Eerie, Indiana rewatch 2015: episode eight, the Dead Letter

[froodle]

Put aside your history paper on the jackalope and it's relation to the federal deficit; tonights tale is about how messing with someone else's post gets you harrassed by the ghost of Tobey Maguire. Garlic won't save you from... the Dead Letter!

Comments

[froodle]

I want to know more about the "small animals of eerie" exhibit. also, way more about the eerie library, specifically why a municple building needs fast cash to pay for renovations, which makes it sound like whatever happened happened suddenly rather than just the need for regular maintenance.

"simon.. its her... my love interest that we will never see again after this episode..."

oh my god tobey maguires face, so dreadful. "what was he?" and "marshall, run away" are such pefect reactions to tmag.

and why does he look at the letter and then make it spin? that accomplishes exactly nothing.

I also want to read the lifestyle section of eerie high schools newspaper.

"we can put marshall in the basement!"

I would love to see mars punch out a ghost. esp. tobey maguires ghost.

love how the tellers are just.instantly like, "oh yeah tripp is our favourite son!"

the dream sequence is amazing. the thick ground fog, the old fashioned card catalogue, the music box music, the disembodied are you afraid of the dark style laughter. andrea in a flower maiden dress on a rope swing in a bower, rocking horses, raven with a nappy. the tellers bike for three and 'we love tripp more than we love you'.

but esp. Simons insane pillar, giant cigar, weird laugh,business suit, and 'i hate being second banana on this show.'

theres something really unsettling about the number of black n white photos in mary b carters house. like, surely someone with that many memories isnt still hung up on some old crush who died 62 years ago.

once again,mars, garlic is specifically only for vampires. learn some other basic monster defences, kid.

love how unsympathetic mars is about tripp getting kb'd by mary b carter. theres a ghost crying his broken dead heart out in front of him and mars is like, "meh, walk it off."

yet another milk truck related fatality in eerie. someone needs to teach those milkmen how to drive safely.

[froodle]

also the newspaper seller kid makes me laugh every time with his hilariously dramatic scream.

simon and his insane moustache disguise. "my name is max how are you". and when mary c is all like, havent I seen you before and simon does the frantic headshake cracks me up.

wait, so the world o stuff was open at Midnight nov 10th 1929? isnt that during the depression? how much business did the harvest king generate for this town anyway?!

okay, why are mars and mary b sneaking out the window? do they not realise its her house? she is totally free to leave... or ISNT SHE?!

im.pretty sure the hoodie simon wears in the reunion scene at the world o stuff is one mars wore.earlier. so his disguise is just... wearing marshalls clothes and a silly tache? also, are the doors not locked when the store is closed?

"Ive been kinda dead, Mary."

Six marriages, damn. thats a tale that needs to be told.

see, even syndi, lover of normal, knows garlic is a vampire-specific defence. get your old movies out and do some research mars.

good to see simons massive wheel is still outside the world o stuff in case he needs to sit on it and spin around for no reason.

In the scene where mary b and tripp are sat at the booth together a.girl walks.by in the background carrying what looks like a.whole suckling pig. because why not.

andrea is like meg in phantom of the opera - shes set up like shes totally significant to the story, but then actually happens with her.

[slinkhard.livejournal.com]

This episode is so bizarre because Trip is set up as a sort of proto-Dash rival for Marshall (except as a rival for his family’s affection rather than as a personal/ethical opposite) when they’re not arguing over anything in particular.

Especially the parallel to Dash's Terminator references and Trip's 'Okay, but...I'll be back'; the whole invasion of someone else's dreams like in 'Zombies in PJs' and Mars' 'What, is he a ghost? Did he just beam down from the moons of Saturn?’

I also think it's funny how again, a relationship about a girl just centres around dudes - Mars' 'I'd sure like to meet her!' is accompanied by him kneading Simon's shoulder (and the end when he pursues Andrea, Simon's wearing his hoodie, iirc.)
The dream as well is so weird, like his crush on this girl is accompanied by 'I don't want to grow up!' and he seems to have more of a hatecrush on Trip than anything ('You’re not supposed to be in my dream!' 'Not yet. Not til I tell you what you have to do for me.' and 'It’s like he got into my mind. Why does he wear those goofy golf pants and have that dweeb haircut?')
And then at the end when he approaches Andrea, he's suddenly shy, and is taking the place of Trip when Trip tried to get his attention previously.

In general, it just seems like it's done before with the Heart on a Chain (dead boys fixating on their pre-teen true loves - Trip comes off even odder than Devon, with the whole 'he sees what he wants to see, so Mary's now a kid again to him'), and then there's similiar themes (ghosts and guns! Mars the firebrand to Simon the pacifist!) later on, with this one being the weakest. (Not helped by Tobey Maguire being the worst, even as a kid.)

I do like Trip burning the Tellers with 'C’mon, it’s not that hard', much as I like them. Also cute to see Simon in another disguise, as well as more breaking the fourth wall, and 'Well, I've been kind of dead, Mary.'