This episode begins much like most of the other two-parters, with an appearance by Stine, but this time he’s got a ventriloquist doll of himself, forehead mole and everything! Much like Slappy, this doll appears to be alive and cracks the usual jokes about being wooden and stiff.
The main story begins now as Trina O’Dell is woken from her slumber by someone thumping up the stairs. Peeking out her bedroom door, she spots someone heading up to the attic with a suitcase and decides to follow [This girl is brave! What if it’s an intruder?!]. There’s no-one up there but a bunch of puppets, though, so it’s even more weird when someone calls out her name [!!!]. She traces the voice to an armchair covered by a white sheet, yanking it off to reveal a giant puppet [Who we later find out is named Rocky] underneath that tells her it’s past her bedtime. She thinks it’s her little brother Daniel playing a trick on her, but he appears behind her, having heard noises as well!
It’s quickly revealed that Dad, who used to have his own ventriloquist act, is controlling the dummy, and he can’t wait to show them his new thrift store find, opening the suitcase to reveal Slappy, “a dummy with class” due to his antique status [Could this not have waited until the morning? Why are you clomping up the stairs hoping to wake everyone up?]. Although we saw Slappy’s whole face shatter to pieces last time we saw him, only the section around his right eye seems to be broken off, but luckily Dad has that piece too and can glue it back together.
Mum, who thought she heard gremlins in the attic [Hahahaha], appears and questions why Dad’s home already when he wasn’t supposed to return from his trip until tomorrow. It turns out the kids’ cousin Zane is coming for a visit, and Dad wants to be here when he arrives. This is the first Trina and Daniel are hearing of this, and neither of them are too keen for what they feel is a punishment [Oof what’s wrong with Zane?]. Mum and Dad wanted it to be a surprise so they couldn’t plan any of their tricks, since Zane apparently can’t take a joke. Mum reminds them how Zane was too scared to sleep in his bed for weeks after his last visit, and we briefly flash back to Trina and Daniel carrying their sleeping cousin outside on his mattress, where he’s woken up by a cow the next morning [Must be a heavy sleeper!].
Dad, who’s just finished gluing Slappy’s face back together, makes them promise not to play any tricks on Zane this time, and the kids reluctantly agree. Trina then spots a scrap of paper sticking out of Slappy’s pocket, and reads it out loud – “Karru Marri Odonna Loma Molonu Karrano.” [Big mistake, Trina]. As soon as the last word is out of her mouth, the lights flicker and the broken part of Slappy’s face falls off again [Ooky spooky!]. Dad reglues it back again, and as everyone heads downstairs to bed, the two pieces magically bond together, eliminating any trace of damage.
The next morning, Zane [Played by a young Hayden Christensen, who you might know from the Star Wars franchise but I don’t because I’ve never seen it] arrives, and he’s just as unhappy about this arrangement as Trina and Daniel, since he has nothing in common with them. The greetings between the kids are super fkn awkward, and Trina eventually asks about the camera Zane’s holding. He excitedly tells them how he’s a photographer now and has even won awards, but Trina and Daniel are just like “Oh” and turn around to go inside mid-conversation [It’s so fkn rude but also funny because like, who does that?].
Inside, Trina and Daniel model for Zane while he takes their photos, but he almost shits his pants when he notices Slappy sitting at the dining table. He drops a book called ‘Conquering Your Fears,’ and Trina kindly stops Daniel making fun of him. Mum and Dad walk in and Dad starts doing his little ventriloquist act with Slappy, telling a hilarious [Read: not funny at all] joke about how being Zane is better than being “in-Zane” [This line probably came straght from the book – Jovial Bob Stine is also a comedy author, you know].
That night, poor Zane wakes up to find someone standing next to his bed in a hockey mask [!!!!!]. Terrified, he starts screaming for help while attacking the intruder with a pillow, sending feathers everywhere. As the rest of the family arrives to help, they realise the figure is just Rocky, the dummy we met at the start. The family blames Daniel for the prank since it’s his hockey mask, but he tries to pin it on Trina. Dad’s not sure who to believe, so forces them both to clean up the mess as punishment. Meanwhile, Mum takes Zane downstairs for some ice cream to calm him down [Is there some calming ingredient in ice cream I’m not aware of?], and we see Slappy’s eyes and eyebrows move as they walk past him.
The next morning, Trina and Daniel are sweeping the stairs as further punishment when Zane approaches to make amends [Ew, don’t apologise to them]. Zane explains he’s been trying to work on his fears, and then offers to show them how to develop photos as a sort of olive branch.
Upstairs in a makeshift darkroom, the gang inspect the proof sheet of all the negatives Zane’s taken when they notice something unusual – a lot of the images seem to be random photos of Dad’s dummies in different parts of the house [Ooky spooky!]. I guess one of Zane’s biggest fears is ventriloquist dummies because he’s almost in tears as he storms off, believing his cousins are playing another prank on him [It’s a pretty stupid prank if they are].
Later, Mum and Dad discuss how disappointed they are that their kids’ alleged pranks have turned more mean-spirited. Mum thinks they’ve taken it too far now, messing with Zane’s photography which is the one thing he’s proud of, but Dad decides Zane just needs a confidence boost, “and I know how to give it to him.” [I’m not sure how a confidence boost is going to help this situation, but okeh]. Trina and Daniel walk in, finally finished with their house-cleaning retribution, and Trina complains that by disciplining both of them, they’re punishing an innocent person. Mum and Dad aren’t buying that though, so deal with it, Trina!
As Mum heads to the kitchen to check on dinner, Dad calls Zane in and offers to teach him a few things about dummies to help him overcome his fears. Zane reluctantly agrees and his forced to endure a little how-to session with Dad and Slappy while Trina and Daniel watch, but when Mum comes in again to briefly distract everyone, Slappy kicks Zane in the shin!
Dad, Trina and Daniel think Zane’s gone crazy when he reveals in panic what just happened, but Mum is a lot more sympathetic to the poor boy’s concerns and is able to cheer him up again. Everyone heads to the dining room where dinner is all set up, but someone’s completely ruined all the food, including replacing the roast with a clown doll! For some reason Mum and Dad blame Trina and Josh, even though Mum was literally just in here preparing everything while they were in the living room with Dad and Zane? [Or what this all set up earlier? In which case wouldn’t it be cold by the time they were were planning to eat?]
In the attic that night, Dad packs away all his dummies while scolding Trina and Daniel who continue to maintain their innocence. They can’t offer up any other sort of explanation though, and since no other punishment has worked so far [All you’ve done is make them clean the house?], he announces that they won’t be going to summer camp this year, which is devastating news because they were both really looking forward to it.
Trina is woken up that night [Does she ever get a good night’s sleep?] by footsteps in the attic above her. She heads on up to investigate and finds Daniel, who’s been waiting up here all night to see who’s been messing with the dummies. They each think the other is responsible due to the circumstantial evidence of both being in the attic, but have to hide before they can properly get to the bottom of it because someone is coming up the stairs!
It’s Zane, giggling to himself as he opens the box of dummies. He talks out loud to the dummies [Which I assume is purely for expository reasons], inadvertently revealing to his hiding cousins that he’s not actually scared of the dolls and is responsible for all the funky stuff going on. It’s his way of paying Trina and Daniel back for all the torture they’ve put him through in the past [I’m #TeamZane, Trina and Daniel suck].
Trina and Daniel reveal themselves and chase Zane down the stairs, oblivious to the walking, talking Slappy who is now less of a wooden puppet and more of a small person in a costume. Slappy vows to show the pranksters how the pros do it and approaches the box of dummies where he breathes CGI green fog into Rocky’s face. The episode ends as Rocky comes alive, revealing his personality to be that of a stereotypical dimwitted henchman that we see so often in media [Why do villains never have smart, competent henchmen?].
Come back for Part 2 to check out my final thoughts on this double-episode!
