Scarecrow | |
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Season 2, Episode 11 | |
Air date | December 10, 2011 |
Written by | Billy Brown Dan Angel, story by Ken Friss |
Directed by | Ken Friss |
Episode Guide | |
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Scarecrow is the eleventh episode of the second season of the TV show R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: The Series. This episode had two alternative endings.
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when we whisper together are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass or rats' feet over broken glass
in our dry cellar.
Summary[]
Two siblings named Jenny and Bobby are having trouble keeping crows out of their crops, so Jenny buys a scarecrow from a mysterious man -- and they discover that the scarecrows are scaring off more than just crows.
Plot[]
Young farmer girl named Jenny is frustrated by crows eating her crops. Her dad tells her the problems are just a part of working the land.
Jenny goes to the shop with her older brother, Bobby, to get chicken feed. Jenny teases Bobby about his crush on the girl who runs the till, Amy Kessler. They spook Amy when they walk in, and she explains that it is because of an eerie poem she's been reading for English class. She starts to recite it to the two siblings when a mysterious man comes in and finishes the stanza menacingly. He informs the kids that the poem is about the end of the world. He tells them he doesn't know why people get so jumpy about the end of the world; he thinks it will be nice and quiet. He buys a piece of jerky and exits. The children are left shaken.
As Jenny gets off the school bus some time later, the strange man from earlier approaches Jenny in his car. The scene skips forward. Jenny tells her brother that the man offered to sell her a scarecrow that will scare away any pest. When Bobby is noticably irritated with Jenny for talking to such a weird stranger, she denies having taken the man up on his offer (despite carrying a large burlap sack over her shoulder).
As Jenny is about to hang the scarecrow up, it disappears. Jenny is frightened, blaming Bobby for taking her scarecrow. She realizes he has no idea what she is talking about, and their parents aren't home yet. Bobby chalks it up to neighborhood kids playing a prank. Bobby calls for their dog, Scout, but can't find him. The night is unnaturally quiet.
The next morning, Jenny goes into the field and notices there are no crows. Initially confused, she checks her crops and is overjoyed to see that they are pristine--no damage from the birds. Beginning to harvest the corn, she looks up to see the scarecrow hung over the field. Shocked, she runs to get Bobby, and they agree it must have been a prank. Bobby proposes just burning the scarecrow, but Jenny objects: Bobby will make money off the cows no matter what, but she can only sell her corn if something keeps the crows away.
Afterwards, Bobby drives out to the pasture to feed his cows. Despite their usual schedule, the cows are nowhere to be found.
Back in town, Amy Kessler notices the mysterious salesman sitting behind her in a diner. His plate is knocked to the ground, and Amy runs out in the street. She calls Bobby, frantic about a terrible, cold feeling that she has. She tells him it feels like everything is there, and everything is nothing; she knows "it" is coming. She looks up to see a scarecrow at the top of the town clocktower and the call ends.
Bobby, back in the field with Jenny at this point, tells her to call their parents, who are nowhere to be found. He leaves to check on Amy.
Bobby tries to find Amy, but only finds her phone laying on the ground. The town is dead quiet around him. While searching the stores, Bobby gets a call from Jenny. She tells Bobby that the scarecrow is gone. While on the phone, Bobby sees the man driving towards their house. He tells Jenny to get inside immediately and lock all the doors until he gets there. Jenny, terrified, turns to go inside but hears a rustling in the corn. She turns to run, but finds the scarecrow in her path no matter which direction she goes. Finally getting home, she finds the house still empty, and is horrified to see a trail of straw leading deeper into the house. She turns to leave and is confronted by the scarecrow at the front door. She starts to cry silently.
When Bobby gets home, he finds only the vendor. The man tells him he won't be finding anybody.
In the premiere episode, the episode ends with the scarecrow salesman turning into a scarecrow; Bobby burns him and trekking across a desolate world.
In some reruns, the ending is replaced with one where the scarecrow man explains to Bobby that this is the end of the world, and he needs someone else to witness how perfect the quiet is. The man narrates the poem over shots of the empty town and fields, ending on two scarecrows wearing the clothes of Bobby and the man.
Cast[]
- Richard Harmon as Bobby
- Bailee Madison as Jenny
- Genevieve Buechner as Amy Kessler
- Martin Cummins as Pete
- Juan Riedinger as The Stranger
- Benjamin Rogers as Scarecrow
- Jody Thompson as Margaret
Music[]
- Rest On Your Reason - Of The Past
- Amy Kessler is listening to this on her iPod when Bobby and Jenny enter the general store to buy chicken feed
Trivia[]
- This episode aired twice back-to-back on December 10, 2011, the second time with an alternative ending. After the second episode aired, viewers were asked to go to www.hubworld.com/scarecrow and vote for their favorite ending.
- The ending that won has Bobby becoming a scarecrow. The other ending has Bobby burning the scarecrow man and walking away into the now empty world.
- Bailee Madison previously appeared in the season 1 episode "Really You".
- Richard Harmon, who appears as Bobby, also portrayed Caleb in the season 1 episode "Nightmare Inn".
- Jody Thompson, who portrays Margaret, also appeared in the season 1 episode "Scary Mary: Part 1 & 2" as Marla.
- The poem that is recited in this episode is Hollow Men by T.S Elliot, which likely inspired this episode.
- Genevieve Beuchner who plays Amy, and Richard Harmon who plays Bobby are actually dating in real life.
- Despite Bobby and the Stranger supposedly being the only people left at this point in the episode, a car can be seen driving in the background as Bobby pulls into his driveway.
- Juan Riedinger was nominated for a Leo Award for his role in this episode, while Ken Friss was nominated for Best Direction and Micheal Balfry was nominated for Best Cinematography.
- According to Ken Friss, he pitched the general concept to Billy Brown and Dan Angel, who let him direct it, making it his first directing gig. [1]
- In his original outline, the episode would have had the kids' father going into town and not coming back. The episode would have ended with the kids going down there to discover it totally empty, with only the Scarecrow standing there. Everything else , including the use of The Hollow Man, was conceived by Billy & Dan.
- The ending with Bobby becoming a scarecrow was the intended ending but the network thought it was too bleak, and had them shoot the other one. It's likely the voting was a way for them to comprise and let viewers see them both.
- Richard Harmon would later appear in a 2013 TV movie also titled "Scarecrow".
- Bailee Madison and Richard Harmon would later appear in the same project again in the 2021 film "A Cinderella Story: Starstruck".
References[]
Image Gallery[]
Video(s)[]
(Director's Cut)