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Saved by the Bell: Mystery Weekend By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman I’m not a big fan of television. In fact, the only broadcast television I watch is Saved by the Bell right before going to work. There’s a sort of charm watching a show about the 5 most popular kids in high school living the idyllic school life. It gets me pumped for a full day of work and even serves as some sort of therapy.
Of the hundred or so episodes of Saved by the Bell, one definitely stands out as my favorite. It’s the episode in which “the gang” win tickets to a Mystery Theatre Show. Appropriately named Mystery Weekend, the episode remains my absolute favorite for its refreshing change of setting and quirkiness. As mentioned before, the 5 teens win a trip to a Whodunit Murder Mystery Theatre and are set to spend the weekend with a bizarre cast of characters. The characters range from: a bastardized Mr. and Mrs. Howell from Gilligan’s Island, a stereotypical French maid (who’s somewhat of a butterface), a pianist who “dies” in the first 5 minutes of the episode (spoilers), an Igor-esque butler named Bart, and a handful of miscellaneous extras. So perhaps, one of the reasons I like this episode so much is the fact that the kids are hanging out with the cast of characters from Phoenix Wright. After settling in, the guests of the house are treated to their first death. After an altercation between Jessie and the maid involving a heavy dose of over acting, the pianist keels over after drinking from a glass meant to be given to the host. After which the guests are told to head over to the dining hall for dinner. Before the dinner commences, Bart the butler enters the dining hall presumably near dead. The mock Stephen King reveal of Bart’s untimely demise and the dry, unfunny joke spoken by the host is comedic gold. Saved by the Bell’s true charm are scenes like these, where they’re the typical fodder found in stoner movies crammed into a 30 minute episode. Due to Bart’s death, the “police” are called in. Representing an officer from a nondescript Southern California police department is the human version of Baby Huey dressed as Sherlock Holmes. As he nears the end of his “professional” investigation, which included ogling Kelly Kapowski’s chest; the lights dim and we find the officer literally arrow’d as if he were the Ugly One from Teen Girl Squad. While, the lights were dimmed someone steals the mock Mrs. Howell’s necklace and the game is called off due to her husband yelling “this is getting crazy,” instead of laying a Gitmo styled interrogation and beat down on all those punk teens (in his defense Slater probably fights like Samson from the Bible). The guests are sent to their rooms in order to pack up and leave. This scene leaves a huge hole in the episode's continuity, as the teens never checked into their rooms and yet their stuff all magically appeared there for this scene. On the way back to the room the host informs Zack that the gang will be given a free weekend to make up for canceling the game early. Oddly enough, the host doesn’t extend the same offer to any of the other guests. This solidifies key point in the Saved by the Bell world; the 5 teens are some sort of band of royalty. Not only do they get this type of exclusive VIP treatment at their school, but it’s now carrying over to every other place they go. I’m surprised these kids never went on some sort of GTA type killing spree, and effectively used the patented Zack Morris “Time Out” and some sort of zany Screech catch phrase to get off Scott free like OJ (well, at least in his first criminal trial).
When Zack meets the host to retrieve the tickets for the gang, all seems calmly chaotic. The host's room is in disarray, yet no one cares too much about it; a truly cliché forehadowing to the coming events. And to add to the cliché, the lights dim and the host vanishes. In perfect TV timing, the entire ensemble of characters enters the scene to find a lone Zack Morris with stolen cash rather than refunded tickets. The maid still in character, phones the “real police” to inform them of Zack's misdeeds. Again, when the actual police arrive not a single officer is dressed in contemporary (or even time appropriate) police attire. While I am spoiling the plot of a TV show (that first aired 15 years ago), you'd think the murder mystery theatre people impersonating the cops would invest $40 in beige slacks, khaki Dickies shirts, and faux badges to at least look like law enforcement. No, the investigating officers that arrive look like archetypical literary characters. I guess, this makes Saved by the Bell universally appealing after being in syndication and somewhat dated for the last 12 years. Its catering to the lowest common denominator makes it less of a Rob Whang “nerd joke” show that's only relevant to some and more of an “everyman's (or woman's)” show even when the jokes and situations come off as corny and predictable. Zack is separated from the rest of the guests and left with Screech and Slater. While Slater and Screech chaperon Zack in his room, they discover a secret passage leading from their room to the host's office. This further proves the demi-god status of the principal cast of Saved by the Bell, as it seems almost as if this “mystery” was made for the teens. After finding out how the rooms were connected Zack makes an important, yet mysterious discovery leading to a convenient segue. The group sans Lisa gather the rest of the guests and the officers for one final explanation. Zack then reaches out with the Force and reveals that Lisa was in cahoots with the staff and that the police officers were actually the host and the butler in disguise. The episode ends with the typical jazzer-rock riff and the teens are not only smarter, but richer from the mystery weekend's (which actually only lasted less than 12 hours) prize money.
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