Review: Room 104 “Fur”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

It’s 1987 and we’re in Room 104 with two teen girls, Finley and Grey, who opt to rent the room for one last go before school kicks in. To spice things up they invite the coolest boy in school over to hang out. This guy, named John, at first seems cool but soon he goes a bit too far with his advances causing everybody to turn into monsters and get into a big battle. Eventually, the girls are able to manage their powers long enough to beat the hell out of ol’ John boy and letting him get away. After an odd music video, we head to credits.

Our Take

Who knew teenagers after one beer go feral? In any event, this week’s episode of Room 104 features a fun premise that mixes up fantastical elements with that of more human ones like girls hitting puberty and not arguing over boys. Duplasse Brother Productions’ Mel Eslyn wrote and directed the episode that seemed to feature some anime influences, just none of the finesse or technical prowess. Largely missing, any sort of proficient fight scenes with the budget of that going to the probably unnerving music video at the end.

I did enjoy the look of the series, clearly inspired by early nineties daytime animation rather than anything truly horrifying, Room 104’s penultimate episode makes for an enjoyable watch, but those looking for a succinct reason why this should have have been an animated episode in the first place may find themselves scratching their head at the lack of chances taken, given that this is an HBO series.