This essay was original published at Roxy Reviews and is reprinted here with permission.

The Fan

SUMMARY: An overly obsessive fan, who lives in a house plastered with Jem photos, offers a reward to anyone who can reveal Jem's identity. The Misfits take him up on the offer, and use his money to create a replica of Starlight Mansion, complete with fake Holograms and Starlight Girls. They then transport Jem to their Mansion and mess with her head.

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS: Jem meets The Twilight Zone. This episode is good enough to be authentically TZ.

Jem is Insane, Part II. She's stuck in a mansion with people who know her, but don't. Fake Video presents a video of her life. She's planted into a fake hospital room. Creepiness abounds.

Jem does give away a few clues. Her surprise at fake Jerrica's arrival, her slip-up with the driver (she tells him her birthday is June 1st, presumably Jerrica's b-day), and her conversation with Kimber (she alludes to the fact they are siblings) should have rung some warning bells for the watching Misfits. Why didn't they?

This is the first episode after "The Bands Break Up," and here's proof that Stormer is 100% Misfit. Although she does express some apprehension about locking Precott the fan in a closet, she otherwise participates in the day's events with gusto. She helps convince Prescott to go ahead with the scheme and gets into the fake Holograms' faces right along with her cohorts. No one's dragging Stormer along here. She seems to see no problem messing with Jem's head, in spite of all the help she gave her and Kimber. That's Stormer, Misfit Extraordinaire. =)

SONGS:

1. Jem and the Holograms: "Nightmare." Another good new song, and to the best of my knowledge, one of the few from Season 2 that is recycled later on. Jem sees Pizzazz in her worst nightmares...

2. Misfits: "Who is she anyway?" Recycled from "Broadway Magic," and for once, it fits into its new story well.

3. Jem and the Holograms: "Happy Endings." Recycled, but not as well placed as "Who is she anyway?" Seems they needed three songs, here.

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