Okay, pitch for The Black Phone 3:
Gwen and Ernesto decide they want to further their spiritual adventures (basically they want to help more spirits that haven’t been able to move on). And Finn? Well, he’s getting better but he still doesn’t have a path per se, so he’s going along for the ride.
They end up making contact with this old woman who claims she can increase spiritual abilities. Gwen wants more control and Ernesto just wants something. Finn thinks it’s a bad idea but he knows they’ll go with or without him so he tags along as muscle.
Unfortunately, this woman isn’t actually increasing spiritual abilities, she’s summoning demons and tricking people into giving access to their bodies.
Because she knows Ernesto has no way to see through what she’s doing, she starts with him. What she doesn’t know is Robin is there because when these dumbasses started looking into this shit he stopped leaving their sides (in my head he is actually only able to stick around because of his death’s strong tie to Finn. Finn is how he stays locked in). So when she gets Ernesto to open himself up for possession, Robin jumps into Ernesto’s body both to stop anything else from doing it and to warn the crew to gtfo.
A fight ensues. I like to think she has a couple of demon possessed people around. They fight them and through listening to Robin they manage to get the demons to release their holds on the bodies and then they gtfo.
However, Robin is still inside Ernesto. He doesn’t have full control of his body, though. It’s more like they’re both there and they are just taking turns talking so Ernesto looks like he’s just talking to himself. Robin can also control the body if Ernesto lets him. If they’re both trying to control it, it turns into a fight where his body is just jerking around.
Anyway, Robin tries to warn them about being more cautious, then determines he has to go (note: Finn is just in the background looking like someone kicked his puppy because they haven’t gotten to talk it’s just been Robin lecturing Ernesto and Gwen). But then… he can’t. He tries to leave Ernesto’s body but he’s unable to.
So now the story turns to them having to do research to get Robin out of Ernesto’s body.
While they do this we get a nice scene of Robin and Ernesto talking, even though it’s weird to watch. Robin tells Ernesto he’s proud of the man he’s become and that he’s happy things are going well with Gwen. Ernesto tells him he’s happy to have Robin here, even if it’s temporary. He’s missed him so much and has a ton of questions. Robin ends up telling the whole group that there are just some things about the afterlife that he can’t tell them and they have to accept that.
Later at night Finn is outside, smoking a regular cigarette. They’re at a hotel somewhere and Robin comes outside. He explains it’s just him and that Ernesto is sleeping, so he’s got control of the body. The last few days between them were awkward as fuck. They didn’t really talk and even when they did, it just seemed wrong and off like they were both afraid to talk.
They start small talking and Robin says he’s worried about Finn, and Finn gets snippy and basically says he doesn’t see why Robin cares. He obviously has nothing to say to him. And Finn says don’t worry, he gets it, he was just that one guy he knew when he was 13.
That’s when Robin claps back. He reminds Finney that for him, 13 years was all there was, and then says Finn was his best and only friend.
And Finn asks why he doesn’t want to talk to him then. And Robin kind of goes off. He *does* want to talk to him, but he’s also seen what Finn is like. He’s still trapped in the past and Robin doesn’t want to keep him there. Finn deserves to move on and live a happy life. And Robin can’t be part of it because he’s dead. He’s dead.
And Finn’s near tears because Robin’s not dead right now. He’s here right now. And fuck, why can’t he just stay? He’s here and can’t he please just stay?
And Robin reminds him it’s not his body, it’s Ernesto’s. It’s Ernesto’s life and he can’t take it from him or ask him to share forever. But then he looks at Finn and tells him it doesn’t mean he doesn’t wish there was a way. He also tells Finn that even though he wants him to move on, he should know that Robin is always looking out for him.
Finney asks if he was there when he locked himself out of the house at 2am and had to climb in through a window and caught Gwen and Ernesto making out.
Robin nods solemnly. “I gagged right there with you, buddy.”
And then they just start laughing. Finn asks if while Robin is here if they can please just be normal. Robin gives in, but tells Finn not to get used to it.
More research happens, we get some fun scenes of the crew having fun. Some funny scenes where Gwen is affectionate with Ernesto only for Robin to take control and make jokes about it at Ernesto’s expense to Finn. It’s a good time.
They finally find someone to help them (who also needs their help with finding some bodies and freeing some souls because we’ve gotta have action), and they’re all way more cautious this time. They help the spirits, then get their answer for how to get Robin out of Ernesto’s body.
It turns out the issue is simple: Robin can’t leave because Ernesto isn’t letting him. Ernesto’s soul is holding onto him and preventing him from leaving.
Robin tells Ernesto that he has to let him go, but Ernesto says he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t mind sharing his body. He’s missed him and doesn’t want to lose him again. Robin reminds him it’s not just about him. What about Gwen? How is he supposed to have a relationship when Robin is always there in the back of his mind?
That’s when Gwen pipes up and says she thinks he should stay, at least for longer. He can always change his mind later. But she says she knows how Ernesto feels and she understands it. She loves him and they can make it work. She wants Robin to have more time. And she wants Ernesto and Finn to have more time with him. They’ve all been happier with Robin there. So, she wants him to stay.
Seeing the other two have already asked, Finn asks, “Please, Robin.”
Flash forward to a scene with the 3 of them, but really 4, because SURPRISE Robin stayed. They’re on their way to some location that Gwen dreamed about, ready to help some kids. Ernesto is driving in the front seat and he and Gwen are holding hands. Meanwhile, when Finn talks he’s leaned so far forward that he’s resting his chin on Robin’s shoulder.
And basically from here the franchise is the four of them helping lost spirits, while the Blake siblings navigate dating brothers who are stuck in the same body (although the studios are cowards about it, so stuff with Finn and Robin probably always can be brushed off as guys being dudes even though it’s super gay).
And anyway, there’s The Black Phone 3. Someone hire me.
