We begin with our main character, Brooke, waking up from a nightmare about the Phantom, the antagonist of the school play Brooke’s just scored the lead in. The next day at rehearsal, Brooke’s understudy for the role of Esmerelda, Tina, who no-one seems to like and clearly isn’t impressed about her lack of a starring role [And is played by Julia Chantrey, AKA Amber D’Alessio who made out with a hot dog in ‘Mean Girls’!!!], tells everyone about the play’s curse she learned from her grandfather, who attended the same school 72 years ago.
Apparently the year the school was built, they were putting on the exact same play of ‘The Phantom’. On opening night, the boy playing the titular role disappeared, never to be seen again. A year later when the school put on the play again, his ghost appeared on stage.
Nek minnut Brooke’s yanked behind the curtain [!!!]. It’s just her best friend, Zeke, who’s playing the Phantom this year. Tina’s worried about doing the play and reckons something bad will happen again, but their teacher in charge, Ms. Walker, tells that girl to pipe down. Corey, who’s playing Esmerelda’s father, somehow activates the stage’s trapdoor which he happens to be sitting on and sinks beneath the stage on the moving platform. Ms. Walker brings him back up with the flick of a switch and warns anyone against using it, since it hasn’t been used in years and “the maintenance men are still working on it”. [I want a trapdoor]. Throughout all this, Brooke’s reminded several times of her nightmare and feels uneasy. Unbeknownst to the cast, there’s a real-life phantom watching them from the catwalks above [Ooky spooky!].
After rehearsal, Zeke convinces Brooke to stay behind and try out the trapdoor, which she’s initially reluctant about. The platform takes them to the bottom, stopping with a jolt that knocks off Brooke’s glasses so she can give us her best Velma Dinkley impersonation.
They realise they’re way below the basement of the school and before they can find the switch to get back up, the platform starts moving by itself. It stops just below the stage, so Brooke boosts Zeke up before being pulled up herself by a strange man they’ve never seen before. He introduces himself as Emile, the night janitor, who warns them to stay away from the dangerous trapdoor [If it’s so dangerous why is it so easy for them to use? Shouldn’t it be blocked off or something?].
The next day at rehearsal, Brooke meets Brian who’s just transferred from another school. He wishes he could have been able to try out for the play, but Tina interrupts and ropes Brian into helping her with the sets [She’s a woman who knows what she wants!]. Brooke has forgotten her script, so hurries back to her locker where she finds a stupid mask and a warning note. She confronts prankster Zeke, who denies any responsibility and suggests the Phantom is responsible.
[Ever hear of a comma, Phantom?]. At rehearsal the next day, Tina sneaks up to the catwalk after offering some words of encouragement to our starlet: “Break a leg, Brooke. As they say.” [I bet Tina’s planning on doing just that!]. While the cast run their lines, the lights go out and the real Phantom appears, calling Brooke Esmerelda and warning her to stay away before he disappears down the trapdoor [It literally could have been anyone attacking her and not one person tried to help]. Suddenly part of the set falls from above, but Brooke just manages to roll out of the way [OK, that part was definitely Tina].
They notice another warning written in red paint on a backdrop before Zeke appears, apologising for his tardiness. He’s quickly blamed for everything that’s happened [Even though everyone just watched the Phantom disappear beneath the stage and Zeke came from the entry to the auditorium??], but claims he had a dentist appointment and Ms. Walker can even ask his mum if she wants. Tina appears, pointing out a trail of paint and the gang follows it all the way to Zeke’s locker, where there’s a tin of paint and a paintbrush inside that incriminates him further.
Despite protests from Zeke and Brooke, Ms. Walker kicks Zeke out of the play and warns that if anything else happens, she’s cancelling the production. Zeke, Brooke and Brian head off to find the janitor to clean up the mess, but he’s too busy right now, so Brooke suggests that maybe Emile, the night janitor, can do it. That’s when they learn there is no night janitor!
That night, the trio sneaks into the auditorium and take the trapdoor right down to the bottom again, intending to search for Emile. The platform returns to the top without them as soon as they jump off, leaving the kids trapped. Searching the area, they find a makeshift living quarters before the Phantom appears and chases them away. He manages to grab Brooke, but she knocks off his mask, revealing Emile underneath! She escapes his grasp and the kids run to safety, where they’re found by the principal, who’s still at school due to a staff meeting [That’s convenient!].
We cut to a short time later with the police on the scene who reveal Emile disappeared and is probably just a homeless man living under the stage, hence all the warnings so he wouldn’t be found out [But why do it pretending to be the Phantom and a janitor? Like surely you’d just hide from everyone instead of creating a mystery for the kids to solve?]. Ms. Walker apologises to Zeke and allows him back in the play.
It’s opening night now and we’re up to the scene where the Phantom appears from the trapdoor. As Brooke cues Zeke to rise up from the trapdoor, the platform moves down instead of up. Eventually it rises again and Brooke quickly realises it’s not Zeke behind the costume but the real Phantom when his eyes turn into flames [Hahahaha what?].
The Phantom starts monologuing and it’s revealed that he’s the original Phantom who went missing during the first production [!!!], and opening night all those years ago was “to be the greatest night of my life” [Really? A mediocre school play? Really?]. He laments that an hour before the curtain rose, he “fell into the abyss” and became a real phantom, waiting for this night where he could fulfil his role. He wants to take Esmerelda with him, but she fights back, tearing off his mask [It looks like Brian but we don’t get a decent look] and the Phantom stumbles back and falls through the trapdoor [But… the platform?]. Apparently that’s the end of the play because the curtain closes and Ms. Walker is full of praises, especially for Zeke for improvising that great monologue.
The trapdoor rises and reveals Zeke, who was apparently knocked unconscious earlier. There’s also a yearbook dated from 1923 on the platform, which Brooke flicks through, stopping at an article about the upcoming play. The episode ends when with Brooke and Zeke recognising the boy who was cast as the Phantom – Brian [Remember him? He had about three scenes and two lines].
Final thoughts
This episode was a creepy little episode, more so because of a homeless man living undetected beneath the school for god knows how long rather than the Phantom stuff. The ending didn’t work as well as it should have with the whole Brian thing because he really wasn’t much of a character; I pretty much forgot about him when he wasn’t onscreen. Just like a lot of other episodes that aren’t two-parters, the plot feels rushed through because so much is left out from the book, but I guess it’s just something I’ll have to get used to.
20 homeless men living under a school out of 40.
