Speechless – H-A-L-Halloween

By starrymag | October 29, 2016

By: Taylor Gates

 

The Dimeos sit around the living room, waiting for Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) to unveil the family Halloween costume he has planned for this year. He’s not good at much, but he is the best at creatively incorporating a wheelchair into costumes. Maya (Minnie Driver) shows Kenneth (Cedric Yarbrough) pictures of past years as proof. Unfortunately, Kenneth points out that each year (much to Maya’s realization and shock) that Maya and Ray tend to dress as famous couples.

 

Kenneth brings delicious pizzas to the Dimeo house, but Maya forces everyone to spit it out when she learns it’s from Sal’s. (Maya claims they once refused to serve her disabled son; Jimmy explains they were just closed on Christmas morning.) Ray (Mason Cook) tells Kenneth that Maya has a whole list of things that are dead to her. Jimmy takes a Sharpie to the wall to write it all down, everything from businesses to Hawaiian shirts to 90s ska music. Kenneth snaps a picture and sends it to his family, figuring this is the perfect way to demonstrate who Maya is as a person.

 

Jillian (Lukita Maxwell) calls Ray asking if he knew that she and her boyfriend broke up. She is in charge of the school’s Halloween haunted house fundraiser and her ex was in charge of a room. She asks Ray to take his place and he enthusiastically agrees.

 

JJ (Micah Fowler) gets invited to a high school party, but Kenneth isn’t sure he wants to let him go. JJ flashes an irresistible pleading face and Kenneth finally gives in.

 

Ray sighs loudly in bed, keeping Dylan (Kyla Kenedy) awake. Ray confesses he’s going to have to bail on the family costume to help Jillian with the haunted house. Dylan, too, wants to help out with it and JJ has a party to attend. They can’t all abandon their father so the three of them race to Jimmy and Maya’s room in order to drop out first. Jimmy is impossible to wake up, so instead they talk to Maya. Maya agrees to let them hang out with their friends and says she’ll be the one to tell Jimmy the news since he’ll likely take it pretty hard.

 

At the haunted house committee meeting, Dylan’s ideas easily overshadow Ray’s. She’s going all in—she wants real blood, cadavers and even some slight water boarding involved. Jillian is thoroughly impressed. Ray takes co-credit for Dylan’s ideas and Jillian assigns them the task of designing the room.

 

Maya breaks the news to Jimmy right as he is putting the finishing touches on his Back to the Future costume. He is predictably disappointed. Jimmy sheds a small tear when all the kids leave him alone on Halloween. Maya is determined to lift his spirits, unbanning everything on the “Things Maya Hates” list for the night. She lets him pierce his ear, take a bath, eat food in said beth, dress in leather, listen to 90s ska music and more.

 

Ray is worried that the haunted house won’t be scary enough. He wants it to be terrifying because of a theory called “scare-rousal” he read about—fear is more likely to easily transition into arousal and he wants Jillian to like him.

 

Everyone at the party JJ is attending is drinking beer, but Kenneth refuses to let him have any. He asks for water in a red solo cup, which Kenneth deems acceptable. However, JJ has a master plan; water won’t be in that cup for long.

 

Jimmy thanks Maya for cheering him up, but then three tiny trick-or-treaters knock at their door and Maya gets emotional thinking about how all their children are gone. Jimmy notices they have matching costumes, which sends him over the edge. They’re both crying now.

 

Jillian comes into Ray and Dylan’s room. Ray pops out from the wall and scare-rousals her…right into the arms—and lips—of another boy. Ray storms out of the room, sad that Jillian kissed someone else. Dylan is irritated and storms off not far behind him, but first yells that Ray and Jillian would be “perfect for each other.”

 

JJ keeps asking Kenneth to grab him things so his friends keep giving him beer when he leaves. Kenneth notices the laser on his board isn’t matching up quite right with the letters—the equivalent to slurring his words. Kenneth gets angry. JJ’s parents have to be able to trust Kenneth and Kenneth has to be able to trust JJ.

 

Jimmy and Maya try to convince each other and themselves that they don’t need the kids anymore. However, they both spring from the couch when they hear Ray arrive home and rock-paper-scissors over who gets to help him with his problems. Maya wins, but gives him to Jimmy when she sees Dylan needs help too—after all, Dylan is easier.

 

Jimmy gives Ray some girl advice, telling him he needs to let Jillian go. When you find the right person, you won’t have to work so hard. Dylan’s problem is that she spilled pig’s blood on her favorite jeans. Maya suggests she just throw them away, as there are stains worse than the blood on them as well, but Dylan says she’s keeping them anyway.

 

Maya and Jimmy want the highlights from JJ’s party and Kenneth struggles to improvise a story since JJ is too drunk to spell anything out. They almost get away with it until JJ throws up all over the floor.

 

Jimmy and Maya get JJ into bed before Maya rips into Kenneth, announcing that he’s joining the long list of things that are dead to her. JJ sticks up for Kenneth, saying he tricked him. Kenneth is relieved—he was down to take the fall, but JJ did fool him. Maya and Jimmy lecture JJ on underage drinking and ground him for three weeks. When the two get into the living room, they celebrate for successfully punishing their special needs son for acting like a “normal” teenager.

 

Kenneth tells JJ that, as his caretaker, he’s going to try to stop him from doing reckless things. But as a friend, he’s glad he had fun. The only reason he’s telling him this is because he’s positive he’s too drunk to remember it in the morning.

 

Jimmy and Maya realize their kids still need them in their lives. Dylan and Ray want to drown their sorrows in candy so the whole family dresses up in their Back to the Future costumes and go trick-or-treating at 1:45 in the morning. JJ drunk drives his wheelchair into a parked car.