I love the holiday episode. Every year, I hope and pray to my pagan goddesses that the writing staffs of my favorite TV shows decide for the holiday episode. Halloween is perhaps my favorite holiday, so even better if it is a Halloween episode.
But because, I love the Halloween episode so much, I’ll even watch TV shows I normally don’t when they air their Halloween episodes. A few shows on this list I don’t watch regularly. But thanks to my compulsive pop culture geekatitude, I’m actually familiar pretty familiar with them.
10. South Park‘s “Spookyfish”
A very early South Park episode, this is a classic one for the appearance of Mirror-universe Cartman, complete with goatee. (Star Trek reference for those that don’t know.) Yes, he’s nice to his friends. Mirror!Cartman even sings a song about how much he cares about Kyle, Stan, and Kenny. He offers to buy them food.
Of course, nice Cartman isn’t the only thing to come out the dimensional tear. In Pet Cemetery fashion, a pet store has opened up on the cliched Indian burial ground and they’re selling Mirror-universe pets. Which means that the Spooky, the fish Stan’s given by Aunt Flo (yes, period jokes abound in this episode), turns out to be a psycho killer.
I’m usually not one for period jokes, but somehow the South Park writers pulled it off without getting gross or offensive. It was funny to see Stan’s PMS-ing mother Sharon burying the bodies that Spooky killed, in that very mother-bear way, tying up the policeman who asks too many questions in the basement, and trying to convince herself Stan wasn’t a serial killer as more bodies started to pile up.
The ending scene fight between Cartman and Mirror!Cartman is beyond awesome. See Stan and Kyle want to keep Mirror!Cartman and send Cartman back to the other dimension with the evil pets and evil Stan and Kyle who’ve come to get Cartman back. When Cartman pulls off Mirror!Cartman’s fake goatee, it becomes an instant classic.
Support this blog by buying South Park – The Complete Second Season.
9. Angel‘s “Life of the Party”
One of my complaints about Angel, when it was airing, was that there weren’t enough episodes about Lorne. Andy Hallett had main billing, but he was woefully underused. It was almost as if the writers didn’t know what to do with the green-skinned, red horned, future-seeing, singing demon. Which is a shame.
Lorne does take center-stage in “Life of the Party.” But not in the way he expects. Lorne is throwing the ultimate Halloween party for Wolfram & Hart, the evil law firm that Angel and crew run in Season 5, and all the evilest clients are invited and every one’s expected to show up. It’s easy for me to sympathize with Lorne here when all his friends start nay-saying the party and don’t want to show up. I’d be pissed too.
Turns out, Lorne had his sleep removed so he could get more done — I’ve really got to look into that — and his normal safe empathic powers of future-seeing were causing people to do what he told them to. Unbeknown to them. So not only were they all going to the party, his friends were also doing things that he told them to. This includes Spike dancing like a maniac and being happy, Angel and Eve hooking up, Fred and Wesley being drunk off one beer (like me at parties), and Gunn literally marking his territory.
Angel goes a bit over the top here when Lorne’s alternative self appears, all Hulk-ified. Which if you follow Linus’ logic, one must always dress for Halloween what you are not in real life. Hulk!Lorne busts up the party, but the evil demons think it’s awesome as they’re expecting some sort of sacrifice so it all works out in the end.
Drunk Fred and Wesley figure out that Lorne’s had his sleep removed and that’s causing his powers to go out of control and his other self to appear. Once they shoot Lorne with his sleep and he collapses into catching some zzs, the spell’s broken. And everyone else has to clean up the mess.
Support this blog by buying Angel – Season Five.
8. Boston Legal‘s “Witches of Mass Destruction”
Boston Legal was a show which blended the wacky with serious politic issues, and “Witches of Mass Destruction” neatly does this. It’s Halloween, and no one loves Halloween more than Alan. However, smartly Alan ends up with the serious case. He sues the U.S. on behalf of a paralegal whose brother was killed in Iraq on his second tour of duty.
The case puts a chasm in Alan and Denny’s friendship. Alan is the liberal voice, speaking out about how the war is wrong and how the soldiers aren’t being treated as well as they should be. Denny is the conservative voice, who is for the war and against criticizing the government in a time of war. In fact, the two are supposed to go as flamingos to the Halloween party, and Alan catches Denny trying on a hunter’s costume.
Meanwhile, Denise and Shirley take on a case for two couples who are suing over their kids’ public school’s Halloween pageant. One couple is Christian, and the other is Wiccan. The Christians believe that Halloween is the tool of the devil, and the Wiccans find that it mocks their religion. They sue the school to stop it.
Everyone loses their cases. A judge decides that Halloween is a fun, secular time for all. Everyone is told to lighten up about the holiday. And likewise, Denny forgives Alan and shows up the party in his matching flamingo costume.
Support this blog by buying Boston Legal – Season 2.
7. Chuck‘s “Chuck Versus the Sandworm”
There’s nothing better than an episode about nerds getting excited about Halloween. Plus, with some distrust about things not being as they seem.
Chuck’s up for a promotion at work, and his boss really wants him to get it. He also needs to control his best friend Morgan from making him look bad in his interview. But at the same time, Chuck finds out that his house and work are bugged. He stops trusting both his agents when he meets Laszlo, a super genius, who’s been sequestered by the government all his life to build gadgets for them.
As Chuck becomes friends with Laszlo, he starts ignoring Morgan. Morgan starts hanging out with Chuck’s sister Ellie and her boyfriend Devon. Devon takes pity on him and starts sculpting him into a real man. The reformed Morgan is the one who tries to save Chuck’s career by interviewing for him.
Though eventually, Chuck realizes that Laszlo is crazy when he wants to start bombing Texas. Chuck saves the day by not trusting Laszlo. But at the Buy More, he loses as he’s now under Harry’s control since he missed his interview.
Chuck makes up with Morgan. Together, they dress in their traditional Sand Worm from Dune costume. They then have a blast at their annual Halloween party.
Support this blog by buying Chuck: The Complete First Season.
6. Pushing Daises‘ “Girth”
If there’s one show that had to do a Halloween episode, it was Pushing Daisies. And there are secrets reveled about both Olive and Ned.
Okay, truth be told, I don’t care about Ned’s angst bucket. Yeah, it sucks that his mom died and his dad shipped him off to boarding school, forgot him there, and started a new family. Oh, and also that Ned’s power was a curse for so much of his life. Sad, yes, but a little too much out of a Dickens’ novel. (Though that could be the point.)
The reveal, however, about Olive’s secret life before she became was waitress was just fabulous. I love her as a jockey. And the use of Kristin Chenoweth’s short stature in a creative way. The writers did a wonderful job exploring the secret world of these jockeys.
Because yes, Olive is the type of woman to run away and flee her past when full of guilt. And it gives her the perfect foreshadowing for what she does when she discovers Lily’s big secret and wants to tell Chuck.
The headless horseman tale is perhaps one of the scariest classic tales, and Pushing Daisies does a wonderful job at exploring how this is scary with the tall horse chasing you down in the middle of the night. I adored the killer’s reveal, and how Ned saved Olive, but really loves Chuck. And the final theme about having to move on.
Support this blog by buying Pushing Daisies: The Complete First Season.
5. Buffy: the Vampire Slayer‘s “Halloween”
The Scoobies and everyone else get turn into their costumes. Well, the ones that bought them from Ethan’s special Halloween store. And here, Buffy was looking for a night off.
Buffy, who’s sad about always having to be a Slayer instead of a girlfriend, dresses up like an 18th century lady to show off to Angel. Of course, when she actually becomes the lady, Spike and company take advantage of her momentary weakness. Thankfully, Xander decided to go as an Army guy, and Willow as a ghost, so she can’t be touched. Cordelia went as a cat, but she bought her costume at the other store.
Of course, while this episode points out the Buffy will never be a normal dating girl, Buffy also finds out stuff about Angel’s past. She was rather in the dark before. But she gets a glimpse that her love wasn’t exactly “a Carebear with fangs” or even just an average evil vampire when he was Angelus. Of course, Angel does score some points when he lets her know that he wasn’t impressed with those types of women before.
The audience also learns that Giles isn’t as innocent when Ethan comes to town. Ethan is an old friend of Giles’ from his bad boy days. Now part of the brilliance of this episode is that Ethan isn’t a throw away magic-using character. He brings more layers to Giles’ story. As Giles breaks Ethan’s spell and beats Ethan until he promises to leave town, you know that Ethan isn’t really going anywhere. And that just because Giles chased Willow away, doesn’t mean the Scoobies aren’t going to find out about Giles’ hidden past.
Support this blog by buying Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Second Season.
4. How I Met Your Mother‘s “The Slutty Pumpkin”
I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. I tried watching the show when it first aired, and I just didn’t like Ted, the main character, enough to continue following it. Plus, I have a hard time with shows that used a canned laugh track. (I will laugh when I laugh, thank you very much.)
But despite all this “The Slutty Pumpkin” is a brilliant rift on “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Perhaps for all the reasons I don’t like him, Ted makes a great Linus stand-in. For those of you who’ve never watched it, How I Met Your Mother, is the story Ted tells his children about how he met their mother, the love of his life.
Four years before, Ted met this wonderful woman at a Halloween party and lost her number. Every year, he goes to the party and wears the same costume, a Hanging Chad. Like the Great Pumpkin, the woman never shows up. But the metaphor is about waiting for true love and believing deeply and truly in it. Which really brings home the theme of the show, especially as the relationship cynic Robyn joins Ted to wait for the Slutty Pumpkin.
Plus, it also has the brilliant constant costume changing Barney, who has three different costumes so he can pick up the same girl. The third time being the charm as she gives him her number, then rejects him again when figuring out who he is. Plus, plenty of gay pirate jokes as Marshall and Lily dress up as Jack Sparrow and his parrot.
Support this blog by buying How I Met Your Mother: Season One.
3. Bones‘ “Mummy in the Maze”
I may just really like “Mummy in the Maze” because Booth shoots a clown. Okay, it’s not the only episode where Booth shoots a clown. But it is the only episode where he does so why Bones is dressed up like Wonder Woman. Win. (I hate clowns and love Wonder Woman, if you didn’t know.)
To me, the mystery of who’s killing teenage girls by scaring them to death around Halloween isn’t that strong. The idea is a good spooky one for Halloween. Especially since all the girls were all at amusement parks or haunted mazes. And to keep it ghoulish, the killer puts their bodies into displays as mummified corpses.
Turns out that the team’s under pressure to figure out where the murderer is as he has another girl. And Brennan does a wonderful job at coaching both Hodgins and Zack on how to make an educated guess. As she and Booth race off to the killer and the missing girl’s location, there’s a hilarious bit of dialog describing their costumes to dispatch. (Booth dresses up like a squint.)
Wonder Woman may have used her lasso, but Brennan carries a gun. A gun that’s too big for her. And in a classic Wonder Woman move, a bullet bounces off her bracelet and hits Booth, flesh wound only. Uncharacteristically, Brennan screams and wants to be carried by Booth when she sees a bunch of snakes, which the killer’s used to torture the girl with. (There’s another episode where Brennan observes that she’s only scared of snakes when Booth is there to save her.)
When I rewatched this for this blog post, a forensics specialist watched it with me, and he applauded Bones on how realistic the show-down between the killer and Booth was. Booth grabs a solid piece of metal, which reflects the killer’s bullet, but causes him to fall down. The killer hides behind a door, and Booth shoots him dead. (I also learned to never hide behind just a car door if being shot at as you’ll die.)
“Mummy in the Maze” also features some awkward sexual tension when Brennan suggests that Booth looks like Clark Kent. (Wonder Woman and Superman hook up after Lois is long dead.) Which plays as a nice shout-out to those who are comic book fans.
But my favorite part is the ending where Brennan spins around in her Wonder Woman costume just like Linda Carter did on the TV show. Awesome.
Support this blog by buying Bones: Season Three.
2. “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
No, I’m not 5, thank you very much. But I love this Charlie Brown holiday special. Despite Halloween being a favorite holiday of mine, I never watch scary movies as even the most not-scary ones leave me a fright.
Charlie Brown’s special is about the hope that all children — and perhaps even us more cynical adults — have in holidays. Every year, Linus goes to the field to wait for the Great Pumpkin because he believes. He believes in something bigger, better, and more exciting than himself.
Charlie Brown goes trick-or-treating despite getting rocks. Despite cutting holes into his ghost costume. He may give Linus a hard time about waiting for the Great Pumpkin, but he does the same thing.
Of course, the greatest thing about Halloween is the encouragement of imagination. The Great Pumpkin is imagination. Snoopy as the flying ace is the epitome of this imagination. Of being someone else for the night. Of wanting adventure. And of going outside yourself to capture it.
Support this blog by buying It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
1. Buffy: the Vampire Slayer‘s “Fear Itself”
“Fear Itself” involves the Scoobies taking on a haunted frat house. And this being a show about the supernatural, the frat house is actually haunted. Accidentally. You see, some frat boys decided to take some scary symbols from a big book labeled “Demons Summoning 101” and draw them on the floor. Add a little Oz’s blood as he set up for the Dingos Ate My Baby to play, and you have a recipe for wacky fun times.
What makes “Fear Itself” so great is it turns the Scoobies into their own enemies by playing on their fears. Willow’s magic gets out of control because she believes she can’t control it. Likewise Oz keeps shifting into his werewolf form because he hates and fears the wolf inside of him.
Plus, the Scoobies just wear awesome costumes. From Willow and Oz’s adorable Joan of Arc and God duo to Xander overcompensating for the last Halloween episode by going as James Bond and then there’s Anya and her bunny outfit. Dress as the scariest thing you can think of sends the ex-vengeance demon straight to fluffy rabbits. And there’s a special place in my heart for the chainsaw-welding Giles. Why he had a chainsaw at his disposal? I don’t know, but I like it.
Of course, the best part is the end when Buffy summons the fear demon who’s causing all the chaos. He’s a tiny little three inch thing. Buffy steps on him with her Little Red Riding Hood heel. Best slaying ever.
Support this blog by buying Buffy the Vampire Slayer – The Complete Fourth Season.