Welcome to Night Vale Recap: Episode 10 “Feral Dogs”
The greatest mystery of our time: could there be dogs in the dog park?
We begin with news of a dog pack roving through Night Vale. They’ve already attacked some grade school children. Luckily apparently everyone in Night Vale is capable with firearms so the children were able to fend off the dogs with the pistols they had on them. Handy. I guess this also explains why the measure to not let children have guns at school was so controversial. In this town you literally never know when something might attack you.
In other news, Night Vale is doing some chemical spraying to get rid of the local mosquito population, though suspiciously the chemicals will partially be focused in Irish neighborhoods. I was going to be skeptical about mosquitos being a problem in the desert, but apparently they live anywhere that doesn’t have arctic temperatures. Also, did you know Texas has the most varieties of mosquito of any US state? I just found that out and fully expect to keep scratching all my bug bites for the rest of the recap now.
After a brief update on the dogs, who have been seen rooting around in the dumpster behind the library (and thus showing that they know no fear), we have some community health tips. Apparently carpal tunnel syndrome has been getting surprisingly popular in Night Vale. It’s causing everything from love for fellow human beings to sexual arousal in people who have it, which even Cecil admits is kind of weird.
The dogs, in the meantime, are continuing their wave of crime. They’ve now moved on to graffiti vandalism. They’ve painted an elaborate political mural on the drawbridge construction site, suggesting that the dogs are libertarians in favor of reinstating the gold standard. Which is…Yeah, sure, why not.
Next we go to the community calendar, which includes events like a parade to celebrate Night Vale’s firefighters and some of the town’s best fires. Citizens are warned that during the parade the firefighters won’t leave to put out any fires, so we’ll have to make sure not to start any. There’s also an update on the local boy scouts, where two scouts are coming quite close to the new, highest rank: eternal scout. Neat, but of course I’m sure that will never come up again. Obviously. It’s also noteworthy that on Thursday local government agencies have scheduled a sandstorm, suggesting that the government can control the weather…
Anyway, we then get to learn about another Night Vale institution: The Museum of Forbidden Technologies. Exhibits at the museum include time machines, a source of clean energy, and pocket calculators. Unsurprisingly, all the exhibits in the museum are covered in thick tarps and have completely censored explanatory plaques. It’s bizarre but in keeping with City Council’s habit of having information available but forbidding people from accessing it.
After that we have a commercial and it’s wonderful. The ad talks about you coming into a dark room with a sense of dread. Your phone rings even though you don’t own one. When you answer it a voice gives you a vague message about how your time has come and others are waiting for you. Strangely you seem oblivious to the whole situation. Instead you finally turn on the lights and remember that of course you have a phone. Who doesn’t? You hang up on the strange voice and sit around happily, glad that you remembered to buy Tropicana orange juice.
Seriously, guys: I think the commercials are my favorite part of this whole show.
The feral dogs are continuing their attacks on local children. They attacked another two boys, but one was uninjured because he was a better person and more loved by the angels. It’s just a one-off line, but it’s also potentially the best insight we’ve had into why the City Council actively fights the angels and tries to deny their existence. Loyalty to the angels can apparently actually save lives. In a town as dangerous as Night Vale, what greater threat could there be to the Counsel’s absolute power? It makes me wonder if the angels are there specifically to fight the evils of Night Vale, or if it just seemed like a cool place to live for a while.
In the meantime the dogs have moved on to stealing TVs from the local senior center and Cecil feels things have gone too far. He advises pet owners to get their animals fixed (at Big Rico’s pizzeria) and then explains the difficult lives of dogs brought up without love in rough neighborhoods. He feels that Night Vale can be a better home to dogs like these. Or, as he puts it:
“Our town was founded by peace-loving imperialist conquerors who, to escape taxation, overwhelmed a potentially violent race of indigenous people and founded this beautiful city on principles of family, fortitude, fence-building, and friendly propaganda.
Let’s not forget our long-standing town motto: “We have nothing to fear except ourselves. We are unholy, awful people. Fear ourselves with silence. Look down, Night Vale; look down, and forget what you’ve done!”
That is the motto of a determined, unified community.”
This episode’s weather is “I Know This” by Rachel Kann. It happens to be one of my favorites. This is just a really good episode all-around.
When we get back Mayor Pamela Winchell has held a press conference to announce that this whole “feral dog” issue was just a big misunderstanding. In fact, there were never really any dogs to begin with. The attacks, thefts, and vandalism were all actually just people seeing plastic bags, blowing in the wind. The bags have now been rounded up and returned to the dog park where people can safely never think of them ever again.
Alright, I didn’t catch this until about my fifth listening of this episode, but is Mayor Winchell indirectly saying that there are actual dogs in the dog park? Sure, it sounds like they’re unnatural, dangerous, and shockingly intelligent dogs. What else would we expect? My mind is blown!
Naturally some reporters point out all the injuries and damage that’s been done in the last few hours which is unlikely to have come from plastic bags. Just as naturally, Mayor Winchell simply stares the reporters down while repeating the words “Plastic. Bags.” through gritted teeth until the police force them away with pepper spray.
Cecil seems happy to accept the official story and put the feral dog issue behind him. He sees the whole issue as a triumph of the community. And why not? Night Vale certainly survived this one better than most of their crises.
That may not be the case next episode though, when Night Vale must face the effects of a certain common food … and its byproducts.
And now, an update to the Conspiracy Tracker!
1. Angels are living with Old Woman Josie and the City Council wants to capture them.
2. There’s a house that doesn’t exist.
3. The Apache Tracker and his home have disappeared.
4. Time is weird in Night Vale and Carlos wants to figure it out.
5. Cecil wants to be swallowed by a giant snake.
6. There’s a city underneath the Desert Flower Bowling Alley and Arcade Fun Complex.
7. Literal five-headed dragon and fugitive Hiram McDaniels is on the loose.
8. Pets become perfect when you accept them…
9. What the heck is the dog park?
10. Russian=Weirdness
11. Cecil hates Steve Carlsberg for unknown reasons.
12. Night Vale has a surprising fixation on actor Lee Marvin.
13. The government can control the weather.
14. Two boy scouts are close to becoming Eternal Scouts.
Alex Townsend is freelance writer, a cool person, and really into gender studies and superheroes. It’s a magical day when all these things come together. You can follow her on her tumblr and see her comments on silver age comics. Happy reading!
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