Paralysis Shriek reviews Eerie, Indiana episode, Who's Who

[froodle]

If there’s one thing “Eerie, Indiana” has, it’s a penchant for imaginative ideas that are specifically skewered toward younger viewers, and “Who’s Who” is no exception. In it, a little girl in a family full of hyperactive boys (all with the last name “Bob”, herself included) learns that she can bring her drawings to life simply by signing them with an “Eerie” brand no. 2 pencil (initially at Marshall’s urging). Wanting a quieter, calmer family, she sits down to draw her ideal one…which consists of Marshall’s mother! Can he convince her to return his mother to him, or will the Teller family permanently be short one member for the rest of time?

This isn’t one of the more memorable installments in the “Eerie” pantheon, but it does introduce Harry Goaz as Sgt. Knight, which is basically a slightly more functional version of his character in “Twin Peaks”. It also paints a rather bleak (though watered-down) view of her life, featuring Sara using drawing as a means to escape the dysfunctionality of her home life. It will be an all-too-realistic portrait for some kids, but “Eerie” never seemed to be afraid of tackling any subject matter.

In fact, it's where “Eerie” seems to be most comfortable: When it’s taking adult topics and “watering it down” for kids, while still leaving enough realism and fancy to appeal to both sides of the spectrum. It’s a difficult balancing act, and overall it seems to do well with it, although in this episode it doesn’t take much digging to find the depressing undercurrent that holds it all together.

Take the scene where Marshall informs Sara Bob that his mother is there to pick him up. “Mother?” she asks quizzically, as if she’s never seen one before. And sure enough, a visit later on to her house reveals an uncaring, alcoholic father, complete with four young hyperactive brothers, all of whom look up to her to be the “mother”, and all of whom (minus the dad, who I don’t even think says a word) complain about all the things she has or hasn’t done for them. No one deserves this kind of pressure, period, but to have it all placed on a middle school child is rather dark stuff.

It's never even hinted at the fate of the mother, but whether she passed away, or ran out on them doesn't really matter. Actually, I kind of like that it's never touched upon...most shows would use it as a chance to throw in some corny sob story as a way to extract emotional resonance from the episode, but this show gets enough of that without it. We can already gather Sara's loneliness and isolation from the way she reacts to the world around her, and that speaks louder than any backstory could.

This being said, the episode feels a little half-baked, and wasn't really all that interesting. Of course, Marshall gets his mother back (no spoilers here) and Sara reverts her family back to “normal” after reversing it so that they served her instead, but with an additional caveat that keeps them in line. It's all so...”linear” and straightforward compared to many of the other episodes, and that's enough to make it unsatisfying. It has a couple of laughs, and is far from terrible, but as far as this series goes, it's definitely one of the weaker efforts.

EPISODE RATING: 5/10