Dead End Paranormal Park Spoiler Recap: Trust Me
Dead End: Paranormal Park continues its strong run in episode three, “Trust Me.” Norma must face her greatest fear: making new friends.
I’m starting to get a handle on the setting. In the first two episodes, I wasn’t sure if the demons were hidden from the real world. They felt like a big secret in “The Job” because Norma and Barney weren’t aware they existed. In “The Tunnel,” Barney went out of his way to hide Pugsley’s abilities before accepting the new him. Now in “Trust Me,” the other park employees don’t seem to have any issues with Courtney or Pugsley. Hanging out with a demon and a talking dog is apparently normal. They treat Courtney like she’s always been part of their group. It seems that demons are just part of society here.
We then get the introduction of Harmony, the bad guy of the week. He’s this demon that’s going around the human world and preying upon their fears. Once he’s defeated, the teenagers go back to business as usual. Maybe demons and ghosts are a big secret of Phoenix Park and contained in that area. So the workers like Badyah and Logan aren’t scared of them. People outside of the park know nothing about it. This world-building is intriguing to see fleshed out more.
Though, Harmony says that someone paid him to work on the trust exercises with the park employees. Granted, he could be lying. He is a demon after all. But the way he phrased helping our heroes with their work productivity sounded an awful lot like the recordings from Pauline Phoenix. I can’t help but wonder if she’s the one who paid Harmony. It feels more and more like they’re setting up for Pauline to come into the series sooner rather than later.
Norma is the star of this episode as we get a good first look at who she is and her relationship with the real world. I am not autistic so I can’t in any way talk about how well they portrayed her as an autistic character. My knowledge of it comes from my own research and my roommate who works with adults with developmental disabilities. I was able to recognize that this episode very much showcased Norma’s autism in a unique way.
What I liked about “Trust Me” is that it didn’t feel like an “A Very Special Episode” format or a PSA. There’s no moment where the characters turn to the camera and talk about why it’s important everyone is equal, autism is okay, and how special Norma is like the old 80’s cartoons. It’s worked into the story in a fantastic and effective way.
When we see Norma’s world, it’s a completely different art style than the rest of the series. The lens of the episode is almost entirely from her point of view. For example, when the group is doing the human knot, it’s all framed with Norma in mind. The shots of the other characters are just slightly off-kilter and exaggerated because it’s how she’s viewing the scenario. The episode relies heavily on sound design and music to narrate her anxiety. The more she interacts with people, the more the sound grows around her. The quiet moments like when she’s sitting with Badyah are more impactful because the audience, like Norma, are getting relief from the oppressive nature of the sound and visuals. It’s so well done.
This feels like a huge episode for Norma. She’s taking small steps opening up to people, but it definitely helps they’re all assisting her too. Well, except for Josh who is very much a stereotypical bro kind of teenager. But I totally forgive him, because he’s voiced by Patrick Stump and I’m a long-time fan of Fall Out Boy. I’m biased.
I adored that everyone is respecting Norma’s boundaries as she’s getting used to these new people. At no point does anyone ever call her out or think she’s strange. Badyah offers her hand to Norma to help her stand up. Norma doesn’t take it, and Badyah smiles and moves on. Honestly, Badyah is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. Her excitement over the nickname “Deathslide” made me laugh. Her experience and patience with her zinging one-liners have been a delight over the last few episodes.
Barney accepts that Norma needs baby steps when it comes to something like a shoulder pat. What is a kind gesture to Barney is a big deal for Norma. He accepts her boundaries on this front. It’s why it’s so powerful when Norma defeats Harmony that she grabs Barney’s hand. The choice is always Norma’s and I love that the other characters respect this.
Also, Norma’s mom is great. She knows how to be kind and understand to her daughter while nudging Norma just enough to get her out of her comfort zone.
Exploring the characters’ greatest fears is such a fantastic way to get to know them better. It also sews some possible mysteries into the show.
Barney’s fear not of his grandmother but his parents not supporting him is a great reveal to further his story. We know from the first episode that Barney’s mother supports his transition, but it’s heavily hinted that she’s also trying to keep the peace with the grandmother too. This in turn hurts Barney. It makes him feel like they don’t care about whenever Grammy Gram hurts him. It can be incredibly isolating, clearly one of the reasons that Barney ran away from home. It does make me wonder what will happen if he runs into his parents again. We know from the trailer that it will occur at some point in the season. It’s going to be a moment full of a ton of emotions and I’m excited to see how it all plays out.
What’s intriguing to me about Pugsley’s fear world is that we see Temeluchus come out as well. It’s not clear if it’s the piece of Temeluchus inside Pugsley that’s poking through or if maybe it’s a subconscious fear of Pugsley. Our sweet dog doesn’t seem to be aware in the real world that the demon king is affecting him which is why I think it’s a subconscious thing. “Trust Me” does set up in the opening minutes that Courtney is pushing Pugsley to indulge more in his new magical powers. She wants to go home. Pugsley learning magic is the best route for her to accomplish that goal. But Pugsley is very wary of all of this. Perhaps it was actually Courtney’s advances that planted the fear inside of Pugsley all along.
Courtney is the most fascinating character to me thus far. I thought for sure she would be an antagonist throughout the series. She might occasionally help Norma and Barney as she did in “The Tunnel.” There would probably be moments of her bonding with them. “Trust Me” tossed a lot of my assumptions out the window and re-framed her in a new light.
As I mentioned already, she’s part of the Phoenix Park crew and attended the team building session. Logan, Badyah, Josh, and the others don’t seem to have any problems with her being a demon. It appears she’s been with this crew for some time. She is in a place where she’s comfortable. She doesn’t seem entirely bad either. While helping Pugsley learn magic is very much in her best interest, it could also be an angle that she genuinely wants to aid him in getting control over his abilities.
Courtney is also starting to open up to Norma and Barney too. When they enter her fear world, she accepts their help as well as their hugs. They tell her she’s part of their found family. Family is probably something that Courtney has been missing for some time if her desperation to get home is any indicator. At the end of the episode, she’s sitting with her new friends to support Norma. Courtney doesn’t say much when the group tries to rescue Norma. But her actions in helping out speak volumes.
Sure, Courtney will probably always be the chaotic character of the show. As the series goes on, we’re seeing there is some sort of morals inside of this demon. It really does feel like the writers are setting her up for an incredibly difficult choice between saving her friends and getting to go home.
“Trust Me” was a fantastic episode. It let Norma take charge, gave us time with the side characters, and wove in some more possible mysteries of the show. I really enjoyed this episode of Dead End: Paranormal Park. It was a fantastic outing for the cast and crew.
