As the story opens, Kevin Kelly (Senan Jennings) and Tom Kelly (Joseph McGucken) are in the shed on the mountain. As the “The Pooka” video plays, Kevin swears The Pooka has disappeared since he last watched it. Sally (Jude McClean) is still in the video. He suggests The Pooka escaped the video and ate their treats. Tom tells him that Mary Kelly (Kathryn McKiernan) attributes his bad behavior to them not spending time together. Disagreeing, Kevin becomes frustrated with Tom ranting about his poor health. Tom insists The Pooka is nothing more than a character in an 80s movie. Kevin vows to prove it is real. At the cabin, Katie Kelly (Kate Brady) is still on the edge after the rat which turned out to be an old mop. Hearing a noise, she turns just as something clears the doorway. Tom is about to dip his finger in the cake mix when Mary, wearing a facial sheet mask, warns him, Katie, and Kevin not to touch it. Tom sneaks a bite anyway. She tells them that the cake is for their dinner with Rob (Carl Finnegan) and Priya (Fathimah Kara) before them a chocolate bar. Kevin requests his phone be returned, so he can utilize it to prove The Pooka is real. Mary says no, He describes her as looking like a serial killer. Kevin waits until everyone is asleep to set up a trap utilizing his chocolate bar. Hidden behind a tree, he trains his phone camera in on the swing. As time passes, he grows tired, falls asleep, and is eventually startled awake to find the chocolate bar gone and the swing swaying back and forth. Making his way back to the cabin, Kevin finds himself face-to-face with The Pooka. Terrified, he drops his phone and The Pooka retrieves it. He lies in bed wide awake.

Kevin still hasn’t recovered by breakfast time. Katie asks him what is wrong. He tells her about seeing The Pooka. Finding his claim implausible, she demands he drop the act. He asks why she hates him so much and accuses her of being more interested in her phone than him. She calls him a weirdo. He drops his spoon and storms off to his room. She turns her attention back to her phone. After confirming the caretaker didn’t find his phone, Kevin asks if she has noticed anything strange. She mistakenly believes he is referring to the tattooed man staying in Cabin 8. He tells her about seeing The Pooka and losing his phone last night. She escorts him to her cabin where she shows him a book about fairies. She claims the mountain is a fairy mound thought to be a portal to fairyland. Fairies utilize portals to escape from fairyland to the real world. She questions if the TV screen was a portal utilized by The Pooka to access the real world. They make a deal to find and send The Pooka back to his own land.

While icing a chocolate cake, Mary orders Tom to dress for their dinner with Rob and Priya. Kevin warns her that The Pooka’s favorite food is chocolate cake. She puts Katie in charge of Kevin. She insists Tom not to mention his termination and pretend to be an architect. At dinner, Mary compliments Priya’s cauliflower churros. Tom pretends to love architecture. Mary claims he is working on a passion project. Unable to think of anything, Tom says there aren’t enough wheels on her house. Unable to convince Katie to help him stop The Pooka from getting the chocolate cake, Kevin takes the fairy book to his room. While Katie is engrossed in her phone, Kevin tries to sneak out. He knocks over a stack of cookware but she doesn’t hear a thing. He races to a neighboring cabin where Rob, Priya, Tom, and Mary are chatting. The Pooka (Micaela Gorman) pops his head through the window and silently laughs. Kevin reaches the chocolate cake before The Pooka. As he is about to slip out, The Pooka makes an appearance. Startled, Kevin drops the cake. Shocked, Mary apologizes to Priya and promises to punish Kevin who wants to explain but knows she wouldn’t like it. Back at the cabin, Mary scolds Katie, Kevin, and Tom for ruining her opportunity to enjoy herself. She accuses Tom of lying about his condition. Kevin asks to speak. She warns him if what he is about to say involves The Pooka. He decides to stay quiet. Grabbing Katie’s chocolate bar, she storms out of the cabin.

The caretaker assures Kevin that he will get the knack of it. He claims to be learning hurling, so other boys will like him before telling her about last night’s disaster. She insists he is a good boy trying to stop The Pooka. He admits to hitting his classmate because he called him stupid. She says he was only standing up for himself. He blames his poor schoolwork for his parents’ arguments. They concoct a plan to trap The Pooka inside the shed. She demonstrates how to utilize walkie-talkies. Elsewhere, Tom tries to get on Mary’s good side by treating her to some homemade French toast and her favorite alcoholic beverage. She reluctantly accepts it but she is still angry at him. He races back to the cabin for a fork. At the shed, Kevin keeps a lookout for The Pooka. After several false starts, he utilizes the walkie-talkie when he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns to find himself facing The Pooka. Frightened, he alerts the caregiver but doesn’t get a response. The Pooka returns his phone with a card that reads, “You dropped this.” Kevin thanks him. The Pooka communicates with him through typewritten messages on cards. He is from Pookaville. Seeing he is wearing Tom’s watch, Kevin explains how he first saw him inside a video and the fairy mountain helped him escape. Refusing to believe him, The Pooka calls him a fibber and no longer wants to play with him.

Kevin apologizes to Katie and asks him to accompany her to the shed. She agrees before showing him The Pooka in one of her videos. He assures her that The Pooka is harmless. She imagines how she will utilize it to create her own online brand. Tom tells them that he promised Mary that they would play a board game later. A short time later, Katie makes a video of the shed. Kevin discovers a “The Kellys” VHS tape. He puts it into the VHS player and their house pops up on the screen. They are both shocked at what they see as the episode ends.

 

The Unreal Review

The plot is extremely clever. The Pooka is a magical creature from Pookaland. Kevin unknowingly helps The Pooka escape a children’s video, “The Pooka.” Sally and her mother are also trapped in the video. Katie refuses to believe Kevin until she captures The Pooka in one of her social media videos. They soon discover that the Kelly family is trapped in their own video.

Senan Jennings would make the perfect Kevin if his acting skills were polished up a bit. The camerawork and lighting are great. The episode deserves a 5.8 out of 10.

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