School Spirit (The Nightmare Room)
Encyclopedia
School Spirit is an episode from R.L. Stine's The Nightmare Room
. This episode was first aired on October 20, 2001 on Kids WB. This is the sixth episode from the season (13 episodes in total).
After some time, the kids wonder why Langley isn't back yet and Alexis realizes that she didn't even do anything wrong and shouldn't be there, which causes the others to reveal that they also did nothing wrong. The students, except Frederick then decide to leave the classroom. In the hallway, the students split up into pairs (Todd/Alexis & Dexter/Janet) to leave the school and find Mr. Langley respectively. While walking, Alexis reveals that Mr. Langley coached the school debate team some years before, and that he retired after her father (who was on the administrative board) dissolved the debate team.
Elsewhere, Janet and Dexter find the entrance doors of the school unable to open and decide to check the other exits; meanwhile a solitary Freddie suddenly sees the words "LEFT TO GO" appear on the blackboard, making him think that the others are joking around. When he realizes they aren't there, he turns around to find Mr. Langley who tells him that it's time to "pay for his brother's sins". In the halls, the four students meet up and learn that they are trapped in the school for the night.
Out of nowhere, Freddie screams, causing the others to go see what happened to him. In the classroom, they discover that Freddie isn't there and the phrase "FOUR LEFT TO GO" on the blackboard. After Todd leaves to look for Freddie, the others try to call for help on the only phone they have, which is Alexis' phone, but the battery is dead. Todd returns and reports that Freddie is nowhere to be found, which makes Dexter think that Langley has him. In the hallway, when the kids discover the payphone is also dead, Todd decides that they should use the school's T1
in the office, on Mrs. Hanover's laptop. Janet and Dexter go to the office, while Alexis and Todd check the windows.
While in the office, Dexter decides to look for the laptop in the closet and discovers an old trophy that belongs to Mr. Langley for his coaching of the debate team in 1992. When Dexter goes back inside the closet, the door closes shut, locking him in. While trying to open it, Langley appears in the closet with Dex, causing him to scream. Before Janet leaves for help, supplies in the closet can be heard being knocked down. In a hallway, while looking for the others, the lockers begin to open wildly on their own, flailing books and papers all over the hall as Janet runs through.
After finding Todd and Alexis they return to the office to help Dexter. The then locked closet door can now open revealing it to be empty and in order. As Janet tries to explain what just happened in the hallway, the copy machine suddenly turns on, releasing multiple photos of Dexter's hand in the closet, with the phrase "THREE LEFT TO GO" printed on. Back in the halls, Janet and Todd discover a wall with photos of past teachers, one of which is of a much younger Mr. Langley, with a caption "1935-1996" beneath it, revealing that Langley has been dead for five years.
Elsewhere, Alexis is alone in another classroom trying to calm herself. When she realizes the door is closed she decides to leave, only to find an empty storage closet on the other side. Suddenly, Mr. Langley appears telling Alexis that she must pay for her father's sins. Back in the hallway, Janet and Todd hearing a phone ringing from Janet's locker, they find it to be Alexis' phone. When Janet answers it, Langley responds on the other end "TWO LEFT TO GO", causing Janet to drop the phone.
Back by the wall of dead teacher pictures, Janet and Todd try to figure out what Langley's ghost wants and why his spirit isn't at rest. Upon recollection, Janet realizes that they all did something that Langley wants to avenge, Freddie's brother always misbehaving, Dexter laughing at Langley years ago and Alexis' father dissolving the debate team. Janet also realizes what she did, when asked by Mrs. Hanover if she wanted to start a new debate team she said no.
When Janet turns to ask Todd what he did, she finds that he is gone but finds "ONE LEFT TO GO" written on the wall in black graffiti. As Janet runs to a supply closet, Langley speaks on the intercom system, repeating "One left to go". Inside the closet, which is filled with television monitors, all the screens turn on showing Mr. Langley walking, then they begin to show Janet in the closet, with Langley entering the room stepping closer towards her, despite the fact that Janet doesn't see anyone in the room with her.
The screens suddenly become distorted, and two arms stretch out to grab Janet causing her to fall backwards, while Langley steps out from the TV. When Janet asks what how he wants her to remember him, he says that she must pay for her sins, which causes Janet to run out if the room, where she ends up next to a trophy case in the hallway. When she spots Todd's MVP award trophy, she realizes that Langley wants his own trophy back. She races back to the office, grabs the trophy and a bunch of keys then runs back to the trophy case, where she scrambles to find the right key.
Mr. Langley appears and slowly approaches her from across the hall. As she tries many keys, Langley finally reaches her, causing Janet to think that is done for only to see Langley stretch out his hand, holding a solitary key. Janet takes it, opens the case, removes Todd's trophy and places Langley's in its place, causing to Langley to smile as his spirit disappears. Janet sits down and closes her eyes, when she opens them she finds that it is daylight and her friends are all alive and that they don't remember anything that happened, telling her that detention is canceled.
They all leave, except Janet who decides to stick around for a while. The next day, we see a teacher and the coach talking about taking down all the photos of the dead teachers and replacing them photos of the varsity football team and student council. The episode ends with a with a close-up of Mr. Langley's memorial photo, which is now aged and scowling while R.L. Stine narrates.
The Nightmare Room
The Nightmare Room is an American children's anthology horror series that aired on Kids' WB. The series was based on the short-lived book series The Nightmare Room children's books created by Goosebumps author, R.L. Stine. The Nightmare Room originally aired from August 31, 2001, to March 16, 2002,...
. This episode was first aired on October 20, 2001 on Kids WB. This is the sixth episode from the season (13 episodes in total).
Plot summary
In a classroom after school, five friends (Janet, Todd, Freddie, Alexis & Dexter) are gathered for detention, by a teacher Mr. Langley, who tells Freddie that his brother was a troublemaker. When Todd makes a disrespectful remark to the teacher, Langley replies by saying how he doesn't understand why students don't have any gratitude for the teachers that try to help them, after which lightning strikes, shutting off the school's power. Langley leaves to check on the circuit breaker, while Dexter tells the others about a prank that some students played on Langley years ago, and how he laughed at him.After some time, the kids wonder why Langley isn't back yet and Alexis realizes that she didn't even do anything wrong and shouldn't be there, which causes the others to reveal that they also did nothing wrong. The students, except Frederick then decide to leave the classroom. In the hallway, the students split up into pairs (Todd/Alexis & Dexter/Janet) to leave the school and find Mr. Langley respectively. While walking, Alexis reveals that Mr. Langley coached the school debate team some years before, and that he retired after her father (who was on the administrative board) dissolved the debate team.
Elsewhere, Janet and Dexter find the entrance doors of the school unable to open and decide to check the other exits; meanwhile a solitary Freddie suddenly sees the words "LEFT TO GO" appear on the blackboard, making him think that the others are joking around. When he realizes they aren't there, he turns around to find Mr. Langley who tells him that it's time to "pay for his brother's sins". In the halls, the four students meet up and learn that they are trapped in the school for the night.
Out of nowhere, Freddie screams, causing the others to go see what happened to him. In the classroom, they discover that Freddie isn't there and the phrase "FOUR LEFT TO GO" on the blackboard. After Todd leaves to look for Freddie, the others try to call for help on the only phone they have, which is Alexis' phone, but the battery is dead. Todd returns and reports that Freddie is nowhere to be found, which makes Dexter think that Langley has him. In the hallway, when the kids discover the payphone is also dead, Todd decides that they should use the school's T1
Digital Signal 1
Digital signal 1 is a T-carrier signaling scheme devised by Bell Labs. DS1 is a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan to transmit voice and data between devices. E1 is used in place of T1 outside North America, Japan, and South Korea...
in the office, on Mrs. Hanover's laptop. Janet and Dexter go to the office, while Alexis and Todd check the windows.
While in the office, Dexter decides to look for the laptop in the closet and discovers an old trophy that belongs to Mr. Langley for his coaching of the debate team in 1992. When Dexter goes back inside the closet, the door closes shut, locking him in. While trying to open it, Langley appears in the closet with Dex, causing him to scream. Before Janet leaves for help, supplies in the closet can be heard being knocked down. In a hallway, while looking for the others, the lockers begin to open wildly on their own, flailing books and papers all over the hall as Janet runs through.
After finding Todd and Alexis they return to the office to help Dexter. The then locked closet door can now open revealing it to be empty and in order. As Janet tries to explain what just happened in the hallway, the copy machine suddenly turns on, releasing multiple photos of Dexter's hand in the closet, with the phrase "THREE LEFT TO GO" printed on. Back in the halls, Janet and Todd discover a wall with photos of past teachers, one of which is of a much younger Mr. Langley, with a caption "1935-1996" beneath it, revealing that Langley has been dead for five years.
Elsewhere, Alexis is alone in another classroom trying to calm herself. When she realizes the door is closed she decides to leave, only to find an empty storage closet on the other side. Suddenly, Mr. Langley appears telling Alexis that she must pay for her father's sins. Back in the hallway, Janet and Todd hearing a phone ringing from Janet's locker, they find it to be Alexis' phone. When Janet answers it, Langley responds on the other end "TWO LEFT TO GO", causing Janet to drop the phone.
Back by the wall of dead teacher pictures, Janet and Todd try to figure out what Langley's ghost wants and why his spirit isn't at rest. Upon recollection, Janet realizes that they all did something that Langley wants to avenge, Freddie's brother always misbehaving, Dexter laughing at Langley years ago and Alexis' father dissolving the debate team. Janet also realizes what she did, when asked by Mrs. Hanover if she wanted to start a new debate team she said no.
When Janet turns to ask Todd what he did, she finds that he is gone but finds "ONE LEFT TO GO" written on the wall in black graffiti. As Janet runs to a supply closet, Langley speaks on the intercom system, repeating "One left to go". Inside the closet, which is filled with television monitors, all the screens turn on showing Mr. Langley walking, then they begin to show Janet in the closet, with Langley entering the room stepping closer towards her, despite the fact that Janet doesn't see anyone in the room with her.
The screens suddenly become distorted, and two arms stretch out to grab Janet causing her to fall backwards, while Langley steps out from the TV. When Janet asks what how he wants her to remember him, he says that she must pay for her sins, which causes Janet to run out if the room, where she ends up next to a trophy case in the hallway. When she spots Todd's MVP award trophy, she realizes that Langley wants his own trophy back. She races back to the office, grabs the trophy and a bunch of keys then runs back to the trophy case, where she scrambles to find the right key.
Mr. Langley appears and slowly approaches her from across the hall. As she tries many keys, Langley finally reaches her, causing Janet to think that is done for only to see Langley stretch out his hand, holding a solitary key. Janet takes it, opens the case, removes Todd's trophy and places Langley's in its place, causing to Langley to smile as his spirit disappears. Janet sits down and closes her eyes, when she opens them she finds that it is daylight and her friends are all alive and that they don't remember anything that happened, telling her that detention is canceled.
They all leave, except Janet who decides to stick around for a while. The next day, we see a teacher and the coach talking about taking down all the photos of the dead teachers and replacing them photos of the varsity football team and student council. The episode ends with a with a close-up of Mr. Langley's memorial photo, which is now aged and scowling while R.L. Stine narrates.
Closing narration
Cast
- James KarenJames KarenJames Karen is an American character actor of Broadway, film and television.-Life and career:Karen was born Jacob Karnofsky in Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Mae and Joseph H. Karnofsky, a produce dealer. As a young man, Karen was encouraged...
....Mr. Tobias Langley - Madeline ZimaMadeline ZimaMadeline Rose Zima is an American actress. She is mostly known for her six years as Grace Sheffield on the TV series The Nanny or more recently as Mia Lewis on the Showtime dramedy Californication and as Gretchen Berg on Heroes.-Early life:Zima was born in New Haven, Connecticut, to Marie and...
....Alexis Hall - Jeffrey LiconJeffrey LiconJeffrey 'Jeff' Licon is an American actor most notable for his role as Carlos Garcia on the Nickelodeon show, The Brothers García....
....Dexter Mancuso - George O. Gore IIGeorge O. Gore IIGeorge O. Gore II is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Michael Kyle, Jr. on the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids, and Gregory "G" Williams on the Fox police drama New York Undercover....
....Frederick "Freddie" Goal - Michael GaleotaMichael GaleotaMichael Galeota is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as Nick Lighter in the Disney Channel Original Series The Jersey.-Movies:...
....Todd Rossi - Keiko AgenaKeiko AgenaChristine Keiko Agena is an American actress known professionally as Keiko Agena.-Personal life:Agena, a Japanese-American, was born in Honolulu, and began acting at the age of 10. She attended Mid-Pacific Institute preparatory school on O‘ahu, and Whitman College for one year as a drama major...
....Janet Bingham
Trivia and Notes
- All the actors in this episode (except James KarenJames KarenJames Karen is an American character actor of Broadway, film and television.-Life and career:Karen was born Jacob Karnofsky in Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Mae and Joseph H. Karnofsky, a produce dealer. As a young man, Karen was encouraged...
) reprised their roles for the following episode "Full Moon Halloween".
- This is the last of the two episodes where the story isn't based on any of the books in the Nightmare Room series.