"Tales from the Crypt" Retro Recap: "The Secret"

Written by Scotty

I would not even want to imagine what it would be like to not know my parents. Having someone around to teach me what is right and what is wrong has been a large help in developing me into the person I am today.  But there are a lot of children that never knew their parents for one reason or another and have to spend their days trying to impress people that do not have the ability to have their own children.  The orphan life has to be a very difficult one, even when living with many kids their own age, it is not the same as being part of a smaller family that puts all of their focus on their offspring.

Theodore has become one of the oldest boys in the orphanage and he is becoming more of a burden than a blessing for the service.  As he gets treated the same as everyone else, he is bigger and wants nothing more than to be loved by someone.  When heading down stairs for a late night snack, Theodore hears Miss Hagstead complaining about his behavior and how much she wants him out of her hands.  Theodore does not know what to make of this, since the younger Miss Heather coddles him against the older woman.

With word that a rich couple is looking for an older boy, Miss Hagstead is excited since this is really the only opportunity that she will have to pass off Theodore to someone else.  With a shady past, she knows that the sooner the boy leaves, the better she will feel about the rest of the orphanage.  When Mr. and Mrs. Colbert arrive and see all of the boys looking for adoption, they are very impressed with Theodore and want to take him in as their own.  Even though the boy does not seem so keen on this, as he does not want to leave his friends, he is told by Miss Hagstead that he will go and be on his best behavior at all times for the couple.  Packing his bags and saying his goodbyes, Theodore has no idea what his new life of luxury will bring.

Arriving at his new home, Theodore finds that it is like a museum.  Although he is not allowed to touch anything in the house, he has a room of his own with everything that he could ever want, along with sweets for every meal.  Being locked in his room is not normal for the boy and he wants to understand why he is not allowed to see the light of day with his new parents.  Mrs. Colbert lets her new son know that he is the most treasured piece in the entire house and they will do everything to protect him from the outside world.  As Theodore gets homesick from the orphanage, he begs the butler, Tobias to come and play a game with him.  The older man accepts and the two form a bond that is making Tobias think differently about what he is going to be directed to do.  On a night when the moon is full and in the center of the sky, the Colbert’s come back home to share their secret with their son, but Tobias does not allow the boy's blood to be on his hands.  Trying to release Theodore from his fate, Tobias meets his at hands of a hungry vampire.  Running for his life after seeing what they did to his new friend, Theodore finds out that he has a secret of his own and there is nothing that his new vampire parents can do to stop him as he has a hunger for their blood as well.

This is the best way to finish off the ever so popular season two of Tales from the Crypt.  I am a huge fan of vampire stories, but I must admit that I did not see this ending coming.  As young Theodore is being kept behind bars at the orphanage, all he wants to know is what happened to his parents, but nobody there would pass on that information, but did they really know what he was a part of?  Seeing the emotions and the inner battles that Theodore has to go through is great, but you only see it for a few seconds at a time since he is being made one of the happiest children around with a new family and all the sweets he can eat.  Staring Mike Simmrin as Theodore, Larry Drake as Tobias, Grace Zabriskie as Mrs. Colbert and Georgann Johnson as Miss Hagstead, you have the perfect combination of innocence, kindness, trust, betrayal and hatred.  This is a great story that will leave you wondering what secrets can really be hidden in the overall span of someone’s life.  Until next time kiddies, Stay Scared.

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