The Big Door Prize – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Deerfest: Part Two

Episode 10 of The Big Door Prize starts with us off at Deerfest with everyone having a good time. Everyone that is, except Mr Johnson, who’s taken out of his store and to the hospital. On his way out, the Morpho machine short-circuits and turns off.

Of course, everyone at Deerfest is unaware of all this, as Trina tells the group – including Beau, Jacob and Cass – the big story about the puffin. The thing is, Cass never actually thought puffins were cute, she just said all that to make him like her. Dusty though, liked her from the start.

Elsewhere at the fair, Giorgio starts stirring a huge pot of pasta but in the middle of this, Savannah’s mum, Natalie, shows and begins flirting with him. After divorcing from Mikey, she’s definitely in the market and Savannah is 100% not into this, so she heads off to find something else to do… and immediately turns and sees Trina and Jacob hugging. In her absence, Natalie hints that she knows about Giorgio’s baldness and finds it sexy.

What happens between Hana and Reuben?

Meanwhile, Hana decides she should take it slow with Father Reuben. I guess, he’s no Giorgio is he? Anyway, Reuben speaks to Hana and points out that the card actually worked really well to lead him to her. Hana is definitely not vibing with this and believes that he’s “rewriting his card” into including her.

Things do not go well, especially when she lets slip that she was there the night he originally found his card. The pair hash out their differences outside, with Hana eventually telling him he needs to stop trying to find signs in everything. Hana heads out of town but on the way, almost hits a deer.

Does Izzy have an epiphany?

Back at the fair, Cass loses her temper with one of the cashiers and points out the big flaws in her crazy plan to scam the whole town. When Izzy shows up, Cass takes her deep into the maze and ends up hugging her mum tightly, before leaving her there.

When Dusty finds out, he’s pretty taken aback but decides that he and Cass should go on the ferris wheel together. However, Urie is worried about the impending storm and happens to be in front of them, just before the pair go up.

Izzy receives a call from the hospital. Mr Johnson is stable but he’s had a cardiac arrest. He has Izzy down as an emergency contact and it’s here where Izzy realizes that she’s not the real ghost in town, it’s been Mr Johnson this whole time. He’s the one who hasn’t had anyone to rely on; no friends, family or special people in his life. Izzy is heartbroken and decides to race up and meet him.

The storm rages and the power goes out in the fair completely. Dusty and Cass are stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel alone with a bunch of other characters, while Giorgio decides to use the cherrypicker to go and get them down. At the top though, Dusty decides that he and Cass should maybe part ways in order to find their destiny and figure out what it all means.

Cass uses the analogy of a puffin, a creature that leaves for 8 months of the year to go on other adventures. Dusty points out that they’re not actually puffins so it’s very different but the concept is largely the same.

Izzy is in trouble too and hurts her leg in the maze. Beau shows and decides to try and help her with his trusty chainsaw. Giorgio saves the day and brings everyone down, one at a time, and living up to his potential as a superstar.

Off the back of all this, everyone heads to the corner shop where they find the Morpho Machine inexplicably back on and glowing with a blue light. The whole town is here, and with Dusty leading the way, he notices the machine now reads “Are you ready for the next stage?”

Hana suddenly appears and says “It’s never done that before.” and as the camera pans over, it shows that she’s got the blue dots all over her back too.

The Episode Review

So the finale for Big Door Prize comes to an interesting conclusion, one that opens the door for a second season to really lean into the true origins of this machine and what’s been happening. It seems to hint that Hana was the one who brought the machine to town, while she has a lot of knowledge over what’s happened in the past.

There’s also an air of contempt with her because she’s absolutely fine to sleep with Giorgio but won’t initiate with someone who has true feelings for her? I guess one could argue that it’s a way to protect his feelings, but it doesn’t do her character any favours.

Similarly, the situation with Dusty and Cass is also left unresolved. The idea that these two are going to separate for a while does open up the possibility of Dusty going back to skiing and trying to live up to his expectations as a “whistler”.

Ultimately though, The Big Door Prize comes to a decent enough ending, especially given this has already been renewed for a second season. A much darker and intriguing follow-up could be on the horizon.