S01.E09: Revelation

[Scarlett45]

Quote

With Jan home, Bob and Mary Ann take steps toward healing, but as her 16th birthday approaches and the mission reaches its do-or-die moment, Jan prepares for the worst.

Air Date: November 10, 2022

[shelley1234]

Ah, I believe the counselor in the beginning of the episode is real life Jan Broberg.  

[peachmangosteen]

Yes, Jan's therapist. that later had a scene with Bob/Colin Hanks, was the real Jan. I thought she did quite well.

This was hands-down the best of all the docudramas I watched this year (I didn't watch Dopesick).

[Armchair Critic]

Her father was so kind, I felt so bad when his business was burned down. Broberg Berchtold took away her childhood, that was sad. I wish he would have been penalized more although he did end up committing suicide.

Edited November 14, 2022 by Armchair Critic
Edited for wrong last name

[chocolatine]

Even though I knew how the story would end, I was still nervous for a minute that Jan would harm Susan; she was that brainwashed. I'm glad the Broberg family was able to find some healing after this experience.

[pasdetrois]

The final episode was anticlimactic. The alien construct occupied so much of our, and Jan's, time, and then she said a few words about it and that was it.

How was she de-brainwashed? I guess the brief therapy sessions were meant to cover that. Did she never live on her own?

Maybe the show should have provided some tips on what to watch for with child predators- some kind of public service education.

Edited November 11, 2022 by pasdetrois

[Snazzy Daisy]

So, Jan finally confirmed that something did happen to her in Mexico.

It makes me sick seeing B getting close to the nurse with a daughter. The cycle continues.

Jan's awakening and the way she came to her senses are rushed and anticlimactic. They should have built this narrative properly to make it more impactful and punchy. A missed opportunity.

Just like what happened in Hulu series Reasonable Doubt, the abuser didn't suffer much and continue to gaslight his victim till the end. 😣

Quote

Jan: "My goal, Mr. Berchtold, is to educate the public about predators like you. That is my goal."

B: "Oh, I see."

Jan: "I hope you do see. I hope you do. I cannot believe that you can look me in the eye. You have no soul."

B: "Jan, I'm sorry that you feel that way. And I would like to publicly apologize to you for the hurt I have given you."

Jan: "If you want to apologize then you should stand up, tell the truth, and serve your time in jail, Mr. Berchtold."

Edited November 11, 2022 by SnazzyDaisy

[EdnasEdibles]

For some reason I expected a big dramatic Jan scene where she cries to the therapist and realizes it was all a sham but I think that would be too Hollywood. Instead I liked that it was a very slow realization that everything she had been told was a lie. I suppose that's the way it goes in real life when you've been manipulated by someone. You notice one thing was a lie and then the house of cards just kind of crumbles. 

It makes me so angry that he was able to go on and just continue to molest girls and get away with it. One thing I did notice is that the cadence of his voice in court and the way he spoke - the actor really captured that with him throughout the series. 

Poor Jan. 

[gesundheit]

I really liked how they represented Jan's gradual realization that everything was a lie, the world is as it was, nobody's going to vaporize. 

3 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

The final episode was anticlimactic. The alien construct occupied so much of our, and Jan's, time, and then she said a few words about it and that was it.

How was she de-brainwashed? I guess the brief therapy sessions were meant to cover that. Did she never live on her own?

That was my sense, too. I think the show moved too slowly in the early episodes but then too quickly in the finale. She tells her parents she was raped for years and that she thought she was an alien, they hug, and then we just wrap it right up? I needed a much, much longer denouement. And it's their fault for doing such a good job making me care about the family to the point that I'd want to see more about the aftermath rather than just feeling good that it's all out in the open (and B's dead).

17 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

Yes, Jan's therapist. that later had a scene with Bob/Colin Hanks, was the real Jan. I thought she did quite well.

This was hands-down the best of all the docudramas I watched this year (I didn't watch Dopesick).

Yes, I guess her early love for acting came with some real talent! I was nervous about it since I knew it was coming, but she did a nice job.

Dopesick was really really well-done but they should not have moved forward with shooting it until they fixed the ridiculous wigs. Distracting throughout. I think my favorite of the genre was The Dropout, but then again I'm not sure it's fair for me to hold those up against this one, as those had massive scope and this really was an intimate drama of what one man did to one family. 

[peachmangosteen]

1 hour ago, EdnasEdibles said:

One thing I did notice is that the cadence of his voice in court and the way he spoke - the actor really captured that with him throughout the series. 

I noticed his voice as well because yea it struck me then that Jake Lacy did a really good job capturing his voice.

1 hour ago, gesundheit said:

Yes, I guess her early love for acting came with some real talent! I was nervous about it since I knew it was coming, but she did a nice job.

I just learned today that she was in Everwood. I watched but don’t remember her. I checked her IMDb and she was in 32 episodes! She’s been in a lot of stuff actually.

[gesundheit]

8 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I just learned today that she was in Everwood. I watched but don’t remember her. I checked her IMDb and she was in 32 episodes! She’s been in a lot of stuff actually.

Oh wow! That really blows my mind. I guess that's why this became such a big story, she had connections. From the documentary I just thought they were some nutty family with a wild story, I didn't realize she'd had a legitimate acting career for two decades! Interesting that they played that down in both this show and the doc. (Since this is the finale are we allowed to talk about that kind of thing now?)

[Glade]

Wow, that was a really fucked up ending to this altogether bizarre story.  I guess the show is suggesting can't blame the Broeberg parents that much considering the apparently endless list of other people that B' was able to groom and charm?  I do think maybe a 10th episode chronicling the years leading up to B's suicide would have been better than leaving it here. It sounds very explosive ala The Tale (2018).  But maybe a 2nd season with older actors would be the only way to really tell all of that.  Jan's legal advocacy in getting laws changed in favor of survivors is very inspiring.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Glade

[pasdetrois]

15 hours ago, Glade said:

But maybe a 2nd season with older actors would be the only way to really tell all of that

Perhaps they ended the season so abruptly in order to allow for the possibility of a second season, continuing the story.

ETA: we won't know until it airs, but perhaps Jan saved the details in order to spin the story further via a documentary.

Isn't that three separate productions? She's making bank off of this tragedy.

Edited November 12, 2022 by pasdetrois

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

She's making bank off of this tragedy.

[Cosmocrush]

On 11/10/2022 at 3:15 PM, peachmangosteen said:

This was hands-down the best of all the docudramas I watched this year (I didn't watch Dopesick).

I agree it  was very good but nine episodes was waaaay too much for me.  Nine episodes watching the grooming and abuse of a young girl by a trusted family friend with the complicity of two churches (her parents LDS and then again the Catholic school) was often excruciating and I think it could have been done in about half that. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by Cosmocrush

[jenn31]

On 11/10/2022 at 9:27 PM, Armchair Critic said:

Broberg took away her childhood, that was sad. I wish he would have been penalized more although he did end up committing suicide.

You mean “Berchtold”.  Wrong Bob. 😉 He definitely deserved a worse ending. 

On 11/11/2022 at 9:38 AM, SnazzyDaisy said:

the abuser didn't suffer much and continue to gaslight his victim till the end.

As well as other victims! Unbelievable. What an evil man. They did rush the last episode. I’m glad Jan seems to have healed, but it must have been a long road getting there after such a long and harrowing experience. All we got was a smile at the end that suggested she was okay. 

[Scarlett45]

On 11/11/2022 at 11:11 AM, EdnasEdibles said:

For some reason I expected a big dramatic Jan scene where she cries to the therapist and realizes it was all a sham but I think that would be too Hollywood. Instead I liked that it was a very slow realization that everything she had been told was a lie. I suppose that's the way it goes in real life when you've been manipulated by someone. You notice one thing was a lie and then the house of cards just kind of crumbles. 

It makes me so angry that he was able to go on and just continue to molest girls and get away with it. One thing I did notice is that the cadence of his voice in court and the way he spoke - the actor really captured that with him throughout the series. 

Poor Jan. 

I agree. I think it’s more realistic that Jan came to the realization slowly that B had lied to her and manipulated her. That poor girl went to the dance with a boy her own age (who probably really did like her in typical way), danced, spent time with her friends and she wasn’t harmed. Realizing B didn’t love her, she wasn’t destined to save anyone’s planet and this elaborate lie was just to get sexual access to her is a LOT to go through. I would think that emotional betrayal from someone she trusted and cared for was more scaring that the physical abuse. 
 

 I also think that it’s more realistic that life “went on” after that, because it does. She did get to live her life and reconnect with her family, while that POS B, continued to harass her (the AUDACITY) and prey on other children! Jan has done so much to try to help others by getting the laws changed in her state, and I applaud her. 
 

I did feel so badly for Bob and Mary-Anne, knowing their daughter was suffering and they couldn’t fix it and didn’t know what do to. We can criticize them for being too trusting, naive etc, but as the character says “She was a fool, he was a predator.”- there’s a huge difference.

On 11/11/2022 at 7:13 PM, Glade said:

Wow, that was a really fucked up ending to this altogether bizarre story.  I guess the show is suggesting can't blame the Broeberg parents that much considering the apparently endless list of other people that B' was able to groom and charm?  I do think maybe a 10th episode chronicling the years leading up to B's suicide would have been better than leaving it here. It sounds very explosive ala The Tale (2018).  But maybe a 2nd season with older actors would be the only way to really tell all of that.  Jan's legal advocacy in getting laws changed in favor of survivors is very inspiring.

I guess Jan could tell her own story, but during that time she was living her life and becoming an adult. Yes B continued to harass her but that’s not exactly exciting TV. (More scenes of that nasty phone call)

Unless another victim of B’s decided to come forward and participate (not saying they have an obligation to do), I am not sure what you would use for the source material?

I blame Jan’s parents for certain things (waiting too long to call the police after the initial kidnapping, Mary-Anne hooking up with B after the kidnapping), but they didn’t abuse and manipulate Jan- B did that all on his own because he was an evil person. May all his victims be able to find peace.

[Glade]

7 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

I guess Jan could tell her own story, but during that time she was living her life and becoming an adult. Yes B continued to harass her but that’s not exactly exciting TV. (More scenes of that nasty phone call)

The period when she starts speaking out as an adult and publishes her book, becomes a public figure advocating on behalf of survivors and B resurfaces to target her does indeed have some exciting twists and turns which could ultimately bring the story full circle.

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, Glade said:

The period when she starts speaking out as an adult and publishes her book, becomes a public figure advocating on behalf of survivors and B resurfaces to target her does indeed have some exciting twists and turns which could ultimately bring the story full circle.

Do they get into this in the Abducted in Plain Sight doc? I wasn't planning on watching it since this show did a good job I think in telling the story but if it gets into her post-brainwashed life, I might give it a look.

[AntFTW]

On 11/14/2022 at 6:25 PM, peachmangosteen said:

Do they get into this in the Abducted in Plain Sight doc? I wasn't planning on watching it since this show did a good job I think in telling the story but if it gets into her post-brainwashed life, I might give it a look.

I think so. I think that is where I saw it. I decided to watch that documentary after a few episodes of this show.

On 11/10/2022 at 6:15 PM, peachmangosteen said:

This was hands-down the best of all the docudramas I watched this year (I didn't watch Dopesick).

Watch it! 😬

[AntFTW]

On 11/14/2022 at 5:51 AM, Scarlett45 said:

I think it’s more realistic that Jan came to the realization slowly that B had lied to her and manipulated her. That poor girl went to the dance with a boy her own age (who probably really did like her in typical way), danced, spent time with her friends and she wasn’t harmed. Realizing B didn’t love her, she wasn’t destined to save anyone’s planet and this elaborate lie was just to get sexual access to her is a LOT to go through.

I agree. Her entire worldview is changing in such a short amount of time, which is a lot to process.

[Scarlett45]

On 11/14/2022 at 12:42 PM, Glade said:

The period when she starts speaking out as an adult and publishes her book, becomes a public figure advocating on behalf of survivors and B resurfaces to target her does indeed have some exciting twists and turns which could ultimately bring the story full circle.

AH yes. Thank you for explaining. That would be an interesting chapter to share. 

[jennyG]

I notice a lot of the posts are from 2022 but well I just finished watching the documentary with the real life Jan and her family and also the miniseries.  I am not going say anything against Jan, she was a child.  Back during that time kids were not like they are today...they were more sheltered if you will and not a lot of this stuff was openly discussed.  I will say though that the parents were the problem...Jans parents I mean come on now..  it angered me at how naive and simple minded they were ESPECIALLY her needy, pathetic mother.  In the first place they all loved this guy?  Worshiped him?  after only knowing him for a year or so allow a grown married man with a family to take their little daughter alone in his vehicle to go places?  They allow this man to keep nagging them 20 times in a day to take their daughter to ride horses?  No one allows their children to go with a grown man alone over and over again.  Its odd.  No man wants to do that.  The mother being seduced by him even after Jan gets home she has sex with him?  Doesnt see or ask Jan if she was sexually abused?  I mean this women should be put away somewhere and the husband?  Get a clue real life JAN your parent, especially your mom are responsible for all of this happening to you.  Your mother is a pathetic creature.