It's All About Games with High and Low Stakes on This Week's "StuGo" on Disney Channel
This week’s episode of StuGo is all about gaming - or at least they start out that way before the biggest secret on the island (that we’re aware of) is kind of revealed, and the high-stakes game that Lullah creates after being annoyed with all the inoffensive competitions the kids have put together.
Shape Sister
The kids are in their abandoned cargo ship-home where they are throwing a dodgeball around. Chip, thinking he has some amazing skills, tosses the ball to Pliny who apparently has a “gorilla arm," firing the ball like a cannon. As it bounces around it ends up rolling down a corridor and deeper into the depths of the cargo ship.
A chill enters the group as they all realize where the ball went, with each kid explaining that this shaft is home to their deepest fear.
Larry explained that he thinks “The Tall Man" lives down there, a scary shadowman that keeps Larry up at night. Merian thinks it’s “Lady Sally," a doll from back home that she has neglected that could be coming for her. Chip believes it’s vampires - easy enough - while Francis is concerned that there are shapeshifters down there.
Suspiciously, Sara seems to have no input and seems to want them distracted enough so that she can go down there first. Down there and after quite a bit of a hike, we discover that there is a secret room where Sara has been keeping plenty of notes, footage, and backgrounds of all the kids she is with. But that’s not all - it is also revealed that Sara has a twin sister living there as well, named Sarah.
They have been switching out the whole time they are on the island, and the only reason that they have been keeping this secret is to have the most epic “Twin Reveal" of all time. But they aren’t ready yet. So, with the other kids on approach to come retrieve the ball, the pair of twins decides to do what they can to scare the others away.
Sara successfully catches everyone just before they find the room and convinces them to split up (dumb) and go through various emptied shipping containers looking for the ball.
As can be predicted, each kid now faces their fear inside their respective shipping container. Larry is first up and arguably the best moment of the episode, confronts “The Tall Man" (who is Sara, and Sarah stacked together in a trench coat) and startled at first, becomes incredibly angry and beats The Tall Man “to death" so he can finally sleep again.
Merian has a run-in with Lady Sally, which doesn’t go to plan because the accent is totally different and in fact, it’s a totally different doll. Merian is still dispensed of though, as the twins launch the ball at her face, knocking her out and into a deep slumber.
Chip finds the twins together, posed as though they are in a mirror (they’re not) and convince Chip that since he has no reflection, he must have already been bitten so fast that he’s already become a vampire himself, causing him to retreat back to their living quarters.
Francis never went down the shaft in the first place.
That however, leaves Pliny as the last one down there and discovers that Francis must be right because she has now seen the secret room and discovered the twins. She is convinced that there is a shapeshifter, and that Sara is working together with it. The only way to avoid Pliny’s cannon arm (that has the dodgeball once again) is to come clean and do the “Twin Reveal" ahead of schedule.
Three hours later, Pliny is simply annoyed and decides there’s no way the other kids can see that, it needs so much more work and agrees to keep the twins’ secret for now.
Back in the living quarters, Pliny and Sara return with the dodgeball - and when the ball gets to Francis, she realizes it’s bearing her face, implying that the ball itself is now a shapeshifter.
Lullah’s Game
The kids are playing a rousing game of compli-ball with each other - where they hold a ball and compliment each other. Fun.
However, Dr. Lullah (channeling all the viewers), insists that that is not a real game as it does not feature any stakes or any winners or losers. As such, she throws them all into her own game that features an empty room and an obelisk (if you know how an obelisk is truly defined, you might be ahead of the game). On the sides of the obelisk there are holes and each of the students must put one arm inside and it must stay there for the entire duration of the game. The last person left wins. Anybody who pulls their arm out loses. Easy, right?
Dr. Lullah leaves the room and retreats to a lounge, complete with popcorn and Mr. Okay also enjoying the show. As the game begins, Sara immediately tricks Larry into raising both of his arms, with a trap door opening beneath him and sending him plummeting into…Lullah’s lounge, where he joins in watching the game play out.
The game lasts for hours, with the kids coming up with various tactics in which to keep themselves occupied for the duration of the game. Pliny insists on everyone working together, but the kids are playing a solo game and sticking to their own plans. Dr. Lullah heats up the game, quite literally, after she gets bored with the current state of play, eventually offering a single bottle of water. Pliny emphasizes that everyone can have a little bit of water if they work together, but Sara (who grabbed the bottle) tosses it to Chip, who “takes deep sips" and drinks the whole bottle.
Sara is out to play dirty, so we know something was up with that decision, but now she moves onto Merian, whom she convinces that each hole in the obelisk is surely filled with spiders, putting the idea in her head that she has spiders crawling all over her hand. She too is eliminated, and joins the others in the lounge. Sara quickly moves on to Francis, and eliminates her simply by telling her she saw a horse on the beach. Knowing that the risk is too great to not see a horse, Francis quickly drops out and does NOT join the others in the lounge, presumably to go look for this horse.
And then there were three. Throughout, other bottles of water have appeared and Sara gives each to Chip, who now must use the restroom. He sure can drink a lot, but everyone knows that he has a tiny bladder - thanks to all his entries in his bladder diary that everyone (including Dr. Lullah) has read.
After more hours of just Sara and Pliny completing, Lullah offers the pair their own lobster dinner. No catch. Except, that lobster typically requires two hands to eat. Pliny can’t crack open the shell and tries to gnaw through it, while Sara shows off some frightening skills and is able to eat the full lobster with her feet, including deeping the meal in butter while doing so, splashing it all over her hand and feet.
Finally revealing the full obelisk - oh there it is - Lullah triggers the structure to climb higher leaving the kids dangling. Sara, covered in butter, can’t get a grip and Pliny finally asks to work together since the point was to let Lullah drive a wedge between them. Together, they both agree to drop on the count of three with Pliny staying attached - revealing that she was doing a long con with everyone. Lullah comes out and congratulates Pliny and gives her her prize - a six person tandem bike that she no longer has friends to ride around with.
But she does. After all, it was just a game. The kids all enjoy a ride, yet Francis is missing. For the first time (I think) we have a different end credits scene - and we see Francis riding a horse on the beach. Turns out, there was one after all.
This episode of StuGo is now available on Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW website. The episodes will be available this spring on Disney+.