Fear Itself (1.2)

Thursday, June 12th, 2008 @ 10 PM

NBC

Fear Itself, Season 1 - Episode #2 - "Spooked"

"Why are you so bad, Fear Itself? Why are you so bad?"

While on a stakeout in a haunted house, a private eye is revisited by restless spirits of those he wronged in the past and now those spirits are set on deadly revenge. (NBC.com)

Stars: Eric Roberts, Jack Noseworthy, Cynthia Watros, Larry Gilliard Jr.

Marmot: Let me see if I understand the plot of this episode: Eric Roberts is a PI. Libby from LOST hires him to spy on her non-existent husband so that an evil house can make him feel guilty for killing her brother? And somewhere along the line, he remembers accidently shooting his brother and him and his father burying the corpse?

Manatee: Basically, yes. That sounds "right." Though I'm not sure I get why/how Libby knew about that house and why/how she thought it would make Eric Roberts go crazy.

Marmot: Maybe she saw it on Craigslist? What I don't get is, what was the deal with the Satan worshippers? Was she a Satan worshipper too?

Manatee: Hmmm... maybe. Did she go to the house with her brother and worship and graffiti self portraits on the walls? Did she put a spell or curse on the house? It wasn't really haunted. It was just Eric Roberts going crazy or being delusional/drunk and remembering his own ghosts. How would she know that would happen?

Marmot: I also don't understand why the dad didn't just tell the truth about the son being shot. Seems like it would be a lot easier to explain "my boys found my gun and were playing with it and it was an accident" than "my child mysteriously disappeared and no, I'm not really all that worried about it"

Manatee: It does seem like that would be the logical choice. Not much about this show makes sense, even though it is so unoriginal and full of clichés: They meet at a diner, he's a PI with a drinking problem, the radio in the haunted house turns on by itself (so Tales from the Crypt-esque) - what's the point of this anthology? Horror is such a great genre to be original in because it's based in fantasy. What's wrong with these writers?

Marmot: Lazy? Next week's episode promised to be mind-blowing. The TV said so, and I'm inclined to believe it, because it's TV and it never lies.

Manatee: I'll give it one more chance, if it still stinks, I'm canceling my DVR recording.

Marmot: Yep. It's taking up valuable space where Under One Roof could go.