Main cast: Jennifer Gibbs (Danielle Tatoo) and Rip Torn (Narrator)
Director: Stuart Taylor

Meet Danielle Tatoo. She came far away, from abroad… oh, okay, from Canada, to take up a job as a nanny. Her dream is to one day open her own childcare agency, and she is determined to learn all she can and pay her dues. Unfortunately, her first client is the Keys family. The husband and wife hurriedly welcome her, showing her the bedroom where she can sleep, and then quickly dash out of the house for what they describe as a “last minute dinner” that they can’t miss. That seems fine… until the boy, Eric, refuses to leave his room until Danielle is in her room, and then he shoves pushy, misspelled notes under her door. Then he starts pestering her through the phone. Eventually, weird things begin to happen, like alphabet blocks rearranging themselves to spell ominous things aimed at her, and more.

Wait, haven’t I watched something like this before? A few times already?

Still, despite The New Nanny rehashing a familiar story line, it’s actually a well put-together episode. The disembodied voice of Eric is pretty unnerving and chilling, even evil-sounding at times, while Jennifer Gibbs manages to emote and show fear as well as anger and confusion pretty realistically. When it comes to the cast of this show, I’d take anything I can get in terms of halfway decent acting. and Ms Gibbs delivers adequately in that department.

Is there anything here that surprises me? No, as the whole episode feels like a pretty faithful rehash of a popular, often-done trope in the horror genre. Am I entertained, though? Oh yes, very.

Given my general reaction to a typical Ghost Stories episode, that makes this episode an easy four-oogie standout. Bravo! Now, please give me more episodes like this one.