9x06 LHdP 66.6: The Rip-off - "I Think I'd Better Run, Run, Run"

Ep. 110: Una noche espeluznante (A bloodcurdling night)

I need to preface this lecture by saying that as much fun as it sounded to watch 3 white kids being stalked in the forest, I never saw The Blair Witch Project or any of the other rip-offs in this lecture. In fact, I rarely watch horror films at all. Why? First of all, horror films make me laugh due to their predictability. Don't get me wrong, there are creepy moments for sure, but those are usually outweighed by the fact that I get a kick out of watching the characters stumble into the most obvious death traps. Secondly, I can't watch it in a theatre full of people who are screaming their heads off - while it adds to the hilarity somewhat, it's also annoying. Finally, by the time I am ready to watch the film, none of my friends want to watch it because they've already been scarred for life. My point is, since I've never seen these films, you'll have to forgive me if my summaries are a bit off.

Rip-off: The Blair Witch Project
Summary: Three student filmmakers travel to the Black Hills of Maryland to film a documentary about a local legend known as the Blair Witch. During their investigation, they go missing and are never found. However, the footage from their journey is discovered a year after their disappearance and is the only record of what happened to them in the woods. The film is notorious for its documentary style of filming, which gives the viewer a first-person perspective of the events as they unfold.


LHdP spin: Paco, Pove, Dani and Lis travel to the countryside to investigate the origins behind Amadeo's transformation from a young boy to Satan incarnate. They bring a video camera to record their investigation. Throughout this episode, viewers get a first-person perspective of the events through the documentary style of filming used.

Epic fail: I am going to keep saying this until it sinks into Alex Pina's head: LHdP is not a sci-fi/fantasy/horror show! If you're going to do a horror film rip-off (a) your show better be a horror/thriller show and (b) someone better die. Neither one of those things happened in this episode. It also makes no sense as to why Paco decided to bring a video camera to film the whole experience, given that this was a "secret mission" off the books. By filming their experience in case he's right, he's basically confessing to engaging in an unauthorized assignment. Remember what happened the last time he did that? He ended up starting a war with the Italian mafia and Silvia got shot and died on her wedding day. All of that aside, it just made no sense. They're cops, not filmmakers. They're investigating, not making a documentary. The use of the video camera was absolutely pointless except to create a scarier environment for an episode that doesn't belong on this show to begin with.

Rip-off: The Omen
Summary: When an American diplomat's son is born stillborn, he secretly adopts a newborn whose mother died in childbirth. He and his wife raise the child - Damien - as their own. Over the years, numerous accidents occur that seem to be connected to Damien. The diplomat discovers that Damien is actually the offspring of Satan and destined to become the Antichrist. He spends the remainder of the film coming to grips with this news as well as trying to prevent Damien from fulfilling his dark destiny. One notable part of the film is the use of Rottweilers, which attack the protagonist and are later used to protect Damien.

LHdP spin: Throughout this episode, Pove keeps seeing a Rottweiler who "haunts" him. Also, Paco discovers footage which shows a young Amadeo being forced to kill a small animal by a mysterious person who is filming everything. Towards the end of the episode, we learn that the mysterious filmmaker is Damián, Amadeo's twin brother.

Epic fail: Despite the literal rip-off in the choice of Damián's name, this rip-off isn't a complete failure when you take in context of the "66.6" storyline. Given that Amadeo seems to be Satan incarnate, finding out his origins seems to be the logical choice in learning how to defeat him. Paco learned that Damián helped mold Amadeo into the person he was and that perhaps Damián is his real enemy. It also explains some of the other mysteries, like how the cameras in the precinct got messed up, how Amadeo's body disappeared, and how Amadeo appeared on the street camera after his death. It wasn't really Amadeo, but Damián. Probably. That being said, this rip-off still fails because, again, the whole storyline is a failure in my opinion. Also, their use of the Rottweiler was pointless other than to drive in the point that Pove is a fearful guy who needs to overcome those fears. But this is something that we already knew. It's been an established part of Pove's character from Day 1. We didn't need a seemingly imaginary dog to tell us this, so the inclusion of the Rottweiler was completely pointless.

Rip-off: La Monja (The Nun)
Summary: Sister Ursula is an insane nun, who terrorizes students at her school. During one attack, she is killed by several students in self-defense, and her body is dumped into a nearby lake that has been blessed with holy water by the priests. Years later, Sister Ursula's spirit is released, and she seeks revenge on the students who killed her.

LHdP spin: Amadeo's mother told Paco there was a fire at Amadeo's school and he was the only survivor. When Paco arrives at the school, he meets the groundskeeper who confirms this story. The groundskeeper adds that one of the nuns had locked all of the children into a room. When the fire started, she couldn't find the key to release the students, and they all died. As a result, the nun hung herself. Paco later sees a dead nun who hung herself but believes it to be another figment of his imagination. He sees the dead nun again, and this time she looks like Amadeo's mother. This causes Paco to remember his prior conversation with Amadeo's mother at the precinct, and makes him realize that he should not have left Lis and Dani (the kids) alone.

Epic fail: Granted, I'm nitpicking here again. The nun hasn't come back to terrorize anyone, and we're not even sure if the image of Amadeo's mom is real or a figment from the crazy section of Paco's brain. Nevertheless, I found no point to her appearance. Sure, her appearance made Paco realize that he shouldn't have left Lis and Dani alone, but I realized that on my own without the help a dead nun. How? It's called common sense. So, like everything else in this episode, the use of Amadeo's mother as a nun was pointless.

Feel free to add any other rip-offs you may have spotted, as well as your thoughts in agreement or dissent.

kalike

*The title for this lecture is based on the song "Run Run Run" by Phoenix