[AYAOTD? Recap with Erin Callahan] Episode 3.09 "The Tale of the Curious Camera"

RECAP

Betty Ann asks each member of the Midnight Society to bring photos of themselves as little kids, then explains that pictures are powerful because they tell the future.

Sad sack Matt gets pranked right before a school picture and ends up with ketchup on his face. When he finally gets the picture—gasp!—you can’t even see him in it. He tracks down the photographer, who explains the camera doesn’t lie. Matt is an “invisible” push-over in real life, so he’s invisible in the picture too. The photographer won’t give Matt his money back, but instead gives him a camera. It doesn’t take long for Matt to realize that bad things happen to anything and anyone the camera takes a photo of. When Matt snaps a photo of the school bully, the bully gets his leg squished by a falling locker. Matt tries to return the cursed camera to the photographer, who refuses to take it back since it brings nothing but bad luck. Then the camera almost kills Matt’s entire family, but he outsmarts it by using a mirror to make it take a picture of itself. Matt thinks he’s won, but the “camera gremlin” possesses the family’s computer before the story ends.

The Midnight Society panic and run off when Betty Ann whips out a camera. She and Gary share a laugh but are so freaked out when the camera snaps a photo that they forget to extinguish the fire.

REVIEW

T: The Midnight Society baby pics are fun, but Tucker looks the same, because he’s still a little child.

E: They’re obviously photos of the actual actors, so that makes it even funnier. The sulky look on Little Frank’s face is priceless.

T: Frank calls Tucker a “little skidmark.” Love that they just PG-ified “little shitstain.”

E: LOL - so creative! Tucker really knows how to get under Frank’s skin.

T: It’s voice squeaking Eddie Kaye Thomas! He wasn’t a guest star at the time because this was his first or second television appearance, but he went on to become a name a few years later with American Pie. Coincidentally, I just saw him guest star on Outmatched and Law and Order: SVU, so yeah, he’s still acting regularly.

E: I’ll confess that as soon he popped up on screen I thought of Betty Ann’s intro about photos telling the future. Squeaky Eddie’s photo says he’ll go on to bone Stifler’s mom.

T: Matt’s character flaw reminds me of goth wannabe Dean from “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” only much better fleshed out here. In both cases, no one notices or cares about them, so Dean latches himself onto goth culture while Matt takes up an artistic hobby.

E: The casting is also better here. Dean was too much of a conventional hottie to be a realistic “nobody,” but Eddie Kaye Thomas is just awkward enough that I can totally see him being pushed around at school. I also get hints of sad sack Keith from “Dark Dragon.” The writers sure do love sad sacks.

T: All the kids in the school scenes wear blue and white. And then Amy, the sister, wears red in her scenes. Is this demonstrative that Matt’s trying to fit in and not sticking out, while Amy is her own person?

E: I didn’t pick up on this AT ALL. Possibly? Though I think the school colors are also blue and white? Plus Matt is on the basketball team and so many of the scenes take place in the gym or locker room.

T: Flipping Christian Tessier’s back from “Laughing in the Dark” and he learned NOTHING from his encounter with Zeebo! Could Josh (first name only) and Kullback (last name only) be the same character?

E: They basically are, right? Tessier had obviously been typecast by the time this episode was filmed, but with good reason. He’s got the kind of natural smirk that makes him a great bully. I mean, jeezus, his face is just so damn punchable.

T: The basketball coach passes out school photos to all the boys in the locker room? I feel like that was a case of production saying, “Well, we’ve got this one set…”

E: Probably yes, though I also wonder if the photos were just of the basketball team? Lots of big schools do “sports photos.” If it isn’t already obvious to everyone reading this, Troy and I DIDN’T go to a big school.

T: Ohhhhhhh, that makes it so much less weird! I like that the camera is given age for being “modern” technology of an instant camera. Calhoun says it’s a prototype from the 1940s. That sounds strange, but consider there were electric car prototypes from back when.

E: Fair point, plus the instant camera technology is essential for the plot, but the big clunky antique style looks better on screen and is also considerably creepier than a ’90s Polaroid.

T: Calhoun’s a fun character and he actually shows pathos for Matt when he passes on the camera.

E: Given that the character only has a few scenes, the actor does an impressive job of conveying Calhoun’s internal conflict. And characters with conflict are infinitely more interesting than bland, one-dimensional bad dudes.

T: So, yeah, Matt makes a list of “Who in my class deserves to have their picture taken?” Wow. In the context of the episode, and the time when it came out, it’s a funny bit. But the school shooter vibe makes it feel extremely weird.

E: I thought the EXACT same thing. Any modern teenager would immediately recognize it as a hit list. Yeesh.

T: In the show’s (Matt’s?) defense, at this point, the gremlin’s only injured the bully. He has no reason to think it’s fatal. That’s why it comes across in context as funny.

E: Okay, that’s fair. So it’s more of a revenge list than a hit list. Still creepy, but slightly less so.

T: There’s an interesting dynamic with the siblings. They mostly get along, and she irritates him a little, but he’s very protective of her.

E: The writers really seem to favor this particular sibling dynamic of older bro protag with PROBLEMS and plucky kid sis. My fave duo is still Weegee and Kathy from “Laughing in the Dark,” but these two are a solid pair and I like that Matt doesn’t go full Andy from “Dark Music” and try to feed Amy to the basement monster...er, I mean camera gremlin. 

T: In Andy’s defense, the sister in “Dark Music” is AWFUL.

E: Truth, but she’s so damn funny.

T: The gremlin discovery is cool. The monster is literally one still drawing, with some goofy audio, but it works. Somehow, they manage to make the gremlin feel like a character. I just love unconventional characters like that.

E: Secret symbols is a trope I will never get sick of and the tiny image that appears like a stamp in each photo is just rad as all get out.

T: So the gremlin’s evil energy leaves Calhoun and he’s world famous twenty hours later? It’s a funny scene, but it doesn’t quite land for me.

E: Agreed but, hot damn, isn’t it worth it for the ridiculous Pretentious ’80s Photographer With Fashion Mullet trope? Milano, baby!

T: I love that after hearing both Matt and Amy worry about their mom being pissed about things, she’s perfectly pleasant when she and Mr. Dorney show up.

E: LOL -- I didn’t even notice that. I think I was just relieved they didn’t get squished by a semi.

T: Matt and Amy realize their parents are going to die, so her solution is to take a bat to the problem. And when that doesn’t work, she tries it again. Love it.

E: I mean, Kathy would’ve set that shit on fire, but the bat is also pretty cool.

T: Matt’s idea of having the camera take its own picture feels like the big a-ha moment that usually fixes the problem at the end of a story. But the added wrinkle of the gremlin getting in the camcorder is brilliant, then it flipping leaps onto the internet! The old ominous last shot reveals the villain is still alive trope feels cheap in some cases, meh in others, but really works here.

E: I really thought the mirror thing was going to be the end of it and thought that was smart but predictable. I love when stories successfully pull off a “Wait! There’s more!” twist. It’s like eating what you think is the last Junior Mint and then realizing there’s one more morsel of minty goodness in the bottom of the box.

T: Or any candy that’s not mint (I abhor mint).

E: You can substitute Gummibärchen if you prefer.

T: Betty Ann’s camera is a prop from Gary’s dad’s store! This proves my headcanon that they’ve been in cahoots in previous episodes.

E: Obviously. If Gary weren’t camp as a row of chiffon tents you know they’d be stealing kisses with each other before meetings.

QUEER OR NOT?

T: I don’t think it’s a stretch to say closeted queer kids might feel represented by Matt’s quiet boy loner character.

E: Matt is one-hundred percent struggling with masculinity in a way that’s going to feel relatable to a lot of boys, especially queer ones. Boys are so often told that expressing your strength through violence or oppression is the key to respect. The camera is a seemingly easy way for Matt to shake his invisibility, but he quickly realizes the cost is too high.

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: This AYAOTD? episode about a camera that brings misfortune is directed by Ron Oliver and features Christian Tessier as a bully and Richard McMillan as the previous camera owner. Two years later, Ron Oliver directed the Goosebumps episode “Say Cheese and Die” about a camera that brings misfortune and features Christian Tessier as a bully and Richard McMillan as the previous camera owner. It’s a particularly well-known episode of Goosebumps because it stars Ryan Gosling, who appears in another well-known episode of AYAOTD?

E: My brain just exploded.

T: If the basketball coach looked familiar, it’s because he was the ranger who finds Buzz and Denny in “The Tale of the Phantom Cab.”

E: I’m sorry, my brain has exploded. Please call back another time.

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: Hockey! Obviously, the school hit list needs changing. I say don’t modernize this, but give it a sequel. Online gremlin wreaking havoc from webcams!

E: Fantastic idea -- smart device horror is very in right now. To be honest, I’d love to see Eddie Kaye Thomas make an appearance as the hot dad.

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: I like just about everything about this episode. The tone, the characters, the monster. I don’t necessarily love too much though. It’s a lot of set-up for a solid ending. Nothing wrong there, it just isn’t quite as memorable as some of the series’ watermark episodes. 8.1 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.

E: I’m bumping it up a few points for Calhoun’s positively hilarious flip from sad sack school photographer to fashion mullet artiste. 8.5 OUT OF 10 CAMPFIRES.