Written by Hilary J. Bader
Directed by Kyoung Won Lim
Animation by Dong Yang, Koko
Original air date: December 11, 1999
Rating: **** out of 5
Description: The students at Hill High think
the ghost of a dead student is haunting their school. But Terry sees past this
and exposes the "ghost" for who he really is: Willie Watt.
Highs: Good characterization, dialogue, shower scene.
Lows: Couple of plotholes, makes us want to know about Terry's Past.
At Hamilton Hill High School, a mysterious vandal is causing some disturbances,
including a coach's trophies lodged in the ceiling, and structural damage to the
school gym. The students believe that it is the ghost of Garrison Jacobs, a student
who was killed when the school was under construction. Some of the girls at school,
including Dana, Chelsea, and Blade, create a seance in order to attract the spirit
of the popular ex-student. Instead, they get Nelson Nash, who acts as his usual
rude self to them. Suddenly the ground begins to shake, and objects in the room
rise and fly right at Nelson! On a patrol outside, Terry witnesses the occurence,
and manages to save them just in time.
Bruce doubts that it's a ghost. Not that he doesn't believe the in supernatural...he's
seen witch boys, demons, immortals, and ancient spirits. But to him, it all seems..."so
high school", as he puts it. The next day, after a strange disturbance in the
girl's shower room (hmmm...BB is pretty liberal about this sort of stuff), Blade
sees the words "I Still Love You" scrawled on the bathroom wall. Terry puts all
the clues together. A love for Blade, a hatred for Nelson Nash and the school
system...it's no ghost, it's Willie Watt.
As stated above, this episode features the return of Willie, the nerd introduced
in "Golem". In my opinion this episode is better than the introduction, mainly
because of it's good characterization. We get to see Terry go down to Juvenile
Hall to see Willie, as well as the villain's second attempt at revenge.
Willie- We haven't seen him since his incarceration in "Golem". During all this
time no one, not even his father has contacted him. "Everyone here is a little
afraid of him", says the guard. "Afraid? Of skinny Willie Watt?" asks a surprised
Terry. It turns out that Willie has lost the glasses, nerd talk, and has built
up some muscles since we last saw him. He also has developed some psychokinetic
powers, which he uses to terrorize his school enemies. He's still friendly towards
Terry, and even has ambitions of returning to a normal life after his release--until
revenge gets in his way.
Terry- Once again he displays intelligence by connecting all the victims and deducing
that the "ghost" is really Willie Watt. He also manages to trick Willie into displaying
his strange new powers in Juvenile Hall. He mentions that he's been there before,
wonder why. He gets some funny lines as well, like "An invisible boy in the girls'
shower...why didn't I think of that before?"
Bruce- Although his appearance is brief, he does get to make the "It feels so
high school" comment, a very accurate one at that.
Nelson Nash- He's the jerk who tormented Willie before, and now he's the target
of a vengeful outcast with deadly powers. He and Willie go one on one for a while
in a fistfight, but it didn't feel too bad to see Nelson smash into a car after
being thrown by Willie's telekenesis.
Matt McGuiniss- A secondary subplot is thrown in about Matt wanting to contact
the ghost of his dead father because he's forgetting what he was like. When his
mom tells him it's all fake, you can see how crushed he is. But in the end Terry
reminds his brother that their father will always be alive in their hearts.
The problem with this episode is an odd plot path. Bruce gives Terry a tranquilizer
gun, yet it requires extremely close range to be effective, and only has one dose.
You'd think that they'd at least consider something Willie couldn't spot easily,
or having a backup shot. It's not like Willie's powers are a secret. And I know
I want to see why Terry was in Juvie, it's been said that he's had a troubled
past...so let's hear it!
Overall, this was an entertaining and sometimes saddening episode. I won't say
how he loses the battle, but Willie is last seen back in the detention with an
indefinite sentence. So much for his dreams of returning to society...I wonder
what he'll do in the future.
-The Overseer