For the 1995 Series episode of the same name, see "The Cuckoo Clock of Doom"
"The Cuckoo Clock of Doom" is the third episode of Season 1 of the Disney+/Hulu series, Goosebumps.
Synopsis[]
James hits his head on a cuckoo clock and gets stuck in a time loop.
Plot[]
Halloween
James, Allison, and Margot knock on the basement door, calling for Isaiah. Just then, he comes through the door, knocking James into a cuckoo clock. James rubs his head as the others decide to continue setting up for the party. Margot notices this and asks him if he's okay. He thinks he blacked out for a second and Allison notices a bruise forming on his head. Isaiah asks if he wants to sit the party out or show everyone how a sexy cat gets down. James decides to stay.
James greets people at the door. He mingles at the party, chatting amiably with people. He brings Isaiah a drink and says he was saying hi to some people. Isaiah asks if he said hi to Sam, who is at the top of the stairs. James asks Isaiah how he looks before going in. Isaiah says he's the sexiest cat at the party.
James finds Sam and introduces himself as James from Spanish class. He tells Sam he's handsome in Spanish and starts a conversation by pretending he works out like Sam. He also claims he used to play soccer and pretends to follow "London United." Sam laughs and says it's Manchester United. James says it's the one in London, but Sam says there are seven teams in London, but not a single one called London. Sam excuses himself and walks away.
James goes back to Isaiah and says it was brutal. Sam is not at all interested in him. Isaiah asks if he was being himself and James says yes, but then admits he pretended to be into sports. Isaiah tells him to stop being obsessed with being liked. James is trying to be friendly, but Isaiah tells him not to try so hard. He just needs to be himself. James thinks Isaiah has it easy, but doesn't explain what he means. He says he's tried and going to leave.
James goes out the door, but as he steps off the porch, he finds himself back in the house, having just hit his head on the block. He is confused and tells Margot, Allison, and Isaiah that he was already there, even saying what Isaiah is saying along with him.
Isaiah suggests that James sit down, but James runs out of the house. Again, stepping off the porch resets him. He tries again to tell them about the time loop, but they don't believe him. He tries to leave again and again and resets again and again.
James is sitting on the steps at the party when Sam asks him to move so he can go by. Sam sits down with him and asks if he's okay. James says he's stuck in a nightmare that won't end. Every time he tries to escape, he ends up where he started. Sam says that sounds like high school and sometimes, you just have to make the best of a bad situation. As Sam gets up to walk away, James asks what his favorite soccer team is. When Sam says Arsenal, James looks them up on his phone. Then he intentionally recreates the interaction between them. This time, he pretends to be an Arsenal fan.
Sam and James kiss in the attic. Sam asks if James wants to leave and James says yes. They go downstairs and James asks Sam to wait so he can take care of something first. He goes to the clock and breaks it. Then he steps outside and is able to step off the porch. He leaves with Sam.
James wakes up this morning and finds his mom's wine glass on the counter. He puts it in the sink and disposes of the bottle she was drinking from. His phone buzzes. It's Sam, texting that they should watch the Arsenal game together. James puts some pastries in the toaster, singing a song about how he doesn't know anything about soccer, but doesn't care because Sam is so hot. He puts some extra pastries in his pocket and gets milk out of the fridge. As he closes the door, he's startled to see himself, still in his cat costume, telling him it's not sanitary to drink out of the carton. Several more of these Dupes appear, telling him a new one was created each time he went through the time loop. He runs out of the house, thinking Isaiah will help him, but realizes he doesn't have his phone. A Dupe brings out his phone and one of the Dupes puts a sack over his head.
James fights his captors and screams for help. They tell him no one's coming to help him. He asks if this is about the clock, but he says it's so much bigger than a clock. He thinks people will know it's not the real him, but the Dupes say no one will notice or care.
Dupe James goes to Allison's locker, looking for Isaiah and Margot. He plants doubt in her by saying that those two are inseparable.
Sam is upset that James didn't show up to the meeting that James set up. Dupe James says he's clingy and whiny. Sam's just asking for some consideration. Sam says he's done, but Dupe James says he's done.
Dupe James is playing pool with Isabella, who is watching Nora, Victoria, Ben, and Eliza talk. He gives her the cue stick and she takes her shot, knocking a ball into him and causing him to splatter all over the wall. She screams. The adults run in and Isabella tells them James exploded. Isabella looks over and sees another Dupe James standing nearby, unharmed. She's confused. James blames the slime on a practical joke gone wrong. He says they'll clean it up. Isabella refuses to let him near her, telling Victoria that she doesn't know who that is, but it's not James. Ben takes the pool cue from her and Victoria says they're leaving. She apologizes to Eliza. Once they're gone, Eliza tells Dupe James to clean up the mess. Eliza tells Ben that was just kids being kids and warns him not to let Nora get in his head. She offers him wine, but he declines, saying it's a weekday.
Isabella paces in her bedroom. She hears a noise outside, so she turns out her light and looks out the window, where another Dupe James is standing with his finger to his lips. She goes to grab a weapon, but he's gone when she goes back to the window.
Isaiah and Margot agree that they saw a monster at the Harbor Stop. Isaiah says it makes no sense, but Margot reminds him that he saw a ghost on the football field and found a camera that predicts awful things. They're past making sense. He asks what they do now, but Margot doesn't know. Isaiah says she doesn't have to fix this alone. Ben comes in and the two of them separate. They decide to talk to James.
Isaiah and Margot follow Dupe James, who tells them he's skipping school. Isaiah is upset that he hasn't answered any texts. They tell him some weird things are going on, but he says he already knows they're hooking up behind Allison's back. They say that's not what's happening, but he informs them Allison thinks it is. Putting that aside, Margot says they fought a monster. Dupe James brushes them off and Isaiah asks if he's really that mad about a scratch on his car. Dupe James says no, it's about Isaiah blowing it during the big game. Not because of the camera, but because he's just not that good at football. Then he turns to Margot, saying pretending to believe in ghosts won't make Isaiah like her. Isaiah and Dupe James have a standoff over Dupe James treating Margot poorly, but it ends when Isabella comes up behind Dupe James and hits him with a bat, turning him to slime. Isabella then tells Margot and Isaiah they need to talk because some weird stuff is happening. They are horrified that she blew up James, but she says she didn't. Isaiah wonders why the slime smells like watermelon Jolly Ranchers.
Isabella has finished telling Margot and Isaiah the whole story. Isaiah is horrified that she was the troll. She says it wasn't her. It was, but it was really the mask. And now something is happening to James. Margot says he's splattering, but Isabella says that was just a copy of him. The real James is missing. Isaiah thinks they can figure it out. Margot asks where Isabella found the mask and Isabella says it was at the Biddle House on Halloween. That's also where Isaiah found the camera. Margot thinks it's connected and Isaiah agrees. They need to find out more about Biddle and Isaiah knows who to ask.
At the Harbor Stop, Margot asks Nora how she knows Harold Biddle. Nora tries to brush them off and says Ben was right about her minding her own business. The kids continue to push, telling her James is in trouble because of Biddle and the house. Nora tells Margot to ask her mother if she wants answers.
James drinks water from the cave he's in. He finds a bag of tools and decides to take them.
Bratt puts in a CD and starts dancing as he sets up his basement. He goes to the kitchen and eats a bowl of worms. When the CD skips, Bratt takes a broom and hits it until it breaks. The doorbell rings and Bratt brushes the trash to the side. He answers the door to find Colin Stokes, who asks if he's okay because he just heard a ruckus. Bratt claims not to have heard anything. He invites Stokes in. Stokes admires the house and then says he's following up on the kids breaking into Bratt's house on Halloween. There are channels if he wants to pursue disciplinary actions. Bratt says if he wanted to discipline the kids, he wouldn't go through official channels. Stokes laughs, thinking he's joking. Stokes would rather label it kids will be kids. He and his wife, Sarah, had some wild times when they were kids. He's not from Port Lawrence originally, but Sarah is. He admits that they're actually separated. With that settled, Stokes gets up and leaves.
James attempts to escape the cave, climbing a rickety ladder. As he reaches toward the top, a rung on the ladder breaks and he falls back to the ground.
Isaiah, Isabella, and Margot watch James's house. Isabella suggests Margot try calling her mom while they wait, but Margot says that's not a good idea. She's busy right now. They see Dupe James exiting the house and Isabella jumps up with a rock, but Isaiah wants to try getting answers from him first. Plus it could be the real James.
They follow Dupe James to James's family's mine. They follow as he walks down into the mine. When he turns off his flashlight, they stop. He tells them it was a trap. He sends a mine cart rolling toward them and they run away. They're stopped by three more dupes. Another James appears, saying it's him and he figured out the tunnels. They decide to follow him.
Once away from there, James tells them about the clock at the party. Another James appears, saying that one is leading them into a trap. They both claim to be the real James and appeal to Isaiah. Isaiah picks up a piece of wood and hits one of the Jameses, who splatters into slime. He tries to celebrate with the other, but that one reveals that none of them are actually the real James. He, Margot, and Isabella start running again, but one of the James dupes puts a sack over Isaiah's head. He just dropped into the same pit as James. James is excited that Isaiah came for him. Thinking he's another dupe, Isaiah hits him with a rock, but he just falls over, angry at Isaiah for hitting him. Isaiah apologizes and hugs him. James is upset that Isaiah couldn't tell the real him from a duplicate. Isaiah tells him he needs to chill so they can find a way out as James realizes this is why it took Isaiah so long to look for him. Isaiah says they were impersonating him and he had some of his own stuff going on. They argue and Isaiah says the dupes are good at impersonating him. When James asks him what he means by that, Isaiah says James isn't always himself, so Isaiah should be forgiven for not knowing who the fake James and the real James are. James says it's hard for him because Isaiah has been popular since first grade while he's one of six gay people in the whole town. Rocks open near them and Margot and Isabella poke through. They followed Isaiah and James's voices to find them. They found a way out, but they need to leave.
Isabella and Margot make it through a door, but it closes behind them, forcing James and Isaiah to find another way. They end up in a dead end, trapped by dupes. James picks up a weapon and he and Isaiah end up standing back-to-back as James uses the stick to splatter the dupes. With one dupe left, Isaiah asks James if they're good. Jame says they are and they stomp the dupe's head, showering themselves with slime. Now safe, they make their way out.
At the Harbor Stop, James voraciously eats pancakes. Isabella thinks it's time for Margot to call her mom. Margot still doesn't think it's a good idea. When Isabella pushes, Margot says she thinks her parents are separated. They're not telling her anything, so she doesn't really know. She doesn't want it to be real, so she hasn't told anyone. She doesn't want to talk to her mom because she doesn't want to talk about that. Isaiah says she doesn't have to call her, but James disagrees, saying he was in a hole for a week. Margot takes her phone and dials. She puts Sarah on speakerphone and explains what's been happening. When she mentions Harold Biddle, Sarah tells her not to talk to anyone else about it. She says the other parents can't be trusted and says she'll be there as soon as she can.
Sarah hangs up the phone and pulls a box out of a drawer. She opens it and removes and old photo of Harold.
In his basement, Bratt/Biddle opens his notebook and exes out a picture of Eliza. A dupe James comes downstairs and says not all of them made it, but they found what he was looking for. Bratt opens the chest the dupe gives him, but it's empty. Bratt angrily asks where he is. He throws something at the dupe, splattering him.
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Zack Morris as Isaiah Howard
- Isa Briones as Margot Stokes
- Miles McKenna as James Etten
- Ana Yi Puig as Isabella Chen-Lopez
- Will Price as Lucas Parker
- Rachael Harris as Nora Parker
- Justin Long as Nathan Bratt
Guest Cast[]
- Rob Huebel as Colin
- Leonard Roberts as Ben
- Ben Cockell as Harold Biddle
- Rhinnan Payne as Allison
- Francoise Yip as Victoria
- Laura Mennell as Eliza
- Lexa Doig as Sarah
Co-Starring[]
- Aiden Howard as Sam
- Isaac Caverzan as Isaac
- Tyson Dornn as Tyson
- Gavin Langelo as Running Back
Music[]
| Song | Performer | Scene |
|---|---|---|
| "Poppin Non-Stop" | Photronique |
|
| "Who Dat" | Emmit Fenn |
|
| "Fabulous" | Kin Palo, Night Panda |
|
| "Strings" | Ark Woods, RUSL |
|
| "Before" | 1K Phew |
|
| "Feel Ya" | Lee Richardson, Jonathan Murrill, Tom Frod, James Cocozza, Scarlet Ann Skinner, Bruce Fingers, Billie Ray Fingers |
|
| "bad guy" | Billie Eilish |
|
| "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" | The Proclaimers |
|
| "Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix)" | Yeah Yeah Yeahs |
|
Gallery[]
Episode Stills[]
