DISCLAIMER: This is my retake of one of those lost episodes to ZOOM which is from the 7th season. I also added something to make it more accurate than the original story found on Spinpasta Wiki. By the way, Enjoy this story…
ZOOM is one of my favorite television series. The show originally ran from 1972 to 1978, and a revival ran from 1999 to 2005 with reruns airing until at least 2007. The series ended a few years but I still enjoy it nonetheless. However, there was this one episode that WGBH did send me something I’ll never forget.
It was 6:30 PM. I was playing on my Mom’s computer with her permission when suddenly someone told me there was something for me at the front door. I stopped what I was doing and rushed to get it. It was a box. I opened the box to see a DVD with the Season 7 ZOOMers on it and a note. The note read:
“Dear [REDACTED],
We know you’re a big ZOOM fan but we don’t have any plans to bring the show back, sorry. However, we sent you a DVD containing the last episode ever of ZOOM. Hope you enjoy it. Besides, this episode may be rated NC-17, so i suggest you to watch it all by yourself. Sincerely.
– WGBH”
With that, I took the entire box, went into the kitchen, and inserted the DVD into our DVD player … all by myself. It was like someone put that in the player back then. I popped some Orville Redenbacher popcorn (my favorite kind), put it in a bowl, and began to watch the video.
The video began with the Dash variant of the PBS Kids logo, but something was off.
For starters, Dash looked berserk, except for the animation and the music, which looked normal.
Then the iconic 1996 WGBH logo came up, followed by the Season 7 ZOOM funding credits and theme song.
I thought to myself “Where was Today on ZOOM?” In case you didn’t know, “Today on ZOOM” was a cold open that was part of most ZOOM episodes and showed you what would happen in them.
The episode opened with the ZOOMers in their studio, greeting the viewers. “Hi, ZOOMers. Glad you could make it!” Noreen waved at us.
“Today we’re talking about… Um, um…” Shing-Ying explained. Most of the other ZOOMers nodded. This was where the episode got worse.
“Someone under the name of Xavier Zolotov broke into our house and stole my cookies.” Emily sighed. “What are we gonna do?”
“Who is Xavier Zolotov?! Was this guy have to do with ZOOM?” I asked.
“We should set up a prank on him for revenge!” agreed Francesco.
“Sounds like a good idea.” Kyle replied.
All of a sudden, the ZOOMers heard a whisper saying “Come here.”
“Huh?!” Francesco remarked.
Before the ZOOMers could do anything, Xavier jumped out of the window and began to speak.
“I heard you’re talking smack about me…” Xavier smiled.
“That’s enough of you for today.” Nick explained.
Xavier: Wasn’t i silly? Besides, i came here to avenge my fallen brothers.
Francesco: Fallen brothers?!
“What are your fallen brothers?” The other ZOOMers nodded and agreed.
Just then, before the ZOOMers could ask a question, Xavier grabbed out a gun and pointed it at them.
He then sat down to one of the chairs with his gun still pointing at the ZOOMers. “My fallen brothers are Vladimir and Georgi. Do you really think i can explain all about my fallen brothers? I’m sorry, but i should never trust all of you.”
“WHAT?!” The ZOOMers gasped.
“Listen, why don’t you just put your own gun down by yourself? We need to talk.” Taylor continued.
“This is something i’d thought of sadly…” Francesco explained.
“I’ve never saw Xavier like that…” Noreen explained.
“That’s right, fucker!” Xavier told Noreen.
Noreen got angry at Xavier after what he had to just call him.
“What did you just call me?!” Noreen shouted.
Xavier: Oh you see? You had took away my fallen brothers and putted them in your basement.
“What? I didn’t mean to!” Noreen asked.
“You’re lying to me. I know you putted them in your basement!” Xavier remarked.
“Hey! Stop being mean to our ZOOMers!” Kyle said.
“What do you do with them?” asked Shing.
“Oh, I just want vengeance for my fallen brothers.” explained Xavier. “You know what, I’m really going to kill you all. Wanna see a magic trick?”
“Uh oh…” Taylor said, as her expression changed from a neutral one to a scared one.
“Don’t forget to run away!” exclaimed Nick.
“I won’t!”, Taylor remarked before she and the other ZOOMers ran away into Noreen’s basement.
“DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME!” Xavier shouted at the top of his lungs.
Just then, it cut to Noreen’s basement.
“Phew! Finally we got rid of Xavier. He was the one who stole my cookies!” Shing-Ying remarked.
“Sir, is there anything to explain about when did Xavier steal your cookies?” Kyle asked.
After this, they talked about how much they hate Xavier for stealing Shing-Ying’s cookies and for threatening the ZOOMers.
Before it cut to the ZOOM studio, they heard a knock on the front door.
“Who is there?” Francesco remarked.
Francesco then opened the door, and Xavier appeared in front of him, but this time he has burning eyes like if he was very furious at them.
“I had enough of all of you tricking me with your stupid actions. Now, ANY LAST WORDS?!” Xavier said.
“Well, i’m afraid to say this, but i’m sorry.” smiled Noreen after Xavier said that.
“Why are you smiling?!” Xavier angrily shouted.
“Oh, i just want to say i’m sorry, not to smile.” Noreen asked.
“And the best part was we couldn’t have done it without you.” Francesco remarked before all the ZOOMers went to hug at him.
“Huh? Sorry what? Well, just don’t forget your own demises.” Xavier told the ZOOMers.
Xavier then pulled the trigger at the ZOOMers and shot them in their chests, head and everything, causing blood to come out of their bodies. They screamed in a cartoonish way, not in realistic ways. They then died later.
After Xavier shot the ZOOMers, he laughed like a psychopath.
“Whenever you’re all tricking me, just think of getting killed and you’ll all suffer.” Xavier explained. “There is no way of turning back now, okay?”
“And don’t forget, to anybody who watched this episode, i’m coming for you next!” Xavier said in a demonic tone while pointing the gun at the camera.
“It’s all over now. Farewell to your miserable lives, bitches!”
Xavier told to the viewers before shooting the camera, causing a huge crack on the screen and blood splattering.
After that, the credits rolled, except, instead of the ZOOMers telling their friends how to send in stuff to them, a voiceover that sounded more like Xavier Zolotov (whom is supposed to be from NCIS) said “You’re next…”
Afterwards, both the funding credits played like normal. When it got to the 1996 WGBH logo, something was off. The orange in the logo was replaced with some purple color, and the music played backwards.
I then ejected the video, put it back safely in its case, and smashed it with a sledgehammer. I wrote back to WGBH, saying that it was a bad finale and a stupidest & goreful way to end such a beautiful children’s show like that. Luckily, they replied back. I wasn’t able to see the episode again when a local PBS station in Ohio broadcasted that episode a few years later along with a handful of previously lost first season episodes.
Later that night, i had some nightmares about me getting kiled by Xavier the same way as the ZOOMers.
To this day, i never wanted to watch ZOOM ever again after saying that. Remember, if you come across a DVD that contains some disturbing nature and gruesome contents, you know what to do.