The book this episode is based on is actually a sequel, so I’m not too sure why they’ve made this one before the original, or at least named the episode something else so it didn’t seem like a sequel. Oh well.
We begin in Egypt, where Gabe [Tucker from ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark’, another great anthology series], is visiting Uncle Ben, an archeologist, and cousin Sari, who’s a bit of a know-it-all. Uncle Ben’s discovered a pyramid that contains the tomb of an ancient Egyptian Prince, which Gabe is super excited about. After marvelling at the hieroglyphics, Gabe realises he’s lost Sari and Uncle Ben attempts to follow the sound of their voices, getting more lost in the maze-like pyramid. He stumbles across a sarcophagus before he’s found by Uncle Ben and Sari, who believes Gabe’s found the entrance to the Prince’s tomb. Unbeknownst to the trio, Gabe’s dropped his ‘summoner’, a mummified hand he got at the airport [A real mummified hand being sold at the airport? Surely not, right?].
Back at the tent, Uncle Ben gifts Gabe a scarab beetle encased in amber on a necklace and tells him how the ancient Egyptians believed owning one of the beetles would make them live forever. They’re soon interrupted by a woman named Nila, a reporter for ‘The Cairo Sun’. She claims the newspaper has heard about their discovery [Which is extremely suss because Uncle Ben isn’t even sure it’s the tomb yet, so who would have even told her?] and she wants the exclusive!
Nila notices Gabe’s new scarab beetle and whips out her own amber necklace, to which Uncle Ben remarks “How very unusual” [Not sure why it’s unusual, though. Aren’t these things sold in novelty shops and stuff?]. Nila’s amber is missing a scarab beetle, though, and she hopes it won’t bring her bad luck.
Gabe shows her a photo he took of the sarcophagus, and Nila recognises the seal of the Prince on it. Her driver also recognises it, and warns Nila that the tomb is cursed and someone will die if they enter it. Nila doesn’t want a bar of it though, and he runs away, too scared to stay.
The foursome discuss the legend of the tomb and Nila mentions that some men have allegedly tried to rob it in the past, but were never seen again [Gabe said at the start they just made the discovery though? Like, this pyramid is a secret? If it’s already been discovered, wouldn’t it have already been searched?]. Legend also says if you repeat some sacred words three times, “the mummy will be awakened from his sleep to seek his vengeance.”
The gang opens the tomb the next day, and although he’s excited, Gabe’s also apprehensive about the curse. They quickly realise it’s a false tomb, a trick to discourage grave-robbers, so little brat Sari jokes they should repeat the sacred phrase and wait for the mummy to find them. She kicks things off before bullying Gabe into finishing it, causing the lights to flicker and the wind to howl [Ooky spooky!].
Sari then notices Gabe’s summoner on the ground, and as he goes to retrieve it, it grabs him [!!!], now attached to an arm poking out through a wall. Literally no-one reacts to his cries of terror [Great family, Gabe], and as he grabs Sari for help, the wall slides around, knocking Uncle Ben out and splitting the kids up from the adults.
Unable to find a way to turn the wall, Gabe and Sari venture further into the pyramid where they eventually find the Prince’s tomb. They push open the Prince’s sarcophagus, wanting to be the first to see his body, but it’s empty [!!!].
The mummified Prince shuffles up behind them before Nila steps out of the shadows, revealing herself to be the Prince’s sister who’s been waiting to reunite with him so they can rule once again. She orders the mummy to destroy the kids to prevent any witnesses, but the Prince rips off her amber necklace and it smashes on the ground [Absolutely no idea why he does this, but OK].
Nila reveals she’s lived inside the amber every night for 4,000 years [Just to shoehorn in some last-minute exposition for ya] before disappearing in an explosion of light, leaving a scarab beetle in her place [So she’s not dead?]. The Prince is still alive though, so Gabe tosses the summoner into a fire and runs off with Sari. They conveniently find Uncle Ben on the way and escape the pyramid as it crumbles around them [Connected to the mummy, I guess? No idea what’s really happening hahaha].
Sometime later, Gabe’s packing his things to head home too busy talking with Sari to notice the disembodied mummy arm that’s snuck into the tent. It climbs into his suitcase and grabs Gabe’s scarab beetle necklace before Gabe closes it without looking and heads off, blissfully unaware of the stowaway heading to America with him.
Final thoughts
This episode was a bit whatever – not great, but not horrible either. The location was cool and the idea of getting lost in a pyramid is scary, but I wish the mummy was more prominent in the story. Some more explanation would have been nice, too. I don’t understand the summoner, or why the mummy destroyed his own sister, and why did Nila turn into a scarab beetle once defeated? I guess we’ll never know [Unless I missed something lol].
15 scarab beetle necklaces out of 30.
