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Episode Recap #14: Bedazzled
Original Airdate: February 27, 1988
Starring:
John D. LeMay as Ryan Dallion
Louise Robey as Micki Foster
Chris Wiggins as Jack Marshak
Guest cast:
Alan Jordan as Jonah
Gavin Magrath as Richie
David Mucci as Tom
Paual Barrett as Jenny
Timothy Webber as Telephone Lineman
Ratch Wallace as Officer Kennedy
J.J. Makaro as David Jones
Written by Paul Monette, Alfred Sole
Directed by Alexander Singer
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This week, we start underwater! A camera pans across the sunken wreckage of a ship. Later, a man on a ship holds a lantern beam towards the water. A diver comes up, telling the man he was right, it works. They haul up and onto their boat a treasure chest. Back at the dock, two men carry the chest while one of them tells the guy with the lantern, Jonah, that he couldn't find anything until the man shone the lantern light into the sea. Then, the treasure chest was there. The three men bring the chest inside a docked ship. Outside, Jack and Ryan are skulking about, looking for the lantern.
Wonder who ended up finding the treasure on Jonah's ship later?
Jonah and one of his men use a blowtorch to try and get into the chest, sending the other man above. Jack and Ryan decide to slip into the ship, careful to avoid the man above. Jonah opens the chest, revealing gold, diamonds and more inside. Jonah then holds the lantern up to his buddy and opens it, the beam of light hitting the other man in the chest, igniting him into flames and killing him. Ryan and Jack hear the man's screams and rush in. Ryan attacks Jonah, who drops the lantern, which Jack picks up. Ryan and Jonah struggle as Jack tries to get away. The third man, Tom, comes back and struggles with Jack. Back and forth they all go until Ryan knocks Tom away from Jack and they make their escape. Before Jonah or Tom can reach them, they get in their car and drive off. Jonah makes notice of their license plate, however.
Lantern is pretty straight-forward. Plays on greed, pure and simple.
An astrology convention! Interesting way to get them out of the store.
The phone rings again and Micki answers, nervous. But it is her friend, Jenny, asking if Micki can babysit her son, Richie. Micki agrees, telling her to bring the boy over.
Outside, in the rain, Jonah and Tom wonder how to get inside. Just then, a telephone repairman pulls up to do some work.
Micki moves some breakable antiques to safety as the weatherman on the radio says the storm is getting worse, being upgraded to a hurricane. The men outside approach the telephone man, making small talk. Before long, Jonah has a phone cord around the man's neck and he strangles him, killing him.
In the shop, the phone rings again. Micki answers and hears Ryan's voice, telling her that they are stuck at the convention, the storm is too bad. She tells him to have fun and stay safe, she is fine. As she hangs up, she gets the chills. Jonah cuts the phone line outside.
Jack and Ryan, after calling Micki, debate driving back home, but decide to proceed on to the convention, since the roads are so bad.
Micki hears a knock at the door and opens it to Jonah and Tom, posing as the telephone repairmen. Micki says the phone is working, she was just on it. He asks her to check again and when she does, she finds the line dead. Jonah asks if he wants her to fix it and she agrees, letting them inside. He asks where the basement is, Micki leads the way, then hears another knock on the door. She lets them go off on their own and lets her friend Jenny and his son Richie inside. Richie isn't happy to be there. Jenny heads out, leaving Micki to babysit. He hides from Micki as soon as his mother is gone, then scares Micki with an old mask. Micki snaps at him. Richie asks to read Ryan's comics and she lets him be.
Love all the shots of the interior of the store in this episode!
In the basement, Jonah and Tom are trying to access the vault, but cannot find a way in. Jonah decides they should use the blowtorch to break into it open. Micki gives Richie some cookies, he proceeds to pull all the chips out to just eat them. Micki goes to check the windows.
You are a weird kid, Richie.
The blowtorch makes no progress on the vault. Tom knocks some stuff over and Jonah snaps at him. Richie hears the commotion and goes to investigate. He doesn't buy their story about fixing a phone with a blowtorch. He says they aren't supposed to fool with the vault. Jonah places nice, trying to keep the charade up. Jonah asks for help from Richie, who is reluctant and wary of the strange men. He says he is going to tell and attempts to run off, but Jonah grabs him.
Micki is looking for the boy upstairs when Richie yells for help. She rushes downstairs and finds the men tying the boy to a chair. Micki acts calmly when Jonah says pretending to be phone men was their only way in. A cop pulls up alongside the abandoned phone truck outside.
Jonah wants the lantern and wants Micki to open the vault. She says she doesn't know how to get in. Jonah threatens her with a match, asking her if she knows what skin smells like burning. He then burns the end of her hair and she concedes, telling him there is a secret entrance to the vault. She lies and says the instructions to get into the vault are written in the manifest, upstairs on Jack's desk. Jonah takes her upstairs to look, leaving Tom with Richie. Outside, the cop finds the cut phone wires and repair equipment, but not repairman.
Wonder if she let them really burn the end of her hair?
Jonah snaps after being unable to find the vault instructions. Micki attempts to attack him, but he grabs her and takes her weapon away, leading her back to the basement. The cop opens the compartments of the truck and eventually finds the repairman's body. He heads toward Curious Goods.
Micki is trying the various bricks around the vault, pretending not to know which one activates the vault. The cop knocks on the door and Jonah sends Tom up to investigate, telling Micki to keep trying the bricks.
Tom calls to the cop, not wanting to open the door. The cop plays cool, saying he is just checking the neighborhood, making sure all is okay. He asks if they are having trouble with the phones and Tom says no, their phones are fine. The cop knows the man is lying. He tells Tom to have a good evening, then proceeds to surprise him by breaking the door in. He tells Tom to freeze, but the man tries to attack, so the cop shoots him.
Jonah tries a brick Micki keeps avoiding and the vault opens. He heads inside just as they hear the gunshots above. He tells Richie to be quiet then tells Micki to untie the boy and put him in the vault. He follows, grabs a weapon, then locks the two of them inside. He goes after the cop. Micki comforts the boy, telling him they will get through this.
The cop searches the store as Jonah slowly heads upstairs. The cop doesn't see Jonah with the weapon from the vault. Jonah attacks from behind, impaling the man through his back and out his chest. The cop dies. Jonah pulls the blood-soaked weapon out of the man's chest and uses it to fix the door so it cannot be opened. He checks on Tom, who is also dead, and removes the chain from around his neck. In the vault, Micki is looking for something to use to defend themselves against Jonah. She finds the lantern the man wants and picks it up.
When Jonah comes back, he opens the vault and sees the lantern places right in view. As he reaches for it, Micki attacks, stunning him. She tells Richie to run as she grabs the lantern and follows. Jonah soon regains himself and follows.
In the store, Micki and Richie find the dead cop and try to get out, but the door is jammed. She tells Richie to go to her room and hide, then grabs the lantern and follows, shutting the door and blocking it with her bureau. She then grabs her bedside lamp and strips the wire, telling Richie she is going to give the man the shock of his life. She slips the wire onto the metal of the lantern and sets it on the bed, then tells the boy not to touch the lantern after he plugs the cord into the wall. They hide, waiting for Jonah.
Slowly going up the stairs, Jonah is wary of where Micki might be hiding. He goads them from outside the room, then forces the doors open, pushing the bureau away. He spies Micki, who eggs him on toward the lantern. She says he can't have it, but he sees it sitting on the bed and reaches for it. When he grabs it, he is electrocuted and collapses to the floor. Micki tells Richie to pull the plug. She undoes the wire and they attempt to leave the room. Jonah grabs her ankle, knocking her down, and they struggle about the usptairs.
Micki eventually gets to the landing, telling Richie to toss the lantern over. He does and when Jonah goes to grab it, she grabs his foot and uses his momentum to push him over the railing and onto the floor below. They believe the man is dead and head down the stairs.
Ouch, to put it mildly! Surprised this didn't kill him!
As they reach the bottom, Jonah jumps up and grabs the lantern, opening the door so he can use the cursed beam to kill them. As the light plays across the store, Micki evades it and grabs an antique mirror, using it to deflect the beam back at Jonah. He is ignited and his head burns. He is killed.
Smart thinking, yet again!
The next morning, Ryan and Jack have returned and Ryan goes on about all the trouble they had on their trip. Micki listens and when he asks what she did all night, she says nothing. Ryan says he wishes he could have a quiet evening like hers. Just then Jenny arrives, asking Micki to not tell Richie any ghost stories next time she babysits. Micki says she didn't, but Jenny tells her all the stuff Richie told him about his night at the store. When she mentions the lantern, Jack and Ryan are curious. Micki merely, smiles, heads upstairs, saying "Kids." as she goes.
Ah, Micki. Leaving a mystery for the boys to figure out.
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My thoughts:
An awesome episode! The show takes the premise of a babysitter being stalked in the home on a stormy night and turns it into quite a great episode. Micki is great as the babysitter, showing us just how resourceful she has become in her time at the store.
The lantern is a great antique, love how the curse works and what Jonah will do to keep this item for himself!
Love the scenes in the sea and on the water. Beautiful shots!
Amazing shots, well done!
One thing I was curious about: If Jonah took the sword-type weapon from the vault and used it to kill the cop, wouldn't whatever curse the item had be activated? I know he doesn't have much time to figure out what the item does, but seems like something should have happened with it.
Jenny and Richie are interesting, since we have been led to believe the neighbors all avoid the store, especially after the events on Halloween. Yet Micki has a friend who is willing to let her son be babysat there. Maybe Jenny just has no idea about the store's history. Then again, we never see Jenny or Richie again, so he must have been adamant about never returning there.
Micki also was able to get all the evidence of the night's events cleared up before anyone got back. I mean, the repairman, the cop and two other people were killed in and around the store and there is no investigation on going or anything. You would think there would be police tape or something! Hah!
Anyway, it is a fun, stormy-night episode of the show, with tons of scenes set at the store, which I also love. A favorite!
Next week: "Vanity's Mirror"
Happy new year CJ (:
ReplyDeleteGreat review. This is one of my all-time favorite episodes. It showed that Micki was smart, brave, tough, and resourceful. And the ending was so cute.
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