Main cast: Saint Suppapong Udomkaewkanjana (Boyd) and Chimon Wachirawit Ruangwiwat (Tum)
Director: Thanadol Nualsuth
A Walk in School is actually a mini-anthology episode, as it has two short segments bookended by the segment of Boyd and Tum wandering around their school after hours to debunk the ghost stories of that school.
Boyd is quite a snotty atheist, insisting to all that humans are made of particles and energy—well, that’s what he says, so don’t look at me—and hence ghosts and Gods don’t exist. To prove that he is right, he and his best friend Tum will break into the school after hours to do a livestream in which he will scoff at the ghost stories and debunk them.
His method of debunking boils down to “LOL they’re wrong!” but to be fair, he’s a snotty high school kid and I’m sure most folks are just like that when they were his age!
At any rate, he narrates two stories. One is about a dancer that, when pushed too far by bullies, switched out a prop blade for a real one, causing the death of the lead dancer before taking his own life. Another one is about a gymnast with broken bones that gives rise to the most memorable monster in the whole episode.
As per stories of this sort, there will be one more ghost story that hits too close to Boyd because it is linked to a past he tries very hard to forget.
The main issue plaguing this episode is that it is very predictable. Everything here feels like a watered down take on the numerous Thai horror anthologies out there, complete with a predictable twist.
This episode isn’t very scary either, except for the undead gymnast girl, but even then, the undead girl is just another rehash of the usual long-haired, creepily animated undead girl trope that is ubiquitous in Asian horror.
I have to say, though, that the homoeroticism is off the charts with Boyd and Tum. Boyd’s protectiveness and obvious affection for his more cowardly and nerdy friend can easily stem from his sordid past, one in which it’s pretty obvious he did something despicable to another best friend in his past. However, I’m sure he doesn’t have to tell Tum that he will never leave the other kid even after they have graduated, and they will be together forever!
Not that I disapprove, of course, because I’ve always said that the more love there is in this world, the better.
Anyway, this is an alright episode. It never rises above being just okay, but I suppose it can be worse.
Still, couldn’t they pick a better episode to end this season of School Tales the Series? Now that I’ve reached the end, and at the time of writing I’m not sure if they would do a second season, the whole event feels tad anticlimactic!
