The Tale of the Pinball Wizard

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Midnight Society

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Air Date: Saturday, November 14, 1992
Storyteller: Gary (Ross Hull)

Frame: At the Midnight Society meeting, before the story, David (Nathaniel Moreau) plays a game on a Game Boy, very close to his goal, when it is disrupted by Eric (Jacob Tierney) accidentally resetting the game. Kristen is at a loss to understand what interests people in video games, claiming it doesn't really matter whether you win or lose. To a degree, Gary agrees with her, as it leads nicely into his story, adding that what if someone had to beat the game to get out of a real situation, rather than have the game play them.

Story: Ross Campbell (Joe Posca) is a mischievous kid who frequents a mall searching for loose quarters for the arcade, where he likes to spend most of his time. One day, he "wanders" into a fix-it shop called Olson's, where Mr. Olson (A.J. Henderson) keeps an antique pinball machine under a tarp. Hoping it will lead to a job, Ross offers to look after it while Mr. Olson runs an errand. Olson accepts, Ross plays the pinball game, loses, and before he knows it, the mall transforms into a giant video game, which Ross must beat by saving a princess named Sophie (Polly Shannon).

Review: This is another one I met entirely in the middle. I love the idea conceptually, but it's one of those unfortunate situations where they did what they could with what they had in the budget. I'd love to see this concept executed on a bigger screen with a bigger budget. For as much as cheesiness is part of the experience with this show, this episode has almost too much of it. It's also not particularly scary, but I can still credit the ending for bringing it from a fun place to a dark one. It's also enjoyable for its nostalgic aspect, as it evokes the general style of the early 90s more than other episodes of the series.

Final Rating: Spooked

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