Would You Like To Play A Game? – As this episode of Them: The Scare begins, Lieutenant Schiff (Wayne Knight) checks on Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde) who keeps thinking about Benny. She doesn’t want to talk about it. Dawn hopes he doesn’t think she did this. Schiff speaks highly of her and even thinks she has a shot at being RHD Commander one day. He warned her time and again, but she just wouldn’t listen to him. Now, she’s caught up in an in-custody death and she left her partner at a potential crime scene. Schiff argues she handed them the rope so they can crucify her as quietly as possible. The media swarms the video when they get close to their destination. At home, Kel (Joshua J. Williams) walks past the television and doesn’t notice the news report.

Buzz Cut (Cuyle Carvin) takes Dawn’s weapons. Detective Stevens (Philip Covin) tells her she’s being detained for investigation into the in-custody death of Benito Alvarez. Buzz Cut puts cuffs on her before they lead her away to complete the processing procedure. A urine sample is collected. At the shop, Kyong-ah (Sung Yun Cho) tells Athena (Pam Grier) that they need to talk. She wants to know why the dolls were in the garbage. Athena claims the dolls are racist so she doesn’t want to sell them in a black community. Kyong-ah doesn’t want Athena telling her how to run her store. She reminds Athena that she kept her on when she came even though her work is slow and messy now. Kyong-ah says she can run the store without her. She fires Athena who leaves. Dawn is interviewed about the in-custody death of Benny.

She doesn’t know how Benny became unbuckled. Dawn is asked about her PR-24. She hopes they don’t think a single baton could do what Benny suffered. Dawn sees the Ringleader (Alan Phelps) who was with McKinney previously. She tells the panel that she doesn’t carry a baton and no one has ever complained about it. Dawn is asked about assaulting the confidential informant 18 months ago. She says that’s the last time she used her PR-24, but they closed the incident in ’89. She was put on administrative leave and required to see a court-appointed therapist. Dawn also had to complete an anger management training course. During an interview, Ronald McKinney (Jeremy Bobb) mentions that Dawn profiled Curtis Marynard and instigated a foot chase that put Curtis and officers in danger. He also claims Dawn has been routinely harassing and stalking him.

Dawn denies stalking McKinney. Instead, she says he had recent violent behavior. Dawn insists she doesn’t use drugs, but her test suggests otherwise. She asks them to put her on the wire. At school, Kel asks Natalie what happened. Natalie (Sarah Grace Elliott) tells him she doesn’t get him. She believes Kel doesn’t want people to know his mom is with the police. Natalie goes on to say she’s a pig and a child killer. During class, Officer Becker and Daren the Lion arrive as special guests. A troublemaker (Kamarion Miller) asks Officer Becker (Drew Matthews) about Kel’s mom. The officer talks about people using drugs. Kel hears the mascot speaking to him. It asks if he wants to play a game. Kel begins doing everything it asks. As he taps on the floor, he yells stop repeatedly. Dawn goes through a lie detector test in which she denies killing Benny.

She is also asked about Curtis Maynard. Investigator Phillips (Shane Johnson) asks if she had contact with Bernice Mott before the night of her murder. Dawn says no. Phillips questions whether she spent time in Mott’s household as a child. She says no. Joaquin Diaz (Carlito Olivero) is asked about Dawn. He mentions that he spoke to Dawn about whether the case was too personal for her. DCFS confirmed Reeve spent three years being fostered by Bernice Mott. Dawn is asked if she grew up in Mott’s foster home from 1958 and 1961. Phillips asks if she was adopted. Later, Athena comes to take Dawn home. Dawn refuses to let her mother drive. At home, Dawn eats with Athena and Kel. Athena tells Kel he’ll be great during his big performance tonight. Dawn wants Athena’s license because it’s not safe for her to drive and she needs a car anyway.

Athena knows her car is a crime scene now. Kel reminds his mom that his grandma didn’t do anything wrong. Dawn surprises Kel by revealing that Athena is not her real mother. Athena argues she is Kel’s grandmother and always will be. Dawn says she spent the first three years of her life in a foster home with an abusive psychopath. Athena reminds her she raised her on her own for 30 years. She always put her family first and her needs second. Dawn argues that she’s not thriving. She became a cop because she followed in the footsteps of a man she barely knew. Athena gets upset and storms out. Kel tells Dawn she should apologize because she always acts like she is never the problem. He reminds her that she was rarely around. Dawn says he knows what she does for a living. Kel asks if she was really going to work all of those nights.

He is going to the show and he doesn’t want her there. At the show, Kel hears the voice asking him if he’s high. Dawn shows up at the show anyway. Kel starts messing up. The lights turn off and he sees someone with red hair on the bleacher in front of him. The monster approaches him as he bangs the drum repeatedly. He falls. Dawn rushes down to check on him. The monster grabs him and asks if he’s scared. When Dawn checks on him, Kel says he thinks something is wrong with him.

 

Them: The Scare Review

This episode of Them: The Scare was decent with some strong scenes near the end of the episode. However, other aspects of the series weren’t all that great. The arrest and interrogation scenes were much too long and it’s highly unlikely that this followed the correct procedures.

Edmund wasn’t in this episode at all so that didn’t help. Instead, Kel and Athena had to step up to the plate. Those characters did well in offsetting Dawn who can be a bit unlikable at times. The latest ten minutes made up for an otherwise dull episode. The argument at the kitchen table was strong and the final scenes with Kel and the monster were great.

In a way, this was a tale of two episodes with the latter half being stronger than the first. Hopefully, the series will be able to end on a high note to make the eight-episode watch worthwhile. This episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Them: The Scare can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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