Goosebumps: Episode 9 Return of the Mummy

Just as I was beginning to lose hope, I find a one-part episode that doesn't feel rushed. Return of the Mummy feels a little like the script had a razor blade taken to it, but somehow it still works. I suspect this was at least partially because the show lacked the budget to portray an actual pyramid or anything of appropriate scale for ancient Egypt, so we're limited to scenes of people in small rooms. However, these scenes function to deliver the story in a fun, if somewhat campy manner, carried by actors who are clearly enjoying themselves in the roles.

Gabe (Daniel De Santo) is a kid sent to Egypt to spend the summer with his archaeologist Uncle Ben (Elias Zarou) and his cousin Sari (Annick Obonsawin) who are in the process of opening a Pharaoh's tomb. I seriously doubt that the first people to enter a Pharoah's tomb would be the lead archaeologist together with his young daughter and nephew, but this is clearly set in fantasy world. In fact, a good argument could be made to place this story in the same continuity as the old Universal Mummy films.

Before the episode even begins Gabe has already purchased a “summoner” from a man at the airport. Apparently this is the hand of an actual Mummy, which can be used to awaken other Mummies. Uncle Ben, while suspecting the hand was a scam, expresses a willingness to let him try it on the Pharaoh. We get rapid exposition dumps, such as giving Ben a piece of amber with a scarab in it while explaining that possessing a scarab grants immortality. Meanwhile, Sari acts as the standard Goosebumps antagonistic sibling.

We get a reporter (Afrah Gouda) who shows up the site, having mysteriously found out about the dig. Strangely, she has a piece of amber with no scarab in it, because apparently all pieces of amber are supposed to have bugs in them. For some reason she's allowed to enter the tomb with them, because why not.

The Mummy's appearance is fairly sudden. The episode assumes that we knew it was coming, even if the characters didn't, so why pretend otherwise? The real twist, however, is that our reporter is actually the Pharoah's sister, who controlled him throughout his reign, and gained immortality by becoming a scarab. She slept in her piece of amber every night, while able to become a human by day. This is all infodumped on us when she appears, so don’t think I’m rushing. She even continues infodumping after her brother, uninterested in re-establishing their Kingdom, smashes the amber and she’s transforming back into beetle-form.

Her brother then attacks Gabe and Sari. Why he cares about attacking them I'm not sure, but destroying Gabe's summoner appears to stop him and destroy the tomb. So, my best guess is he wanted to get rid of the thing that was keeping him awake.

The episode ends with Uncle Ben trying to figure out how to explain the events to reporters. I'm not sure why Uncle Ben believes them, since he was unconscious for most of the events, but I suppose the 8-year-olds in the audience don't think of things like that. Honestly, the plot hole just adds to the glorious cheese for me.

Unseen to Gabe, however, the supposedly destroyed summoner slips back into his suitcase, headed home for America. I'd actually be curious what happened when it got there. Can it only bring back mummies, or could Gabe cause a zombie apocalypse? I guess we'll never know.