The episode was directed by Nacho Vigalondo from a script written by Gerald Olson[1] and stars Nyasha Hatendi, Latarsha Rose, Jon Daly, Dale Dickey, and Jonny Berryman.

Unemployed actor Wilson Clowes (Nyasha Hatendi), moves into a new apartment building to start a new life, befriending a fellow resident, an older woman named Red (Dale Dickey).

After an unusual physical component, Wilson is offered the acting job by Finn (Jon Daly), the advertising director for a new Christmas toy called Pooka.

Meanwhile, Finn gets Wilson the business card of Melanie (Latarsha Rose), a real estate agent to whom he has become attracted after seeing her first at a Christmas tree farm, then at one of his in-store events.

Wilson buys Melanie's son Ty (Jonny Berryman) a Pooka toy, much to the boy's pleasure.

Wilson's hallucinations continue, and he has a vision of himself as naughty Pooka entering Red's apartment and killing her.

However, when he visits her apartment, she appears unharmed, and as they talk, Wilson remembers that he made his life change to get away from some sort of pain that he thinks he caused.

As all this occurs, the costume appears to be inseparable from Wilson, who is seen visibly hyperventilating until he puts the Pooka head on.

In the closing scene, Pooka-Wilson witnesses his past self trying to make up for his violence by driving Melanie and Ty to a Christmas tree farm.

"[8] In his review for The Daily Dot, Eddie Strait awarded the episode 3 out of 5 stars and said that it was, "a solid entry for Into the Dark.

A movie this weird is the exact kind of thing you would expect to find on streaming sites, and that's perhaps the strongest feather in Into the Dark's cap.

"[9] In another acclamatory critique, Paste's Jacob Oller gave the episode a rating of 7.9 out of 10 and complimented it saying, "While it’s not especially tight—even when the cuts, transitions, and timelines are vague and strange on purpose—and opts for a few stilted narrative shortcuts, "Pooka!"

"[10] Writing for /Film, Matt Donato gave the episode a rating of 7 out of 10 and said of it, "Not the conventional Christmas nightmare one might expect, but sharpened enough to expose purposefully provocative seasonal traumas regarding control, regret, and the psychological toll holidays can take on those still nursing open wounds – self-inflicted or otherwise.

"[11] In a more mixed assessment, RogerEbert.com's Brian Tallerico gave the episode a rating of 2 ½ stars out of 4 and said, "While I admire its ambition, "Pooka!"

Again, it’s stretched out to a length beyond what the narrative can handle — it would have made for a killer episode of Monsters (1988-1990) — and threatens to leave viewers dancing between expectation and frustration.

"[13] In a separate unfavorable evaluation, Bleeding Cool's Jeremy Konrad was very critical of the episode saying that, "This was a frustrating watch from beginning to end and the payoff was not worth it.

The story is about a bunch of friends (portrayed by Felicia Day, Malcolm Barrett, Jonah Ray, and Lyndie Greenwood) who knew each other from high school create their own holiday and an internet meme revolving around the toy Pooka, the history of its creation, as well as an urban legend revolving around the homicide of its creator (portrayed by Rachel Bloom) who was fired from the toy company that she worked at.