Halloween

Night, with a full moon. Matt is telling scary stories to his siblings, about someone called Mutant Mike. Mary thinks Ruthie is a little young, but Ruthie isn't scared. Everyone's getting a little creeped out, so they scream real loud when Eric comes into the room. Annie pops in and is upset that she wasn't invited. Eric isn't interested, because as the family points out, he hate Halloween. They're not sure why though...

Morning, Ruthie is waiting for the bathroom. She finally just walks in. She flushes the toilet and Mary screams in discomfort. Rude much? She starts to dry her hair, when Simon walks in without knocking. Then Matt comes into use her deodorant. Why is Matt wearing women's deodorant? And don't the Camdens teach their kids any manners at all? Walking in on someone in the bathroom is no okay!

Ruthie's drawing pumpkins. Simon is upset because she wants to enter some contest. Probably because he's worried she might beat him. Ruthie isn't sure what she wants to be for Halloween. The day before Halloween.

Annie tells Eric she ran into someone from his hometown. When she reveals the family name, Eric drops his full cup of coffee. Looks like the reverend has a secret past.

Lucy, Jimmy Moon, and some other kid are discussing the Mutant Mike story. They decide to go check out his alleged residence.

Annie is making Ruthie a dinosaur costume, when Ruthie comes in and announces she wants a store bought costume. Annie gives in, because Ruthie is a spoiled brat.

Eric is lookin through an old yearbook. I sense a flashback coming on.

Mary is helping Matt score a date for the Halloween dance. Mary is planning to attend the church carnival instead. Matt doesn't really need Mary's help, because this girl is desparate for date.

Lucy and her friends ride their bikes to Mutant Mike's trailer. The boys dare Lucy to steal a pumpkin. Mike comes out due to the noise. The kids panic and run away. Lucy still has the pumpkin.

Annie and Ruthie costume shop. Ruthie doesn't like anything. This is why you aren't supposed to wait until the day before to pick one out. Annie is being way too accomodating. Ruthie decides to settle for the dinosaur Annie was making earlier.

Matt and Eric discuss Halloween costumes. Matt calls him out on hating Halloween. Eric thinks Mary is going to the dance, and Matt corrects him. Eric disapproves of Matt's choice of costume. Matt wants to be a hobo; Eric thinks this is insensitive. Matt tries and fails to tell him why he's not insensitive. Eric is still looking at that yearbook.
Mary's on the phone with a friend. Apparently she's telling her friends she's going to the carnival and her family that she's going to the dance. She's up to something.

Simon doesn't like any of the pumpkins Annie bought. He tries to get Lucy to give him the pumpkin she stole. She evasive about where she got it. Annie figures out she stole and sends her to return it.

Back at Mike's trailer, Lucy returns the pumpkin. Mike comes out, and they both scream. Mike is played by Bull from Night Court. It's clear Mike is mentally disabled.

Mary is looking for a costume. Her dad asks her about the carnival. She continues to lie about her plans. She finds a coonskin cap, which sends Eric on to a nostalgia trip.

Lucy and Mike are talking. He tells her he can keep the pumpkin. She asks about a scar on his head, and he tells her he got shot. He doesn't like visitors, and doesn't want to meet her family. Mike yells at her a bit and locks himself in his trailer. He tells her that she can come over, but that he doesn't want anyone else to come over.

Night. Eric's tossing and turning in his sleep. Ooh, it's flashback time.
Kid Eric wants to get the coonskin cap for his Halloween costume. Apparently, his school handed them out to the students. Did schools ever really do this? Eric's friend gets the cap and Eric beats the crap out of him to get it for himself. His friend reveals that he got for Eric. Lamest secret ever!

Halloween morning. Annie asks Eric about his nightmare. He doesn't want to talk about his lame, lame secret guilt.

Simon couldn't sleep either, because he was too worried about the pumpkin carving contest.

Matt's date doesn't like his costume idea either. She wants to go as Cyrano and Roxanne. She hands Matt a costume. He's reluctant, but easily convinced when the girl starts talking about passion.

Lucy and her dad are painting a sign. They both hate Halloween. She starts to tell him about meeting Mike. He knew him before the shooting, but hasn't had much contact after. Because Mike became reclusive afterwards. They have a pretty good conversation about it. Eric encourages his daughter to befriend him. If this were another show, that would seem like a really bad idea. It doesn't seem like a great idea on this show.*

Ruthie is trying on her dinosaur costume. She hates it.

Matt hates his Cyrano costume, too. Annie tries to help him fix it, but it doesn't work.
Simon finds a pumpkin on the front porch for Lucy. He worries that she's entering the contest.

Mary helps her mom set up the carnival. They can't find the curtains because Ruthie is sleeping on them. Annie doesn't want to disturb her. Mary wishes people would leave her alone too.

Lucy rides her bike over to thank Mike for the pumpkin. Dressed up as Little Bo Peep. The creepy factor on this storyline is not going down.

She catches her friends egging his house, and sprays them with a hose to get them to leave. She checks on Mike, whose undestandably scared. Lucy doesn't quite know what to say to him. She helps him clean off the egg, and they talk a bit more.

Annie's trying to find a baby-sitter because Ruthie can't figure out a costume. Mary offers to get Ruthie to wear a costume.

Matt shows up for his date dressed as a hobo. She's not impressed, and breaks the date. Matt tries to reclaim his dignity, but we all know he's a loser.

Simon and Annie are waiting for Ruthie. She emerges from her room dressed as the family dog. Mary is excited her nefarious plan is working.

Eric goes to apologize to his friend about pushing him down over the coonskin hat in elementary school. It's still a really lame secret past. So lame that his friend didn't even remember the incident at first.

The Carnival. Everyone seems to enjoying themselves. Matt shows up since he got dumped. Eric loves Halloween now that he's resolved his terrible secret. Lucy has a mysterious friend painting faces in the hallway. I wonder who it could be.

Matt blows Mary's cover. Annie figures out that Mary stayed home by herself.

She's dancing around and eating ice cream out of the carton. She's excited to have some alone time. She takes a bubble bath wearing a tiara.

Simon loses the contest because the pumpkin Mike carved won. Lucy introduces him to the community, and no one's scared of him anymore. Simon's a good sport about it. The kids who egged his house apologize for it and promise to clean it up. All is well in Glen Oak.

Quote:
Daddy, are you bigger than the bad guy?
Eric: I'm bigger, I'm stronger and I work for God.


*I think I'd feel better about this if her dad insisted on meeting him, or supervising, or something. I know the story line is encouraging the viewers to get to know people before judging them, but it seems to me that a parent should also be ensuring his child's safety, and might be a little nervous about encouraging his twelve year old to be friends with a reclusive adult. Even though Eric knew him well before his head injury, that doesn't mean that the injury didn't cause some personality changes. Eric admits to having tried unsuccessfully to contact him afterward, and Mike behaves a little eradically. I'm not saying Lucy should shun him-- just that her parents might want to keep a closer eye on the situation than Eric appears to be doing here. Of course, he is distracted by his guilt over his 'terrible' secret.