New Year's Day (Fear Itself episode)
Encyclopedia
New Year´s Day is the sixth episode of the NBC horror anthology Fear Itself
. This episode is based on the short story The Dead Time by Paul Kane
.
plays Helen, a young woman who wakes up with a hangover
on New Year's Day
. Alarms are going off all over the city. It is soon revealed that a cataclysmic event at a local chemical plant has turned a large part of the population into zombie
s. Gradually as she wanders the city, Helen's memory of the previous night returns. Hoping to distract her from the recent death of her brother, roommate Eddie (Niall Matter
) took her out to a New Year's Eve
party which James (Cory Monteith
) , a man to whom Helen is attracted, will be attending. At the party, Helen finds Chrissie (Zulay Henao
), whom she has lost contact with since the death of her brother. Helen tells her that she's her best friend and the only person at the party who truly cares for the way she is.
Later, during the night, she remembers talking to James and telling him that she loves him, based on mistaken information that she received from Eddie. It turns out that Eddie, not James, is in love with Helen, and in her confusion about her feelings for him, she searches out James, whom she finds making out with Chrissie (it's implied that Eddie discovered them and tries to save Helen from being hurt). Helen remembers this last part of the party the next morning. She has survived the night and has finally made it to James' apartment. She breaks down the door to find Chrissie screaming. James then shoots her in the back while she's trying to talk to a frightened Chrissie. It is then revealed that, in despair, Helen committed suicide after the New Year's Eve party. She has been a zombie the entire night and all of her attempts to communicate with people have been thwarted because she isn't actually speaking English anymore, just zombie-like grunts and groans (this also explains why no zombies she encounters attack her). In love, Eddie (as a zombie) has been following her the entire night. After he kills James, they hold hands and exchange an "I love you" and "You too" in the zombie grunts and groans before turning toward Chrissie. As they approach to eat Chrissie, the episode's "film" dissolves and fades to black and the episode ends as a zombie version of "Happily Ever After."
Fear Itself (TV series)
Fear Itself was a horror/suspense anthology television series shot in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with some additional shooting in the city of St. Albert and the town of Devon, Alberta. It began airing on June 5, 2008 on NBC....
. This episode is based on the short story The Dead Time by Paul Kane
Paul Kane (writer)
Paul Kane began his professional writing career in 1996, providing articles and reviews for news-stand publications, and started producing dark fantasy and science fiction stories in 1998.-Life:...
.
Plot
Briana EviganBriana Evigan
Briana Barbara-Jane Evigan is an American actress and dancer. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Andie West in Step Up 2: The Streets and Cassidy Tappan in Sorority Row. She started dancing at the age of 9 and is still dancing as part of her career today.-Early life:Evigan was born in Los...
plays Helen, a young woman who wakes up with a hangover
Hangover
A hangover describes the sum of unpleasant physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover include headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria, diarrhea and thirst, typically after the...
on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
. Alarms are going off all over the city. It is soon revealed that a cataclysmic event at a local chemical plant has turned a large part of the population into zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s. Gradually as she wanders the city, Helen's memory of the previous night returns. Hoping to distract her from the recent death of her brother, roommate Eddie (Niall Matter
Niall Matter
Niall Matter is a Canadian actor mainly known for his work in television.-Biography:Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Matter worked for eight years on oil rigs, to fund his education at Vancouver Film School...
) took her out to a New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
party which James (Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith
Cory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
) , a man to whom Helen is attracted, will be attending. At the party, Helen finds Chrissie (Zulay Henao
Zulay Henao
Zulay Henao is a Colombian-American film and television actress. She has appeared in movies like Grizzly Park as Lola, Feel the Noise as C.C, Illegal Tender, and S.Darko as Baelyn....
), whom she has lost contact with since the death of her brother. Helen tells her that she's her best friend and the only person at the party who truly cares for the way she is.
Later, during the night, she remembers talking to James and telling him that she loves him, based on mistaken information that she received from Eddie. It turns out that Eddie, not James, is in love with Helen, and in her confusion about her feelings for him, she searches out James, whom she finds making out with Chrissie (it's implied that Eddie discovered them and tries to save Helen from being hurt). Helen remembers this last part of the party the next morning. She has survived the night and has finally made it to James' apartment. She breaks down the door to find Chrissie screaming. James then shoots her in the back while she's trying to talk to a frightened Chrissie. It is then revealed that, in despair, Helen committed suicide after the New Year's Eve party. She has been a zombie the entire night and all of her attempts to communicate with people have been thwarted because she isn't actually speaking English anymore, just zombie-like grunts and groans (this also explains why no zombies she encounters attack her). In love, Eddie (as a zombie) has been following her the entire night. After he kills James, they hold hands and exchange an "I love you" and "You too" in the zombie grunts and groans before turning toward Chrissie. As they approach to eat Chrissie, the episode's "film" dissolves and fades to black and the episode ends as a zombie version of "Happily Ever After."
Deaths
- Helen (Briana EviganBriana EviganBriana Barbara-Jane Evigan is an American actress and dancer. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Andie West in Step Up 2: The Streets and Cassidy Tappan in Sorority Row. She started dancing at the age of 9 and is still dancing as part of her career today.-Early life:Evigan was born in Los...
), ate suicide pills, then turned into zombie - Eddie (Niall MatterNiall MatterNiall Matter is a Canadian actor mainly known for his work in television.-Biography:Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Matter worked for eight years on oil rigs, to fund his education at Vancouver Film School...
), bitten by zombie Kevin, then turned into zombie - James (Cory MonteithCory MonteithCory Allan Monteith is a Canadian actor and musician, best known for his role of Finn Hudson on the Fox television series Glee.-Early life:...
), eaten by zombie Eddie - Chrissie (Zulay HenaoZulay HenaoZulay Henao is a Colombian-American film and television actress. She has appeared in movies like Grizzly Park as Lola, Feel the Noise as C.C, Illegal Tender, and S.Darko as Baelyn....
), eaten (off-screen) by zombies Helen and Eddie - Kevin (Reese Schoeppe), neighbor boy, bitten (off-screen) by a zombie, the next time he appeared he was already a zombie
- Mrs. Pribble (Consuelo Van Doorn), elderly neighbor, already a zombie
- Young Girl (Shelene Yung), already wounded, then turned into zombie
- Car Jacker (J. LaRoseJ. LaroseJ. Adam Larose, who uses the professional name J. LaRose, is an American actor.He has worked with Darren Lynn Bousman, who directed the films in the Saw series, on five projects; Identity Lost, Butterfly Dreams, Saw III, Repo! The Genetic Opera, and the Fear Itself episode "New Year's Day"...
), bitten by the young girl zombie, then turned into zombie - Old Man (Campbell LaneCampbell LaneCampbell Lane is a Canadian actor who primarily does work in Vancouver. He has appeared in many television shows produced there, and has done some voice acting for anime as well.- Television Roles :...
), eaten by zombie Eddie - Old Woman (Pauline Repond), the old man's wife, already wounded, her husband chopped off her head to avoid zombification
- Police Officer (Cliff Likness), already a zombie
- Teen (Jesse Frechette), eaten by the police officer zombie