Summary
“One More Minute” has a potentially deep story, but presented a little flatly. An exciting start to the season… because I’m sure better episodes will come.
This Creeped Out Season 2 Episode 1 recap for the episode titled “One More Minute” contains spoilers. You can check out our thoughts on the first season by clicking these words.
Creeped Out is back, at long last; and episode one of the new season, called “One More Minute”, is directed by Bruce McDonald, the name behind several episodes from last year, including Marti and Side Show. It’s great to have the show back – they were talking about it at my son’s birthday party, which must be a good sign – but this wasn’t an entirely satisfying opening episode.
“One More Minute” is about Jack who plays online fantasy games with his mates, like many teenagers; and like many, he becomes a little obsessive and doesn’t notice the time passing. The story moves from a comfortable domestic setting into darn weird when he’s not just losing track of (or losing?) hours, but days, and then steadily longer periods of time.
This isn’t a scary or creepy episode for kids, like many from Creeped Out season one, but funny, or weird-in-a-puzzling-way. The scenario is completely familiar, of course, but I get the impression that the reveal of what was happening to our poor protagonist was a little too esoteric for the adolescent audience, and the ending felt a little limp.
I hope grown-ups watching “One More Minute” with their kids will see below the surface of the story. Online gaming is an escape, a coping mechanism for when life becomes too much… but here, writer Patrick Whistler has missed a trick, I think. There could be a strong mental health message here, but it’s only lightly hinted at. Adolescents would need it to be much clearer; disappointingly there is nothing in the episode at all regarding healthier ways to address these problems (not even a phone number on the screen at the end).
That said, even the protagonist’s mother and friends miss what is going on with him too, thinking that gaming is Jack’s problem, rather than his way of coping with his problems. It would have been good to see them recognizing there is something behind his need for escape, perhaps a model for kids to recognize signs in their friends.
All that aside, the direction and production were enough to keep me engaged until the end, and the acting was great… within the limitations of an unsatisfying story. Fifteen-year-old Tomaso Sanelli was really rather good: you could see his Jack trying to re-engage with his life, and feel his frustration at losing it. If only he took the time to think about the difficult stuff.
Still… Creeped Out is back: I still want a Curious mask, and I can’t wait for the next episode.
