‘Goosebumps’ (2023) Recap: ‘Go Eat Worms’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Will Price as Lucas in Episode Four of ‘Goosebumps’ (2023) – ‘Go Eat Worms’. (Photo Courtesy of Katie Yu/Disney.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Goosebumps’ (2023). To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
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For the most part, horror stories that cater to a younger audience in any capacity, tend to steer clear of deeper themes and explorations, and understandably so. After all, shows like the original Goosebumps for instance, were/are gateway shows. Designed to showcase the wonder of horror, through baseline scares that happen to be fun in nature. All so a teen will eventually check out what horror has to offer, and well… since that is all they want to accomplish, there is no need to go beyond the scares. But the times are certainly changing when it comes to matters such as that, as evidenced by the next episode of ironically, the new Goosebumps on Disney+ and Hulu. For ‘Go Eat Worms’ not only brought forth the scares but added some incredible depth to the story. 
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Because in this particular tale, we came to learn a lot about Lucas and his family’s past, and why exactly the daredevil lifestyle was top of mind for him. As it turned out, it related to the fact that his daredevil dad passed away ages ago. At a young enough age, and so abruptly, through a daredevil act no less, that Lucas was unable to process his grief, and honestly… nor could his mother. Which meant that Lucas was forced to figure things out on his own and he struggled with that and acted out accordingly to find peace and to be closer to his father in some capacity and well, his daredevil tendencies and pain were exacerbated in this story by way of the evil in question and quite the surprise regarding his mom. In that, Nora was taking part in an affair with Margot’s dad, and Lucas of course found out about it and that sunk him further.

For he could not stand the thought of his father’s memory being washed away by his mother’s emotional needs. Which pushed him to be the town daredevil even harder, to the point where he ate some of those weird worms that he found in the Biddle house and well, what they did for him… changed his outlook on a great deal of things. For they gave him super strength and healing powers, and that made him fearless and reckless and eager to conduct the biggest daredevil acts possible, including the one that killed his father. But thankfully Margot and his mother stepped in and stopped him and pointed out the reasoning for his behavior. Which led to one wild ending where a giant super worm collective left his body and chased him and Nora, and Margot and where Nora found herself committed for telling the truth at last about what happened.

But what mattered more here, was the depth surrounding Lucas’ storyline. Because in essence, Lucas’ journey spoke to the power of grief and loss and the trauma that comes from it, and how that trauma can prompt us to do foolish and hurtful things for a bevy of reasons. To feel something for instance or to fill the hole we feel inside of us and that made… for one powerful episode. Simply because that’s top-notch horror commentary right there. The kind that matches the zeitgeist of the genre right now since so many horror stories are taking that elevated route and looking at the impact of the darkness of life upon an individual and how that turns into its own horror story, and it was wonderful to see here and spoke to an evolution for the series.

For clearly, it is more than just gateway horror now, it’s full-on horror when it needs to be, and its wonders didn’t end there. Because Lucas’ behavior in this story was downright scary and unsettling, as was the whole worm thing, and the ending where they banded together. Not to mention, this episode deserves a round of applause for throwing in quite the twist regarding the messy past between Harold Biddle and the parents of our heroes… by having the one person willing to talk about it committed. For now, Nora is hidden away from the world, and so is the truth and it does leave us wondering how exactly the truth will come to light. And of course, the only way to know… is to hit play and watch the next chapter in this eerie tale. One that informed us here, that this franchise has grown up and is ready to terrorize us in new and exciting ways. Until next time.

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