S2E5 "N-I-NIGHTMARES ON D-I-DIMEO S-STREET"
With no adults watching them, the DiMeo kids search for the Halloween candy, but it turns out that the candy that they found was very old. This causes J.J. to a hallucinate, and in his hallucination he is possessed by a demon. The scene where the family discovers that he is possessed, and that whoever reads for him has a demonic voice, is hilarious. I especially loved their complaints about insurance.
However, this bizarre story gets weirder as it goes on. Having much of the episode focus on a hallucination is already quite out there for a show normally grounded in reality, and the way that this gets stranger makes this feel more out-of-character for Speechless.
About halfway through the episode. J.J's hallucination ends, which makes the pacing as unusual as the story. Then, however, Dylan eats some of the old candy, and she has a hallucination. In her hallucination, she and Ray swap bodies, and he discovers how great it is to be Dylan. There are a few good laughs here, but it also escalates too quickly, with Dylan shaving Ray's eyebrow and Ray getting a tattoo as Dylan.
The final act of the episode is Ray's hallucination, but it isn't introduced as such. It has the DiMeos go through a series of challenges, such as being on time. This has a couple of funny moments, with Maya's refusal to follow directions, though her insistence on being difficult is a bit much. In the end, other people have different effects from the candy, and it turns out that the entire episode was a nap of Kenneth's. This was very bizarre and not in the typical style of Speechless.
While it had funny moments, this episode of Speechless was too out-there compared to other episodes, and didn't feel like a Speechless episode. In addition to this, the pacing of this episode was very random, with one hallucination being much longer than the other two, and one not being set up.
Score: 4/10
What did you think of "N-I-NIGHTMARES ON D-I-DIMEO S-STREET"? Leave your thoughts in the comments!