S01.E05: October 31

[RedInk]

The fake Brenda storyline works out just fine if you accept that she's part of the "actual evil" narrative. Naturally the girls would notice if she didn't otherwise look and sound like the girl they were expecting, which supports that she was a demon or some otherworldly bad guy. Leland provided the distraction for her to get in with the group, and presumably got the real Brenda sick. They also had the girl with the heart condition lie in the grave. All of this tracked for me. 

What I get irritated with are the real-world, every day inconsistencies. I still don't understand heart condition daughter's situation. There's no transplant list for her? Zero treatment options, not even a monitor? Also, the doctor at the exorcism could have (and would have) called 911. It's not believable that two professionals would act like it's not their jurisdiction bc a priest said no. Ethically, they would have to call it in. And lots of other nitpicking, etc., lol

[mertensia]

Exorcism are always long and drawn out. Sure Jesus did them fast but that 's, you know, the actual Jesus, not some random Catholic priest.

I'll be impressed with the priest when he turns an entire lake into holy water. 

Spoiler

Lake Michigan, in fact.

[AnimeMania]

1 hour ago, mertensia said:

I'll be impressed with the priest when he turns an entire lake into holy water. 

  Hide contents

Lake Michigan, in fact.

And.... Done! Lake Michigan is entirely filled with holy water. You should have saw all those demons running. Are you not impressed! Prove I didn't do it! Oh wait, you said I had to be a priest, never mind.

[SomeTameGazelle]

57 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

The kids didn't even mention their father this week after being upset all last week about that creepy kid telling those kids their dad was dead.  Am I supposed to assume that they talked to their dad off screen?

Why isn't their dad calling often to check on the very sick child that could possibly die at anytime?

Why was there an open grave in the cemetery? Wouldn't  it have been better writing if the kids saw their dad's headstone?   Then have the kids run off crying to their mom and then have Kristen show up and look at the headstone and it is no longer her husband's?

All I am asking for is a little follow through.  It doesn't have to be everything.

NotBrenda didn't talk about the possible death of the father, did she? It was the girl in the AR game last week who told them their father was dead. NotBrenda's story about the grave was that Laura was their mother whom they had poisoned, and that was why Laura had to get into the grave. The meta-reason for pressuring Laura to get into the grave was I think to freak out Kristen who lives in a state of apprehension that Laura could die. Having a freshly dug unmarked grave didn't strike me as that odd, either. Maybe fortuitous, unless that cemetery is large enough that there would always be someone about to be buried.

If there had been a headstone that magically changed by the time Kristen saw it, IMO that would be **too much** to explain, not too little. How exactly would whoever prepped NotBrenda set up the headstone in advance, AND change it between the time the children saw it  and the time Kristen got there? George from the first couple of episodes was explained by the scary TV show and debunked by the behind-the-scenes video. The bits that haven't been explained about the AR game is how did someone manage to get the grandmother to buy them for the girls so that they could then have someone engage them in the game? If we had seen Leland (is that his real name or an alias he gave the grandmother?) meet her before I could imagine that he could have influenced her without her realising, but since it's clear she had never met him before the hiccups incident it's hard to figure out who set that up and whether he was involved. (I can easily imagine a scenario where the grandmother received them as some kind of prize and decided to give them to the girls. That could explain why she would have got only two for four girls.)

I don't have a problem with the girls being loud and unintelligible because I'm sure if we can't understand what they're saying then what they are saying is unimportant and all we are supposed to get from it is the overwhelming racket and confusion.

I don't have a problem with the grandmother being of poor character because the show knows it. Kristen asked her to baby-sit because the exorcism came up at short notice. I will be surprised if we don't reach a point where Kristen realises she can't rely on her mother, but for now I am ok to let it simmer a while longer.

I doubt the father is dead. Since they have repeatedly said he is due back in a small number of weeks I think it is likely we will see him soon. I don't know whether we will find out that he wants out of the marriage for some reason. There is still enough going on that I am willing to wait. The only thing I am impatient to learn more about is Ben's sister and whether she has a secret baby. More Ben's sister!

I have to say that when I first saw the promos for this series I was a hard no on what I assumed was the concept. The three things that persuaded me to try it were (1) Aasif Mandvi; (2) that it included skeptical characters; and (3) that it was created by the Kings and therefore I didn't expect to have to take it completely seriously.  (Their minor characters are typically way over-the-top). I definitely do not want to be actually scared, so this is working for me.

[meatball77]

On 10/26/2019 at 2:48 PM, Novel8 said:

I agree...seems the Catholic church is being picked on again. Are there no jother religions that have sinister powers?

Would the Catholic church be investigating possessions or hauntings of non-catholics?  The US Catholic church doesn't do a lot of Exorcisms (although apparently more recently) but from what I understand they do a lot in South America.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/catholic-exorcisms-on-the-rise/573943/

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/06/exorcists-catholic-evangelical-church-child-abuse-new-inquisition

[cleo]

I want the real Kalinda to join this team, not some wannabe. 

[Anela]

On 10/25/2019 at 11:20 AM, Katy M said:

I forgot that I meant to comment on grandma and skeevy guy.  

I'm kind of assuming that he set the whole thing with the kid up and was just trying to keep grandma distracted.  It does beg the question of how he knew Kristen was going to have this last minute job, though.  Unless he really is the devil.  But, anyway, I would never go off with a guy that said "kindness is hypocrisy."  That's kind of creepy.  The dying from hiccoughs, heart attack thing didn't really bug me all that much, but that quote, no.

I also wouldn't like it if someone tried to bully me into not taking a call. Which to me is further proof that he was trying to distract her.  I don't mind so much that grandma was holed up in Kristen's room on the phone, but with that many kids in the house, when it gets too quiet, you know something's up.  Plus, those kids are not capable of a quiet sneak out.  They just aren't.  

I was going to say this, too. He was distracting her, so that she wouldn't know that the girls were in danger. I'm glad she didn't take his bullying her to stay on the phone. 

I still don't mind the girls. I would have been the one who stayed behind, or followed my sister (who would have gone), trying to get her to come back home/keeping an eye on her. 

The woman who was possessed, said something to Kristen about her daughters being buried. So did the guy set her up, too, or was that real?

[kwnyc]

2 hours ago, cleo said:

I want the real Kalinda to join this team, not some wannabe. 

HELL, yeah. (So to speak.)

[ketose]

I have to say that the "placebo effect" with Holy Water was kind of hilarious. There's no scientific method to determine if water is holy or regular, so a non-believer wouldn't think holy water was special anyway.

If a priest holds a bottle of regular water and performs a blessing while splashing it on a demon, he's pretty much doing the same thing as it would take to make the water holy anyway.

[hookedontv]

Make the screaming and loud talking all-at-once daughters stop.

Please.

[sharifa70]

On 10/26/2019 at 11:15 AM, HazelEyes4325 said:

I will say that I fell into the horror movie trap during this episode of screaming, "No!  Not that!" during this episode.  Sadly, it was not during any "scary" part, but when Ben had the woman put her head back during a nose bleed.  Never do that! Put your head FORWARD!  Sigh...

While I do enjoy this show, I realized I would also enjoy a show that is just Ben going on various Ghosthunter-type shows and debunking what they are doing.  Aasif Mandvi is definitely my favorite part of this show.

Ha! I reacted to the nosebleed in a similar way, except I was yelling at Ben to glove up. I’ve had the first aid mantra drilled into me at work: “If it’s wet and not yours, don’t touch it!”

I would also watch Ben debunking ghosthunters. I got a bit of a Supernatural  vibe from those bits.

[Driad]

I would trade one or two of the screechy children for a smart large dog.  When George visits, it would be interesting to see if the dog reacts to him, or just to Kristen's distress.

[Dbolt]

My guess is that we will not get anything else with Notbrenda, just like how George and Rose have not been mentioned again. 

[SomeTameGazelle]

40 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

No she did not.  But it seems to me that all of the "things that are going on" are tied together somehow.   I am convinced that NotBrenda is the same "child" that was in the game.

I still can't get past the kids not being upset about not talking to their father after being so upset last week.  At least mention the dad this week in a throw away line.  That isn't too much to ask.

I understand, but it seems to me that the story could have been used to draw the kids to the cemetery to see the gravestone of their father.   There so very little carry over from episode to episode, that I find the series horribly frustrating to watch. 

One minute they are afraid their father is dead, next episode no thought of their father at all.

There already is plenty that hasn't been explained.   How did the creepy kid in the game appear outside of the game?  After the game settings were changed?

The headstone doesn't have to move, the inscription on it can just change.  No, in the real world that wouldn't happen, but in the real  world a creepy kid can't exit the game either.

For the headstone to be at the grave it would have to have been brought in at some point. But the creepy kid in the game represented herself as a live person they were playing with who existed outside the game, so in theory they could meet that person in real life if she happened to be in the same geographical area.

At this point I am willing to believe that it's possible that the person who tried to contact the girls through the game as Rose is the same person who sent NotBrenda to them, but there isn't any reason why the girl in the game must actually be NotBrenda. Ben assumed that Rose was an adult pedophile using a voice modulator to pretend to be a child. So the person could have been anyone anywhere in the world and based on the interaction it seemed like someone who had some knowledge of the family and who wanted to cause distress for them. NotBrenda was also there to upset them, but instead of continuing to press the story about their father being dead she chose a different one. It would have been nice if we had had a throwaway line that the father had responded to their video and everyone has been reassured. I don't know if they have a reason why we haven't heard that the father is OK, but I expect that to be cleared up when he does or doesn't show up in a couple of weeks. I am still wondering whether the Hallowe'en episode should have been shown before the one with the AR, since that would allow for Leland to have influenced Sheryl to get the game somehow, and also because in terms of upsetting the kids, it seems like a better escalation to go from frightening them in a graveyard to telling them their father is dead.

[cleo]

A lot of people commenting on dangling storylines. I assume the stuff left hanging- George, notBrenda, Rose, etc are part of a larger story arc. The same with David's drug visions or whatever they are.

[kwnyc]

59 minutes ago, cleo said:

A lot of people commenting on dangling storylines. I assume the stuff left hanging- George, notBrenda, Rose, etc are part of a larger story arc. The same with David's drug visions or whatever they are.

One HOPES! Of all the plots and characters they've thrown up in the air, I'd like to see most of them actually LAND somewhere..

[Annber03]

On 10/25/2019 at 12:18 PM, tennisgurl said:

Can we all agree that Grandma should be banned from all babysitting duty? She clearly sucks at it, not paying attention to the girls she is supposed to be babysitting to drink and facebook stalk/dirty talk with the random creep she just met. I mean, all she had to do was notice that she couldn't hear them anymore and realize something was weird! Just stick your head in every once in awhile! Grandma also has really shitty taste in men apparently, dumping cute bee guy for this obvious serial killer she just met. "Kindness is hypocrisy? Happily talking about people dying in horrible ways? My date was in a car wreck! Your date is probably going to have a heart attack! Oh what a gentlemanly dreamboat!" I mean, what does it say about her that she thinks that is appealing? 

Right? I'd be so weirded out by all of that. But then again, given how flighty she is and her general poor judgment, it tracks that she wouldn't find somebody like him odd. I do like the idea that he might've put something in her head to "lure" her in, though. 

Quote

Not Brenda was creepy as fuck, and I am guessing she was in league with Leland and is some kind of demon/ghost child that was trying to hurt the kids or start corrupting them or some evil thing. I think the girls would be more weirded out by "Brenda" not wanting to take her mask off and all of her creepy "games", but it WAS Halloween, and going to graveyards is the kind of thing that some kids think is fun. The girls need a lesson about peer pressure ASAP. Especially when its peer pressure but probable ghosts! They are, especially the older ones, are right in the age where they should know better...but still would probably do that. 

Agreed. I do agree with the point that it seems odd the girls would go to a cemetery after being freaked out by that game, but then again, they did keep putting the goggles back on despite being creeped out by the game, and it is Halloween, so why not go for a really big scare? 

I really liked how they ended things with Brenda. It'd be cool if she returns (and I feel like she might, since they made reference this episode to those three points David was talking about in an earlier episode, and how they were tied to hell), but if she doesn't, the way they left things with her here was genuinely creepy. 

I don't care whether the show goes full on supernatural or not, or does a mix of both. I just want more scary moments. The first few episodes didn't creep me out at all, but the episode with the game and the creepy boy did, and so did the stuff with Brenda this episode. So hopefully that's a sign they'll be ramping up on that side of things as time goes on.

On a lighter note, everything with Ben and Vanessa was cute and I'd like to see where that goes :). 

[mertensia]

I was talking about Father Marcus in the first season of The Exorcist.

[Sakura12]

Does Kristen not find it odd that all 4 of her daughters are so into horror? First they were watching a horror movie, then they played the horror video game, then they followed a creepy girl into a graveyard. I know it's probably to fit the tone of the show but its weird how all 4 like it. 

She also needs to have a talk with her mother. She's no different then not having a babysitter since she's more interested in her own things then she is in her granddaughters. How did she not find Leland creepy? A guy who casually talks about her date dying should set off alarm bells. I wouldn't be surprised if we found out he did die because Leland killed him. 

Can Vanessa join the team. She doesn't seem like she's got kids and I really liked her and Ben. They already have the skeptic in Ben, she seemed like she was in the middle of believing and not believing. I wonder if Kristen's psychiatrist believes now because he looked a little freaked out after the exerosim. 

It seems everything the team is dealing with is Supernatural but most of their cases will not be to make the characters not notice until it's too late. 

[Katy M]

16 minutes ago, Sakura12 said:

Does Kristen not find it odd that all 4 of her daughters are so into horror? First they were watching a horror movie, then they played the horror video game, then they followed a creepy girl into a graveyard. I know it's probably to fit the tone of the show but its weird how all 4 like it. 

I don't think it's that odd.  Lots of kids love horror movies and I think a lot of the video games are horror related.  And, not with the creepy girl because she was creepy, I would have totally been into going into a graveyard at night when I was a kid.

[Sakura12]

I know lots of kids like horror but all 4 of them do. I would think usually at least one of them would not like it or least have some doubts about it. They finally had one this episode. Then again those girls are basically one character since none of them have any kind of distinct personality.

[bkathi]

5 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

I know lots of kids like horror but all 4 of them do. I would think usually at least one of them would not like it or least have some doubts about it. They finally had one this episode. Then again those girls are basically one character since none of them have any kind of distinct personality.

As the youngest of four daughters - I can testify that I followed my sister's interests to be part of the the big girl group.  It wasn't until we were older that my interests varied.  I don't think it is that unusual.

[HC87]

First episode I've seen...looks interesting.

NotBrenda was played by the daughter of one of my closest friends. I thought she was really good in this. Her name is Matilda Lawler, she was in the Ferryman on Broadway last year. Dad acts too....

[janeta]

Hmm, this ep didn’t air in my market last week. Tonight is a repeat of the VR one.

and it looks like i should be able to stream it; I’ll try tomorrow.

Edited November 1, 2019 by janeta

[Scout Finch]

On 10/27/2019 at 8:41 PM, ketose said:

I have to say that the "placebo effect" with Holy Water was kind of hilarious. There's no scientific method to determine if water is holy or regular, so a non-believer wouldn't think holy water was special anyway.

If a priest holds a bottle of regular water and performs a blessing while splashing it on a demon, he's pretty much doing the same thing as it would take to make the water holy anyway.

The extent of my Catholic background was being baptized one and having to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve when I was growing up (which also happened to be the extent of my mother's churchgoing as a result of having had to attend Catholic schools). However, even with my limited experience and radical views that I would long ago have been excommunicated for, I like to think that there's nothing I couldn't conquer with some holy water and a cross!

I am very easily scared so have to look away from this show at times! The only reason I started watching it is because of Michael Emerson. His acting won me over after I spent most of Lost despising his character, Benjamin Linus, until he became a battered hostage and I ended up feeling so sorry for the inhumane way he was being treated. Emerson is also why I started watching Person of Interest.

Edited November 21, 2019 by Scout Finch

[Annber03]

This is honestly the first show Emerson's been in that I've actually seen and followed. I've certainly heard of him, yes, and I've seen a couple episodes of "Person of Interest". But I have yet to sit down and properly watch that series in full, and I've never seen "Lost" at all. 

If Emerson's work here is any indication, however, I clearly need to remedy the above at some point, 'cause I'm really enjoying him on this show. He's playing the creepy manipulator so perfectly. 

[Scout Finch]

Person of Interest is excellent, and I particularly loved the last couple of seasons where the four damaged loners became a little dysfunctional group, even though they didn't consider each other as friends in the traditional sense of the word. It's also another instance of a show where I despised a character (Root) for the majority of the series and then ended up really liking her.

 

22 hours ago, Annber03 said:

This is honestly the first show Emerson's been in that I've actually seen and followed. I've certainly heard of him, yes, and I've seen a couple episodes of "Person of Interest". But I have yet to sit down and properly watch that series in full, and I've never seen "Lost" at all. 

If Emerson's work here is any indication, however, I clearly need to remedy the above at some point, 'cause I'm really enjoying him on this show. He's playing the creepy manipulator so perfectly. 

I wouldn't bother with Lost anyway. It ended up just becoming a big mess although Emerson was always excellent. 

[foxfreakinmulder]

On ‎11‎/‎20‎/‎2019 at 7:53 PM, Scout Finch said:

The only reason I started watching it is because of Michael Emerson. His acting won me over after I spent most of Lost despising his character, Benjamin Linus, until he became a battered hostage and I ended up feeling so sorry for the inhumane way he was being treated. Emerson is also why I started watching Person of Interest.

I know it's been a while since you posted this but I've just now started watching this show on Netflix. I don't know if you ended up watching Lost but I would highly recommend it if you're a Michael Emerson fan. I agree about the last season of Lost being crap actually I would go as far as saying the last 2 but the first 2 seasons has some of the best scripted episodes I've ever seen on tv. Season 3 has a lot more of the "Others" which Michael Emerson is the leader of and the character he plays, Ben is an expert manipulative. Just my 2 cents :-)

Anyways, I don't find this show scary at all the only time I got creeped out was when George first appeared out of the shadows and then he talked and ruined it.

So the possessed women after being exorcised by a Priest for who knows how long can't shake the demon but David has a talk about his visions and tells the demon to leave and Bazinga demon leaves.

Attention, all shows dealing with demons please stop using the scene from the Exorcist with the looking at the house from the outside. That scene is classic and doesn't belong small I don't know what I want to be show like this.

The kids are soooooo annoying, obviously they don't get punished because they snuck out the house to go to a graveyard of all places and would not have even attempted that if they knew their would be consequences for their actions. The oldest daughter should've known better.

I think mom should fix that big giant hole in the wall in her basement before she has a rat infestation.

Grandma is the worst! That was so crappy of her to ditch her date especially since Leland said his date was in a car accident and oh well lets go to the alley and make out. Unless, he used supernatural powers to woo her.

 

[Bruinsfan]

On 10/25/2019 at 8:48 AM, teddysmom said:

The Church usually believes they are mental disorders and not demonic possession. 

Yeah, my understanding is that at least in the US you have to jump through all kinds of hoops and rule out all reasonable explanations before they'll even consider performing an exorcism. The officiating priest all but stamped his feet and whined "But I wanna exorcise a demon! I WANNA!" The Church folks seem to regard the medical investigation aspect as something to pay lip service to so they can play with rosaries and holy water. Mind you, based on what the woman said about Kristen and David it seems there actually was a supernatural agency at work, but no one on Team Religion put in enough time and work to confirm it wasn't a waste of their time.