Night Of The Living Dummy – As the sixth episode of Goosebumps begins, Nathan Bratt (Justin Long) invites the kids inside so he can tell them what was in the case. Isaiah Howard (Zack Morris) asks how he has the case. Nathan says he’ll tell them. He explains that the story starts with his great-grandfather in 1925 in New York City. Ephraim Biddle (Eddie Jemison) is shown performing magic tricks, but members of the audience are not impressed. Ephraim goes looking for new tricks since he has a wife and kid to support. He eventually hears something saying “over here” so he buys a case. At home, Ephraim shows Betsy the doll named Slappy he bought. Ephraim finds a note that says, “Karrano. Marri. Molonu. Loma. Molonu. Karrano.”

He questions what that means. Ephraim begins performing with Slappy. The performance doesn’t go well until Slappy takes over and insults Ephraim. As Ephraim finds success with Slappy, Betsy complains that he isn’t spending any time with his family. In 1960, Ephraim isn’t happy that the theater is half empty. The owner recommends booking a clown as an opening act, but Ephraim argues that they are the show. Once he leaves, Slappy worries that he is going to ruin their plans. He goes on to say they’re delivering it tonight so Ephraim needs to deal with him. When the man comes back, Slappy tells Ephraim to use the spell. Ephraim uses the spell to stop the man. Two men deliver a coffin with “Kanduu” written on the top. Ephraim finds a note in the pocket and reads it as instructed by Slappy.

He stops and puts Slappy in a case. Two weeks later in Port Lawrence, Ephraim moves into the Biddle house. Slappy is sealed in the wall to make sure no one ever finds him. Slappy believes someone will find him. In 1993, Rhonda (Lisa Durupt) finally tracks down Georgia Biddle (Gillian Vigman), Perry Biddle (Jonathan Silverman), and Harold Biddle (Ben Cockell). She is surprised to learn that Harold keeps worms as pets. Rhonda confirms they’re the full owners of the house now. Perry thinks they’re going to like it there although Harold argues kids are the same everywhere. They go into the basement where it is suggested it can become a hangout spot for Harold and his new friends. Georgia wants to talk about getting a new pet as well.

In the morning, Harold tells his father he doesn’t want to go to school. Perry insists no one is going to bully him here. He gives Harold a Polaroid camera and recommends joining the photo club. Harold goes to the school where he speaks to Nora (Taylar Hender) about joining the photo club. Sarah (Alex Felix) comes over to check out the camera and introduce herself. One day, Harold is invited to a party at Ben’s place since it is Eliza’s birthday. Perry finds out that Harold didn’t go and he doesn’t want to talk about it. Harold doesn’t think Sarah will ever like him back. He believes it must be disappointing knowing your son is a loser. Perry tries to cheer him up. Harold gets upset and throws something at the wall. That leads to him finding the doll.

Later, Harold surprises his parents by showing them the doll. Then, he finds the note and repeats the words just like Ephraim did. When he tries to take Slappy to school, his parents urge him to leave it. Harold ends up taking it with him anyway. Eliza and Victoria do a presentation at school. Then, Harold takes to the stage to perform with Slappy. He is shocked when Slappy begins talking, but the other students love it. Slappy tells Harold that he won’t be a loser with him. He quickly becomes popular among the other students. One day, Sarah asks Harold if he is going to go to the winter formal. He learns that Ben isn’t her boyfriend. Nora walks in on Slappy telling Harold that he can’t trust Sarah. After she storms out, Slappy says there is something different about that girl.

Nora tells Sarah what she saw. At home, Harold’s parents tell him they heard him talking to his doll. They want him to spend time with his real friends instead of his dummy. Harold gets upset and lashes out at his mother. He goes on to claim that Slappy is right about everything. While Harold is away, his parents try to destroy Slappy by burning it. Harold finds out what is going on before Slappy tells him to use the spell. Harold uses the spell which seems to turn his parents into dolls. Harold returns to the school to perform with Slappy. This time, Slappy ends up making fun of Harold’s friends. After the teacher stops it, Sarah tells Harold that she can’t be his friend anymore. Harold insists she just doesn’t understand the plan that is in motion.

Once Harold steps away, Nora blames the puppet. They end up agreeing to get the puppet. When Ben gets it later, Slappy calls him an idiot. Ben realizes that Nora was right about the puppet. He catches up with the others. They try to help Harold, but he locks himself in the basement. They escape the house just before a big explosion. Slappy pops out of the case and asks if they thought it was going to be that easy. They believe they’ll have to bury it where no one will ever find it. Ben tells everyone they can never talk about what happened here. In the present, the kids argue that their parents aren’t real murderers. Nathan suggests otherwise. He explains that their parents kept bullying Harold. Margot asks how Nathan knows about all this. Nathan says he isn’t Nathan Bratt. Instead, he is Harold Biddle.

 

Goosebumps Review

This episode of Goosebumps was primarily in the past as Nathan explained what happened on the day of Harold’s death. While a necessary episode, it didn’t do a lot to get the show back on track. It is hard to believe there are still four episodes left this season. At this rate, there is a good chance there will be more episodes like this that don’t really push the story forward.

That’s the primary issue with tying everything together instead of having individual stories in each episode. This just doesn’t work as well as it could’ve. It is unfortunate considering how popular the book series was back in the day. The performances are mostly okay and the camerawork is good although some scenes are a bit too dark.

The pacing is tedious and the character depth is nonexistent though. If the story was going to carry on for ten episodes, there needed to be characters that were easy to cheer for. The latest Goosebumps just isn’t serious or scary enough to live up to the impeccable book series. This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Goosebumps are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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