Well as most of you readers know the goal was to finish the series by graduation, but that looks to be impossible now as graduation is next Saturday and I have to study for finals. But I am on episode 8 of season 5, which means we have 5 more episodes to go before the end of the first run of the series. I have to say it has been a pleasure reviewing this series. But as I sit at my desk unable to sleep, I decided to watch and write a review for you dear readers, so sit back and relax as we relive the episode: The Tale of the Manaha as told by my future ex-husband Tucker.
The night starts off like any other night. Tucker and Stig have already arrived at the campsite when Stig runs up to The Gary and the girls.
Stig says to the gang “Are you okay?” Kiki replies with “What’ your problem?” Stig replies “There’ some huge animal out there a monster.” They all look at him like he is crazy.
Stig continues to tell them that it almost got him. Sam looks surprisingly happy about this while Betty Ann asks the question we are all wondering “Are you sure it wasn’t a raccoon or a squirrel?” Stig tells her it’s bigger than him, and this causes The Gary to confess that he has never seen a squirrel or a monster. Then Tucker appears in an ape suit (only we don’t know it is him yet). The girls, Kiki, in particular, get slightly frightened until The Gary walks over and pulls off the mask only to reveal it is actually Tucker.
They are all kind of pissed, expect Betty Ann who is always down for a good prank. Kiki goes up to Tucker and says “What your story isn’t scary enough, so you gotta go pull this?” Tucker snickers and says “Oh it’s only a setup.”
Once in the clearing Tucker takes a seat on the story-tellers chair and says “People have been scared of monsters in the wilderness forever… but not just bears and mountain lions and stuff. I’m talking about the strangest beast that can’t be explained.”
Sam is intrigued and says “like what?” Tucker answers “like the abominable snowman of Tibet, the loch ness monster of Scottland and the flesh-eating giants of Mandalay. Nobody knows for sure if these monsters are real, but a lot of people think so because they have seen them. And tonight if you’re not too scared, you might see them too. Tucker than submits his story to the Midnight Society and calls it: The Tale of the Manaha
Now I will admit when I first saw the title I assumed it was about witches, as the witches in the craft kept talking about Manon, which sounds similar to Manaha. Anway moving along…
We are taken to the woods where we see some camper getting ready for what appears to be an overnight hike. The campers are your stereotypical kids, there is the fat one, the nerd, the comic book enthusiast and the dipshit. Then there is the leader, Lonnie. He is a straight up dick to these kids. A smaller camper named Jonah decides to join them on the hike.
Lonnie tells Jonah that he is too small to join the hike and that he won’t be able to keep up with the others. I find this funny since Jonah is about the same size as the rest of the group, so I am assuming its an age thing. The head of the camp goes over to Lonnie and reminds him to check in with the ranger (not a power ranger but the forest kind). He tells Lonnie he doesn’t want any trouble.
The boys and Lonnie start their journey into the woods. Lonnie being the dick he makes Jonah carry his backpack. Once they are stopped for lunch and rest time, Lonnie pushes Jonah, which knocks down his pack off the cliff. Lonnie makes Jonah go down and get it for him or he will push Jonah down to get it. Once on the ground Jonah finds a cave and goes inside.
He also finds an idol statue and moves it, which releases an ancient shaman. The shaman says”Beware… The Manaha have returned. They have once again smelled the scent of human flesh. And are hungry You must leave this place forever!”
Just as Jonah turns around, Lonnie and one of the boys enter the cave. Jonah tries to warn them about what the shaman said, but they do not believe him and Lonnie takes the idol with him. Lonnie claims the discovery will make him money and claims he found it. They all go back to the other boys. Once there Jonah warns the other campers about the Manaha, and they just laugh at him. As they are en route to the ranger station, Jonah hears rustling in the bushes.
Once at the station, Jonah is convinced that the Manaha has got the ranger and yells at them they must leave the wilderness now. Just then the ranger shows up at the station.
The boys and Lonnie leave the station to set up camp for the night. Once at the site Lonnie makes Jonah go and get wood to start a fire so he can make dinner. While collecting wood Jonah once again hears a noise coming from the bushes and runs back to camp. Unhappy with the wood that he has gotten, Lonnie decides to go and get more, only to be attacked by some kind of animal.
The boys hear his screams and run into the woods, only Lonnie is now missing. They all panic. Jonah tells them they should head to the ranger station to use the radio. The boys agree and they go back.
Once at the ranger station, the place is torn apart and the radio is broken. At this point, the boys are really freaking out and Jonah starts to take control. He tells them that they need to go back to camp. He uses his compass to find the way back. Once they are on the trail, the entrance is blocked and the boys split up and decide to go around. This proves to be a mistake as the Manaha find and take Eddie. This causes the statue to start glowing.
Jonah then tells the other boys he is sick of running and it is time to fight back. Jonah says “if you believe there are monsters in the woods, then there are, but if you don’t… then there’s nothing to be scared of.” He comes up with a plan. He stumbles upon the open in which the ranger, Eddie, and Lonnie are all tied up.
Jonah tells them “Don’t be scared. They’ll only get you if you believe in them, and I don’t believe in them. You hear that? I’m not afraid. I don’t think you’re real, and if you’re not real, you cannot hurt me?” This causes the Manaha to disappear and just as Jonah says “it was just an illusion, a trick.” He is about to cut Eddie down the Shaman reappears.
The Shaman says “But I’m no illusion. I was a power shaman until my people sealed me in that cave. The fools thought my magic had become too powerful, too evil. They said that I wanted the forest only for myself. Perhaps they were right. Now that you have released me, the forest is my hunting ground again. I warned you to leave. Now it is too late.”
The shaman grabs a torch and tries to set Eddie on fire, but he is stopped by Jonah. Jonah tricks the shaman into believing he now controls the Manaha and backs the shaman into the cave again. Once in the cave, Jonah seals him inside of it and rocks fall down to cover the entrance. The Manaha is revealed to be the other campers. The next morning the camper head back to camp, with Lonnie having to carry all there sleeping bags. They are now lead by Jonah.
We are then taken back to the clearing where Tucker says “So Jonah may have been small. But size has nothing to do with how brave you are. That depends on what’s up here and in here. The End.
The other congratulate him on a good story. When they hear a loud chirping noise. Stig says “Good story Tuck”. The chirping freaks Tucker out and he starts to run forgetting his ape head. The Gary quickly puts out the fire and the girls run after him.
Moira’s Thoughts:
I really like this story. I thought it was fun and told in a good way. I also liked that it borrowed from the Native American culture. It showed that Nickelodeon can be somewhat educational. I also really liked how the villain was defeated.
- It is a fun story.
- I liked how the story had elements of Native American culture
- David Deveau who played Eddie would go on to play Andy.
- The Ghastly Grinner comic makes another appearance in this episode in the beginning
- This is Tucker’s last story for the first run of the series.
Let us give Tucker a round of applause for his last tale of the original series, season 5’s The Tale of the Mahana. Up next is our homegirl Kiki, with her story: The tale of the Unexpected Visitor.
Until next time… Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story: The Tale of Moira’s Afraid of the Dark? (But not really) season 5 episode 8 closed. Sweet dreams everyone.
I would like to interview *cough*Ross Hull or Raine Pare-Coull or Jodie Resther, *cough* I feel that if enough people tweet at them or Facebook them, and let them know about this blog, it can happen! Let’s make my dream come true!
Photo credits: Photo
Moira's Afraid of the Dark? (But not really) 
