Every Haunting Hour Ever #52: The Girl in The Painting

Season: 3
Episode: 12
Original Airdate: December 15, 2012
Director: Ken Friss
Writer(s): Jack Monaco 

So 2016 is coming to a close. Wow! This year went by fast, didn't it? For me, 2016 was kind of a mixed bag. On the one hand, I got Pokemon Sun for Christmas and really improved my writing skills thanks to the nice folks over at the Creepypasta Wiki for helping me do so. On the other hand, a lot of my favorite celebrities died (i.e David Bowie, Alan Rickman, etc) and Donald Trump won the election. Great... Here's hoping that 2017 will be even better! 

Becky (Bailee Madison) is dreaming of her perfect room which her mother (Camille Sullivan) can't afford when she finds a painting put out in the trash. She becomes obsessed with the image and is called by the girl in the painting (Margeaux Muir) to enter her world and is ecstatic with the room and the sleepover invitation. As she decides to stay, the clock strikes six and the girl in the painting pulls a sash, opening the ceiling, saying it opens at feeding time.

One of the things I liked about the episode was Bailey Madison's performance. In this episode, Bailey plays a girl who slowly becomes more obsessed with a painting as the episode progresses. For me, I felt like she did a nice job making the transition from liking a painting to being overly obsessed with it feel very natural and when the obsession reached its peak, it didn't feel cartoonishly over the top like I feared it would be. For a child actress, that's quite impressive. 

The other thing I liked about this episode was the villain. You see, the afformentioned girl in the painting is not the actual threat. In the episode, it's stated that the girl feeds people to a monster not because she wants to but because she has to in order to survive. Not only that, but she actually hates doing this and feels that taking advantage of a person's desire for a better life is wrong. I like how they gave the villain some depth here. Not only does it make it easier for someone to understand why she would do something like this but it also makes her seem more human and in turn easier to sympathize with. To be honest, I gotta give this episode kudos. I think it was a smart idea to go in this direction and it really paid off in the end. 

Overall, The Girl in The Painting had quite a few surprises up it sleeve. Not only that, but I felt like the premise was interesting, somewhat creative, and rather well executed.

Overall Grade: A