“The Puppet Show” – Buffy the Vampire Slayer S1E9
AKA: Don’t Be a Dummy
I fell in love with the girl at the Puppet Show
We open on a PoV shot backstage during a talent and puppet show rehearsal as a creepy voiceover says, “I will be whole.” On stage, we have one very off-key Cordelia Chase singing The Greatest Love of All and an exasperated Giles dismissing her. Kind of rude of him, because she hadn’t even gotten to the sparkler portion yet.
Our trio walks in to rib Giles about his assignment as Talent Show Coordinator. Mr. Snyder, the new principal (RIP Mr. Flutie) wants him to interact with students more. Snyder overhears this student-teacher interaction and decides that Buffy, Willow, and Xander also need to be more integrated with the school. As such, they will be required to participate in the talent show. He explains that Principal Flutie was too touchy-feely for his liking, and Sunnydale will neither touch nor feel on his watch.
We also learn that Buffy is wigged by puppets as Sid, our titular puppet, takes stage for his rehearsal slot. He is actually talking, much to the shock of the puppeteer Morgan. The rest of the rehearsing students believe this to be an actual ventriloquist act.
In the locker room, we get the creepy voiceover once more as he attacks a student: “I will be flesh.”
Leave your heart on the stage
Chaos abounds at an additional rehearsal. Willow has decided that a dramatic scene is the easiest talent they could do. Sid the puppet starts sexually harassing Buffy and Willow, and he allows Morgan to take the fall. Or, at least, he partially takes the fall. Buffy does threaten to turn Sid into a Dura-Flame log.
Principal Snyder and Giles talk about all the misfortunes Sunnydale High has endured recently. While he would prefer to blame our Scoobies for it all, his current plan is to run a tight ship. Then a scream comes from the locker room.
Emily, the dancer seen at rehearsal, was found dead with her heart removed. Giles says some demons will remove hearts, but typically with their claws and teeth. Emily’s heart was neatly cut out. All but Buffy assume a simple human murder, until our Slayer reminds them of the Hellmouth of it all.
The Scoobies interview everyone in the talent show in an attempt to trace her last steps. Everyone says they saw Morgan with her last. They also describe Morgan as “always rubbing his head and moaning.” Our sweet Cordy is devastated, because “Emma” was her best friend and the murder could’ve been her. Never short on an existential crisis, that one.
Buffy talks to Morgan. He rubs his head a lot. She eventually yells at him after Sid tries to end the conversation. Morgan makes a half-hearted attempt to explain before giving up and leaving.
The Slayerettes are all too willing to blame Morgan, but Buffy says being a weirdo doesn’t necessarily correlate with being a murderer. Giles cautions everyone not to rock the boat with Principal Snyder. They cannot afford additional scrutiny.
It’s the Puppet Show, not Puppet Tell
Buffy artfully breaks into Morgan’s locker by slamming the lock out of the door. It is after hours, though, and Principal Snyder does not condone loitering, heart-removing murders, and smoking. Before Buffy is forced to leave, she sees Sid the puppet’s case is empty.
Backstage, Morgan and Sid are arguing. Morgan does not want to “do it.” Sid says he must, because Buffy is clearly the one. She will be the last one before he is free.
That night Joyce tells Buffy she is excited to support her at the talent show. Buffy tries to direct her away from doing so. Her mom tries to dig deeper at what’s bothering her, but eventually encourages her to get some sleep.
And sleep Buffy does – until she wakes to something in her covers. Joyce rushes to check her room, only to find the bed empty. Buffy is clearly stressed, and her mom tries to calm her. Joyce also recommends she not go to sleep with the window open. Buffy murmurs that she didn’t.
Cordelia is arguing with Giles about her placement in the talent show. Her song is sad and sappy, but a rock band is before her. The mood will be all wrong. Giles stares at her for a moment before saying something about her hair, prompting her to run off in horror to check for herself. Apparently Xander gave him this tip.
Buffy tells the rest of the gang that she thinks Sid was in her room last night. Xander assumes it was a cat, and Giles and Willow are inclined to agree because Buffy has admitted to a fear of puppets.
Investigation isn’t for dummies
Buffy wants to get Morgan away from Sid so she can talk to him. Giles has found information about demons that collect body parts to take a human form. Morgan doesn’t quite fit this theory, though, because he keeps getting weaker while this particular brotherhood of demons are preternaturally strong.
Sid is with Morgan in class, and he is staring at Buffy. He is also answering the teacher’s questions and causing class disruption. The teacher puts the puppet in a closet, but he is still talking. She believes Morgan to be a very talented ventriloquist. After class she tries to check on Morgan, because he has been acting off lately. When she opens to closet to retrieve Sid, he is gone. Morgan said Sid knew to wait for him.
Xander reveals he took Sid so Buffy could talk to Morgan alone. Xander beats Sid against a desk to prove he isn’t real to a still-wigged Buffy. While she looks for Morgan, Willow and Giles research re-animation and organ harvesting, respectively. Xander babysits the dummy.
The dressing room is creepy and mostly abandoned, except for Principal Snyder. He does a harbinger-esque bit about Buffy not being safe on her own with everything going on lately. She assures him she can take care of herself.
Willow finds some information on possessed toys that harvest human organs. Now they want to believe Buffy. This is unfortunate timing, because Xander stopped watching Sid long enough to do some homework. When he realizes the puppet is gone, he yelps and jumps on a table. Willow and Giles do some yelping as well once they learn of the situation.
Buffy, meanwhile, has found Morgan… without his brain. As she reels back in horror, a chandelier drops on her and pins her down. Overhead we see the scurrying of tiny, wooden feet. Buffy works on getting free while defending herself from a knife-wielding Sid.
Pulling Strings
She escapes and manages to pin Sid against the wall. Then they each accuse the other of harvesting organs in order to become human. It turns out Sid is a demon hunter. He got turned into a puppet years ago. The demon he is hunting only needs a heart and a brain to remain human for another seven years. It is the last in a line of seven demons; Sid has already killed six.
The group figures if they can find out who is missing from the show they will know who the demon is. Sid has a plan: Giles will form the Power Circle to hype up the talent show participants while Buffy observes to see who is not there. Sid comes with Buffy to harass her some more. What is with these ageless dudes hitting on a fifteen year old? Sid also reveals that he will die once the last demon is dead, and he is relieved by this.
Cordelia is not relieved, because she is hit with stage fright. Giles suggests she picture the audience in their underwear, though they both agree it might be best to leave Mrs. Franklin out of that.
No one (who is still alive, anyway) is missing from the Power Circle. While Giles gets the show started, Buffy tries to find Willow and Xander. Sid has disappeared while she was gone, so she must find him as well. She feels a mysterious dripping when backstage and upon investigation discovers Morgan’s brain. The demon body rejected it.
Take a bow
Willow searches Morgan’s file. Though he was one of the smartest kids in the school, his attendance record was shoddy. It turns out he had brain cancer (hence the headaches). They believe the demon will go for the next smartest kid in school – Willow Rosenburg.
Marc the magician asks Giles for some pre-show help. His assistant is a no-show, and he needs Giles to pose in his guillotine.
Our trio determines that the demon could still be in the talent show, since it still needs a brain. They also realize Giles is a very intelligent person.
They arrive backstage to see Giles strapped in to the guillotine. Marc has his head positioned so his “brain can just fall right out.” Giles asked what the trick is, and Marc says there isn’t one. Buffy tries to fight Marc the demon while Xander frees Giles. Sid reappears and helps everyone get the demon strapped into the guillotine and cut off its head.
Sid says the heart needs to be taken out as well to truly end things. He stabs the demon’s chest then slumps over. Buffy picks up the dummy with some reverence just as the curtains rise. Principal Snyder looks at the scene and asks if the puppet show is avant-garde.
In our only concurrent-with-credits scene of the series we see Buffy, Willow, and Xander struggle with their Oedipus recitations, to a smattering of laughter in the audience. Willow runs off frightened.
“All I could think of was Mr. Marbles.” – Trav’s one sentence review of this episode.
I have a lot of fun with The Puppet Show. It’s a monster of the week with a huge ick factor and some fun plot twists. We also get the introduction of Principal Snyder, who is a fantastic side character.
(5 / 5)
To a lot of fans, this is the film that killed the franchise. It says a lot that the next installment is yet another retcon. Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers attempts to explain Michael’s unrelenting evil, which lead to mixed opinions from longtime fans. There are two cuts of the film, theatrical vs producer’s. For a lot of people, the latter is the only one worth mentioning. Aiming to be as accurate as possible, I will be talking about the producer’s cut. Let’s begin!
Plot
We start Halloween VI with a six-year time jump from part five. Jamie is now barefoot and recently pregnant, running away from Michael as he wants her baby. While she manages to hide the little one away, Michael finally gets his hunger satiated by killing her. The moment is one of the most brutal ways in the franchise up until that point. Rest in peace, Jamie, you held your ground for as long as you could, the sequels were just too relentless.
The movie then cuts to a whole different scene going on. We have a new family living in the Myers house and their youngest child is hearing voices telling him to kill his loved ones. Tommy Lloyd is watching the family, played by none other than Paul Rudd in his first-ever theatrical role. Tommy still carries trauma from the events all those years ago when Laurie Strode was babysitting him. So when he finds Jamie’s baby, his part in the story becomes even more essential.
Dr Loomis also stars in what was Donald Pleasance’s final role before his passing. He and Tommy try to stop Michael once and for all before the cycle can repeat itself. As it turns out, Michael is a victim of a druid cult which makes him want to kill his family members every Halloween. Thorn, the cult in question, thinks they can control Michael and make him do their bidding. This results in catastrophe and Michael goes berzerk and kills all the cult members. Once again, it’s one of the most gruesome montages for the franchise up until that point.
Tommy and Kara are left to face Michael on their own which they manage to do with some corrosive liquid and good luck. However, nothing stays dead in this franchise as it’s soon revealed Michael somehow escaped and this time Dr Loomis might not be so lucky…
Overall thoughts
I would say for me personally Halloween VI definitely ranks somewhere near the bottom. The whole point of Michael is that there is no rhyme or reason to his killings and this film tries to go against that. I am glad the mistake was rectified by the upcoming installment. There were still some good things about it, such as Paul Rudd’s acting that reveals some raw talent as far as I’m concerned, as well as some direction choices and musical score. However, I also think it absolutely deserves all the criticism that it gets.
(2.5 / 5)
We’ve reached the final episode of American Horror Stories, season three. After the ups and downs of the season, I didn’t know what to expect. I felt that we were due a big finish, Killer Queens. But I feared we were in for a big letdown.
As it turns out, The Thing Under The Bed was neither.
The story
We begin our story with a little girl named Mary, who is scared of something under her bed. She sneaks out of her room, only to be caught by her father and sent back to sleep. And of course, there is something horrible waiting for her under her bed.
This scene cuts away to a woman named Jillian. She has strange dreams, including one about Mary. But her husband, Mark, doesn’t want to hear about it. He’s only interested in a little lovemaking because he wants a baby. Jillian doesn’t, which makes total sense because she’s already married to one. But her irritation with her childish husband goes away when he goes away. And by goes away, I mean he’s sloppily devoured by something vicious under their bed.
What worked
In short, this episode just worked. The acting was professional and believable. The cinematography and lighting work were wonderful, adding spooky effects and startling moments without impairing visibility.
Best of all, the story was solid. There were no plotholes to be found. Our main character, Jillian, was relatable and sympathetic.
This was maybe my favorite part of the story. I thought Jillian was a remarkably sympathetic character. She was dealt a hand she never asked for, having her husband slaughtered in their bedroom. I don’t think she missed him, so much as she was afraid of the legal ramifications of being caught with literal blood on her hands.
Then, when it would have been safest for her to just lay low and save up for a good defense attorney, she instead goes into unlikely hero mode. She does her best to save people, putting herself in legal and physical danger. It’s hard not to root for her.
It’s also a little hard not to root for the antagonist, too. I don’t want to ruin the twist for you, so I’m going to tread lightly here. But it’s great when you have an antagonist who might be off their rocker, but also maybe has a point.
What didn’t work
I can only really think of one complaint with this episode. And that is how frequently one character says the word Chickadee. And if you’ve seen the episode, you know what I am talking about.
I get it, he has a pet name for his daughter. It’s adorable. It’s meant to convey that the two of them have a healthy loving relationship and I get it. We all get it. Blind monks get it. But the fact remains that no parent on Earth calls their kid by their pet name every single time they speak an individual sentence to them. It was just too damn much.
All in all, this was a good episode. It was a classic story, turned on its head, told by professionals from start to finish. And I hope that if there is another season, we see more stories like this one. But after the efforts put into this season at large, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the last we see of American Horror Stories.
(4 / 5)
If you’ve watched enough short-form horror anthology shows, you’ll notice that some stories are mainstays. Each show seems to put on the same sort of episodes, with the occasional surprising storyline that we’ve never (or at least rarely) seen before.
Leprechaun was an example of a repeated story—the story of a greedy thief whose punishment far outweighs the crime.
The story
We begin our story in 1841, with a drunk man leaving the bar one late night. He’s distracted by something glowing at the end of the well. When he reaches down for the glowing thing, he falls in. Moments later, he screams.
We then cut to the modern day. The well is still there, and now it’s surrounded by a dying town. In this town lives a young man named Colin. He’s married, his wife is pregnant, and he’s out of work. Like many of his friends.
Desperate for cash, Colin and his friends decide to rob a bank. They put together an Equate version of Ocean’s Eleven, and break in one night. But, of course, they find that the gold is nothing more than bait. And the creature waiting for them is something they never expected.
What worked
The first thing I want to point out is how real this episode felt. At least to anyone currently living in the same small town they grew up in. These characters felt like guys I went to school with. Guys I would see at the bar.
I appreciated the real anger and frustration these characters are feeling. Especially Colin. He’s bitter, and maybe he has a right to be. He did exactly what he was supposed to do to succeed. He went to school and invested in his career, and yet now he’s out of work and struggling to support his family. I probably don’t need to tell you how that feels. Because of this, we can all kind of understand why he was tempted to rob a bank.
I also want to talk about the fact that this was, as I said, an often-explored story. That can be a bad thing, but it can also be a good thing. This story is told over and over because it’s a good story. A relatable story. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
What didn’t work
That being said, this version didn’t try to do much to break out of the mold.
Because we have seen this story so many times, most of us could tell the story themselves. I would have expected something new, or some twist. But, in the end, the story didn’t bring anything new to the discussion.
Maybe because of this, the ending left a lot to be desired. Trapped in the basement of the bank, everyone just sort of stares at everyone else, until the thieves give up. And that’s it. The ending wasn’t scary, shocking, or funny. It was just sad, on multiple levels.
Overall, this was an okay story. It was entertaining, if not surprising. I would compare this episode to homemade macaroni and cheese. Everyone’s got their own version, they’re all pretty good, and none of them are exciting.
There’s just one episode left in this season of American Horror Stories. Let’s hope they’ve saved the best for last.
(3.5 / 5)
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