The Box – As the finale of Them: The Scare begins, Edmund Gaines (Luke James) speaks to the camera about seeing blood after leaving Dawn’s house. Edmund is shown lying on the ground with the monster. When LAPD officers knock on the door, Edmund is told to give himself to the monster. The Scare tells Edmund it’ll bring them all and it’ll bring her to them. It seems to possess Edmund and forced him to slice his neck. Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde) wakes up abruptly. She has a nightmare and abruptly wakes up once again. Dawn frantically awakens Kel (Joshua Williams) and promises she won’t let him get hurt. Corey (Iman Shumpert) arrives and explains he came as quickly as he could.

Dawn goes to the bedroom and picks up the box. She finds notes to a “baby boy” and a “baby girl”. Dawn goes downstairs where she asks Joaquin Diaz (Carlito Olivero) if the flowers are from his friends in Internal Affairs. He insists he wanted to say how sorry he is about his mom. Valley Bureau should have information about Edmund to him tonight.  Diaz questions if she knows something because they want the same thing. Dawn tells him that the Kwan sisters were twins. Dawn’s mom kept her and sent Edmund back. That was Benny’s story with his brother. Dawn believes it was all her brother. He’s been trying to reach out to her to tell his story and their story. Dawn believes all of this started at the Mott house. He meant to bring her to the place where they were raised. Dawn wants to go back there, but Diaz thinks she should stay away from there.

In a flashback, Dawn goes to the scene where Bernice Mott (Cindi Davis) has been killed. 16-year-old Malcolm phoned it in. Now, the children are downtown with DCFS. In the present, Detective Ronald McKinney (Jeremy Bobb) and Diaz watch her go into the house. Dawn listens to her tape which means a star-shaped clock on the wall in the dining room. The clock stopped at 3:17. Outside, Diaz tells McKinney that Dawn is imagining things and believes her brother is trying to communicate with her. McKinney thinks she is psychotic and responsible for the killings. Diaz believes she’s just hurt that her mom is dead. McKinney explains how it all comes back to Dawn. Meanwhile, Dawn notices that something has been moved from the corner of a room. She pulls up the carpet. In a flashback, Diaz checks on her in the same spot.

In the present, Dawn believes they were memories. Kel tells Corey about the monster. Corey promises he’s going to be there since he’s not going back on tour. When he embraces Kel, he sees the scare in the mirror. Dawn goes to Diaz’s house where she learns Edmund killed one before he committed suicide. Dawn tries to build a profile. Diaz says there are audition tapes since Edmund was trying to be an actor. Dawn watches the tape of Edmund and remembers he came to her house two years ago. She didn’t give him the chance to say he was her brother. In the video, Edmund asks if Dawn remembers what she did to them. He asks if she remembers the box and wonders why he’s the only one who has to live with this. They see Edmund wearing a red wig. McKinney sneaks in on them and prevents Dawn from returning to Kel. He says that’s the problem with giving them a badge. With one piece of power, they think they can do whatever they want.

McKinney forces her to get on the floor before kicking her. Diaz pulls his gun on McKinney and tells him to stop. McKinney ends up shooting him. Dawn pulls a gun before McKinney goes for it. They struggle briefly before McKinney is shot in the stomach. Dawn says she’ll call for backup. Corey and Kel hear something upstairs. Corey grabs a knife. The Raggedy Ann and Andy song plays. Corey goes upstairs to look around when he gets attacked. Kel yells for him and hears a thud. It appears Corey is thrown down the stairs before The Scare appears and asks Kel if he’s scared. Dawn makes it home where she finds Corey on the floor. A video plays showing Bernice’s house and The Scare who tells his sis it’s time to come home. Dawn goes to the house so she can look for Kel. The door slams and shuts behind her.

Dawn remembers things from the house. Bernice gets upset at a young Edmund who attempts to hide from her. Edmund takes Dawn someplace they can hide. Bernice damages the clock and breaks the glass on the door. Dawn suspects Edmund put Bernice there because it’s where they used to hide. Dawn is pulled out by The Scare. Then, Dawn sees the moment her mom gives herself and her brother to Bernice. Ruby Lee Emory (Shahadi Wright Joseph) says she can’t let what happened to her happen to them. Bernice promises to take good care of them. Ruby gives them two Raggedy dolls. Bernice finds herself locked in the box. Edmund gives her a straw to breathe through. Bernice punishes him for helping her. Then, Dawn approaches The Scare and says she’s going to destroy it.

The Scare tells Dawn she’s going to join him. They can be family again. The Scare tells her to forget about her son like she forgot about him. Dawn says they made her forget him and what happened wasn’t his fault. She says he saved her. Dawn says she loves him. The Scare’s body begins contorting. Athena told Dawn that he was her imaginary friend but he wasn’t. Dawn says Edmund was her best friend. She says this is not him. The Scares dies and Edmund (Luke James) appears instead. Dawn tells Edmund she loves him. His face contorts and he dies. Dawn rushes to check on Kel who is fine. During a hearing, Dawn plays the recording of McKinney for the panel. He admits what he did to Lamar Watkins. Diaz testified that she acted in self-defense.

Investigator Phillips (Shane Johnson) says there will be no charges brought against her in the death of Detective McKinney. They also drop the charges in the Alvarez case. Lieutenant Schiff (Wayne Knight) mentions that McKinney matched the description of the large, red-headed man. Dawn only says that the killings will stop. Schiff won’t be able to offer her old job back as a detective. In a few months, he could give her a desk job. She would be able to hold onto her benefits and pension. Dawn refuses. Six months later, Dawn yells for Kel to set the table. His dad is coming over again. Later, Dawn opens the box and looks through the stuff from her childhood. She finds a picture of her family. Someone begins walking up the stairs. Da Tap Dance Man (Jeremiah Birkett) approaches her and asks what she is going to do.

 

Them: The Scare Review

The finale of Them: The Scare was pretty disappointing considering how little it actually achieved and the copout ending just to leave viewers hanging for another year or two. On top of that, there’s no guarantee this will get renewed. With the simple demise of The Scare, the whole series feels like a big nothing burger.

Knowing how weak the finale is, it’d be hard to recommend series two. There were some strong moments throughout the scene though. In particular, the scenes involving Edmund were usually always strong. The other characters had moments, but Edmund was easily the most interesting character of the season.

It’ll be hard to look forward to another season if Luke James and Edmund aren’t going to be a part of it. Kel also had strong moments at the end of the season. If viewers are going to watch this, I’d strongly recommend preparing for a weak finish and watching for Luke James as Edmund. The finale scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Them: The Scare can be found on Reel Mockery here.

Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss Them and other shows at the Reel Mockery Forum.