Are You Afraid of the Dark? Returns! with 8.1 "Submitted For Your Approval"

If you’ve been following Troy and Erin on their journeys through the old episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark? you know what to expect here. But we are taking a break from their older recaps to focus on the new episodes from Nickelodeon! So sit back and enjoy.

A LITTLE HISTORY

Nineteen years after the last episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? aired, and following the success of Stranger Things, Goosebumps, and IT, Nickelodeon has revived the series in the form of three, hour-long episodes telling one story. It’s an all-new Midnight Society and an all-new format.

RECAP

New girl Rachel keeps having weird-ass dreams about a little girl and a creepily tall dude in a top hat. Her new school seems poised to be a soul sucking bore when she starts finding strange notes in her locker. The notes put her through a series of tests and then lead her to a clearing in the woods, where she’s challenged to tell a scary story by the four masked members of the Midnight Society. Rachel tells them “The Tale of Mr. Tophat and the Carnival of Doom,” incorporating imagery from her recurring nightmares. The Midnight Society approve of her story, unmask themselves, and ask her to join their ranks. Rachel enthusiastically accepts. The next day, the Midnight Society finds out one of their fellow students has gone missing and the real Carnival of Doom is coming to town.

REVIEW

Troy: I was pleasantly surprised. The best thing going for the show are the leads. Each actor quickly nails their character and the camaraderie between them. New showrunner BenDavid Grabinski had the teens do horror movie nights so they spent a lot of time bonding over classic horror in real life. It translates to the screen.

Erin: That makes so much sense. I was immediately impressed by the onscreen chemistry. Also, these characters are just as solid as the original Midnight Society, if not more so, and the casting is excellent. Can I...um...can I fangirl about Graham yet? Because he’s the badass cinnamon roll I’ve been waiting for my whole life.

T: I think it’s safe to say actor Jeremy Ray Taylor is this episode’s MVP. Just his presence adds legitimacy to the project, since he co-starred in IT and Goosebumps 2. He’s a great talent and the show’s lucky to have him. So are we.

T: The opening scene is very Nightmare on Elm Street without shoving it down our throats. The whole episode is full of little nods and references to horror. The town of Argento, Oregon, is named after Italian director Dario Argento, and all the kids’ last names are horror directors (Rachel Carpenter, Adam Lynch, etc.). That’s a long horror tradition; they did the same thing in the original Final Destination. Billy Loomis in Scream is named after Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween who was named after Sam Loomis in Psycho.

E: This is Gayly Dreadful, yo. Do we really need to explain who Dario Argento is?

T: Mr. Tophat watching Rachel from the street in real life was a great surprise. I love that he’s channeling Willy Wonka realness.

E: He is legit creepy, and another example of stellar casting.

T: The updated opening credits are a nice touch. It feels very respectful of the original while incorporating the Carnival of Doom.

E: Agreed! It also modernizes the vibe of the whole show while keeping the creep factor appropriate for tweens.

T: Does every member of the Midnight Society need a slow-mo intro? I can’t decide if they work or not.

E: Say whaaaaaat?? Are we watching the same show? Now I’m really gonna fangirl. Graham’s intro is now one of my all-time favorite TV moments. The headphones. The translucent rain slicker. The t-shirt that boldly proclaims “WATCH HORROR MOVIES.” Instead of depicting him as a loser kid who’s been beaten down or hardened by the shit he gets on a daily basis, they have this precious weirdo literally dancing off the bus and dodging a football that then hits some random cool kid in the face. Akiko the take-no-prisoners filmmaker is probably my second fave.

T: Rachel’s mom is a hoot and feels like she’d fit in perfectly in the old series as one of the fictional parents.

E: No joke, she immediately made me think of Aunt Dotty from “The Tale of the Lonely Ghost.”

T: What sort of fresh Hell must it be to have to introduce yourself in front of a class? That could be an entire horror story right there.

E: I seriously hope that’s not a thing that happens in real life. I also have to confess I now want the teacher who forced Rachel to do that to meet some deliciously grisly end.

T: The bit with Graham joyfully discovering Rachel’s skull earring and H.P. Lovecraft book is so great. His look just shouts, “She’s one of us!” Horror really does bring people together as instant friends.

E: So true! And I think that moment is wholly relatable even if you’re not a hardcore horror fan.

T: I really appreciate that Akiko is a difficult director. Her whole introduction is so much fun. Which reminds me: this episode is pretty funny. The gag with the bloody slide cracked me up.

E: There are some genuinely funny moments. I loved Rachel’s mom’s very awkward attempt to introduce herself to the hot boy next door. Classic!

T: Wow – those cracked masks are messed up. They have a plot purpose and are realistic enough to be unnerving.

E: Omg, I love them! It ups the creep factor by a thousand in a way that totally works within the context of the show.

T: The Midnight Society scenes strike the perfect tone for me of being overly serious. And of course they bring back the “put a bag over the newbie’s head” from the original and the bag of fire dust.

E: I only recently learned that the “dust” is actually non-dairy creamer!

T: Gavin turns out to be a charming psycho by asking all those “casual” questions to Rachel. They’re trying to make him more than the stock “boy next door” and they haven’t quite gotten there yet, but there’s potential.

E: He’s my least favorite of the group, but I’m hopeful that they’re building up to something big with him.

T: Really? For me, Louise is my least favorite, but that’s only because she had the least to do in this episode. They have a lot to juggle and she doesn’t get much screen time here, but I expect we’ll get to know her better next week. I do appreciate that she’s the clear leader of the Midnight Society and takes Gary’s role of closing meetings.

QUEER OR NOT?

T: The Midnight Society is kind of closeted. They don’t talk openly at school and guard their secret selves, which reads rather queer. Just look at the scene when Graham realizes he shares interests with Rachel, and try not to picture a closeted teen’s hopefulness that the new student is queer.

E: Oooooooh, good point! I definitely got Fight Club vibes when Graham said, “We don’t talk about TMS at school.” And, as we all know, Fight Club is suuuuuuuper gay.

T: Mr. Tophat’s camp could veer into queer territory. He does kiss the dad’s cheek. I think we’ll need to spend a little more time with him to get a better feel for the character.

MODERNIZE ’90s CANADIAN KIDS

T: The series was filmed in Canada mostly with a Canadian cast and crew, but they set it in Oregon! It’s a little disappointing, but at least it’s a border state. I wonder what people will think about the modern teens in twenty years.

E: In twenty years we will all be living in the post-post-modern dark ages and no one will give a shit about these kids…Totes kidding! Graham will never not be cool.

TRIVIA, USELESS TRIVIA

T: The mom in Rachel’s story is played by Laura Bertram, who starred as Amanda in the first season’s “The Tale of the Lonely Ghost” and appears in a season five episode. These are the types of Easter eggs I really enjoy because it doesn’t subtract from new viewers but is fun for fans.

E: Amazing! No wonder she pulls off a spot-on Aunt Dotty impression.

T: The clown ticket taker is Robert Mann, who played slasher killer Billy in the Black Christmas remake.

JUST GIVE IT A NUMERICAL RATING ALREADY

T: This is hard because this episode is really act one of the story, which is predominantly set-up. I like the set-up for the most part, but it’s hard to see how well it really works until acts two and three are released. Erin, I’m going to suggest we wait and rate the three revival episodes as a whole. What say you?

E: Yes, good idea. Because I’m still so excited about the whole thing I’m afraid I’ll go overboard.

PREDICTIONS

T: I’m cautiously optimistic for episodes two and three. There are a lot of spinning plates here but it’s all manageable. I think Rachel’s story is autobiographical, and she was the little girl in her story, who’s only just remembering the Carnival of Doom because it’s returning.

E: I LOVE this theory. The little girl is waaaaaay creepier than Rachel, but I’d still be impressed if they pulled off this twist.