TMA has been around for a while. Despite hearing the name thrown around a few times, I’d never really interacted with it in any way though. So when a few friends started mentioning it more and more, I became intrigued.
Is it really that great? So great, that people would make big spreadsheets and theorise about what was going on, trying to get every detail?
Having finished the first season, I can now say that yes, it is that great. At least so far! Short episodic horror stories to pull you in, and a big overarching plot with endearing characters to make you stay. A delicious recipe! >:)
So during this semester break, I resumed listening to TMA, and the further along I got, the more questions I had about what the fuck was going on. With (a lot of) spare time on my hands, I decided to write something about it, to get my thoughts out on “paper” more coherently. Which is this!
I’m very excited that TMA is what led me to finally actually start a blog! :>
As I said, this is essentially just for me to dump my opinions, thoughts, theories and (most of all) questions about the first 20 episodes of season 1. I intentionally intended to cover the whole first season in one post, but I wrote more than I expected so far, so I will cover the latter half in a later post!
While listening, I also ranked the episodes based on my enjoyment, but I will clarify that so far, I’ve enjoyed every episode (except maybe episode 18… but we’ll get to that). I’ll list my ranking of the first 20 episodes at the end!
Of course, an obligatory spoiler warning up until episode 20 of TMA: Please, if you plan to listen to it, don’t let yourself get spoiled too much. I’ve seen a few bits and pieces here and there, and it has actually made me a bit sad (despite not being super affected by spoilers normally). Feel free to read along as you continue through the season though, I’ll do my very best to only include and talk about the information that’s available to first-time listeners at any certain point!
Very last thing: I’ve listed the resources I used while listening to the first season at the bottom. This also includes a few recommendations of related media that I saw, all spoiling season 1 but nothing further than that. There’s also a link to a notion page where I collected all the notes and some more stuff I made concerning the first season. At the point of finishing this post, I’ve listened up to episode 45.
Alright, now let’s dive in! :D
1.1 - Anglerfish
A very straight-forward start into the series! Before we get to the statement itself, we get a little explanation of the current situation at the archive, and a short introduction to the staff we will grow to love. Jon’s very clear distaste for Gertrude’s way of handling the archive is a fun starting point! It also immediately showcases his often grouchy personality, which is lovely.
Jon also clarifies that he does believe in the supernatural at the beginning of the episode, but that most given statements are probably fake - so we already get the idea that he‘s not going to believe everyone‘s statements. But it’s nice to know that despite that, he definitely believes in the paranormal.
Jon explains that some statements don’t record digitally, as they become distorted and corrupted… weird, I wonder why that is.
The immediate Martin-roast upon introducing the archival assistants is already so funny to me, and I’m always excited when I hear him, Sasha or Tim being mentioned! :)
As for the statement part, I think the episode is pretty scary! A weird stranger focused on you, radiating bad vibes and noticeably being inhuman works well for me. The idea of something dangling a corpse (?) in front of itself to lure people in is disturbing but somehow really cool, as well. I wonder as to what the Anglerfish does to its victims, if it’s just about nutrition and survival, or something more. And also, why it only takes smokers - perhaps it just found a good strategy to lure people in?
Anyhow, this episode will also be interesting to revisit later on in the season, so I don’t have that much to say about it at this point.
1.2 - Do Not Open
This episode leaves the listener (me) with a bunch of open questions. One thing to remark about the witness, Joshua, is that he’s unexpectedly really good at handling this very weird situation. Locking the key into a block of ice because he’d wake up trying to get to it is a stroke of genius. I wonder who orchestrated the whole thing, as they obviously intended for him to open the coffin and… be killed? Eaten? Buried alive with whatever else is in there?
I kind of feel sympathy for the thing in the coffin, despite having no idea what it is. It just seems sad, probably craving the rain and hoping to get out somehow. :(
Liked the episode all in all, and Breekon & Hope are mentioned for the first time! I wonder if they were just called by John or if they are further involved in the situation.
John is also a mystery, as he’s described as having no accent despite being from Liverpool - so he’s pretending to be something he isn’t, at least. To what extent though? No idea what happens to the person that opens the coffin so… He’s probably dead. I wonder if the coffin now houses John and he’s become the new creature inside of it. And if so, what happened to the old tenant? Nobody else left the flat with them, so it’s either still in there or disappeared into thin air. Both seem valid assumptions.
1.3 - Across the Street
And here we already have what is probably my favourite episode of this first season. I’m not completely sure what it is, but this episode marked the point that I started to really enjoy the show. So, very early on. Being observed by something that’s not supposed to see you is so, so incredibly scary to me. I guess I learned a new word (Agoraphobia)! Listening to this episode for the first time in the evening had me hallucinating sounds in my apartment and draw my blinds closed. Fantastic stuff! <3
Little details during the visit in Graham’s flat, such as Amy mentioning that she sees hooks from the windowbox and the pipes making weird sounds, is awesome foreshadowing. Adored all of it! Poor Graham though. His paranoid behaviour and daily routine lead me to believe that he knew something was coming for him. Apart from the hypnotic table probably playing a role, I have no clue what exactly caused his sketchbook-focused delusions and abduction. Maybe it was all just the table. Furthermore, there’s no clue as to what Not-Graham is planning to do with his new identity. He doesn’t hurt Amy, despite being super weird and creepy and seemingly antagonistic towards her - so what’s he doing?
BF Note: Really liked the sounds that indicated that you should notice something creepy right now.
(Note Note: I agree, sound design in all these episodes is of course top notch!!)
1.4 - Page Turner
This episode is… a lot. It expands the universe and mentions bigger past events, such as the Leitner library burning down in 1994, and Mary Keay being killed in 2008. Speaking of Mary, despite her being dead for four years, witness Dominic Swain still meets her in her bookshop in 2012, alive and well. So, did the book lead him there? Are Mary and the bookshop a pocket universe or ghosts? Or did Dominic travel through time? Who tf knows. Not me.
I also don’t know who killed Mary, I just assume that the murder was some sort of magical ritual, because it’s definitely not just random, with all the skin-drying and whatnot.
Also, while Mary is super interested in the Leitner books and has at least one in her possession, Gerrard wants to destroy them. Pinhole Books dealt a lot with Leitner books when it was still active. So, no idea why the two have different goals, he just mentions that Mary “doesn’t always know what’s best for the family”. Which doesn’t explain much.
So, we learn about two Leitner books here:
Dominic’s book Ex Altiora, which he found in a random Oxfam shop. It seems to cause vertigo and reminds him of when his friend Michael Crew was hit by lightning. Gerrard burns the book after buying it from him.
Mary Keay’s “Bone Book” (Title unknown), which is written in Sanskrit. Seems to just drop a bunch of little bones, so no clue what it does. Doesn’t seem super intimidating tbh (but it probably is super dangerous somehow).
They also both share one thing: When being held into shadows, they do… something. Ex Altiora’s illustrations change and get more intense, and the Bone Book drops its little bones - I wonder what would happen if they’re kept in the dark for longer. I also wonder if the books pick out some random person they want to belong to, or if it’s just random? We learn more about Leitner later on, so we’ll see what other information can add onto this.
This episode also has one more little detail I was super proud of when I noticed it: When Dominic goes through eBay to look for Leitner books, he finds an auction from 2007, in which the user GRBookworm1818 bought a Key of Solomon that was previously owned by Leitner. Now I am about 98% sure that this must’ve been Gertrude Robinson - her initials in the front and 1818 (the year the Magnus Institute was founded) in the back. This might never even be relevant or mentioned again, but I was so happy when I found it as I was listening back. :D
1.5 - Thrown Away
One of the episodes that I’ve not listened to multiple times, but it’s still very intriguing. Of course, the two main mysteries are the waste bags and their weird (supernatural?) contents, as well as the evolution of Alan Parfitt’s obsession with them, ending in his disappearance.
Concerning the bags, the inhabitants of the house they were placed in front of seemed to be unaware of their contents - so it must’ve been something else that put them there. Their contents were kind of random, but definitely not normal; the long paper was probably a fire-related magical incantation (or something?) and the teeth… well, no clue about the teeth.
Anyhow, I do wonder what it was that put the bags there and abducted Alan, and how it got over 2,000 of the same tooth? And exactly whose tooth that is, ofc. Also, if that was Alan’s real heart, just turned into, or coated with, metal at the end? Or if something went to the effort to hand-make it… Kind of sweet to put that much effort into scaring some random waste collector.
1.6 - Squirm
In this episode, we get introduced to the wormies! Poor Harriet man. She didn’t deserve dying like that. :( The lady in the red dress, referred to as Jane Prentiss, seemingly transferred the worms just by touching Harriet - there were no wounds on her body after the confrontation. So is the parasite contagious via touch? Does it mean certain death? At least it seems so from the info we get here.
I wonder if Harriet and Timothy having sex was what led to her worms becoming more active and exploding out of her. If so, how long exactly is the incubation phase? Interesting to note is also that Jon mentions no human remains being found after the fire in Timothy’s flat - so did the infection cause Harriet’s DNA to change? Did she become something inhuman instead of just a human host for the worms?
Jon also mentions Jane Prentiss, who is apparently a well-known figure to the institute. She has had multiple victims, but how many and what exactly that means is not elaborated upon by Jon at this point - we will hear more about her eventually. I do still wonder if she was just lying on the road to lure someone in, or if she was actually hurt. Probably the former.
1.7 - The Piper
The first really old statement we hear, and it’s a lovely change in writing and atmosphere! I really like this episode. War being portrayed as a figure is intimidating, but also super interesting. The loud, blasting artillery described in Clarence’s statement is much less intimidating than the quiet tune the soldiers seem to hear shortly before they are fated to meet their end.
I had not heard of Wilfred Owen before, but the incorporation of real known figures gives the episode a feeling of there being more to it than just fantasy. Reading the poem “Exposure” that is mentioned in the text also gives a background to what the soldiers are experiencing, and what Wilfred’s state of mind seemingly was - The fight is not necessarily the worst thing, the unnerving wait for something to happen is just as bad.
Read Exposure Here.
So I wonder: Did the Piper come to Wilfred, giving him a pen to popularise this fear and dread the war invoked in him? Was that what it meant with “playing the tune”? And what about all the other soldiers that heard the tune, why did they not get to make a deal? Perhaps the Piper just saw more potential in Wilfred. His life was seemingly tied to the war itself, as they both ended at the same time. Perhaps that was part of his deal.
Another mystery is that of Joseph Rayner: Where did he come from, was he perhaps some sort of sacrifice so that Wilfred could live on? His body was the reason he survived, after all. Jon also mentions that his name seems familiar - perhaps we’ll get to know why eventually. I wonder as to why Gertrude sorted this statements in the 2000s. Was it actually a mistake, like Jon assumes, or is there another reason for it?
1.8 - Burned Out
When I first listened to this episode, there was so much stuff going on that I wasn’t able to take it all in. That’s still kind of the case, but that also makes it a great episode to dig into! First of all, concerning the house on Hilltop Road: Either the house itself is cursed, or (more likely) the creepy tree in its garden is cursed. This curse might have come from Agnes Fielding, as she seemed weirdly intense and might’ve been a witch or something? I believe her to be the reason that the animals and Henry White went missing, and she was also probably the one behind the fire, which all seems rather obvious.
What’s not so obvious is Raymond Fielding’s involvement in this: Was he an accomplice? He seems to appear as a ghostly apparition of some sort, visiting the house during its renovation despite having died in the 50s. I also assume that the severed hand found with Agnes Montague (perhaps the same Agnes??) was his. So his hand and Agnes’ life were probably coupled to the tree, as their deaths, at least Agnes’ death, seemingly aligned with its felling - or the rotting of the apple buried beneath. The tree was also a bit burned already so all of these things being tied together in some shape or form seems logical.
The apple is a whole other mystery, as I’m unsure if it stored their life-force, or powered a demon, or whatever. No idea if the spiders are relevant at all. There’s not enough information here to understand what exactly was enchanted by who, but just enough for me to be super confused and intrigued to try and maybe figure it out eventually! :D
In the afterword, Jon mentions the statement of a certain Father Edwin Burroughs that he will be looking out for, as the priest was also a possible witness to what was going on - so, I’m also keeping an eye out for his name. Maybe that’ll bring some answers, or at least more info.
1.9 - A Father’s Love
Aaaand another one that has way too many things going for me to grasp fully! Just as good as the previous episode though. So, first off: We get our first account of the People’s Church of the Divine Host. Jon also realises he recognised the name Joseph Rayner because Maxwell Rayner (perhaps his descendant?) is the leader of this cult, which seems to concern itself with darkness in some way. Julia’s mother was apparently a member, marked by her necklace, but if her father was as well is unclear.
In any case, her disappearance seemed to put some sort of responsibility on him to sacrifice people (?), so no idea what exactly happened to her for him to have to do that. The sacrificed man Julia sees at the end also wears a pendant though, so it seems like Robert’s only killing cult members? Maybe they’re summoning the darkness monster to their house or something? I’m not sure. Also not sure why he took pictures of them - Maxwell Rayner seemed to be in regular contact with him, so maybe he had to present the pictures to him as proof?
Maxwell Rayner also went out of public eye in 1994, which was also the year that Jurgen Leitner’s library burned down - so I wonder if these two are connected as well.
So, I wonder what the divine host is, in what way it’s connected to the darkness (or if it’s the darkness itself), what they did to Julia’s mother, et cetera. A lot of questions, but no answers in sight at this point. We’ll see when we learn more about the cult! I also wonder what happened to Julia after she gave this statement.
Lastly, Robert Montauk’s weird murder is a mystery as well, but I’m certain it had something to do with the darkness in his cell. All of this is probably stuff to keep in mind for the future, as it currently has little use to us! :>
1.10 - Vampire Killer
We are introduced to this universe’s version of vampires, and I’m excited to report that they indeed do not sparkle in the sun, but are instead disgusting mosquito-creatures that can communicate telepathically. Which, despite making me viciously uncomfortable, is much more interesting! Trevor Herbert is one brave guy, and I respect his hustle of 50 years of vampire-hunting out in the streets.
This episode isn’t one of my favourites, but it leaves me very intrigued: How many vampires live amongst this society? How are the bloodless dead bodies not a known thing? Are there maybe more hunters? There was no mention of any accomplices that might have tagged along with Trevor.
Speaking of the man, he seems to have passed away during the statement, which is weird timing and very unfortunate, because he might have known even more about the strange creatures. It is even weirder that a) his statement seems to have been copied multiple times: What does the government want with this specifically? Are they somehow aware of these vampires? And b) that the… “shark teeth” he mentions in the statement aren’t to be found anywhere near it. So, did the government also confiscate them for some reason?
Despite continually being the sceptic and not at all believing in vampires, Jon is also weirded out by this external interest in the statement - love to hear that he’s just as intrigued!
1.11 - Dreamer
Another one of my favourite episodes. I can’t imagine how “Antonio” must feel whenever he comes across someone that he’s seen in his dreams. It’s a smart move to use a fake name, and I commend him for going to the Institute with the sole purpose of warning Gertrude about her fate. It seems to have rattled him, as Gertrude’s death prediction seemed to have an impact on his dream-world as a whole.
So, what was it about her that made the vines so incredibly focused on her? What scared her so much, what did she know? It’s uncertain if she was able to read Antonio’s statement before her death, but I hope so. I can only assume that the vines targeted Gertrude because she was dangerous, so perhaps she wasn’t just a bumbling old lady that happened to work as an archivist.
Antonio himself is also quite a mystery. I wonder if there’s more people like him, or if he’s the only one to have these predictive dreams of a city covered in black vines. Despite the predictions, it seems like he can’t protect the people he sees - they are fated to die the way that he sees. He also mentions a Graham, an ex-boyfriend he was with for a few years - I’ve heard that it’s been confirmed that this was the Graham from episode 3. The real Graham that is. So I wonder if they somehow influenced each other, as they both had (albeit very different) supernatural encounters.
Lovely episode that involves a fantastic witness, an intriguing there’s-more-to-death concept, and lots of mystery to spend some time being confused about!
1.12 - First Aid
Man, the awesome lore-heavy episodes don’t stop, huh? I want to talk about the people first:
The unknown man that’s completely burnt seems to have been the one behind the initial fire which burnt him and Gerrard, and the heat that was present in the hospital. I presume that he somehow invoked either the fire demon Asaag that Jon mentions, or that his chant had a similar effect of just… Causing that heat. What his motives were, I don’t know.
Gerrard, on the other hand, I believe to have been the one behind everyone (except our witness Lesere) leaving the ER and the eye appearing on the camera feed that’s brought up at the end. The eyes are very obviously his whole thing.
His body is covered in them as they seemingly protect him from harm, at least to a certain degree. An eye-themed zippo lighter is mentioned as well. It’s still very unusual that he was able to walk around after being so burnt, and was able to kill the other man so easily. Gerrard’s ability to manipulate both a big group of people and the camera feed are certainly more power than we’d seen coming from him before, and his knowledge of magical spells (?) is apparently also enough to easily deal with the fanatic fire-conjuring man. So, once again, how is he so powerful, and is any of it connected to his mother?
Lesere mentioning that she feels watched since the incident also implies that Gerrard might be watching her somehow. Another thing to add into the pile of his abilities! He seems to be a good guy though, from what I can tell at this point.
Mary was also mentioned again, as Gerrard was released into her care after his hospital stay - 3 years after her death. Yeah, sure. Due to this, I also don’t quite believe that Gerrard is dead, as he supposedly passed in 2015 - but if he’s anything like his mother, that doesn’t seem very relevant.
Another interesting object we hear of is the small, red leather-bound book that Gerrard was looking for: Another Leitner book, but related to fire and flames this time? It was seemingly not found, so its whereabouts are a mystery at this point.
1.13 - Alone
Finally, we get to hear another voice! Jon always does a lovely job being the theatre kid that he clearly is, but hearing someone else on the tape for a change is great. Even more so, the interactions between them! It gives the whole situation a more real, grounded feeling, as the line to witnesses is normally broken by the statements being read to us instead of taken for the first time. Also, a little nod at where (or rather, when) we’re actually at in the timeline.
Naomi is a great witness. After losing Evan, who gave her a feeling of finally belonging somewhere, she reverted back to her previous, lonely way of life. But it’s clear that she doesn’t enjoy that. Despite not knowing Jon, she still asks him to stay while she speaks about her experience. Although at the end, she does feel offended at his response to her statement - rightfully so. Jon’s an ass to her. ;–;
The Lukas family is ultra weird. Apparently religious (what are they worshipping?), very quiet and serious, and rude to Naomi. I get why Evan wasn’t really in contact with them. I believe that they were probably behind the fog that attacked Naomi, but there’s not really any proof of that to be seen here.
The fog pinpointed Naomi’s seemingly biggest fear, and I wonder if that was a coincidence or planned - Evan’s ghost (?) also was the reason she was able to escape the fog, so how he was able to reach her is also questionable. As questionable as the cemetery Naomi found herself in - there’s actually none in the area, but she was still able to get a piece of a headstone as proof, so it must’ve corporeally been there. I assume it was all the fog conjuring up a parallel universe or something.
Desperately want more of these personally taken statements! :)
1.14 - Piecemeal
Lee Rentoul sure has a lot of hate stored in him, huh? Definitely a different feeling to his story than a lot of the others we’ve heard of so far, as he’s part of a lot of illegal business. Also a very impatient man, which eventually led to his doom!
Now, I’m very interested if we will ever find out more about Angela. I love that old lady. I have no idea if she’s a witch that just curses people, or if she’s some sort of creature that is completely sustained via cursing others. “Some hungers are too strong to be denied” certainly makes that a very likely possibility. The jigsaws might be connected to the curse taking apart its victim’s bodies: Are all the portraits of the people she’s cursed, and putting the puzzles together means taking them apart? In any case, she’s one of my favourite one-off characters we meet, and I hope to hear her mentioned again at some point. ^^
The curse Angela placed on Paul Noriega was definitely transferred to Lee because he killed the man before the curse did - so that’s on him. No idea what Paul wanted with the trading guy at the docks though, as we don’t get any information on what he was selling and/or buying before he gets murdered.
Liked the little bit of insight that’s added at the end, as Lee seemingly lost his tongue right after the statement, and even his furniture was taken apart. Angela can also not be found, and there’s another mean jab at Martin - just because he’s being nice to old ladies. I see what you are, Jon.
1.15 - Lost John’s Cave
This episode is the one that I thought I should play trying to sleep when I was first listening to it. Well, it definitely didn’t help! One of the creepiest episodes, even as a non-claustrophobe. Though I think everyone would be scared of getting stuck in a cave. Typical cave diver behaviour.
Just thinking about the dread Laura must have felt when her sister didn’t come out of the water behind her… I don’t know if the cave itself is cursed, or if it cursed Laura and her sister, but it’s super scary nonetheless. Whether the things Laura says she experienced actually happened is another question though: She was found at the entrance of the cave, without her sister, and the recovered recording makes it seem like she knew that something was coming for them. It’s unclear if they even went deeper into the cave than that at all and she came back, or if only her sister went in, … What she was doing seemed very ritual-y too, so no clue what’s going on.
In her statement, Laura’s sister seems weird anyways. Asking “How lost are you?” is something that a possessed person would say. Something’s definitely off, but I just have no idea what it is! I don’t know if Lost John’s Cave will ever come up again, but I’d love to get some more info on what was going on here…
Loved the little bit of recorded footage at the end! :>
1.16 - Arachnophobia
Obligatory scary spider episode. It was only a matter of time! The spider is a menacing presence, and the way Carlos talks about it being squished makes me squeamish, to say the least. I don’t know if it’s multiple of the same spider harassing him, the spider is immortal, or something makes it appear. Doesn’t make a difference, as its only mission seems to be scaring the shit out of Carlos. I do wonder if it then at some point decided to jump into his throat to kill him, or what exactly he chocked on.
Since Carlos’ fear of spiders stemmed from a traumatic experience as a child, it’s curious that the spider only began stalking him well into his adulthood. I wonder what made it decide to start its mission. I also want a Major Tom, despite him not getting rid of spiders super well. He’s probably also traumatised from whatever that was that Carlos roped him into.
This episode is maybe the worst example of Jon’s forced scepticism so far, because no, the guy being dead for a week does not warrant him being completely encased in fucking cobwebs.
1.17 - The Bone Turner’s Tale
Another Leitner book is thrown into the mix! This one has more immediate, obvious effects than Ex Altiora from episode 4 though. The events of the statement also happened in 1996, so it’s older than most other statements we’ve heard so far. The Bone Turner’s Tale is brought into the library by one Micheal Crew, who was also mentioned in episode 4, having been hit by lightning as a child. I wonder if something happened to him as a result of that, or if it’s a coincidence he’s mentioned along with Leitner books twice. Probably the former.
TBTT can be judged by its cover and twists people’s bones after they either come in contact with it or are in close proximity to it. Jared gets it the worst in this statement, after he uses the book to physically assault Sebastian. Upon trying to return the book to the library, Jared’s mother appears to have also suffered some sort of disfigurement, though not as severe as Jared’s. Even the rat moving about in front of Jared’s house has its bones turned. So it must not be contact, but proximity that creates these effects. If TBTT has effects on objects surrounding it is also a question, as the books surrounding it started bleeding… Though that might have also been Sebastian hallucinating / being enchanted by the book.
I wonder what Jared did with the book after he got it back. Did he bring it to someone? Take it for himself? There was no mention of his body being found or something, so I’m curious if we’ll see him or the book appear again.
Sebastian was seemingly a victim of TBTT’s curse but only died about 10 years after his confrontation with the book. So either the curse didn’t take a hold on him for 10 years and then suddenly did (for whatever reason), or he came in contact with TBTT or Jared again.
In the middle of the statement, we also get to hear another staff member for the first time, as head of the Institute Elias pays Jon a visit! And he drops some lore: Naomi, the witness from episode 13, filed a complaint against Jon (fair); but Elias also reveals that the Lukas family, which seemed very suspicious in Naomi’s statement, is not to be antagonised as they are patrons of the institute. This is a bit worrisome, as I don’t know what to make of them, and knowing they are somehow connected to paranormal research doesn’t weaken the theory that they were the ones to summon the creepy fog.
Elias is mentioned again as Jon expresses his concern over another Leitner book, and I wonder how many times this “record and study, not interfere or contain” speech has been held. At least it implies that Jon regularly mentions the occurrences in these statements to Elias, and that Elias doesn’t appreciate it.
1.18 - The Man Upstairs
This episode man. T-T
It’s not that it’s a bad episode, per se… It just does what it’s doing very well, and what it’s doing is grossing me the fuck out. Why does the meat pile exist. I hope it’s never mentioned again, I don’t need any more descriptions of rotten meat. Please. Was it Toby Carlisle’s fucking pet? More likely, Toby was the thing’s pet, if anything. My God, what happened to that man. I’m not sure I want to know. Nevermind, I actually know I don’t. T-T
Without rehashing the episode much because I don’t want to think about it, there’s a few points I’m still curious about. Basically just concerning Toby: Like Jon, I wonder where tf he got all the meat. Maybe his meat pile pet gave it to him. I also wonder what was in the package delivered to him and who sent it. And thirdly, I’m curious about the red mark on his hand that Christof mentions explicitly when he talks about his encounter with the guy.
I’m so sorry Christof had to experience all that, I don’t know what I would have done with myself. Even when I just read my notes on this episode, I shudder. Being a person that’s always super scared of my food going bad (especially concerning meat), this is horrible. But great job on the writing.
1.19 - Confession I and 1.20 - Desecrated Host
In this double feature, Father Edwin Burroughs recounts some occurrences we’ve already heard of.
Bethany’s demon, or whatever it is, seems to have gone all out for its plan. The house Bethany said she was staying in was actually not inhabited at that point, so why was it furnished? What caused the discrepancies between Edwin’s statement and the police reports?
I believe that it was all because of Mentis, which is what I dubbed Edwin’s demon. It’s completely fucking with his head, so I have no idea what he actually saw or experienced. Despite that, I do think his recounting of the Hilltop house exorcism is believable, as it fits together with what we heard in episode 8. It leads me to believe that at that point, Edwin was already possessed (“marked”) by Mentis, so the fire demon wasn’t able to claim and/or possess him.
This statement also proves that the fire and heat problem at the Hilltop house was definitely caused by the tree.
Jon makes a great observation, as he wonders if Edwin actually killed the students or had an accomplice - this loose thread makes the whole situation even more intriguing. Who was this altar server? How was he connected to the hallucination and the murder?
Tim also deserves credit, as he uncovered the involvement of Breekon & Hope in all of this! They delivered the yellow stole Edwin saw in his hallucination, and I assume that it is a cursed item of some sort? In any case, I once again wonder: How are the two involved in this? The statement recounts events that take place a bit after their supposed retirement. There will surely be more information on them eventually, but for now Breekon & Hope remain intangible pieces of the puzzle.
Episode Ranking
- Across the Street
- Dreamer
- Lost John’s Cave
- A Father’s Love
- First Aid
- Alone
- Page Turner
- Confession I
- Desecrated Host II
- Burned Out
- The Bone Turner’s Tale
- The Piper
- Anglerfish
- Vampire Killer
- Do Not Open
- Squirm
- Arachnophobia
- Piecemeal
- Thrown Away
- The Man Upstairs
And that’s it for the first half of season 1. Talking about it and making little sketches (despite Blogger making them potato quality) was a lot of fun, so I’ll probably continue doing so. >:) If you feel like it, take a look at my Notion Page for the notes I took and more. Leave a comment or something, especially if you also have theories or notes on things I might’ve missed that would be interesting! As long as it’s civil and doesn’t spoil anything past the discussed episodes, of course.
See you next time! :>
Resources
Rusty Quill’s Website with official Episode Transcripts
Unofficial Transcripts I also used
Spoiler-free S1 Reddit Guide by SpeedlionKF
Some Lovely YT Videos Covering Season 1:
Check out these videos by Endicott - A first-time listener covering Episodes 1-18 and Episodes 19-40
Check out Diacinthus’ Video - Ranking and recapping all of season 1
Check out Jules Cullinane’s Video - Recapping and explaining all of season 1
Funny Season 1 Videos:
SneaSnake - TMA S1 Funny Ha-Ha Edition
Me
Bluesky (Not very active atp but it exists)