anxious Graham is forced to drive the rest of the way. Bartholomew accosts the Midnight Society when they arrive and reveals himself to be a Johnny Explainer, delving into Mr. Tophat’s history and his deal with the devil -- the devil promised to resurrect Mr. Tophat’s failed carnival and allow him to live forever, but the catch is that no one remembers him or the carnival. No one, that is, until Rachel came along.

Bartholomew sends the gang on a mission to find Mr. Tophat’s secret room and destroy the source of his power -- his hat! But, alas, it turns out Bartholomew led the Midnight Society into an obvious trap. Everyone falls under Mr. Tophat’s spell except Rachel, who manages to steal the real source of Mr. Tophat’s power -- his cane! Mr. Tophat tries to bargain with Rachel, appealing to their mutual feelings of loneliness. Rachel doesn’t fall for it, glancing back at the members of the Midnight Society and boldly declaring that she’s not alone before destroying Mr. Tophat’s cane.

The episode ends with Adam and his dog stumbling upon a Midnight Society meeting and Rachel asking him if he likes scary stories.

REVIEW

T: I mentioned last week it felt like Part 2 was spinning its wheels. Turns out there was a lot of set-up for this one, and the pay off works, so retroactively, I appreciate what happened last week more now. The whole Midnight Society déjà vu and how Rachel convinces them to help, specifically.

E: Yes, things come together really nicely in this final act. I LOVE that Rachel makes her point by asking about each member’s first story and revealing that none of them can remember hers. It moves the plot along, gives us a nice slice of character development, AND brings on a fantastic “Are aliens sci-fi or horror?” debate.

T: It’s a smart move bringing Hideo in. Actor Cardi Wong is just plain likeable and convincing in the role.

E: He’s charming as all get out. Totally rivals Mr. Tophat for hottest character on the show (sorry, Superman).

T: The whole bit with Bartholomew sitting in on a daytime meeting of the Midnight Society and telling a tale feels so bizarre that it really works. I was like, “Did they just replace Gavin?”

E: LOL. The whole scene is adorable. “LEFT at the corndog stand!”

T: I’m glad Bartholomew turned out to be Benedict Batholomew, because it was feeling too easy.

E: Same. I was worried for a sec that we were going to be stuck with a disappointingly simplistic ending. As obvious as the “it was a trap!” twist was, it still worked nicely.

T: I can’t decide whether or not I like that we don’t see the devil in Mr. Tophat’s backstory. It probably works better as is, especially with leaving him so ambiguous. Who knows, maybe he’ll be the villain in a later story?

E: That didn’t bother me nearly as much as the fact that I couldn’t figure out what was in it for the devil? I mean, other than sneakily trapping a guy in his own nightmare and sowing chaos, what was the point?

T: I think the devil got to keep some of the children Mr. Tophat collected? Like the devil hired Mr. Tophat to work as a middleman? That’s the vibe I got at least.

E: I guess that’s no more disturbing than feeding the basement monster in “The Tale of the Dark Music,” but yikes.

T:  It feels like Louise is a rich character with lots of depth, so why won’t they give us her story? She was a loser who worked hard to be popular so she’s worried about losing her status? Is that it?

E: A little bit seemed to come out when she was chatting with Graham, but you’re right. The details here are thin. She feels the least developed and her moments of connection with Graham rang a little hollow to me. Fingers crossed we get more from her in the next series.

T: I love when something that looks cool turns out to have a plot purpose, like how the Midnight Society face masks were utilized.

E: And they look so freaking badass! As a whole, this three-episode arc did a nice job of integrating the details in a way that feels purposeful. In addition to the masks, the pocket knife that’s been passed down for decades to new Midnight Society members plays an important role in the climax.

T: Chekhov’s pocket knife to the rescue! I had no clue how Rachel was going to get out of that one, but it felt earned. And Gavin gives serious creep face. Kudos to Sam Ashe Arnold for pulling off the range of charming boy next door to member of Leatherface’s family.

E: LOL. He looks demonic when he’s in full creep mode. Someone put that kid in some indie horror movies, stat. I also loved that Rachel got to have a quasi Final Girl girl moment as her friends were taken one by one by Mr. Tophat’s zombie minions.

T: Yassss! That water wading scene was tied with the restroom mirror for creepiest moment this episode.

T: Adam got to join the Midnight Society! He won me over in Part 1 when he busted his shoulder not opening Rachel’s locker, so I’m glad he made it out alive and with new friends.

E: It was a really cute way to wrap up the story, and speaks pretty deeply to what the Midnight Society represents -- a space where social status doesn’t matter and people bond over their shared love of something totally bizarre and nerdy.

T: I’m so glad it turned out the carnival was real all along and Rachel’s story was inspired by her past experience (as I predicted), which sets it apart from the Goosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark movies with stories coming to life.

E: I would’ve been seriously disappointed if this three-episode arc had devolved into any sort of “but it was all a dream” nonsense.

T: So it turns out Mr. Tophat represents the fear of creative people being forgotten?

E: I’m gonna fangirl again for a sec because I adore the way the themes dovetail in the final act of this show. Mr. Tophat represents the very adult fear that your legacy will fade and the world will go on like you never existed. This so perfectly mirrors Rachel’s quintessential teenage longing to be noticed. There’s some pretty heavy shit going on here and I love that the writers didn’t shy away from it just because this show is geared toward tweens.

QUEER OR NOT?

T: Not. Anything strike you, Erin?

E: Absolutely nothing explicit, which is a little disappointing. But I will say I’m glad that they didn’t have Graham and Louise end up with a romantic connection. I was afraid for a bit that we were headed in that direction, but I think they left the door open for one or both of them to be explicitly queer in the next story. Fingers crossed. Are you reading this, Nickelodeon? We want queer characters on screen! Give them to us! *grabby hands*

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: Is it me, or is Graham’s colorful windbreaker a shout-out to the ’90s?

E: Oh damn, I missed it! Was it full of blocky day-glo?

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: Wow, Brandon Routh didn’t show up again. Turns out he worked with the showrunner years ago and did the cameo because they’re friends.

E: So random. Was he wearing a wig or is that his real hair? Also, I’m a little sad we didn’t get another hilariously awkward scene between him and Rachel’s weird mom.

T: Mr. Tophat’s real name is Marcus Cochran. He’s named after the warlock in Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Conal Cochran.

E: Solid reference.

T: Gavin’s story, “The Return of the Ghastly Grinner” is a reference to the original series episode “The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner.” It’s one of the most popular episodes, and we’ll cover it when we get to season four.

E: Squeeee! Something to look forward to.

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: Now that we’ve seen the entire revival, it’s safe to say it’s solid. Acting is strong, production value is film level, and the humor works for me. That said, I still flip back and forth on Mr. Tophat’s effectiveness and the Midnight Society is a little one-dimensional considering how much time is devoted to them (what’s Louise’s deal really?). I’m glad this exists and I enjoyed it, so I’ll give it 8.8 CAMPFIRES OUT OF 10.

E: I’m going to give it a nice, round 9 CAMPFIRES OUT OF TEN because there were so many things that I loved. It’s appropriate for tweens without being schmaltzy, chock full of solid horror references, has some legit scares, and Graham is adorable.

PREDICTIONS

T: Optimistically, I predict the revival does so well that Nickelodeon brings the series back. Imagine a dozen, hour-long episodes returning to the original anthology format with the new Midnight Society telling the tales.

E: As much as I adore the original format, I thought this three-story arc worked really well. I’d love to see another limited series with these same characters confronting another horror story come to life.