The season 1 episode 10 finale of Goosebumps gave literal goosebumps, ending on a rather shocking and game-changing cliffhanger as the Disney+ series awaits a second season renewal.
I was actually surprised to learn that there were even plans for a second season as I thought this was more of a limited-series scenario, however, the cliffhanger was compelling enough—and I realized I’ve developed a fondness for the characters—that I was excited at the prospect of more.
Goosebumps managed to do something that’s quite rare—it reinvented itself over the course of 10 episodes. Biddle storyline is now a distant memory, Slappy’s backstory has been revealed and explained, and now we’re finding ourselves invested in the outcome of Margot’s jaw-dropping decision and Nathan Bratt’s second possession.
With a full-fledged franchise backing the series, there’s no shortage of source material, but there are also plenty of stories left to tell when it comes to the five teens.
Throughout the season, much of what was happening to them was a result of other people’s misguided actions—their parents initially with Biddle’s death and then Mr. Bratt’s decision to bring Slappy back to life for selfish reasons.
But that all changed now that Margot made the conscious decision to save Isaiah’s life using the same incantation that started this whole mess in the first place, filling the crevices of Port Lawrence with a darkness that connects all the way back to the 1800s.
The episode broke everything down in tangible terms, introducing a villain much more sinister and menacing than Biddle, but one that was here all along as his darkness inhabited Slappy and thus manipulated Harold Biddle into doing his evil bidding.
The man who rose from the grave following a moment of weakness and desperation from Bratt was Rupert, later known as Kanduu, a soldier who would have been killed on the battlefield during a war if he hadn’t found shelter in a temple and uttered the incantation engraved in the walls, healing himself in the process and absorbing the dark energy that fueled his rage to raise the true horrors—ghosts, monsters, curses, etc—to make mankind pay.
His journey took him to a small town where he found Franz Mahar, a puppet maker and Bratt’s great-great-grandfather (keeping it really in the family here), whom he used to lure in people that he then turned into puppets for his ritual.
When Mahar realized that he made a huge mistake (a deal with the devil of sorts), he had the common sense to use one of Kanduu’s spells against him, banishing him into the body of Slappy, and thus kicking off the dummy’s reign of terror that we saw pan out in the first nine episodes of the horror-series based on the popular ’90s franchise.
IRL Slappy is much more terrifying than puppet Slappy, not to mention he’s able to do quite a bit more damage by essentially showing the people in town what they want to see before turning them into dummies, including all of the teens’ parents and Lucas.
Credit: Goosebumps/ Disney+
My guess is that because of everything that the group has been through with Slappy, they were able to see through Kanduu’s charade, so he was unable to turn them before unleashing his longtime plan on the word. In his mind, he’s doing this for the greater good to rid the world of the horror people created on their own, including wars, but Margot blatantly calls him out for trying to justify what’s doing by punishing the world for what he’s been through.
It’s all a little convoluted—Kanduu’s purpose for wanting to raise hell on Earth falls flat, and essentially, he just wants to be evil. And we’ll take it, solely because of what happens once they destroy Kanduu using one of his own spells, undoing all that he’s done, and sending him back to where he belongs.
In his final moments, Rupert manages to fire his gun in Margot’s direction, just as Isaiah jumps in front of her, taking a bullet for the girl he just professed his love for mere hours ago.
All of the townspeople, including the parents, are awakened from the trance and immediately rush to Isaiah’s side before the next scene shows the doctor delivering the bad news to them in the hospital—there’s nothing more that they can do for him besides keep him comfortable.
It’s rare that a show willingly kills off its own protagonist (or one of them) unless there’s a bigger plan in place, which was the case when Isaiah takes the bullet for Margot. His near-death wasn’t in vain, as it pushed Margot to go somewhere she was too afraid before and admit that she’d been in love with Isaiah for years. And this is why you should always tell people how you feel when they are still conscious.
Her feelings for him are so strong, in fact, that she decides to risk it all and reads the incantation, fully knowing just how dangerous it was and how many problems it caused in the first place. There’s nothing you won’t do for love, right?
Isaiah immediately shoots up, very much alive, while Bratt, who is still blaming himself, goes to the bathroom and sees Kaandu’s reflection in the mirror as he mutters, “Not again.”
At this point, the responsibility for all that’s been happening shifts from the parents and Bratt solely onto Margot, and by association, the teens, who will undoubtedly back her up in what she’s done but will also have to face the consequences, whatever they may be.
Will Isaiah be a completely different person? Will he be possessed by the evil juju? What’s with Kaandu’s return?
How will they undo this while also sparing Isaiah’s life?
And can’t anyone catch a proper break?
As far as finales go, this one was superb, finding the right mix of mystery, courage, risk, friendship, and romance, though I do hope that come season 2, we’re allowed to explore the other characters as deeply as we’ve gotten to understand Isaiah, Margot and Lucas. Isabella and James provide the levity as comical sidekicks—and I cackled when she said she knew something was wrong because her mom said it was “nice” to see her—but they definitely have main character energy that isn’t being tapped into.
What did you think of Goosebumps Season 1?
Feeling merry and bright? Read our review of ExMas here.