‘Tales from the Darkside’ Retro Recap: ‘Mookie and Pookie’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​One thing that we can all agree upon, is that humanity does harbor some serious fears about technology and the direction it is going, and it makes sense as to why. After all, it evolves so quickly that we don’t always fully understand what it can do for us and how it benefits us and not having knowledge about our own creation is uncomfortable for certain. Not to mention, we are self-reliant creatures that got along without the advanced stuff for a long time and the thought of replacing our gusto and can-do attitude with simplicity and comfort leaves us terrified that we will somehow become weak and frail both mentally and physically. But truly what we fear about it… is the sheer possibility that it might become sentient, become our digital children if you will, and no one can really seem to wrap their heads around what that means, but we certainly fear the potential.
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Because it could lead to uprisings from the technological world as it tries to assert its dominance over us or perhaps it could seek to end us because of our flaws. But the fact of the matter is, we don’t know what will happen the day a computer becomes self-aware and all we can do is hope to improve ourselves and perhaps outline proper regulations for the powerful tech to come to avoid trouble. But what’s amazing about this fear, is that it is nothing new. In fact, it’s been around for as long as advanced technology and for proof, look no further than the next episode of the 80s classic horror series, Tales from the Darkside. Since a fear of technology is everywhere we look in ‘Mookie and Pookie’, alongside a surprisingly hopeful theory about what technology could do for us if we really embraced its wonder. But to get to that particular examination, bad things had to happen in spades in this tale. 

In fact, it is death that gets this whole thing rolling. Since the Anderson family loses their computer whiz-kid of a son in the opening moments of this tale, and the death of Kevin ‘Pookie’ Anderson outright devastates his sister Mookie, a.k.a. Susan. To the point where she takes up the mantle of a long coding project he was working on before he died. An act that terrifies her mother and father. Since they firmly believe that she is using technology and its wonder and convenience to hide from really dealing with Kevin’s death. In fact, dear old dad becomes so concerned about her health that he puts forth quite the ultimatum. In that, she has to let the program go and rejoin the land of the living, or that computer is leaving this house post haste. A demand that motivates Susan to work ten times harder to finish the job. Because in reality, she’s trying to program the computer to become a sentient being, one with the same algorithms and wavelengths as her brother and if she cannot beat her father’s deadlines, she might lose her brother forever.

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Which is… a fascinating way to explore our fear of technology. Since the mystery of what Susan is building via code and the grip it has upon her, really does put the fear of God into her parents. As though they firmly believe the use of technology will lead to her end as well and that leads to a lot of familiar sequences in this story. The kind where parents demand their child step away from the screen and live life and where conversations/lectures about the importance of human company over technological company take place. Which still echo today because that same debate about what technology does for us and to us, rages on. But the fact that Mookie is able to finish the code and bring a digital brother to life, assuages those fears for her family and informs them and the audience that with the right care, technology could in fact… accomplish wonders for us, the kind that might ease some of our greatest sufferings.
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But what’s amazing, is that this story has more to explore than our fears of technology. For it also lightly digs into the power of grief and how much we are terrified to let go of those we love. Because make no mistake about it, Mookie’s behavior, and obsession with getting the coding done ASAP… are reflections of how we process grief and how we will sometimes pour ourselves into different tasks to heal and her parents push to stop her, serves as a reminder that we cannot ever demand how someone grieves since everyone handles it differently. And of course, her desire to just pour herself into this coding project is what is reflective of how we struggle to let go, since there were no guarantees that this project was going to work or was working until the final act when Pookie 2.0 asserts himself completely. But burying herself in this... kept Pookie's memory alive for her and delayed any need to properly say goodbye. 

If anything, this is just a very unique Tales from the Darkside episode. In large part because it features so many different themes and unique concepts that at the time, were not native to the horror genre in the slightest. But it just goes to show that this series was a pioneer in year one and was willing to try anything and everything to tell a compelling story grounded in the foundations of horror and this episode succeeds there for certain. Since it does feature a fear of the unknown and it plays upon our fears of death, something that is central to the genre for certain. Plus, it is also quite amazing that this episode once again features some big names. Since Justine Bateman plays Mookie/Susan, and she went on to have a huge career and of course, it is amazing to see Tippi Hedren here since she is just… a horror legend and well… in the end… while some might find this episode to be a touch out of place since it isn’t a true scare fest, this writer appreciates this episode for taking the time to try something new and out of the box and for dealing with fears that so many share in. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight.   

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