S01.E06: Book VI: Acts of the Apostles

[jewel21]

Quote

A fervent Bev calls for faith on the night of Easter vigil. Sarah reveals the results of a troubling experiment — along with a sobering hypothesis.

Airdate: 09/24/2021

[Brn2bwild]

The Sheriff is one of my favorite characters, and his backstory is interesting.  But it felt totally misplaced within the story - he really should have told it sooner.  I kept expecting the scene with him and Sarah to go like an SNL sketch, with Sarah interrupting: "What the hell does this have to do with anything?!  The priest is a fucking vampire who is trying to turn everyone on this island!"

[jmonique]

"Sheriff, there's a contagion infecting the population. You need to do something."
"First, let me spend half an hour telling you my backstory in excruciating detail."

Duuuuuuude. Flanagan needs to stick with the ghosts.

Edited September 26, 2021 by jmonique

[ferjy]

3 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

I kept expecting the scene with him and Sarah to go like an SNL sketch, with Sarah interrupting: "What the hell does this have to do with anything?! 

lol Sarah looked like she wanted to do just that. I was thinking the same thing during all these monologues, like it was a spoof. Maybe they forgot to take out the outtakes! 😄

1 hour ago, jmonique said:

"Sheriff, there's a contagion infecting the population. You need to do something."

"First, let me spend half an hour telling you my backstory in excruciating detail."

🤣 🤣 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by ferjy

[Brn2bwild]

What was the concoction that they received?  Rat poison mixed with the "angel's" blood?  So that they died from the poison and were resurrected by the blood?

ETA: Never mind.  I read elsewhere that they were resurrected by the "angel" blood already in their system. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by Brn2bwild

[Lady Calypso]

Too many monologues. I actually do like Sheriff Hassan, but his monologue was completely out of place and had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. 

"You're worried about a contagion? Let me tell you a ten minute story on why I moved here."

"Thanks, Sheriff, but this has nothing to do with the actual problem!"

The church scene was horrific and also painfully long. And the revelation of the "angel"? How nobody burst out into a run out of those church doors is beyond me. All of these people are brainwashed. Unfortunately, it's very true of cults like this, but it made it harder to watch. Poor Hassan, having to watch his own son stupidly drink the Kool-Aid...I mean poison, and then reawaken as a vampire.

Good on Mildred for shooting Father Paul in the head. And good on Erin shooting Bev. "We have five minutes." Love that.

 

[TexasGal]

16 hours ago, Lady Calypso said:

 

The church scene was horrific and also painfully long. And the revelation of the "angel"? How nobody burst out into a run out of those church doors is beyond me. All of these people are brainwashed. Unfortunately, it's very true of cults like this, but it made it harder to watch. Poor Hassan, having to watch his own son stupidly drink the Kool-Aid...I mean poison, and then reawaken as a vampire.

 

I was confused by the Sheriff's son turning.  I mean, as I type this I guess Father Fang wouldn't have been worried about the rules of giving communion to him but he shouldn't have taken it.  There was even a conversation when the Sheriff agreed his son could go where he said but don't take communion.  Did I miss a scene where we saw it happen?

[Paloma]

32 minutes ago, TexasGal said:

I was confused by the Sheriff's son turning.  I mean, as I type this I guess Father Fang wouldn't have been worried about the rules of giving communion to him but he shouldn't have taken it.  There was even a conversation when the Sheriff agreed his son could go where he said but don't take communion.  Did I miss a scene where we saw it happen?

IIRC, Ali (the Sheriff's son) actually volunteered to go first after Sturge died and then came back. Just like his father, Ali has always been something of an outsider as a Muslim and being dark-skinned in a mostly white community, so he probably saw this as a chance to be accepted and even held up as a courageous role model. Besides, the best way to get a teenager to do something is to forbid him/her to do it.

[Lady Calypso]

1 hour ago, TexasGal said:

I was confused by the Sheriff's son turning.  I mean, as I type this I guess Father Fang wouldn't have been worried about the rules of giving communion to him but he shouldn't have taken it.  There was even a conversation when the Sheriff agreed his son could go where he said but don't take communion.  Did I miss a scene where we saw it happen?

Didn't we see Ali at the church once before the massacre at the end took place? I assume that's when he ingested his first bit of blood, and that may have been enough to turn him. 

[Paloma]

36 minutes ago, Lady Calypso said:

2 hours ago, TexasGal said:

I was confused by the Sheriff's son turning.  I mean, as I type this I guess Father Fang wouldn't have been worried about the rules of giving communion to him but he shouldn't have taken it.  There was even a conversation when the Sheriff agreed his son could go where he said but don't take communion.  Did I miss a scene where we saw it happen?

Didn't we see Ali at the church once before the massacre at the end took place? I assume that's when he ingested his first bit of blood, and that may have been enough to turn him. 

Oh, I see now that I was confused about the question by @Texas Gal -- I thought she was only referring to his being at the church for the massacre. Although I don't actually remember it, I think you are right, @Lady Calypso, that Ali went to church once before the massacre. But it does seem surprising that he would have taken communion at that first visit. 

[raven]

On 9/26/2021 at 1:07 AM, jmonique said:

Sheriff, there's a contagion infecting the population. You need to do something."
"First, let me spend half an hour telling you my backstory in excruciating detail."

LOL.  Annabeth Gish's expressions in this scene were perfect.

All I could think during the church scene was that most of these people were too dumb to live.  I did feel badly for the sheriff though.

I also enjoyed watching Father Fang (thanks @TexasGal) and Bev get shot. 

On to the last episode.

[Anela]

On 9/26/2021 at 1:07 AM, jmonique said:

"Sheriff, there's a contagion infecting the population. You need to do something."
"First, let me spend half an hour telling you my backstory in excruciating detail."

Duuuuuuude. Flanagan needs to stick with the ghosts.

LMAO. I love it here.

[Anela]

I feel bad for the Sheriff, having his son follow these people, instead of going with his dad. They've already lost his mother, and now he's lost his son. 

Bev - the actress is doing well, because I loathe her, and I hope she gets stuck in the sun, and goes to hell. If Riley was met by the girl he accidentally killed, there has to be a hell.

The vampire can fly, so it could be anywhere. Really, nobody saw him and thought of vampires? I don't recall stories of Jesus drinking anyone's blood. 

This episode reminded me of cults, and Jim Jones. Real horror, intermixed with the vampire lore. 

[Paloma]

8 hours ago, Anela said:

If Riley was met by the girl he accidentally killed, there has to be a hell.

I actually thought that meant he was redeemed and would not go to hell, especially because he saw her as whole and smiling rather than distorted and creepy as previously seen in his dreams. But going to hell is a moot point in this story, because it is actually hell on Earth in this place (and in reality, in many places in the world).

[Anela]

43 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I actually thought that meant he was redeemed and would not go to hell, especially because he saw her as whole and smiling rather than distorted and creepy as previously seen in his dreams. But going to hell is a moot point in this story, because it is actually hell on Earth in this place (and in reality, in many places in the world).

That's what I meant, too. He went to heaven, so there must be a hell. I wanted Bev to go to hell. I'm not religious.

Edited September 29, 2021 by Anela

[ferjy]

On 9/29/2021 at 1:41 AM, Anela said:

Really, nobody saw him and thought of vampires?

Honestly. Not one person clued in, at any time! What planet is this town on?

 

[merylinkid]

Because the only Supernatural being Bev allows to be discussed is God.   You know Halloween on that Island is All Hallow's Eve and it is spent in church.   If the kids ARE allowed to dress up, its got to be a biblical figure.  

[HelloooKitty]

To answer a question asked a few times above- I think Ali has actually been attending for a little while. We didn’t see every single day I think. He began attending at some point during Lent, and may not have taken communion at first bc of what his father had said. As he continued to attend, he either felt peer pressure or curiosity or a true calling of some sort, and took communion. 
They were having mass nightly before Holy Week even began so he had plenty of opportunities to attend. 
The service shown in this episode was a Holy Saturday vigil into Easter morning. So from late Saturday night until the next day. 
 

I think the intent of Pruitt was to keep them all (bc I believe almost the entirety of the island was there) inside the church until Easter evening. 

[roctavia]

On 10/2/2021 at 10:56 PM, HelloooKitty said:

To answer a question asked a few times above- I think Ali has actually been attending for a little while. We didn’t see every single day I think. He began attending at some point during Lent, and may not have taken communion at first bc of what his father had said. As he continued to attend, he either felt peer pressure or curiosity or a true calling of some sort, and took communion. 
They were having mass nightly before Holy Week even began so he had plenty of opportunities to attend. 
The service shown in this episode was a Holy Saturday vigil into Easter morning. So from late Saturday night until the next day. 
 

I think the intent of Pruitt was to keep them all (bc I believe almost the entirety of the island was there) inside the church until Easter evening. 

I also wouldn't be surprised if Pruitt pushed him to take communion, like even if he said he shouldn't, that Pruitt would be all- nah, it's fine, we're all in this together and you should drink of his blood something or other.... despite not "earning" the privilege of taking communion.   though it is weird that they didn't show us that- or maybe the didn't show us on purpose so we could all be surprised when he came back to life and would have this conversation. 

I assume in this world vampires as a lore don't exist...?? maybe that's why no one is like, dude, it's a vampire! 

[BonnieD]

Two things really bugged. One is that the trio of women in the know went in with no battle plan in mind at all!!! They deserved to be eaten for that stupidity. No plan! AT ALL!
Two: why would the vampire overlord wish to turn an entire community? What will they feed on now??? He could have sat back and happily snacked for quite a while.

And yes, the many monologues did wear thin after a while.
As much as i liked the atmosphere of this show. I was disappointed by this episode and the easy way all the lambs, including our heroines, walked to the slaughter.

[tennisgurl]

"A dangerous contagion that could potentially wipe out the island, including my son? Better spend twenty minutes explaining my backstory before actually doing anything!" 

The monologues on this show have always been too much, but come on guys, time is of the essence here! That just felt ridiculous, they could have moved that monologue to anywhere else in the show when it doesn't feel like the characters are being idiots for not going into crisis mode right away and instead doing yet another speech. Sarah looked like she really wanted to interrupt this to be like "this is all very interesting but Father Paul is a freaking vampire and he wants to turn us all into freaking vampires we better do something!" but wasn't sure how to do that without seeming impolite. Speaking of questionable plans, what exactly were Erin, Sarah, and Mildred planning on doing to stop this mass vampirism? They just went in with everyone else and then yelled at people not to drink the poison without actually stopping anyone. I don't really know what what they could have done to save the brainwashed masses, but they could at least have thought of something.

The sequence in the church was really intense, its like if Jonestown had a few more vampires. It was horrifying watching everyone drinking the Kool-Aid and attacking each other, including the Sherriff having to watch his son drink the Kool Aid. The angel vampire showing up in priest robes was somehow ridiculous as well as scary and striking. If I was in that church I would have probably just gawked at it too. At least for a second before I tried to make a break for it, when it pulled its wings out I could not have "nopeed" out faster. 

Highlight of the episode, and possibly the whole show? Erin shooting Bev in the gut without breaking a sweat. Yeah now she's back again as a vampire, but it certainly was satisfying. 

Edited October 6, 2021 by tennisgurl

[ZeeEnnui]

On 10/2/2021 at 8:56 PM, HelloooKitty said:

To answer a question asked a few times above- I think Ali has actually been attending for a little while. We didn’t see every single day I think. He began attending at some point during Lent, and may not have taken communion at first bc of what his father had said. As he continued to attend, he either felt peer pressure or curiosity or a true calling of some sort, and took communion. 
They were having mass nightly before Holy Week even began so he had plenty of opportunities to attend. 

So, I probably shouldn't try to bring logic to a vampire show -- excuse me....angels -- but I find it very difficult to believe that Ali would have been allowed to take communion at all. Obviously, Unholy Bev knew what was up, but as someone who was raised Catholic you can't just take communion if you haven't been confirmed. There is NO WAY a priest -- who wasn't totally batshit...yes, I went there -- would have give Ali communion, and the whispers in the pews....SCANDAL over donuts and blood at the midnight church social if he had dared.

Also, it's pretty sad if your teenage rebellion involves mass. I know there isn't much happening on the Crock Pot but drugs and punk rock were totally options, Ali. Kids today....

 

12 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

The monologues on this show have always been too much, but come on guys, time is of the essence here! That just felt ridiculous, they could have moved that monologue to anywhere else in the show when it doesn't feel like the characters are being idiots for not going into crisis mode right away and instead doing yet another speech. Sarah looked like she really wanted to interrupt this to be like "this is all very interesting but Father Paul is a freaking vampire and he wants to turn us all into freaking vampires we better do something!" but wasn't sure how to do that without seeming impolite. Speaking of questionable plans, what exactly were Erin, Sarah, and Mildred planning on doing to stop this mass vampirism? They just went in with everyone else and then yelled at people not to drink the poison without actually stopping anyone. I don't really know what what they could have done to save the brainwashed masses, but they could at least have thought of something.

RIGHT?!? All I could think was, not another f***ing monologue! I like most of the actors in this show. They are good at what they do. Why, oh why, are they giving us yet another scene scene from an acting class? This is some community theatre bullshit, and honestly, Mike Flanagan and the cast are better than this. No offense to Rahul Kohli who is awesome, but I was with Annabeth Gish here....like, we're going to do this NOW?!? [face palm]

Doc if you are able to exhibit your science fair project for Erin, maybe bring another sample along for the Sheriff since he didn't just see someone he cared about burn up in the sun! This lack of strategic thinking is how the doc, her mom (RIP angel snack), and Erin ended up in the church without a plan A or B! SMDH.

[Dani-Ellie]

17 hours ago, ZeeEnnui said:

So, I probably shouldn't try to bring logic to a vampire show -- excuse me....angels -- but I find it very difficult to believe that Ali would have been allowed to take communion at all. Obviously, Unholy Bev knew what was up, but as someone who was raised Catholic you can't just take communion if you haven't been confirmed.

In the parish I grew up in (Roman Catholic), you can take communion if you haven't been confirmed. However, you cannot take communion until you have been baptized and had First Penance. I was in second grade when I made my First Communion. (I was never confirmed and consider myself agnostic now.)

It's possible Father Paul baptized Ali and had him go through First Penance, as he was a teenager and had reached the age of reason. He also might have been confirmed, which sometimes happens right before First Communion when you enter the Church as an adult. I'm not sure if he would have been considered an adult yet. That being said, I was surprised when Ali reawakened because I was under the assumption that he hadn't taken it, either.

[raven]

Father Paul wanted as many people as possible to be converted so my guess is he didn't care about whatever the Church rules were regarding communion.

[merylinkid]

Believe me Bev would have thrown 7 kinds of fits if RILEY had taken communion, let alone that "heathen" Ali without going through the required sacraments first (even if you had your First Confession and First Communion, you had to keep going to confession to keep being in a "state of grace" to get communion at mass).   The fact Ali was infected is just lazy ass writing by people who didn't want actual facts to get in the way of the story they were telling (and telling and telling and telling).

[vavera4ka]

On 10/6/2021 at 11:01 PM, ZeeEnnui said:

So, I probably shouldn't try to bring logic to a vampire show -- excuse me....angels -- but I find it very difficult to believe that Ali would have been allowed to take communion at all. Obviously, Unholy Bev knew what was up, but as someone who was raised Catholic you can't just take communion if you haven't been confirmed. There is NO WAY a priest -- who wasn't totally batshit...yes, I went there -- would have give Ali communion, and the whispers in the pews....SCANDAL over donuts and blood at the midnight church social if he had dared.

idk, i had first communion at 6 or 7, and was confirmed at 13 o4 14. That's not what bothered me though. but like you said. logic doesn't live here any more. or they established the "new logic" as "whatever Bev spits out by misquoting scriptures goes"

I was raised a catholic but i dont' practice. I go to church on Christmas and Easter, but don't partake in communion... though i did during Easter mass at St. Peter's square in Vatican. But pretty early into the mass i decided to not treat it as a mass (it was mostly in Latin and Italian, and it was tough to follow it even though there was a translation into English in the book (but to me the mass is more natural in Belarusian or Polish, so English was a distraction as well). I was treating the whole thing as experience, and my hang up on "no confession for ages, so no communion" went out of the window.

I'd think that in a NORMAL church people and a "Bev character" most of all would be really guarding the sacrament from non christians, and/or new christians who haven't yet gone through the needed stages of becoming "deserving" of communion...

Id' think that they would have shown us if Ali was at least baptized... or they should have shown us. idk... I know catholic church recognizes baptism from other christian denominations, but a muslim needs to go through that sacrament for sure.

Edited October 14, 2021 by vavera4ka

[hypnotoad]

Quote

you can't just take communion if you haven't been confirmed

Someone better tell my priest then because I had first communion in first or second grade and didn't get confirmed until 10th or 11th grade. I certainly took communion between those two events. Provided I had confession of course.

Ah and google is my friend. According to info I found, you must be baptized into the catholic church in order to receive communion.

So yeah I think some major liberties were taken in regards to Ali. It seems extremely unlikely Father Fang or anyone else had time for a baptism!

 

[CCTC]

 

On 10/14/2021 at 10:47 PM, hypnotoad said:

Ah and google is my friend. According to info I found, you must be baptized into the catholic church in order to receive communion

Catholics have a separate ceremony/ritual/sacrament between baptism and confirmation called First Communion.  You spend your second grade year in catechism (Catholic Sunday school - in my day on Wednesdays) preparing for that and for your first confession/penance.   In the spring, your first communion the class appears - boys in suits and girls traditionally in white veils - and receive communion for the first time in front of the congregation (doing your first confession earlier in the weekend).  If you are an adult converting to Catholicism, then they often group the first communion with the confirmation.

On 10/5/2021 at 8:12 AM, BonnieD said:

Two things really bugged. One is that the trio of women in the know went in with no battle plan in mind at all!!! They deserved to be eaten for that stupidity. No plan! AT ALL!
Two: why would the vampire overlord wish to turn an entire community? What will they feed on now??? He could have sat back and happily snacked for quite a while.

I thought they could have at least informed the congregation - hey, my potential boyfriend had this happen to him and he could not go out in the sunlight and when he did -- well....    Besides the people in Bev's inner circle, I don't think most people in the church were aware of what they were agreeing to - only aware of the "miracles" not really aware of the entire burn up in the sun thing and the hunger for blood.

While the vampire was creepy - they really kind of played it fast in loose of what he was dependent on the situation.  At some times he was a primal creature consumed by his need to feed and at others, he seemed to be a manipulative intelligent being who had some master plans.  If it was the latter, I think there were would have been a much higher body count as soon as he arrived on the island, if the latter he would have

Spoiler

prevented some of the boneheaded moves the followers made especially in the final episode and had more control of the situation.

I agree with the sheriff's dialog being at a bad time for the flow building up to the finale.  Plus, it was not really necessary.  They had already shown most of what he said prior to that by some of his earlier comments to his son and just how people treated him in general.

Was Sara's big speech in this episode as well?  Way to slow down the emotional aftermath from the Vampire Riley malfunction at the end of the previous episode by basically listening to an academic lecture.  I was waiting for her to show a PowerPoint.

Edited October 24, 2021 by CCTC

[MrsRafaelBarba]

The massacre scene reminded me of The Red Wedding and  when shit 

went left at the Titty Twister.

Kudos to Flannigan, it was terrifying.

Notably when Mayor went full savage with the Blond woman.

Ed going down while fighting the vamps, yelling at his family to Go! 

Also Warren and Anne desperately trying to get Leeza away from her mom.

[moonshine71]

On 10/4/2021 at 3:57 PM, roctavia said:

I also wouldn't be surprised if Pruitt pushed him to take communion, like even if he said he shouldn't, that Pruitt would be all- nah, it's fine, we're all in this together and you should drink of his blood something or other.... despite not "earning" the privilege of taking communion.   though it is weird that they didn't show us that- or maybe the didn't show us on purpose so we could all be surprised when he came back to life and would have this conversation. 

I assume in this world vampires as a lore don't exist...?? maybe that's why no one is like, dude, it's a vampire! 

When Sarah is explaining what was happening to the blood that she took from her mother and Erin w/ them, she mentioned a disease that makes people extremely photosensitive and iron deficient, and that it is a the source of some myths/legends(I can't remember the exact wording sure use). I think that was a clear allusion to vampire lore and that it exists in the universe. I think the writers avoided using the word vampire purely for stylistic reasons, even though the concept exists in the universe and it doesn't make much sense that no one would just come out and say "jfc, the priest is turning everyone into vampires!"

Edited November 7, 2021 by moonshine71

[Black Knight]

I just finished this episode. Sarah’s lecture would explain why the vampires are not sensitive to crosses. That’s a religious thing and the condition, as Sarah presented it, is not religious.

I was struck, when the three women went to try to get the ferry , at the inversion of the Maiden, Mother, Crone archetype. Sarah is a maiden because as a lesbian, she has never “known a man.” Erin is a mother who has never given birth because her baby was wiped away by vampire infection. And the crone, due to vampire infection, is now a young woman again!

I was genuinely surprised when Sarah’s mother was carried off by the “angel,” because I think Sarah is the Monsignor’s daughter and I’ve been waiting for her mother to reveal that. But I guess the revelation can still come from him. He obviously knows, it’s why he’s stared at Sarah all her life, not because she’s gay, but because she’s his daughter.

I’m going to rewatch the midnight mass-acre once more because it was so good, and then on to the finale!