Fear Itself: Episode 2 Spooked

If I have a problem with this episode it's that Eric Roberts isn't the best choice for the lead. I know in real-life Roberts has had run-ins with the law, and I haven't seen him in a lot of things, but as an actor here he just feels too clean to portray the sleazy character he's supposed to be. Perhaps if they'd mussed up his hair a bit, or let him grow a beard, but he does not come across as an alcoholic, ex-cop, Private Investigator, who blackmails his own clients.

Harry Siegal (Roberts) was a cop who killed a suspect he was interrogating (Jack Noseworthy) in order to find a missing child. He lost his job and pension, but moved onto Private Investigation. He's hired by the latest in a long line of suspicious wives, a woman named Meredith (Cynthia Watros). Meredith insists that he set-up shop in the house next-door to her own, but unbeknownst to Harry the house is haunted.

I use the word “haunted” in a general sense. It's never made explicitly clear what's in the house, and it doesn't seem tied to people who died in the house. It's just determined to drive anyone who comes inside to suicide Harry begins experiencing bizarre visions that eventually tie in with his history. He's first faced by Rory, the suspect he killed, but eventually flashes back to a childhood trauma, playing with a gun and accidentally killing his own brother (Jake Church).

The final twist is like a rabbit hole, getting more messed up the more you think about it. Meredith was Rory's brother, who went to the house in an effort to see him again. She sent Harry in hoping to destroy him. She claims that Rory protected her and told her to seek out Harry...or perhaps the forces of the house told her to. I prefer the latter interpretation: The house saw that it could get an extra soul by letting her go, so it did.

The final confrontation isn't quite like anything I've ever quite seen. Two individuals mutually hate each other, and are mutually indifferent to their own deaths. So, does murdering the other still have any meaning at all? The episode finds a way to avoid answering that question, when Harry is accidentally shot by his own partner (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.).

The episode isn't the best, but it's pretty decent. Most of it is a fairly standard supernatural horror, with a really good climax. I'd say The Sacrifice was better by far, but this isn't bad.