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The Halloween Trick
In many ways, Hocus Pocus 2 gave us exactly the Halloween treats we craved: a spooky tale of witchy wonder, a cackling reunion with our beloved Sanderson sisters, oodles of cheeky humor, and more music and (family-friendly) mayhem. The film’s finale even bestowed happy endings for witches new and old, as well as for a familiar bag of bones! But one sweet Salem local was robbed of his treat, and this feels like a dirty trick.
The Disappearing Caramel Apple
Poor Mayor Traske didn’t get his caramel apple. And it’s the film’s greatest failing.
In this Hocus Pocus sequel, the Sanderson sisters (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker) ditch their plot to gobble up children’s souls in favor of pursuing a potion that would make them the most powerful spell-casters Salem has ever seen. To do this, they need the blood of their enemy, the scowling and cowardly Reverend Traske. Unfortunately, this 17th-century villain is long dead, so the witchy trio sets their sights on the next best thing: his descendent, Mayor Traske.
A Missed Opportunity
When the mayor returns home, he recounts to his disobedient daughter and her magical friends that he has had an “awful day.” He’d come home to a mess that included “Gothic Golden Girls” in his garage — and his coveted candy apple was lost. “So then I went to a Walgreens that’d turned out their lights!” he exclaims, referring unknowingly to more Sanderson sisters shenanigans, “Which makes no sense! What Walgreens turns out their lights? But you know what I got? You know what I got in the dark? This pathetic thing!”
The Sweet Tooth’s Disappointment
As the credits rolled and the Sanderson sisters went into a reprise of “The Witch is Back,” I hoped maybe a mid-credit or post-credit scene might offer a caramel-coated catharsis… But no. The post-credit scene shows Gilbert the (not-so) Great’s cat, Cobwebs, finding a second black-flame candle, indicating that a Hocus Pocus 3 could be manifested. But there’s nothing for our sweet-toothed king.
A Cruel Twist of Fate
The only justification I can find for such a cruel caramel-less twist of fate is that perhaps this is the last gasp of the Sanderson sisters’ pettiness, a curse on the Traske bloodline that robs the Mayor of a simple sugary pleasure. Can you hear that on the wind? I think it’s Winnie cackling.
Hocus Pocus 2 is now on Disney+.
