The Tale of the Shiny Red Bicycle

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Midnight Society

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Air Date: Saturday, August 28, 1993

Intro: Gathered around the campfire, and roasting marshmallows, the majority of the Midnight Society is shown waiting around for Kristen (Rachel Blanchard) and David (Nathaniel Moreau), who recently got his bike stolen. Upon their arrival, the gang start talking about the incident in an almost "after-school-special" tone, and one has to bear in mind this was meant for kids. However, the incident also inspired David's story for that night; a tale about a boy who loved his bicycle so much, he took it everywhere he went... including his grave.

Story: Mike (Matthew Edison) and Ricky (Benjamin Shirinian) were once best friends, until one day, Ricky was tragically lost in an accident while they were racing their bikes. Mike often has nightmares about the accident, but has support from his family and friends, namely his younger brother, Ben (Jamieson Boulanger). One day, however, Mike starts seeing visions of Ricky's ghost, along with his titular "shiny red bicycle." While his friends and family are more concerned with his delusions, the real question is, why is this haunting happening now?

Review: This is a pretty great all-encompassing episode for the series. There's definitely the creepy factor we all want, but for once, we have a sibling duo who don't bicker all the time and are more the best friend types. As a result, I give a damn about what's going on with them. I can also relate to losing a best friend at an early age, and the difficulty in moving on. I'd say what makes this particular episode so good lies in the fact that they put some real heart into this one. I joke about the "after-school-special" quality of the opening, but as far as depth of story goes, this is definitely one of the best.

Closing/Moral: David wraps things up with a solid ending, and the meeting comes to a close as Gary (Ross Hull) puts out the campfire. In depth, I think a big part of this episode is all about exposing some of the younger viewers to the concept of death of a loved one, thus making it one of the deeper episodes yet... Also, just don't go around stealing bikes.

5/5

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