Creeped Out

I stumbled across this show when I was randomly in the mood to stream a horror anthology and found out it was on Netflix.

Nobody whom I’ve talked with has heard of it so I’m glad to raise awareness now!

It’s almost become a cliché to say that Black Mirror is the modern-day Twilight Zone, and it terms of quality I agree. HOWEVER, if you look at tone, storylines, length, and format, it’s far more accurate to say Black Mirror is a modern-day Outer Limits while Creeped Out is a modern-day Twilight Zone.

It’s also comparable to Are You Afraid Of The Dark, insofar that it focuses on adolescents exclusively, but without nearly as many forced happy endings that annoy me.

Without further ado, let’s go through Creeped Out episode by episode. Note: I’m going in the order the episodes are on Netflix, which isn’t exactly production order.

Season 1 –

Episode 1: “Marti” – A pretty disturbing episode about an omniscient and possessive smartphone. Of course the more advanced AI gets the easier it is to joke about it gaining sentience, and I only hope they stay jokes. I’m reminded of this great meme. 80/100

Episode 2: “Slapstick” – A very Are You Afraid Of The Dark?-esque episode about a girl embarrassed by her parents. Packs an emotional punch though. 82/100

Episode 3: “Kindlesticks” – Straightforward horror and works great! 71/100

Episode 4: “Bravery Badge” – Scary expedition of some Girl Scout-types in the woods. Has its moments but definitely one of the weaker episodes. 52/100

Episode 5: “Cat Food” – Wow. A mischievous preteen finds out a bit too much about an old neighbor lady. It leads to immense tension and an utterly unforgettable ending. Easily the best episode. 100/100

Episode 6: “Trolled” – An obnoxious kid at a boarding school starts to get his comeuppance for the lies he spreads about people. Somewhat predictable, but deeply engrossing and disturbing. 92/100

Episode 7: “Shed No Fear” – I literally forgot everything about this episode until I forwarded through it again for the sake of this post. It did keep me entertained when I actually watched it though. Forgettable or not, that counts for something. 50/100

Episode 8: “The Call”– A girl finds out her true origins. The interesting premise held my attention but it didn’t go anywhere. 51/100

Episode 9: “A Boy Called Red” – Powerful episode involving time-traveling by the son of a gruff, distant father. Very well done. 93/100

Episode 10: “Spaceman” – I honestly forgot the whole episode until I just forwarded through it again. I remember it being okay. The woman playing the main character’s mom sure is hot though! 52/100

Episode 11: “The Traveller” – Great premise and kept me entertained and moved. I still didn’t remember anything until now, and considering my memory that shows it wasn’t THAT amazing. I’ll give it a good score anyway but The Simpsons did the time-stopping thing better in the Stop the World, I want to Goof Off segment of “Treehouse of Horror IV”.

 

The Twilight Zone also did it better in “A Kind of Stopwatch”.

55/100

Episode 12: “Side Show: Part 1” – Less engrossing than other episodes, although the costumes, cinematography, and art/set decoration were beautiful. I was interested enough to watch the second part, which is what matters. 62/100

Episode 13: “Side Show: Part 2” – Terrific twist and beautifully done ending. 85/100

Season 2 –

Episode 1: “One More Minute” – Incredible parable about the destructive power of addiction and (lack of) free will. 100/100

Episode 2: “The Takedown” – Fantastic premise about how far we would go if given the opportunity to have whatever we want, even though it’s a zero sum game with other people. Powerfully written and directed conflict, leading up to a perfect, ingenious ending. 100/100

Episode 3: “Help” – Two siblings wind up at war with an Alexa-type device. Nice little horror piece, with a good ending. 80/100

Episode 4: “The Many Place” – Nice little head trip about three siblings trapped by an elevator into countless alternate realities. Exciting as it went along, and although the ending was a little predictable it was still cool. 76/100

Episode 5: “Only Child” – A story about every older sibling’s worst nightmare. Dark and compelling 78/100

 Episode 6: “No Filter” – Simple little yarn about a simple but harmful phone app. Recommended. 61/100

 Episode 7: “Splinta Claws” – Straightforward piece of horror about an evil mechanical Santa and two boys trapped in a store with him. 84/100

 Episode 8: “Itch” – Story about a terrifying lice outbreak at a school. It was okay. 51/100

 Episode 9: “Tilly Bone” – I apparently watched it because the red bar on the Netflix screen goes all the way to the right. Yet even after forwarding through it just now I remember nothing. I don’t remember it being terrible though, so I’ll kindly say it’s “only” a waste of time. 20/100

 Episode 10: “The Unfortunate Five” – An attempt at a supernatural Breakfast Club with an evil female staff member in addition to the douche principal. Falls flat. 40/100

Despite sputtering at the end, this season averages out to a solid 69. The first is a great 71! Given its longer length, the series overall comes out to 70. Far ahead of the new Twilight Zone. In terms of tone, storylines, length, format, AND quality it’s more comparable to the original, classic TZ.

Bottom Line: Watch it on Netflix and get this show a third season!