The Tale of the Sorcerer's Apprentice

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Midnight Society

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Air Date: Saturday, October 17, 1992
Storyteller: Betty Ann (Raine Pare-Coull)

Frame: As several members of the Midnight Society head to the campfire for their meeting, they stumble on what appears to be a burial mound. While David (Nathaniel Moreau) chooses to believe it was probably someone's Dog, Frank (Jason Alisharan) bets his Michael Jordan rookie card they'd find a corpse if they checked. As the gang moves in closer, a dummy skeleton pops up, sending some, namely Eric (Jacob Tierney), running. As it turns out, it was a practical joke done by Frank and Kiki (Jodie Resther), essentially unrelated to the upcoming story.

Story: Dean (Mathew Mackay) and his best friend, Alix (Staci Smith), are treated at school one day by a visit from a renowned archaeologist named Dr. Oliver (Emma Stevens). With her, she brings various artifacts found on archaeological digs and the multiple cultures associated with them. Among them is a Babylonian staff said to bring good fortune, which Dean immediately takes advantage of, hoping that it will help with everything he's struggling with at school. In exchange, he's meant to resurrect the previous owner of the staff, a powerful, bad-news sorcerer named Goth (Stephen R. Hart).

Review: For whatever reason, this one does not click with me. It's your basic story about a person craving more than what they supposedly have, going to great lengths to get it, and ultimately finding that the power was in them all along. I also have a thing against what characters like Dean do here when they suddenly give themselves a hairstyle, put on a leather jacket, and are suddenly kinda cool. I don't know why, but that always irks me. I also think Goth is just plain goofy-lookin' and impossible to take seriously. This one is lame but may be suitable for an ironic laugh.

Final Rating: Calm

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