Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 70 Jack in the Box Review

(**Note: As with the previous episode, the DVD release got it backwards. This should really be episode 69, but because I am watching the DVD versions, this is gonna be labeled as episode 70**) Jack in the box originally aired on April 23, 1990. This episode reminded me a lot of the earliest episodes in season 1. The cursed antique was a drowning sailor's jack in the box. A little girl's father was drowned. She can visit her father's spirit by playing the jack in the box which subsequently drowns people. All the people who were involved in the death of her father get killed. Although, I do think two men got away and aren't pursued at all. The little girl want soooo badly to be with her father that she's willing to take her mother's and her life in the process. Luckily neither of these two events happen. This episode was also nominated for a Gemini award. There was a problem though and I had noticed it in earlier episodes but just hadn't mentioned it until now. They are still placing items in the old vault. The new vault at the beginning of this season hasn't been seen in a while. You could argue that they moved all the old items into the new vault, but you see the pilot's item in the last shot of this episode. This is a pretty glaring continuity error for the series if you ask me. Overall, I was very pleased with this episode.

Friday the 13th: The Serie Ep. 69 Spirit of Television Review

(**Note: The DVD release has done it yet again...the DVD release says this episode is episode 69, however airing wise, it's episode 70. Once again since I am watching the DVD version, I am going to call this Episode 69. This is fair warning to everyone out there watching the TV series along with me**) Spirit of Television originally aired on April 30, 1990. This was another completely weird episode. The cursed antique is a 1950s black and white television set. The TV set creates a medium where spirits talk one on one with people. Only one person can actually hear the conversation. The spirit is someone whom the person has felt guilt about passing away. The spirit forgives them during the medium, but later on the spirit visits them through a TV set and degrades them, eventually electrocuting them using the TV set and having their soul given to the cursed TV set. It's complicated and sounds really stupid on paper, however...it brings up a lot of interesting questions concerning guilt and forgiveness which aren't usually found in a show like this. The victims feel great guilt over these deaths. They also feel like they can never be forgiven. They seek a medium to be told they are forgiven. It's all a lie and their life is taken in the process. I wasn't going to ever give my personal perspective on spiritual matters on this blog, but I feel compelled to do so because this episode is such an incredible example. For those of you out there who are like the victims in the episode: you don't feel like you can ever be forgiven, that you must be punished for the things you did or didn't do, there is one and only one solution. The solution is named Jesus Christ. God loves you and forgives you for all of the wrongs you've done, everything. It's as simple as that. God gave his one and only son, Jesus, who died on a cross to pay for all of our wrongs. The catch is He conquered the grave and rose again from the dead. The way to receive forgiveness for EVERYTHING you've done and will do in the future is to ask Him, ask Jesus to enter you're heart. Give you're life over to Him and you will always have forgiveness. You can't do this on your own. Let God help you. If this post meant anything to anyone out there, please message me and let me know. As far as the episode goes, yeah it was weird, but it was a great entry and a wonderful way to talk about spiritual things.

Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 68 My Wife as a Dog Review

My Wife as a Dog originally aired on February 19, 1990. This was an incredibly bizarre episode. There really are no words to describe how completely bizarre this episode was. It was, however, very effective. The cursed antique is a dog leash, the Aboriginal Leash. This leash can make dreams come true, but that can only happen if someone is strangled with the leash first. Our main villain, who is going through a rough divorce and a dog with a terminal illness, decides he wants his wife to be like a dog. Over the course of the episode, his dog gets healed and transforms into his wife, but only has the brains of a dog. His wife transforms into a dog. It's not The Shaggy Dog by any stretch. I actually found it quite creepy. The commentary on how people view their pets was also very striking and truthful. How far would one go to keep a pet they loved...it's a tough question that doesn't get asked too much. This is also the only episode where the main villain gets his hearts desire and lives to see and relish in it. It's a very bizarre episode.

Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 67 The Long Road Home Review

The Long Road Home originally aired on February 12, 1990. Jack is not seen on screen but his voice can be heard during a phone call. This was a truly fantastic episode. It had a Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibe to it, which was a lot of fun to see on this episode. The stakes were a lot higher with this episode than a lot of the previous ones this season. Johnny and Micki have a kiss in a pool. Johnny's been tied down there and it's Micki's reassuring him that he'll be fine. Johnny thinks it means more. They also almost have a kiss nearby a fire. It's a great scene, incredibly tense for reasons this show has never gone into before. The cursed antique is a yin yang charm. The charm enables the user to transfer his soul into a freshly killed victim. The victim gets resurrected in the course of the act. There was a bit of body switching in this episode as well. Johnny puts his soul in that of a crazy brother whose house they stumble upon when they run out of gas. This brother's into taxidermy. He preserved all the dead bodies of his family. Johnny does get his body back by the end of the episode. The other brother gets his soul transferred into the slightly preserved corpse of their grandfather. It's quite horrifying seeing sand or sawdust or whatever stuffing inside his body comes out when you expect blood to come out. It's very jarring visually. Overall, this was truly a GREAT episode and I highly recommend it.

Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 66 Repetition Review

Repetition originally aired on February 5, 1990. Jack and Johnny do not appear in this episode and Micki only appears briefly. This was another terrific episode. The cursed antique is a cameo pendent. Someone who died wearing the pendent gets their soul trapped inside the pendent. The pendent then gets inside the head of the killer and demands that their soul be traded with another. What I liked in particular about this episode was the levels of guilt and how intense the killer felt. He felt pressured to turn things around, to make things right, but he couldn't do it. We cannot save ourselves in essence. It's a hard message to grasp, but it's entirely truthful. I really enjoyed this episode.

Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 65 Midnight Riders Review

Midnight Riders originally aired on January 29, 1990. This was a fantastic episode. this is also the only episode to not include a single magical object. There have been episodes without cursed antiques before, but not without a magical object. This episode reminded me of a movie plot. I could totally see them making this into a stand alone piece. The basic story is that this town wrongly accused a biker gang of raping a girl. She lied to protect her boyfriend who was going to Bible college. He has a son later on. His son and his daughter are dating together, but they don't know that they're siblings. It's incredibly bizarre. When the planets align, the past can return according to the episode. The biker gang returns and kills all the ones responsible for wrongly killing them. Jack's father appears in this episode in his only appearance in the series. Jack's father was a sailor who drifted from boat to boat. He had died at sea a decade earlier but returned to try to make things right in that town. He had been the one who had beheaded the leader. I didn't like the way that the priest or reverend they said was presented. He, even when cornered to death, does not fess up to his sins and tries to save himself. It actually made me quite angry because the reverend was presented as entirely hypocritical. Overall though, the episode's really quite intricate and against type for this show. I thoroughly enjoyed this episode and I highly recommend it!

Friday the 13th: The Series Ep. 64 Epitaph For a Lonely Soul Review

Epitaph For a Lonely Soul originally aired on January 22, 1990. Johnny does not appear in this episode. This was another forgettable episode. The cursed antique is a mortician's aspirator. The aspirator takes away one person's life and then gives someone who was dead new life. A supermodel guest starred in this episode. It was intriguing seeing how the two women who were rejuvenated back to life chose not to continue to live as the place burned down. They opted instead to die again. That's one of the things I think this series can do really well at times, raise up questions about death. I have to admit though, I watched two episodes back to back and I for the life of me couldn't remember what this one was about. This is an incredibly forgettable episode.