Stars: 5/5
Disney Channel’s YouTube team finally listened to the nostalgia gods. The iconic “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” (or “The Suite Life”) episode, “The Ghost in Suite 613” is available for free on their channel, all twenty-two minutes, commercial-free. Fifteen years later, the episode is still great compared to today’s entertainment standards.
Nostalgia aside, I admit that I did not remember “The Suite Life” being so cleverly comedic. The episode still gave me goosebumps just like when I was seven years old. I question how they showed this on Disney Channel back in the day, scary as it was.
The premise of the episode is that there is a ghost in Room 613 at the Tipton Hotel. They learn about the ghost of 613 from Maid Muriel, and twin brothers Zack and Cody bet each other $5 to stay a night in Room 613 after Zack takes every chance he gets to scare Cody.
The ghost, Irene, haunted the room since 1942 after her husband left for war a day after they checked in for their honeymoon. He never came back because he met a girl in Naples, Italy, and opened a pizza parlor. Due to her anger and rage, she threw a brush at a mirror that then shattered. The glass from the mirror cut her, and she died from the impact.
Maddy, the Tipton’s candy girl, and London Tipton, the Tipton’s heiress, tag along after London left a purse with $1000 in the room. Eventually, the full cast of well-written characters, Mr. Moseby, the hotel’s manager, Esteban, the bellhop and Arwin, the repairman, find their way in room 613.
The spookiest part of the episode does not come until the 14-minute mark when Esteban calls on the spirit of Ghost 613 during a seance. This scene cemented this episode as one of the most frightening things for a child in 2005 to watch, yet it was so funny. After angering the ghost, Irene takes each character into the darkness in the most comedic ways. Zack tries running out of the room, but the doorknob breaks, the balcony doors open, and a fake tarantula hits him on the way out.
Thankfully, Cody and the rest of the gang revealed that they pulled the best impractical joke on Zack. Fed up with his jokes, they teamed up with Arwin, who created all the special effects, to prank Zack to teach him not to prank them.
However, Irene popped up at the end of the episode. She is friendlier than how Mr. Moseby and Esteban portrayed her. She hands Cody back his blanket that he left behind. The twins run out, scared. I do not blame them because that was the scariest part and was not a prank.
The way that the episode ties everyone into this spooky story is flawless. Instead, the writing and cheekiness carry the jokes, not an overplayed laughing track. The jokes also did not rely on being disgusting or wildly idiotic. Both for older and younger audiences, the writer of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” balanced their dialogue, comedy and relatability.
One thing that Disney Channel’s early 2000s shows do that many newer ones lack is the cheekiness and polarity of jokes. Instead of dumbing down the dialogue, they acknowledged that even a show made for children can be clever.
This episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” is a breath of fresh air. It strays away from plaguing us with the deprecation of the youth and technology like today’s shows do. It is scary enough while not being too soft or outrageous, and it is in touch with the Halloween spirit.