huh what are you doing here i don't know
dude heck yeah hey arnold is my personal favorite cartoon not just from that era of nickelodeon but
of all time the show means so much to me and helped shape me growing up now that's a lot
to say for any piece of programming but the way that the show was able to capture a slice of life
that was more unique than any other cartoon telling these stories was so impactful it didn't
need to have characters be animals or monsters and not that there's anything bad about those
decisions it's just that this show was built by its world and its well-written characters
with each of the individual characters of the show getting their personal stories explored
throughout the show's run but beyond that it was the world they built the location in which these
stories take place and the atmosphere captured beautifully with jazzy undertones that attach
you to this environment i want to make a larger video about hey arnold deep diving into all of
this at some point but for today continuing our darkest series here on the channel we're
going to look at one of the earlier episodes in the show that definitely creeped me out
every time it came on so if you want more videos like this that jump into the dark
strange and weird make sure to hit that like button and subscribe to the channel we just hit
50 000 subscribers and i just want to say thank you so much for the unbelievable support you all
have shown me it truly means a lot and i'm forever grateful but before i gush on more
about how amazing you are let's get right into the episode season 1 episode 8 haunted train
the episode starts on a summer afternoon with the kids from the block out of school and arnold
and gerald sitting on arnold's apartment stoop bored when grandpa phil approaches bringing over
an ice cream for each of them arnold and gerald inform him that they've played every board game
in the house from checkers to go fish to even a crossword puzzle hey honestly don't sleep
on crossword puzzles they're actually they're actually kind of fun also i like sudoku that's
not important i just wanted to say that getting some inspiration from a passing train grandpa
phil in an effort to cheer up the boys asks if he's ever told them about how he used to work
for the railroad and first heard about the legend of the haunted train arnold and gerald intrigued
turned to listen as grandpa phil begins to tell his tale the story goes like this
40 years ago old engine 25 was heading to the station when the engineer went mad and drove the
train off the tracks no one ever saw the engineer or his train again leaving the people that knew
of his disappearance convinced that the train was driven to the fiery pits of the underworld itself
more kids from the street gather in to listen as grandpa phil warns that every year on the
anniversary of its disappearance the haunted train appears pulling into the old station
to pick up unsuspecting passengers who are drawn aboard hypnotized by a blinding white light from
there the kidnapped passengers are overwhelmed by the smell of rotten eggs or as grandpa phil
claims the smell of fire and brimstone and horrible inhuman music begins to play before
the train enters the zone of darkness in the zone of darkness the passengers can feel the heat from
the flames outside as the train rolls to a stop as the doors swing open they are greeted by the red
hot demon himself and no we aren't talking about the candy but yes i would love some the kids begin
to whisper amongst themselves as grandpa phil gets up offering one last warning before he goes
that tonight is the 40th anniversary of the haunted trains disappearance and that he's
not sure what would happen if someone were to sneak into the old train station to await its
return he then proceeds to give hyper specific details about the location of the old train
station which makes you think if he actually does want unsupervised children to break in and wait
for a creepy hell-bound ghost train regardless grandpa phil heads inside satisfied with having
been an effective distraction for arnold the other kid's disperse and arnold and gerald
begin to discuss the legitimacy of the tale they just heard helga who's been looking on
unimpressed during the course of the story jumps in saying she wants specific scientific proof
before believing anything so crazy arnold argues that some things you just have to believe in using
faith and accuses helga of just being more scared than she's letting on and this of course results
in the two of them daring each other to meet up at the old train station an hour after the street
lights come on to prove or disprove this myth and their own bravery with gerald being pulled
unwillingly into the scheme you know what i'm just gonna say it arnold was a bad friend to have
he he'd always drag other people into his shenanigans no matter the reason or risk luckily
he has a kind heart and likes to free captive sea turtles or else arnold could have grown up to be
i don't know an arsonist or something later that night on 53rd street the figures of arnold gerald
and helga are seen sneaking through the abandoned train yard to the dilapidated station on the other
side pushing through cobwebs the three kids climb around the boarded up door and find themselves
inside they then disturb a colony of bats that arnold tries to fight off by using an old piece
of wood as a bat okay that's that's pretty clever after the altercation the three kids sit down
and wait for the train the clock strikes 12 still inside the old train station arnold is killing it
on the harmonica as gerald accompanies him singing a blues song about their plight of waiting for
the haunted train justice helga is fed up with standing around for something she doesn't believe
exists a train whistle cuts through the night the station begins to shake the tracks begin to rattle
and a steely black train rolls into the station dark smoke billowing out of its chimney and the
number 25 painted on its front the three kids instantly recognize it for the train and grandpa
phil's story the doors open up to a blinding white light and just as grandpa phil described
they are drawn inside as they enter the run-down interior of the train the kids come back to their
senses but before they can leave the door slams shut and the train begins to move helga catches
the smell of rotten eggs and cue the fart jokes and inhuman music begins to blare through the air
causing the kids to cover their ears helga fully believing in grandpa phil's story now begins to
lose it tugging on the sealed door and cursing her own inquisitive nature the lights begin to flicker
before eventually going out completely signifying that they have entered as arnold declares it zone
of darkness the final stop before they reach the underworld in the low light of the train a figure
is seen sneaking up behind helga as she laments her situation just as helga screams noticing the
figure the lights turn back on revealing brainy who has no idea how he's gotten on the train
with them in disgust gerald pulls open the door because apparently they couldn't open it earlier
when they were trying to escape and helga tosses brainy off the train into a muddy ditch like yeah
dude's a weird creep but dang helga really did him wait for it dirty helga closes the
door and the three kids look outside seeing the flames of the underworld as the train begins to
roll to a stop arnold has the idea and quickly gets the others to help him grab the fire hose
hanging on the wall he then blasts the demonic figure that opens the door trying to put him out
as soon as the figure falls the kids realize that the demon lord they were fighting was actually
a normal now angry worker a relief worker at that the real very living train engineer then
shows up explaining that the underworld they thought they saw through the window
was just the inside of a steel mill and that the fire and brimstone they smelled was just
the smell of sulphur as for the inhuman music that helga arnold and gerald had heard turns out that
the engineer is just a pokemusic enthusiast he even has his own accordion and that the
lights in the train always flicker and go out with the adventure over grandpa phil comes to pick
arnold gerald and helga up as they drive home grandpa phil compliments arnold on his firehose
plan and arnold lets on that he knows grandpa phil was just messing with them since they were
born arnold concludes that there is no haunted train to which grandpa phil cryptically replies
well now i didn't say that as grandpa phil's car rounds the bend heading back towards the city
the camera pans over to brainy sitting on the fence post of the side of some railroad tracks as
engine 25 rolls by the mutilated ghost engineer sitting on the front with the accordion singing
the song of the haunted train overall this episode on surface level isn't too bad where i
feel it deserves the title of dark is the overall themes and the overall ending of seeing the ghost
engineer with a deep voice singing his story leading into the credits and for some reason
this episode was always airing later at night and even when the reruns happened on the splatter
nick rewind it was still constantly playing later at night giving me that uneasy feeling
right before i went to sleep again this darkest series isn't about the scariest episodes out there
it's about darker themes within episodes and or how parts of these effectively told more excuse
stories and how they left an impact on myself and most likely many others for those who found this
episode of hey arnold living rent free in their head all of these years as well we'll understand
where i'm coming from except there always be those one or two people in the comments like this is
dark no i didn't get scared i'm a big tough person who wants people to know how big and tough i
am yeah okay bud weenie hud juniors is that way i think you'd be more comfortable over at that place
anyways i love hey arnold i love this episode for the impact it has left on me and why i still
can't watch it before i go to sleep not that i'm you know scared or anything let me know in the
comments how you feel about this episode of hey arnold as well as what other episodes from hey
arnold that you find dark strange or weird thank you all for the incredible support on these videos
we just recently hit 50 000 subscribers on the channel and i am beyond thankful
for the overwhelming support from all of you i just like to talk about and discuss
my experiences with cartoons and shows that molded who i am today and to see so many people resonate
with that and share their own truly brings me so much joy i will be back with another video
this week if you haven't done so please hit the like button on this video and subscribe for more
content like this i'm genuinely very thankful for all the support and until next time later