The Boy Who Cried Monster – The episode begins with Anthony Brewer (David Schwimmer) inspecting the room where Matty Brewer (Christopher Paul Richards) disappeared. He not only notices that some of the equipment is new but he notices that there is electricity. After fiddling with a circuit board, he gets an underground chamber to open up. Some of the black oily substance burst out of the chamber, causing Anthony to shut it. When he leaves the room, Cece (Jayden Bartels) and Devin Brewer (Sam McCarthy) see him.

At the restaurant, CJ (Elijah M Cooper) creates an inventive scary story to explain why he didn’t make Mrs. Murray’s (Brooke Dillman) delivery the prior evening. His mother Gwen (Ayana George) does not believe him and this leads to an argument where he tells her that he should be in management and not making deliveries. Despite the problems he’s had with deliveries, Gwen tells him that she will talk to his father about moving him up.

Frankie (Galilea La Salvia) wakes Devin and Cece because she has to go to work. While they briefly discuss how to proceed with Anthony, Jen (Ana Ortiz) asks Alex (Francesca Noel) if someone attacked her while she was in Trey Jiminez’s (Stony Blyden) car. Alex tells her that something attacked her not someone. Much to Alex’s surprise, her mother not only believes her but tells her that all the strangeness might have something to do with her friends who went missing in 1994. She also promises that she is going to figure it all out.

Frankie, Cece, and Devin are right in the middle of a discussion about Trey and his car when an excited Joe Jr (Wayne Lopez) comes in, talking about Trey’s release. At the same time, Anthony wakes with a bit of a cold. He calls Gwen and places an order for a large bowl of chicken soup. It is only a few seconds later when CJ shows up with the delivery. Everything appears normal until Anthony asks CJ to step inside so he can pay him. After a few minutes of silence, Anthony turns around and his eyeball is hanging out.

Gwendolyn’s is packed and no one is getting their orders thanks to an AWOL CJ. When he does show up with another wild story, Gwen does not believe him. She is so upset that she and CJ go over to Anthony’s house. Of course, he is fine which only makes Gwen even madder. She not only tells CJ that he can’t be a manager, but she takes his keys, phone, and fires him as delivery boy. Sometime later, Anthony calls the restaurant and asks CJ to come back to his house so he can explain things. When CJ gets there, Anthony doesn’t even remember calling. He also tells CJ to run before yanking him into the house.

Frankie, Devin, and Cece visit Alex at Community Service and try to talk to her about Trey’s car but she wants nothing to do with it. Even after Cece apologizes for not initially believing her, Alex wants nothing to do with the car story. At the same time, Jen visits what appears to be a dead drop or a secret hiding spot and retrieves a tin box secured in a Ziploc bag.

While Devin meets a girl in the park named Hannah Parker (Eloise Payet), Frankie talks to Trey about their relationship and what he remembers. He tells her that he loves her and the last thing he remembers is something about Anthony’s freezer. This leads to Frankie calling Devin and asking him to come home.

At the same time, Anthony holds CJ hostage in his basement and tries to get him to drink some of the oily substance that he throws up. They are interrupted when Jen arrives at the front door and gives him the tape from the night Matty disappeared. He flips out on her and makes her leave. Anthony returns to the basement to find CJ escaped from his bindings. It is only a few seconds later that CJ surprises him but can’t escape. Just as Anthony regains control and is about to throw up into CJ’s mouth, Trey literally knows his head off with a baseball bat. They spend the next few seconds talking to the head until they are freaked out enough to run back upstairs. Upstairs, they find the VHS tape that Jen left.

After a quick debate about what the tape is, Devin says they can watch it at Naomi Brewer’s place (Barbara Walsh). Frankie calls Alex and asks her to join them to watch the tape. Devin breaks off from the group and goes in search of Hannah. At the same time, the fake doctor from Trey’s room shows up in Anthony’s basement and tells him that she can stop him. This is where the episode ends.

 

Goosebumps: The Vanishing Review

This is starting to remind me of JJ Abrams’s Super 8 movie. That was a good movie for anyone who hasn’t seen it, and it won’t take long to see the connection. I am really enjoying the military conspiracy theme and I am betting that’s how the fake doctor comes into play. Although the acting isn’t always superb, my only complaint about the series is the dark scenes. Some scenes are so dark that it’s literally like watching a black screen. Other than that, I’d have to give the episode a 5.7 out of 10.

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