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The Tale of the Time Trap
Season 7 , Episode 8
Eplogo86
Air date May 7, 2000
Written by James Morris
Directed by Jim Donovan
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The Tale of the Time Trap is the Eighth episode of the Seventh season of Are You Afraid of the Dark, as well as the Eighty-Sixth episode in total.

Cast[]

Midnight Society Cast[]

Story Cast[]

  • Eleanor Noble as Belle
  • Cas Anvar as Bobo
  • Ajay Fry as Brad Row
  • Michelle Duncan as Andrea
  • Stephanie McNamara as Jason's Mom
  • Gilles Plouffe as Jason's Teacher
  • Ian Beny Anderson as Kid #1
  • Norm Berketa as Policeman #1
  • Penny Mancuso as The Woman
  • Al Vandecruys as Policeman Husband

Special Guest Stars[]

Intro[]

The night begins, with Tucker offering his friends double chocolate cookies (black cookies with white chips). Vange says they are the best cookies she has ever had. Tucker says his Grandma Aggie baked them and they are an old family recipe. Megan is worried, asking if it's true that chocolate causes pimples. Quinn tells her: Who cares!?

Andy takes another one. Now he and Quinn start eating them fast like pigs. Then soon, Vange and Megan do the same as well. Tucker watches in amusement as his friends do this. Then in a matter of minutes, his four friends have made pigs of themselves. So now they don't feel so good. Megan says that she feels gross. Vange (who just stuffed her face) says that she ate about six too many. Quinn calls them wimps and keeps on enjoying them. Andy asks Tucker if the ones on the bottom contain lead. Tucker a little offended, snaps at him. He tells him no, they're all the same. Just as Tucker goes to sit down, Quinn grabs the container from him and helps himself.

Tucker sits down on the Storyteller's chair (while Quinn, is pigging out on the cookies). Tucker explains that too much of a good thing, isn't always such a good thing. His story is about a guy, who has a dream come true. The guy gets so much of a good thing, that it's going to change his life. However if he's not careful, then those changes might make his dream come true, turn into a nightmare!

Tucker throws in the campfire dust. It makes the fire more intense while he submits his story for approval for The Midnight Society. He calls his story "The Tale of the Time Trap" and begins the story.

Story[]

Tucker tells the story. The story takes place on a street downtown. A down on his luck poor man is running to a store. He is tripping and falling along the way (possibly hungover). The shop he enters, just happens to be "Sardo's Magic Mansion". Sardo also happens to be in the process of trying to scam a person over the phone. He's trying to scam a person into buying his rare Egyptian youth potion (which is made with orange juice). When the poor man comes in, Sardo is startled. The Homeless Man, tells him not to be scared. He is just Bobo. Sardo is shocked, because he knows Bobo to be Uncle Bobo: A clown who also runs a shop called: "Uncle Bobo's House of Magic". But he looks so thin and so down on his luck. Bobo says he's thin, because his business has been going very poorly. After falling onto hard times.

Bobo seems to be losing his sanity. So he is laughing off and on uncontrollably, as he is asking Sardo for his help. Sardo, is willing to do anything he can to help. Except lend him money. Bobo is desperate. So he shows him a small metallic jeweled box. It appears to have a hand imprint on it. He says that it's a fortune telling box. Sardo asks him how it works. Bobo tells him that knowing him, he'll think of a great way to scam a person into buying it. Bobo first makes his offers from $50.00 down to $40.00. Sardo is shocked thinking that the prices are ridiculous. Then Bobo agrees to just give it to him for free and to pay him later. Sardo gratefully accepts the box. After he does Bobo's face lights up with joy. He resumes insanely laughing. Sardo asks him what was so funny. He leaves telling Sardo a message. The message is: This time he really will be losing on the deal!

Then in a high school gym class, A dodge ball game is commencing. Teenager Jason Midas, is constantly picked on and belittled by the class bully Brad Row. Brad is on the yellow team, and he just whipped the ball right at Jason. This made him embarrassingly trip and fall down flat on his face. This results in Brad laughing at him and calling him a loser. This makes Jason feel horrible about himself.

Later that afternoon, Jason talks to Andrea (whom he has a crush on). He tries to ask her out on a date for the upcoming Friday. But he's too nervous to finish his question. So he takes off at the ring of the bell. Andrea seems very disappointed. Since he just took off and didn't finish what he was going to ask her. Then on his way home, he can also see Andrea walking just across the street from him. Jason gets so nervous, he randomly runs right into "Sardo's Magic Mansion".

Sardo saw what had just happened. He can just tell that he is shy and has trouble talking to girls. Sardo tries to con Jason into buying an Egyptian aging potion. A potion that will help him age and mature a little more. Then quickly gain more confidence. Jason doesn't want an aging potion. He just wants something to help him become braver to speak to girls. Sardo (desperate) offers him the box that Bobo gave him. He lies about it. He says that it's a Persian Victory Box: One that for centuries, warriors have used to give them confidence to do battle. Sardo explains to use it, he just needs to place his hand on the imprint and say what he wants. Jason buys it for a cheap price. Since he's not so convinced that it will work.

That evening Jason tries it out. He places his hand onto the box. Now he wishes to be the kind of guy that girls like. Then afterwards, he thinks that it's stupid and he's just wasting his time. The next morning at school he gets a big surprise: A pretty young woman instantly appears! The woman seems very odd. She has short white hair cut into a bob hairstyle and strange clothing. She says that her name is Belle. She seems very energetic and full of enthusiasm. She says that she is here to do whatever he wants. Also to grant his every wish. The first thing is by getting the girls to notice him. However as girls walk by, they just think that she and Jason are a couple of geeks. Jason is exasperated. So now he wants her to just leave him alone.

Then next, he's annoyed to discover that Belle is now in his English class. She can tell that he seems distressed. So she asks him what his problem is. His problem, is that he forgot his book report on "Treasure Island" at home. Also that it is due today. Belle instantly makes the book report appear in his bag. He is then chosen to read his report to the whole class. However, it turns out Belle gave him a review about all of the Treasure Island movies ever produced. This makes everyone laugh at him. His English teacher isn't amused. Therefore Jason is given after school detention. Next, she follows Jason to his gym class. He warns her to leave, because he's about to be embarrassed (as usual). However, this time Belle has enchanted his dodge ball. Now he is able to single handily (and painfully) beat the entire yellow team. Since his ball can fire by itself, if he chooses it to. Jason feels great about himself. Last up he is about to face Brad. Brad keeps his cool (along with his bad attitude) and tries to whip the ball right at Jason. Jason's flinches as he embraces the upcoming hit. Then to his surprise, Jason's enchanted ball bounces off and blocks off Brad's ball. Now Jason aims for Brad, however Brad nervously and swiftly moved away. So the ball ended up beaming the Gym teacher right in the face!

After school, Jason is furious because he had double detention. Belle tries to cheer him up. She tells him that he was still great. But he doesn't buy it. He asks her what's been going on. She reveals that the box is a Zemmy (a containment device). She is the Genie confined to the Zemmy. So now that the Zemmy has been handed to him, he is now her master. Now his every wish is her command. He wishes, that he didn't miss the bus. Since he now has to walk home. Belle suddenly makes a brown sports car appear. She proudly replies by telling him that he won't have to walk anymore. Jason is thrilled. Because he just recently got his driver's license. Then just as he's ready to drive home, the police stop them. Immediately they ask him for the license and registration. When Jason realizes that Belle doesn't have the registration. It turns out that she gave him a stolen car!

Jason and Belle are arrested on suspicions of car theft and thrown into jail. Jason transitions from feeling upset to becoming furious. He demands to know her why she seems to make every problem he has become worse. Belle explains that every wish has its price. Also that she's been a Genie for centuries. Just because she has to grant wishes, doesn't mean she has to be nice about it. When she gets a new master she takes full advantage of it. One master she had wanted to go on an exciting vacation. Therefore she ended up on the Titanic when it sank in 1912. Another was a kid who didn't want to go on a camping trip. So he got his wish when Mt. St. Helen's erupted in 1980. Another was a reporter who wanted an attention-grabbing story. So he or she ended up reporting on Archduke Franz Ferdinand getting assassinated. Which was one of the main causes of the first World War. Jason then asked Belle if she started all the atrocities that led to the Second World War. Belle denies it, but adds that she did admire the work that went into it.

Belle laughs as she's eager and excited. She tries to encourage him to make his next wish. He wishes for her to leave him alone. Then suddenly Jason is literally sent into the middle of nowhere. There is nothing else around but opaque black darkness. He is scared and panics. Now he wishes to back where he was with her. So he wishes to be back at the magic shop. Belle sends him there. However he gets sent right into the middle of the street right into open traffic. Jason almost gets hit by a car. Still he makes it back into the shop. Jason is furious, snapping at Sardo about what happened. Jason explains that the box is a Zemmy. It contains a Genie that will grant his every wish. But he doesn't want it. Hearing this, Sardo is thrilled. Now Sardo is more than willing to take it back.

Jason takes Sardo to his house. Here he fibs to his Mom that he's one of his teachers. One that is tutoring him on school events. Then just as he's about to hand it to Sardo, Belle appears and says that it's not so easy to pass it up. Belle rudely explains the reason he can't pass it onto Sardo, is because Sardo already gave it up.

Jason, tense and stressed sits down. He touches the Zemmy wishing that he was out of the nightmare. Then suddenly, he and Sardo are transported into another house. A woman appears and she's terrified thinking they're robbers. It turns out Belle made things worse. She sent them straight into a strangers house! To make matters worse, The Woman's husband is a Police Officer. Now he calls for backup. The cops threaten them to exit the house. Or they will fire tear gas inside of it.

Jason is panicking. So Sardo suggests to wish that they were 100 miles away. Jason says no, because Belle might send them into a burning building. Or right into the middle of the ocean. Then Jason has an idea: He wishes that Sardo could have a wish. He did this, because he thinks that the evil wishes may only happen for him. So Sardo might think of a wish that can save them.

Sardo, is ecstatic saying that it's the opportunity of a lifetime. Jason tells him to hurry, because if they fire the tear gas they won't have a lifetime. Sardo considers the possibilities of World Peace. Or to cure every disease. Then finally greed gets the best of him. Therefore Sardo wishes to have a million more wishes. This however backfires! Belle is released from her prison. Belle is ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy. Because Sardo wished for a million wishes. The same wish that she wished for centuries ago. So now she is free. The problem is that Sardo did receive a million wishes. However he has to grant them to other people. This makes him a genie now. So he will begin with Jason's wishes. Jason asks her what to do. Belle tells him that it's not her problem now, because she's not a genie anymore. Now she heads off insanely laughing and giggling with joy over her freedom.

Jason is running out of time. As the police outside are now counting down from ten. They are prepared to finally fire the tear gas. At the last moment, Jason wishes that it was yesterday. Sardo then reverts back time. Once again it is the day before, just after school. Jason is once again about to bump into Andrea. However this time he doesn't run away from her. Andrea asks him what he was trying to tell her before. He asks her if she would like to go to a movie with him on Friday night. Andrea is thrilled and says that she would love to. Then as they are walking off together talking, they pass by Sardo's Magic Mansion. Sardo is seen placing Belle's Zemmy in the window, awaiting the next possible victim.

Ending[]

Tucker ends his story, by saying: The End. Megan tells him it was an awesome story. Andy is happy to hear that Jason found true love after all. Vange is happy to know that Belle, is trapped back in the box. Then suddenly, Tucker takes out a metallic and jeweled box. The box is just like the Zemmy from his story. Now he asks his friends if they want to let her out. Andy, Megan and Vange, all get scared and say: no way and leave in a hurry. It would seem his story was so convincing, they believed that Belle was really inside of it.

Then after Tucker puts out the campfire, he finds Quinn lying down on the couch. Quinn is now moaning and writhing his stomach in agonizing pain. Tucker mentions that he must finished all of the cookies. Quinn says he had to, because they were too good. Tucker helps Quinn up, to walk him home. He tells him, that hopes that the cookies taste just as good on the way up, as they did on the way down. Tucker begins to walk Quinn home, as he belches and moves in agony.

  • The only time a protagonist never got Sardo's name wrong (in the second half of "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure", it was pronounced correctly only after several mispronunciations and his warning signal). This is probably because when he first introduced himself, he gave his name but not the famous line about its pronunciation until later.
  • "The Tale of the Time Warp" was originally planned to be the title.
  • The acquaintance who greets Sardo at the beginning is called Bobo, a possible reference to the owner of "Uncle Bobo's House of Magic" an unseen person arguing with Sardo in "The Tale of the Carved Stone" threatened to give his devices to if a price wasn't agreed upon.
  • This was the third time that Jay Baruchel, who portrayed Jason Midas, appeared in the series revival. Also the fourth and final time he appeared in the entire series. He first appeared in the original series episode "The Tale of the Dead Man's Float" as Joe. Previously before this episode he made his second appearance in the episode "The Tale of the Zombie Dice" as Alex. Then he made his third appearance in the episode "The Tale of the Walking Shadow" as Ross Doyle.
  • Jay Baruchel also co-starred with Elisha Cuthbert and Vanessa Lengies in the children's show Popular Mechanics for Kids.
  • The original Sardo's final appearance until the reboot episode "The Tale of the Darkhouse". Years later his Grandson would debut in "The Tale of the Haunted Woods".
  • Eleanor Noble, who portrayed Belle, had previously appeared in the original series many years before. She first appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Dark Dragon" as Shelly Bergman.
  • Eleanor Noble and Ricard M. Dumont, co-starred together years before in an original series episode. They first appeared together in the episode "The Tale of the Dark Dragon" as Shelly Bergman and Sardo.
  • Bobo finally makes his appearance in this episode. He was originally mentioned as Sardo's competition and possible rival, in the original series episode "The Tale of the Carved Stone".
  • Ajay Fry, who portrayed Brad Rowe, previously appeared in an episode of the original series. He first appeared in "The Tale of Cutter's Treasure" as Tony.
  • Ian Beny Anderson who portrayed Kid #1. previously in the show before. He first appeared in the episode "The Tale of the Silver Sight" as the young Laing Candle.
  • Penny Mancuso, who portrayed The Woman, previously in an episode of the original series. She first appeared in "The Tale of the Ghastly Grinner" as Mrs. Wood.
  • Gary and Tucker's Grandma Aggie is mentioned in this episode. She has a role in The Tale of the Silver Sight.
  • This is the first episode of the revival seasons to not feature an actor from Goosebumps.
  • Belle's paper on Treasure Island mentions "the one with the puppets", a reference to Muppet Treasure Island
  • DJ MacHale has said that this is one of his favorite episodes from the revival seasons, alongside the other Sardo episode, The Tale of Oblivion.

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