[AYAOTD? Recap with Erin Callahan] S05E12 "The Tale of a Door Unlocked"

RECAP

Gary uses a crystal ball to tell the fortunes of the Midnight Society then tells a story about looking into the future.

Justin would give anything for the confidence his friend Ben has with girls. Sardo overhears Justin’s laments after he wanders into the Magic Mansion, and sells him a one-of-a-kind tiny door that tells the future, so he’ll know which girls will say yes if he asks them out. Through the door, Justin sees a girl he doesn’t recognize surrounded by a cloud of smoke. Later, he sees her calling out for someone named Brad and then nearly engulfed in flames. The next day, Justin passes by the Magic Mansion and sees another tiny door in the window. He confronts Sardo, who explains the doors are actually a matching set. At school that day, a new student is introduced--it’s Ashley, the girl Justin saw through the door! And she’s got a brother named Brad! Justin tries to warn her about the fire, but she--and everyone else--thinks he’s losing his mind. After Ashley calls Justin to ask if her little brother is at his house, playing with Justin’s little brother, Justin realizes the fire he keeps seeing through the door is in an abandoned house his brother and his friends dare each other to enter. Suspecting Ashley will be there looking for Brad, he finds a secret key and uses the tiny door to transport himself to the abandoned house. The house is already burning and soon he and Ashley are trapped. Remembering the door is part of a set, Justin calls for Sardo’s help and tells him to look for the key in the secret compartment. Sardo opens the door in the nick of time, transporting Justin and Ashley to the Magic Mansion.

Tucker grabs the crystal ball, annoys the piss out of Gary, and then scampers off.

REVIEW

T: Gary’s going full-on magician with a crystal ball for his last ever story. He predicts Kiki will be a singer (a nice touch since D.J. MacHale must have known Jodie Resther has a fantastic singing voice and has released a few albums since AYAOTD? aired), Betty Ann will go into medicine, Stig will be a pro wrestler, Sam will be a famous explorer, and Tucker will clean elephant cages at the zoo. All seem plausible.

E: Totally plausible. His prediction for Tucker is such a hilariously specific dig. He’ll be cleaning up poop, but not just any poop! Big-ass poop. 

T: We haven’t focused on Gary so much lately, but this reminds me that Ross Hull was twenty-one when he shot his final season. As much as I love these characters, I think we are due a younger, fresh-faced Midnight Society for season six.

E: At twenty-one, he looks like he could still pass for a teen but juuuuuust barely. So yeah. Fresh blood is in order.

T: I was the guest on Up All Night: An Are You Afraid of the Dark Podcast a while back for this episode. So I’ve watched it a few more times than usual, and it still makes me laugh. Also, check out the podcast, Brandon and Courtland are great guys and hilarious.

E: Yes! And the recap you guys did is fantastic. Your list of “Sardo’s girl problems” still cracks me up.

T: I might have more…

E: *quivers with anticipation*

T: When Justin and Ben are walking toward the abandoned house at the start, it feels like they’re ad-libbing lines. The dialogue is a little distant and we’re not focused on them. Ben’s talking about two girls in the library and he asks Justin what he thinks of them, and like every amateur improviser, Justin says, “I don’t know either of them,” which kills the conversation.

E: LOL. Like, do you even go to this school, Justin? He could be trying to say that he doesn’t know them well enough to form a valid opinion on either of them and doesn’t want to judge them based solely on the way they look, but it’s pretty hard to tell if that’s what he meant.

T: I love this New York, loveable loser type vibe Justin has going on. His whole schtick reminds me of young Rodney Dangerfield. “I’m just trying to get a dame, but I get no respect, sheez.”

E: Yes! This seems like such a Ron Oliver thing, right? I bet he knew a thousand Justins growing up. And I feel like Justin would get along really well with either of Aidan Pendleton’s characters, the lonely accidental time traveler from “Carved Stone” or the budding witch from “Badge.” All of them have this classic “aw man!” response to everything and yet still remain likable.

T: The triumphant return of Sardo! We last saw him in season four, episode two, which means we went twenty-four episodes with him, the longest Sardo-less streak in the series. Richard Dumont slips effortlessly back into the role.

E: I missed him! Speaking of schtick, I’m not sure Sardo’s schtick could ever get old. I just love the idea of a campy con-artist magician swindling kids out of their hard-earned cash with objects that Sardo doesn’t realize are actually magical but always have some sort of snag. It’s freaking great.

T: You’ve got to appreciate the restraint of only having in one episode a season. I mean, how easy would it have been to say, have it be Sardo in “Crimson Clown” instead of random shopkeeper?

E: Watching that episode, I was honestly surprised he wasn’t the shopkeeper!

T: Obviously Justin’s girl problems and Sardo’s girl problems are very different. Sardo’s thing with girls: his mother keeps making him come over to fix her dial-up internet. Sardo’s thing with girls: he borrowed his roommate’s stockings for drag night and got a tear in them he’s afraid to tell her about. Sardo’s thing with girls: he’s embroiled in a parking lot battle with his landlady.

E: I’m dying. I’m dying. I’m dead.

T: Not only is Sardo still selling Shandu’s magic kit, but he mentions super specs. “It’s your nickel,” is the BEST way to answer a phone call in the ’90s.

E: It’s so perfectly Sardo though. He’s a man from a golden era gone by, just trying to make a dishonest buck.

T: The doorway to the future bit is so simple and feels so right for this series. It’s a very stage-magician idea that’s executed so well. Did you think at first the smoke around Ashley was just AYAOTD? fog? It’s a great reveal later that it’s not atmospheric fog but literal smoke.

E: If I hadn’t listened to the podcast recap, I’m sure I would’ve made that assumption, and it’s a very clever reveal.

T: I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Ashley is made up to look like Donna in “Tale of the Dream Girl.” She’s even wearing the same blue school jacket.

E: Is she!? Love it. This episode definitely has teen tragedy vibes, but the tragedy is averted at the end.

T: I love the misdirection of Sardo grabbing a second door. It’s meant to tell the audience that the original door isn’t special, so you don’t assume it’s a Chekov’s gun situation. Then when it’s used to save Justin and Ashley at the end, it feels justified.

E: I love that Sardo was totally oblivious to the fact that he had a teleportation device kicking around his shop. The untapped power! But what’s up with the third door that’s revealed at the very end?

T: That’s such a great ending. I’m thinking the third door is time travel?

E: That’s plausible-ish.

T: So Ben is pretty obnoxious but he does get some good jokes in. He’s over the top in a great Ron Oliver way.

E: Yes, another classic Ron Oliver archetype. So many Justins. So many Bens. Probably only one Hooper Picalarro who made a big impression.

T: It bothers me so much that Justin has his shoes on in bed.

E: Does he? I didn’t even notice. Though I’m definitely a “no shoes on in the house” kind of person so I agree with your sentiment.

T: Did you notice when Ashley is introduced to the class, she’s standing in front of a hand drawn sign saying Please Don’t Smoke?

E: Ha! Yes -- totally cute and clever in that Ron Oliver way.

T: I just love how awkward Justin is around Ashley. “I hope this doesn’t come off as a red flag, but how do you feel about burning alive in fire?”

E: I just about died when he ran across the cafeteria--on top of the tables!--to save her from...birthday candles. That said, can you say suspension? Our school would’ve gone apeshit if anyone had lit candles in the cafeteria.

T: Who cast the younger brothers? Justin’s younger bro cannot act to save his life and brunette Ashley’s ginger brother looks like they’ve never met, let alone share DNA.

E: My boyfriend said the same thing about Ashley’s bro -- “Look at that kid!” Maybe he’s adopted?

T: For such a funny episode, there is a real growing sense of tension leading up to, and including, the fire. That’s the reminder that this is a horror series and not a straight-up comedy.

E: The fire scene is extremely tense. And they do a nice job of building the tension with that scene where Justin’s brother and his friends try to scare the new kid in the abandoned house. Old abandoned houses are a horror trope I love.

T: Just when I start to think, “Too bad they couldn’t work Sardo into the conclusion,” they go ahead and work Sardo into the conclusion.

E: It’s so satisfying when Sardo gets woven in throughout the episode, like he is here and also in “Carved Stone.”

T: Justin and Ashley are so cute in their dance outfits.

E: Love it, though that is some serious formal wear. I don’t ever remember wearing formal attire except to prom.

T: We can’t skip over Ashley. She comes into the story late, but she has a nice presence. I appreciate that she’s like, “Um, this cute kid is weird, but maybe intriguing, but I’m still going to keep my distance.” And she’s proactive during the fire, trying to get out of there.

E: She’s a totally likeable love interest and plot device, played by Elana Nep, who’s quite charismatic on screen.

T: Although I’m pretty sure this is the last time we’ll see it, I’ll never get tired of Tucker imitating Gary.

E: God, it really is funny. 

QUEER OR NOT?

T: It’s about a boy trying to get a girl to date him, but the queer is dialed up to eleven. Even in non-Sardo scenes, the story feels camp.

E: Absolutely does, and that’s the magic of Ron Oliver. The wacky scene in the cafeteria with Justin running across the table definitely has a “John Waters for kids” vibe. From a feminist perspective, Ben and the way he interacts with girls is pretty icky, but I feel like we’re meant to think he’s full of shit. He’s like a younger version of Vince Vaughn’s Trent in Swingers. And I like Ashley, but I’d love to ditch the still-lingering damsel-in-distress energy.

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: Not only is this Gary’s last tale, but the last episode directed by Ron Oliver and the last written by Scott Peters.

E: Say it ain’t so!

T: The teacher who introduces Ashley to the class is played by Ivan Smith, who was the dad in “Quicksilver.” He will co-star in one of my favorite season six episodes I can’t wait to discuss.

E: Ooooh, I’m intrigued.

T: Ashley’s friend who gives her the cupcake and blue shirt is played by Amanda Walsh, who was Susan Henderson in “Dollmaker.” As mentioned in that recap, she became a successful TV DJ and is pretty well known in Canada.

E: Is a TV DJ the same thing as a VJ?

T: Yes, I’m terribly out of touch with modern coolness. And by “modern” I mean since MTV came out in 1981.

E: VJ is a ridiculous term so I applaud your out-of-touchness.

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: I enjoy this one so much it’s hard to divorce that from my critical brain and offer changes. Ben’s character could use a re-write. Keep the lame jokes and self-deprecation, but make him less “wear a girl’s resolve down” horrible. Also it would help if the little brother could act, although him being so bad just makes his scenes even funnier. I had one thought – what if Ashley was the one who sees Justin in the fire? Like the story would be split between Justin looking for a date and Ashley getting the magical door. It would be a total rewrite, but might be fun.

E: Oh, I love that idea! And it would definitely give her a more active role while making sure they both have a story-goal. And I agree that the occasional bad acting almost works here. The whole vibe is so campy that it makes sense. I suppose we’d have to make Ben modern cringey-cool instead of ’90s cringey-cool with his perpetual sunglasses and dated slang. What’s the modern equivalent of a kid who always has sunglasses on his face or head? Oh, I’ve got it--airpods!

T: Let me continue to date myself: what’s with always having those airpods jammed in your ears? Put them in, use them, then take them off already. Kids these days, I tell ya.

E: I don’t get it either, so you’re not alone. Take out the airpods and GET OFF MY LAWN.

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: I love this episode. The humor works for me on every level, Sardo is perfectly used, and the magical elements are fun and unique. Justin’s a great protagonist (for this specific story). I get that this is goofy, not all the acting’s stellar, and the humor is hit or miss for some people, but I got to go with my gut and how much I enjoy it. 10 CAMPFIRES OUT OF 10.

E: This one is so close to perfect for me. I’m going to dock it just a bit because the third door is a bit much--even for this campy episode--and I’d love to see Ashley take on a more active role. 9.5 CAMPFIRES OUT OF 10.