Leap Day 1×11 Review: Episode 11

It’s the calm before the storm. With Leap Day fast approaching, everyone is doing what they must to ensure that they all make it out alive.

We pick up this week where last week’s episode left off. Night has flatlined on the gurney, and Wiwat has seemingly given up on trying to resuscitate him. (I’m still baffled by this. Is this an indication that he can’t be trusted? Or is it just because he’s too close to Night?) However, Night suddenly wakes up. We knew he would, so I still think that ending last week’s episode on that cliffhanger was unnecessary.

I think what would have been a better cliffhanger was to see some of what Night experienced while he was dead. As Night explains it, he was basically in a shadow world, where everything looked the same but wasn’t. The world, as we see in his memory, is grayer and emptier. And when he opens the door, he is faced with an endless desert. (I immediately thought of Beetlejuice in that scene.) The moon and the sun are in the sky at the same time, which is clearly a reference to both Night and Day.

Also in the shadow world is an echo of his younger self. His younger self tells him that he must stay out of the sunlight or he’ll disappear. Admittedly, I struggle to think what that means. The stars have told Ozone that Day and Night must stay together, but young!Night makes it sound as though they shouldn’t. Then again, it could be more literal than that, in that Night shouldn’t go out during the daytime.

He explains this to the others, who all try to parse out its meaning. When Wiwat suggests they all go home and try again tomorrow, Day offers to be the next one to test the procedure. He reasons that it will be better for Night if they don’t immediately try on him again, and also he wants to make sure he won’t be putting Ozone through something painful and horrible. But I also suspect that he wanted the chance to see what Night saw, and talk to his younger self.

Day’s younger self is just as unhelpful. He doesn’t even bother to give cryptic hints as he tells Day that he already knows what to do. He claims that Night also knows what to do. Day is seemingly confused, but I wonder if he has a theory that he hasn’t wanted to voice. I know he doesn’t want to put Ozone through anything like this, even as he insists to Ozone that it will be fine.

I’ve long suspected that the only way to actually stop the curse is for Day or Night to die. I wonder if Day suspects that as well.

Night wants to teach Day how to do all of the medical stuff. He says he doesn’t trust Kit and Wiwat’s “middle-aged” sensibilities (which, rude), and that he isn’t sure they can be relied on when the time comes. I wonder if he knows that Wiwat didn’t continue with the defibrillator when he was on the gurney.

After Day successfully learns how to do the procedure, we’re cruelly reminded that everyone is on borrowed time when Ozone has a seizure. Fortunately, they’re with Night, who has enough medical knowledge to both keep Ozone safe and calm Day down. And suddenly, inexplicably, they all hear a loud ringing – the stars are talking to them. That would not have occurred to me, but Night knew immediately what it was. The question is, did any of them understand what the stars were trying to tell them? Did Night? Is that why he knew what was happening?

Wiwat gives Ozone a checkup and pronounces him to be in perfect health. But I can’t help but doubt him. Is he lying about Ozone’s health? He gives Day what he says is an epileptic medication. But is it? Can we really trust him, now, after everything?

Concerned for everyone’s safety as Leap Day 2024 approaches, Night offers to let Day and Ozone stay in his house until the curse is ended. What follows is a fantastic montage of found family, with the group having meals together, watching movies, studying, and just being generally domestic. Night teaches Day to drive. Ozone tricks Night into getting paint on his face. Dream and Ozone make Night and Day wear matching pajamas. It’s so sweet and joyful and everything I wanted from this foursome. I feel like this is probably the first time in a long time that Night and Day have truly been happy.

The music is vibrant and upbeat, but as the montage goes on, we lose the upbeat music and instead hear the slow ticking of a clock. It turns what was a pleasant scene into something tense and ominous. Time is running out. Yet another example of Leap Day’s excellent use of sound.

Besides the great scenes with the four of them, this episode is fantastic at showcasing the separate relationships as well. The night before they test the procedure on Day, he sleeps in Ozone’s bed to comfort him, promising that he won’t leave his big brother behind. I still love their special handshake thing, which they do just before they stop Day’s heart. There’s also a cute (but kind of weird) scene later where Ozone is way too curious about Night and Dream’s nighttime activities and Day gets all flustered about it.

Night and Dream have some very cute scenes as well, but I think the best is Night getting irrationally jealous of Dream’s online gaming partner. Who was obviously a child, based on the voice. Night’s macho posturing was hilarious, as was the fact that he basically got dressed down by a 12-year-old. These two are very sweet together, but I also appreciate that Dream has a mischievous side. When Night had paint on his face, her first impulse was to take a picture.

The four celebrate New Year’s and are able to find joy in the celebration, even with Leap Day fast approaching. On the other side of the New Year, the reality is starting to hit them. They decide to be even more careful than before. Dream and Ozone are no longer allowed to leave the house (I wonder how that will affect Dream’s schooling?), and Night and Day trade off who stays home with them. It seems like a bit much, especially considering – as we’ll see later – that even that isn’t enough.

Meanwhile, Kit and Wiwat have a bit of a heart-to-heart. Wiwat offers to help cure Kit’s curse, provided what they do works for the boys. Kit points out that he doesn’t have anyone left that he loves. He also can’t help but twist the knife a bit, telling Wiwat that even after everything he went through to save his loved ones, he still ended up alone. I don’t feel bad for Wiwat; he absolutely brought this on himself. But it’s just another reminder that we aren’t sure he can be trusted. Although at this point, I don’t know what he could do to make things worse.

A few days before Leap Day 2024, Ozone has another dream. He ends up in the shadow world, but he doesn’t see a younger version of himself; he sees young!Day. Young!Day tells Ozone that the shadow world is only for those who are cursed with Leap Day. Unfortunately, part of what young!Day says to Ozone is the same gibberish that has represented the stars talking. After, Ozone says, “What?” But I don’t know if he’s asking for clarification because he didn’t understand what the stars were saying, or if he was expressing disbelief at what they told him. Young!Day repeats that Day knows what to do.

When Ozone wakes up, he is understandably distraught. He tells Day about the dream, asking if Day knows how to save him. Day admits that he isn’t sure, but he’s working on it. That indicates to me that he isn’t fully sold on their plan, even as they’re only a couple of days away from implementing it. (To be fair, it doesn’t make any sense. And I haven’t heard anyone ask if this is something they’ll have to keep doing.) At this, Ozone becomes even more frantic and keeps repeating, “I’m dead”, even as Day tries to reassure him.

Then he passes out.

And now we wait! With only one episode left, I’m excited to see how they finally beat the curse – if they’re even able to. It’s a seemingly impossible task, although I feel like at least some of them have to survive. I do wonder what the stars are trying to tell them, and if there’s any more meaning in Ozone’s drawings. I hope that’s something that we discover in the final episode.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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