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The Other Day
I have been
talking about Creepypasta and the SyFy show inspired by those internet horror
stories, “Channel Zero”. More
specifically I am talking about “Candle Cove” which was the first season of the
show. You can read part 1 here.
A More Robust Show Rundown
In part 1 I
gave the most abbreviated two sentence rundown of the show’s overall plot that I
could, straight from Wikipedia. The
thing is, to understand the issues the show has you have to know what happens
and why (or a lack of “why”).
I decided
to go back to Wikipedia and grab the short episode descriptions… Well, mostly,
I edited them significantly because “Brevity” is an entry no TV show cataloging
Wikipedia editor ever bothered to read.
Then I decided to shoot brevity in the face myself because I wanted this
blog to be more readable then just a dry rundown of the facts like I am writing
a police report, fingers banging out the circumstances that led up to the crime
of my time being wasted. (My running
commentary is in parentheses, and is almost entirely bitching, both about the
show and the wiki rundown which leaves out shit beginning, middle, and end.)
This is the
last chance to turn back before SPOILERS for the entire 6-episode season are
spilled out all over the place. A
complete accounting of the events of the show is taken. If you plan to watch the show you should stop
here (it is not an irredeemable show, I kind of complain more about things than
most people do, I attribute this to my ability to pay attention and think)… I
mean, stop for now, please do come back to read this, I have far too few
readers as is… Though in that case you can skip the plot synopsis for each
episode if you just watched them…
You know,
do whatever you want. We’re all adults
here.
Episode 1
The show
begins with the single best scene in the entire series. Child psychologist, Mike Painter is giving a
televised interview. As the interview
progresses numerous strange otherworldly things begin to creep into view before
revealing that the interview has all been a dream. (Everyone in the audience allows their butt
muscles to relax at this revelation and the show continues, hopes and
expectations for the remaining episodes having been set to unreasonably high
levels).
Mike returns
to his home town in Ohio nearly thirty years after an unknown serial killer
murdered five local children. Among the
victims was Mike’s twin brother, Eddie, whose body was never found. Mike’s mother, Marla, still lives in the area.
(I am going
to note this now because I feel it is an important element to the character of
Mike that is hinted at thru all the episodes and at one point shown graphically
in a flashback. Mike has attempted
suicide in the past. I don’t recall
which episode the flashback occurred, kind of a funny thing about flashbacks is
that they can kind of go anywhere in the narrative and still make sense. Oddly, what I consider to be a potent scene
and strong characterization is NOT MENTIONED in the entire recap of the series
on Wikipedia.)
Mike reconnects
with friends Jessica and Gary who is the town's sheriff. Jessica and Gary are married and have
children. Mike meets the couple’s daughter,
Katie.
Over dinner
with some other friends, Mike mentions Candle Cove, a children's TV show involving
puppet pirates. Each of the guests
remembers watching the show around the time of the murders, until it
mysteriously went off the air. All of
them remember Candle Cove as being disturbing.
Katie tells Mike that she's seen the Candle Cove show recently. (Seeing the clips, I have no idea how this
shoddily made product could hold the eyes of children without evil forces being
at work. Considering the show was the
whole point of the original Creepypasta it being so lame is an odd choice. I don’t know why they cut corners here.)
The next
day Katie goes missing and Mike is under suspicion. Through discussion with Katie's brother, Dane,
Mike realizes where he can find Katie. While
searching, Mike follows a figure dressed as a skeleton who resembles one of the
characters from Candle Cove.
Mike
discovers Katie alive in the woods where the original murders took place. He carries Katie back to her family, unaware
she has left two of her teeth behind to be claimed by an eerie creature, whose
skin is entirely made up of teeth. (No,
this thing is never explained. I don’t
think anyone ever says, “Tooth monster” out loud. It is entirely uncommented on. I have no idea why.)
Marla tells
Mike that when he and his brother were watching Candle Cove as children, they
were actually watching static on the television. (HEY!
It is the only thing from the source material.)
Episode 2
Gary and
Jessica are awoken by their son, Dane’s screams after Katie stabs the boy with a
hook. Afraid for the safety of one child
and the mental health of the other, Gary allows Mike, in his capacity as a
psychologist to talk to Katie at the hospital alone in order to discover what
happened.
Gary
remains suspicious of Mike. (I can kind
of see why Gary is suspicious, Mike shows up and weird things start
happening. That raises eyebrows. But maybe Gary should look for evidence
rather than just being a dick about the whole thing.)
Meanwhile,
Marla visits a television station to ask about Candle Cove. The technician
remembers the program and shows Marla a fan-made recreation but tells her no
tapes of the original show exist as it was impossible to record. (This is a red herring. I don’t even know why it is Marla looking for
this stuff. She never saw the show, she
is a neutral 3rd party. What
is the point of this?)
Mike finds
more links to the Candle Cove imagery in Katie's drawing and uses it as a clue
to visit an abandoned cement factory with his mother. At the factory Mike follows a mysterious
figure into the facility alone and discovers the decomposed remains of his
brother, Eddie in an improvised altar.
(Honestly, this is all pretty cool.
Like I have said, the show is not nothing, it is just that it is less as a whole than the sum of its parts.)
That night,
Mike confesses to Marla that he killed Eddie as a child and buried his body,
but that Eddie’s body had been moved before the police dug up the grave site. Upset, Marla stabs Mike in the arm. (Like you do?)
The next
day Gary comes to the house and asks Mike to come with him to the police
station for questioning. However, along
the way Mike realizes that Gary is taking him somewhere else. (Honestly, I was expecting a small-town
sheriff to be better at discreetly taking a suspect to a remote location for
“questions”. Gary’s too much of a dick
for this to be his first police brutality rodeo.)
Episode 3
Gary takes
Mike to an empty house he had wanted to buy and handcuffs Mike to a chair. Tim and Daphne (other people whose family
members had been victims 30 years ago, there are kind of too many characters in
this show and not enough time to give them all a setup, build up, and pay off)
arrive at the house where they all interrogate Mike about the murders of their
family members, believing him responsible.
Flashbacks
reveal that Candle Cove inspired Eddie to kill Tim's bully brother, Gene, using
mind-control. Eddie compelled Gene to
walk off the edge of a cliff. Eddie
continued killing other children in a similar way before Mike stopped the
murders by stabbing Eddie with a hook.
(If you have recently seen the latest “It” adaptation, Gene comes off as
almost a non-threat of a character compared to the bullies in “It”. Gene is a violent asshole, sure, but not bad
enough that forcing him to commit suicide feels in anyway cathartic or natural
to the story. I feel like my position on
this requires more explanation. I am not
going to give it because this is already too long.)
In present
day, the others doubt Mike's story and Tim shoots Mike in the shoulder to
torture the “truth” out of him. Marla,
Jessica, and deputy Amy arrive at the house as Tim and Daphne run away. Seeing Mike's condition, Amy takes Gary into
custody.
 |
| This is the tooth monster. He shows up randomly and with no substantial impact. Weird for weird's sake. |
A group of
kids end up killing Tim as he walks home.
Later,
Daphne visits Mrs. Booth, her former teacher, who also lost a son in the
murders. After explaining what happened with Mike at the house, Booth murders
Daphne with an ice hook and returns to host a group of children watching Candle
Cove on her television.
Mike's
daughter, Lily, inexplicably arrives alone at Marla's house, even though she
lives miles away with her mom. (I do not
know why Mike’s family is brought into this, the story has too many unnecessary
moving parts).
To be Continued…
I wasn’t
kidding when I said those Wikipedia rundowns are long. I touched them up, but heavens to Betsy these
things push up the word count. Really it
is necessary to get the full rundown in order to understand all the strange BS
that makes up this series. My next entry
in the series will be the rundowns of episodes 4, 5, and 6. After that I will get into complaints,
compliments, and then my own take on the source material.
Part 3...
Part 3...
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