Episode 10 TMP Quick Thoughts
Housekeeping and Prologue
Hello, this is Douglysium and you might not know me as that guy who wrote over 100 pages of analysis on the Eye (which can be read on Tumblr here (https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the) or Google Docs here (The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss)) or as that guy who wrote an article on the Extinction (which can be read on Tumblr here(https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/717929126195003392/what-would-avatars-of-the-extinction-be-like-a) and Google Docs here(What would Avatars of the Extinction be like?: A TMA Speculation)). Suffice to say I might be a bit of a TMA fan. Also, spoilers for TMP up until episode 10. You can read my ramblings on the last episode here (Episode 9 TMP Quick Thoughts).
However, Protocol offers a very unique opportunity and experience for me because I didn’t actually get into TMA until after it was over and I binged all of it. So this is my first time experiencing something even remotely similar to what the original TMA fans probably experienced when waiting for each episode week by week and slowly having to put everything together with the limited information they had. So I decided to throw my hat into the ring since this might be my only chance to do something similar. However, I’m working on some longer form TMA content so I can’t spend as much time on these articles giving a bunch of super detailed thoughts. I will try to keep these short and that inevitably might mean some could have questions about why I think or predict certain things and in those cases I would probably recommend you read at least some of the two articles I mentioned above to get a better idea of where I’m coming from. This also means I won’t be giving you a play-by-play of every single thing that happens in the episode so I encourage you to listen to or read them yourselves and feel free to comment if you feel something is important.
These reviews are probably going to end up focusing mostly on the Entities and their manifestations as they are what I have thought about the most and spent the most time interpreting and there’s been a lot of… interesting theories floating around about how the Entities are manifesting that I want to go over.
Finally, I’m just going to say it right now, spoiler warning for all of The Magnus Archives. I know that Jon and co said one could start with Protocol and be fine, and while that’s probably true, media like this tends to be made in conversation with or take into consideration what came before it in the irl chronology in order to connect them. While I’m sure you could skip The Magnus Archives, I don’t really see the point of skipping over it when we are already getting characters from TMA showing up in TMP in Protocol. So to me it’s pretty clear that if we want to understand the full picture of TMP and all the things it is trying to say then we can’t just try to pretend TMA doesn’t exist or scrub it away. Just because you could understand what’s happening without the context in broad strokes doesn’t mean you’re getting all the nuances.
These articles are meant to be quick and short so sorry if there’s typos and if I don’t address every possible question or possibility. I don’t want to repeat myself too much in this series outside of the prologue so be sure to skim some of my other articles.
Episode 10 “Saturday Night”
This starts off with a TV interview hosted by Geraldine Hardy featuring Nigel Dickerson about ““Mr. Bonzo’s On His Way” which topped charts for over 11 weeks.” Well, actually 12 weeks according to Nigel. To which Geraldine adds “12 weeks, smashing the record for TV tie-in music and launching a merchandise empire.” So Mr. Bonzo’s On His Way is a pretty big deal and I can see why Gwen might have been surprised Lena didn’t seem to know anything about Nigel or his work in the last episode.
It’s implied that Nigel hasn’t been on TV recently when we get
NIGEL
“It’s an absolute pleasure to be here Geraldine. Nice to be on TV again.”
GERALDINE
“It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
NIGEL
“I’ve kept busy.”
We are also told that Mr. Bonzo first debuted 25 years ago. Nigel says, with what the transcripts call “odd energy”, “I mean, it started as a joke…” Long story short, Channel Six (which is apparently a part of the BBC’s(British Broadcasting Corporation)) took a gamble and offered Nigel a spot as the host of their Saturday night variety show. Still, ““Nigel Dickerson presents Saturdays on Six” or “Nigel’s SOS” as they started calling it, really took off. I mean, at the end of the day it was still the same sort of variety show that BBC and ITV were running on Saturday primetime: skits, music, interviews, some on-location features. What marked us out though was that we didn’t take ourselves nearly as seriously as them. The whole conceit was that the set was built like an enormous comedy dungeon, and I’d been imprisoned by “Mr. Six.””
Mr. Six was a character that acted as the “fictional head of Channel Six” and the joke around the character was that Nigel would have to do a “good show” in order to be released from the fictional dungeon within the show. One of the show’s beats was that Mr. Six would call Nigel and angrily explain that “he’d gotten a complaint from some busybody writing in with a name like Mrs. Sourpucker or Mr. Smallprick” and then Nigel would be told an outlandish rule he needed to follow to much comedic effect. “I’d be told I had to do the whole show without… I don’t know, using the words “up next” or standing on one leg or something and people loved it. They really loved it.”
Then Geraldine asks about Mr. Bonzo, which implies that this topic is what at least Geraldine seems to be most interested in. It could even be what this interview is supposed to be about. “Yes. Mr. Bonzo. Of course. Well, one of our big things was pranks. We had a whole section called “You Got Berried!” where we’d invite on some serious public figure and make them look a bit silly, like, uh, get a famous footballer to do a bunch of kick-ups but we’d weighted the ball, and at the end I’d come out, say “You Got Berried!” (Not to be confused with The Buried) and give them this big golden raspberry trophy. It was all in fun, of course. No guests were hurt.” So then Rich, Nigel’s producer, came up with the idea of “inviting a famous person on, someone really serious, and we tell them we’re going to have them do a segment with a popular children’s entertainer. Now, obviously these folks won’t have any idea about what kids are actually watching, so we could come up with the most horrendous thing, claim kids loved it and see how long it took for the guest to realize that they were the joke. That they’d been “berried”.” So Nigel designs a character that is “this awful clown character – this big bulbous, splotchy suit, running around, screaming his own name and generally being a nightmare.”
Geraldine asks Nigel who came up with this character’s name and Nigel replies “You know, I honestly don’t remember. I know it wasn’t me or Rich, but at some point someone said it and the name just stuck. I don’t really know what else to say about it. His name is Mr. Bonzo.” This is the part where I do what I always do and try to frame the statements or encounters through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus The Extinction) to note if there’s any parallels or evidence that these are / aren’t the same Entities from TMA. The fact that Nigel doesn’t remember who came up with the character’s name is most likely just a throwaway line and who actually came up with the name doesn’t really matter. But I’m here to give you my thoughts even if they are a bit of a stretch.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous article The Stranger seems to be the Entity tied the most to forgetting things and memory loss. “In MAG 165 (Revolutions) we see Not-Sasha watch over a Domain that takes the form of a merry-go-round with people fighting over faces. People with no faces must fight over the faces of others to rip them off and regain some sense of identity. When they lose their face it is said “And soon enough they will forget they ever even had one, rest assured; it’s best to step the dance and keep your face secured as much as you are able. Just. Keep. Running.” In case there is any debate about what The Stranger embodies in MAG 200 it is stated “And as they learned to know their friends and kin, so too did they learn to fear the unknown figure, the coming of the stranger” and in MAG 092 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah tells Jon “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.” while in MAG 111 (Family Business) Jon says “The Stranger is the unknown. The uncanny.” and Gerard doesn’t correct him. Theoretically the fear of the unknown would probably often include the fear of forgetting something as you would no longer know it. The idea that there’s something you once knew but now you don’t, and so it is unknown. This obviously would overlap with The Spiral a lot with the fear of your senses being wrong but that’s a whole thing for another time, and plenty of Entities overlap with stuff all the time. All I’m saying is that there’s a strong precedent for The Stranger making people forget stuff or making things hard to remember.”
However, that alone isn’t very good evidence but Mr. Bonzo is described as being a clown. Which The Stranger has a precedent for manifesting as, probably due to both the idea of the uncanny valley being achieved with a costume or makeup and the idea of a traveling circus full of strangers you don’t know from out of town. Not to mention that Mr. Bonzo is described as a suit, which could very easily connect to an Entity like The Stranger. Firstly, The Stranger tends to have a big emphasis on wearing things like skins and suits. I think the idea behind this is usually that wearing costumes or disguises can actually obscure who is wearing them and thus their true identity is unknown. There’s also the fact that costumes themselves can easily fall into the uncanny valley. Ever since Five Nights at Freddy’s became popular there’s been an uptick in horror media focusing on how creepy and uncanny things like animatronic suits can be. Not that Mr. Bonzo is an animatronic but it is a suit. Also, as others much more well versed in British culture than me have pointed out, Mr. Bonzo is most likely inspired by Mr. Blobby (a real life fictional character). And yeah I could see how such a costume could be uncanny to some or quickly become creepy if you change around some features.
The wiki also says this about Mr. Blobby: “Mr Blobby first appeared in 1992 in the ‘Gotcha’ segment of the second series of Noel’s House Party, in which celebrities were caught out in a Candid Camera style prank. Mr Blobby was presented to the celebrities as if he were a real and established children’s television character, in order to record a feature about the guests’ professions - in reality, the setup was completely fictitious, and the character of Mr Blobby portrayed by Noel Edmonds focused on acting childishly and unprofessionally, to irritate the celebrities taking part.” This all sounds way too similar to Mr. Bonzo and the role he played on Mr. Bonzo’s On His Way as a character that pranked or messed with celebrities.
Also, after looking through the ARG I found some pictures of Mr. Bonzo (https://rustyquill.com/2023/10/31/the-magnus-protocol-arg-full-summary/)
(There’s also a more distorted creepypasta style picture of Mr. Bonzo (that I imagine the suit we see later looks like), but you can check the link for that).
“I remember the first show we used him. We’d invited Gotard Rimbaeu – the chef. He was very big at the time. Lots of TV appearances, a cooking column in The Times. But I think he was looking to soften his public image after the Mirror ran a story on him, I don’t quite remember…” Once again, Nigel is having trouble recalling something even if Geraldine reminds him. I fully acknowledge I’ve gone full tinfoil and it’s probable that Nigel just genuinely forgot or is a normal human with an imperfect memory.
“…after that he agreed to do a segment on our show teaching children how to cook. He’s
obviously never seen the show and was completely oblivious to kids’ culture. He was absolutely perfect.” It’s interesting that they are preying on the fact that this chef is oblivious to kids’ culture. Which is another way to say that they were taking advantage of the fact that Gotard didn’t know something (which can be very Stranger-esque).
“When Mr Bonzo emerged out of the pantry, the effect was… incredible. Rimbeau’s face went white and he looked like he was about to scream. I’ll be honest, I’d seen the suit already, but I hadn’t seen it moving, and it was even freaking me out a bit. Rimbeau tried to keep it together, as far as he knew all the kids did love Mr. Bonzo, but when that big rubbery clown started knocking over pans and smashing eggs all over the studio kitchen, “the snooty chef” actually tried to hide behind a shelving unit. And finally, when Mr Bonzo went in for a cuddle, Rimbeau genuinely attacked him with a frying pan. He actually broke the arm of the guy wearing him, which I took as my cue to enter with the Golden Berry. This was on live TV don’t forget.” Surprise is something that a lot of Entities like to use but you could argue it potentially relating to The Stranger here in the sense that Gotard didn’t know any of the stuff regarding Mr. Bonzo was going to happen when he joined the show, nor was he familiar with the character. Also Gotard Rimbeau sounds like a Gordan Ramsey reference. Especially with a title like “BRITAIN’S SNOOTIEST CHEF.”
While someone having his arm broken sounds like a disaster it apparently worked out for Nigel and his crew, since the audience ended up loving it and asking for Mr. Bonzo to return. Of course, “…there was a different man in the suit, of course. There were a few of them over the years. It was very physically demanding and that wasn’t the only injury we had with it. It actually became a sort of ritual: the newest member of the production crew wore Mr. Bonzo until someone else joined.” I mentioned last episode how The Desolation can relate to the fear of things like bad luck. So you could maybe argue some parallels with Entities such as The Desolation depending on how people wearing the suit got hurt, but my money is still currently on The Stranger.
Nigel explains, that the joke couldn’t last forever and the bit started losing its punch as more people became aware of Mr. Bonzo and his skits on Nigel’s show. “The problem with a surprise prank is that doing it on Saturday night primetime means pretty soon everyone knows about it, and the guests knew it was coming. A couple even requested it. So the prank part of it sort of died, and he just became an SOS mascot. One of my many tormentors in the dungeon. By the end we’d even retired Mr. Six, and it was all Bonzo.” Once again, a focus on surprise and I think it’s interesting that Bonzo loses his punch the more people know about and understand him. Bonzo is a character that thrived specifically on the guests not knowing who he was and did. So a potential relationship with the unknown again. “The kids certainly liked him. It turned out they really did think he was hilarious. Well, the ones who didn’t wet themselves, anyway.” So Mr. Bonzo could have been creating fear that fed the Entities unintentionally.
I wonder about Geraldine since at this point they seem to laugh at the suffering or fear of people. When Nigel brings up how people wearing Bonzo’s costume often got hurt Geraldine says “Or until they got hit by a pan!” and laughs while Nigel doesn’t. When Nigel mentions kids wetting themselves Geraldine laughs, but you could argue this is just Geraldine reacting to the joke. If Geraldine was an Avatar, monster, or somehow connected to an Entity this behavior would make sense if she is trying to purposefully scare Nigel, or maybe she just has a different sense of humor. Honestly, Geraldine radiates returning character energy to me.
Nigel explains that things were looking up for the Bonzo brand despite this dividing line amongst the reception of kids. “Soon it was Bonzomania: merch sales were through the roof; “underserving number one hit single” actually did become a number one hit single and we even started construction on a small Bonzoland theme park at one point. It was… It was a good time.” And then people stopped liking Bonzo after a serial killer named Terrance Menki was caught wearing a Mr. Bonzo costume after murdering 11 people. Nigel says “You know it was only the last one, right? The one where he was caught? The police said there were eleven bodies in total and his wardrobe was full of all sorts of homemade costumes. Who knows what he wore for the rest? But no, because he was caught dressed as Mr. Bonzo, that’s all people remember, the, uh, the-” “Bonzo Butcher” apparently.
Obviously, Nigel has some strong feelings about this “The Bonzo Butcher! Ridiculous tabloid garbage. It didn’t even look like him! He got the colors backwards! But they still splashed the image all over the front page. Complete overreaction.” Terrance messing up Bonzo’s colors could just be a coincidence but it could relate to The Stranger and the idea of the uncanny. The idea that a character or person who would otherwise be familiar is off in some way. So we get an uncanny Bonzo that doesn’t look quite right.
When Geraldine asks “An overreaction?” Nigel replies with “No, I mean, uh, it was inappropriate. To show to the public I mean.” One could argue that this parallels The Eye thematically with the fear relating to the idea of something being made public or known. Not to mention that Nigel is in front of a live audience right now and is in the middle of an interview. Interviews are something The Eye loves and has a precedent for, the most obvious example of this are the various live statements people like Jon and Gertrude took in TMA as Archivists. After news of the “Bonzo Butcher” went public “Bonzoland halted construction shortly afterwards and the suits decided it was best to “temporarily” halt production on SOS.” and Nigel got death threats even though he felt he had nothing to do with the situation. Public perception of Mr. Bonzo took a turn for the worse but Bonzo did get “some fans. In the, uh, edgier parts of the internet. As a “meme”.”
Geraldine asks about the Bonzo merchandise still available on Nigel’s own website and if its presence makes him uneasy. “About what? The fact that a few sales might be from people trying to be edgy? A man’s got to make a living, Geraldine, and it’s not like I can tell if someone’s buying a t-shirt ironically. Besides, people think of Nigel Dickerson and Mr. Bonzo is never far behind so it’s not like its changing my reputation. In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show.” Then the interview takes a sharp turn when
GERALDINE
“And how do you respond to the more recent rumours?”
NIGEL
“(on guard) Excuse me? “
GERALDINE
“The witness statements from three murders over the last five years”
NIGEL
“(speaking over her) I told your producer this wasn’t going to be discussed.”
GERALDINE
“-that claim a person in a Mr. Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat?’
NIGEL
“(Getting up) This interview is over. Don’t contact us again.”
GERALDINE
“Us? “
NIGEL
“(losing it) It was a joke alright!? Mr. Bonzo was meant to be funny, make people laugh! Is that so wrong? Why am I still trapped dealing with all this- this- Why won’t he let me go?! Why”
First off, considering that Gwen encounters Bonzo in Nigel’s house later, when Nigel says “us” he is probably referring to both himself and Mr. Bonzo. One could also argue that this part of the interview parallels The Eye due to Nigel reacting very negatively to prying questions and he refuses to be interviewed again. However, I think that at least Mr. Bonzo is somehow connected to The Stranger. The comment Geraldine makes about the rumors by saying “The witness statements from three murders over the last five years” and “-that claim a person in a Mr. Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat?” implies that more murders have since occurred after the first 11. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that these three murders might be related to whatever we see Bonzo doing later after Gwen gives him the letter. Is Bonzo going off to kill more people, and why is the OIAR involved?
We cut to OIAR via one of the computers to find out that Celia is filling out the forms for this statement. Colin enters the room and makes it clear that he doesn’t want to interrupt Celia’s Job to which she respons “It’s fine, just stuck the kettle on. You want a cup?” Implying that Colin’s mental health leave might have ended. Colin asks where everyone is, as he seems to be looking for Alice, and Celia explains “Gwen’s on “assignment”, whatever that means. Alice and Sam are, uh, following up something from a case.” Unbeknownst to Celia, Gwen’s assignment is delivering a letter to Nigel, and Sam and Alice went to go investigate the ruins of the Magnus Institute. It’s a bit funny that Celia describes what Sam and Alice are doing as “following up something from a case” because that kind of phrase was used to describe what the assistant and other members of the Institute in TMA often did when investigating statements or checking their validity.
Colin talks about his experience with some therapists he talked to on his mental leave.
COLIN
“(distracted) Right. Shame. Wanted Alice’s thoughts on something. You know anything about computers?”
CELIA
“Not really. Weren’t you on leave?’
COLIN
“For my brain, yeah. Didn’t work. Talked to three therapists. None of them even knew what a logic gate is. What the hell use is that going to be?“
A logic gate is “a device that performs a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output,” which would imply that Colin was asking his therapists about the computers. Colin also says “None. I was just sat their twiddling my thumbs. Best thing for me is figuring this out.”. Colin asks Celia once again if no one is present and then-
COLIN
“Great. That’ll make things easier. He sits at a desk and starts booting it up.”
COLIN
“(cont.) Maybe don’t tell them I’ve been on their terminals. They’ll only get the wrong idea.”
CELIA
“Uh, sure.”
Colin starts typing on the PC a little breathless.
CELIA
“Cool. Well, I think that was the kettle, so I’ll probably leave you to it.”
COLIN
“Yeah. Oh, and, uh, Celia?”
CELIA
“Mm?”
COLIN
“If Lena asks, I wasn’t here.”
He starts to pull open the active computer, muttering to himself while Celia walks off to the breakroom.
Okay… so maybe Colin’s mental health leave isn’t actually over, and he just wanted to sneak back in to see what was going on with the computers. Once again, I must beat the dead horse of saying that there may be Eye related themes present at the OIAR or the facility. The Eye doesn’t just relate to the fear of being watched but also the fear of knowledge in general, which includes the fear of “seeing too much”, horrible truths, etc.. In MAG 200 The Eye is stated to have been born from the fear of seeing too much, and it also thematically relates to Jonah’s ability to force information into the heads of people like Martin and Melanie. Gertrude at one point even mentions The Eye as relating to the desire to know and understand even if in doing so you get hurt.
I’m not saying Colin is unjustified or unreasonable in his paranoia. But what I am saying is that an Entity like The Eye might purposefully be trying to insight and prey on this behavior (and the OIAR has a lot of parallels with The Eye). Gertude’s comment about hurting yourself in a desire to obtain knowledge could relate to Colin’s increasing levels of stress and degrading mental health as he attempts to unravel the secrets of the computer. Additionally, Colin’s desire to understand what’s happening does technically mirror a character like Rosie, but specifically his desire to understand an outdated system of technology is very similar to an Eye related statement from TMA in MAG 148 (Extended Surveillance) involving a “Security Camera Instruction Manual.” Upon reading the Leitner the victim ends up metaphysically fusing with the camera system the manual is tied to, but that’s not the important part. The important part is what led to Samson Stiller reading the manual in the first place. Specifically, a desire to understand and fix the camera system. In that MAG we get “I remember the smell of dust when Dave went and cracked open the filing cabinet in the back room, before waving his arms in the direction of the drawer and shrugging. I mean, I’d have just left it, obviously, but I think Samson was taking the whole knowing how the system works thing as like – a point of pride? Something he could salvage from the whole situation. Just a way of getting some control over his life, you know?”
Alice has been at the job pretty long, and presumably the longest out of her coworkers with the possible exception of her boss Lena (that’s still up in the air). So I wonder what Colin thinks Alice might know or add. I also wonder if Colin warns Celia not to tell Lena because he just doesn’t want to be caught by his boss at the office during his mental health leave or because he is suspicious of Lena specifically.
We cut to Sam and Alice exploring the ruins of the Institute. The ruins are clearly rotting and decaying and Alice seems to think this situation is dangerous as implied by this later interaction.
ALICE
“(cont.) Careful…”
SAM
“(turning) Oh thank goodness you said that otherwise I would’ve jumped up and down the dangerous”
The floor breaks.
Before all the floor stuff however, Sam rummages through a filing cabinet and manages to find a key.
Alice actually shows herself to be a lot more aware and insightful than I think some fans give her credit for. She correctly identifies that Sam doesn’t actually know what he’s looking for, which he eventually admits outright, and she does try to console him. Although, you could argue it was pretty obvious Sam didn’t know what he was looking for. The fact that Sam doesn’t know what he’s looking for really makes me wonder what caused him to become so interested in the Institute. Why did the Institute test him for their gifted kids program?
I also forgot to mention something very important. When we cut to Sam and Alice the for the second time, even though we were using Sam’s phone the first cut in, the transcripts say this “ EXT. THE MAGNUS INSTITUTE RUINS – NIGHT, THUNDERSTORM (TAPE RECORDER).” So we are hearing what’s happening via a Tape Recorder, just like TMA. It also shows that whatever is listening isn’t just limited to things connected to the internet or anything, but seemingly any form of technology with a microphone. Are the tapes from this Institute or was it one of the tapes that would have been dragged along with the Entities from TMA into this new universe? Also, is it The Web that has been listening this entire time again or is something / someone else also using the tapes? We know that, while rare, artifacts can be tied to one or more Powers (such as the Key of Solomon) so are the tapes still aligned with The Web while something else is using them or is The Web just stepping up its game and using all microphones now because it doesn’t need the tapes specifically for its new plan(s)?
In this scene it’s also clear that Alice really worries about Sam’s safety and you could even argue that she’s mothering him a bit.
ALICE
“(picking something up) Who do you reckon Archie was?”
SAM
“Huh?”
ALICE
“I found one of those old timey name block things.”
SAM
“Uh… Archipelago?’
ALICE
“I’m sorry what?”
SAM
“What?”
ALICE
“You’re just going to skip straight to “Archipelago”? Not, I don’t know, architect? Archive?”
The name Archie doesn’t ring familiar to me but the words “architect” and “archive” do. Specifically in relation to, of course, Smirke’s architecture and the Institute’s Archives. In fact in TMA the tunnels under the Institute are Smirkean architecture. Sam also picks up a book that immediately disintegrates in his hand which makes me wonder if there were leitners in the TMP Institute at some point, and if such artifacts will play a role similar to the one they played in TMA.
ALICE
“Nice chair. I could look real ominous swiveling in that thing.”
SAM
“I wouldn’t risk it. Not unless you want woodworms up your butt.”
ALICE
“Ew. That explains the pattern on the floor.“
SAM
“Oh yeah… What is that?”
ALICE
“Worm tracks. Or y’know symbols of ancient otherworldly power. One or the other.”
The comment about the worms seems like a cheeky nod to Jane Prentiss’ attack on the Institute’s in TMA. At the moment I think this is just a reference for the audience as opposed to something alluding to the idea that a similar attack also occurred here. Some floor breaks under Sam and the key he tried to use to open a door falls down into the resulting hole. Alice expresses worry as she manages to catch Sam and says “What was that? Because it sounded a lot like, “I’m sorry Alice you were right. We should head back now before I get myself killed falling into a soggy pit. Gosh you’re sexy, here’s a twenty for your trouble.”” Once again, I would like to point to Gertrude’s whole “The Eye is the desire to search for knowledge even if you get hurt in doing so” thing. I think it’s clear Sam is at least kind of desperate for answers since he acknowledges that he doesn’t even really know what he’s looking for. I’m not saying Sam is secretly an Eye Avatar or anything but, like with Colin, I wonder if something like The Eye or someone similar to Jonah is purposefully trying to stoke Sam’s curiosity or take advantage of it.
As far as the Institute’s gifted kids program goes Sam also says this “No, you’re right. I don’t know what I’m looking for. I have… I have memories of weird stuff I saw here, but no context. I want to know what was happening, why they chose us… why they didn’t choose me. Maybe find the bit where everything started to go wrong. But… it’s too late. And now… I’m the only one left who cares.” Which makes me wonder even more about the program. Why were these kids selected? Was it their personalities, their experiences, some supernatural factor? Were they looking for potential Avatars or something? Wa the TMP Institute working with the government?
“The voices finally disappear, lost to the distance and the rain. There is a long silence as the tape keeps running. The water is gently disturbed below. Then there is a thud on the hidden wooden trapdoor and the rattle of a padlock. There is the distinct sound of a key being dragged across wood then being blindly fumbled in a lock which finally clicks. The trap door opens, the lock falling away and [ERROR] emerges and takes a shuddering breath.. Click.” So something or someone might have just escaped the ruins. Who or what it could be I don’t know. This Institute could have its own set of tunnels like the one in TMA but the Institute in TMA was located in London instead of Manchester after being moved so I can’t really say if this Institute would have a similar system. Was someone / something purposefully trying to get Sam to release whatever / whoever this is from the Institute? Does the being itself somehow have some way of influencing things from a distance?
I actually skipped over a portion of this episode because I felt like it flowed better but let’s rewind to check up on Gwen via a tv apparently. Gwen rings the door and as Nigel unlocks it: “He unbolts the door. There’s a lot of them. Then he opens the heavy wooden doors to find GWEN stood in the porch.”
Nigel is surprised to find someone at this time of night and Gwen explains that she was sent by the OIAR (Office of Incident Assessment and Response). The name of the OIAR is something I haven’t really thought about but the fact that it has “Response” probably means it’s supposed to take a more active role in dealing with the supernatural than the Institute. In TMA the job of the Institute technically wasn’t to perform investigations or help people but just to note supernatural occurrences and verify / research them. The Institute itself isn’t actually supposed to really do anything to help. The Institute’s motto is literally “Audio. Opperior. Vigilo.“ which means” I listen. I wait. I watch.” and in MAG 28 (Skintight) Jon says to Melanie “We are not ‘paranormal investigators’. We are researchers. Scholars.” They aren’t supposed to solve mysteries, stop monsters, etc. for the sake of closure or helping others. They are just supposed to note what happens and use it for their own research(even if characters like Jon and Gertrude obviously don’t abide by that).
Anyway, Nigel seems to realize what’s happening when Gwen mentions the OIAR and tries to give Nigel the envelope. But there’s a twist, Nigel says “It’s not for me.” and invites Gwen inside. Nigel apologizes before “There is a wet, lumbering step on the staircase. Something is dragging itself down the stairs to meet them.” That “something” is none other than Mr. Bonzo (who can only say his own name, or maybe just chooses to say his own name). Gwen obviously doesn’t die in this encounter but I wonder if Nigel was apologizing because he knew seeing Bonzo can be scary or in case Bonzo decided to kill / hurt Gwen.
Nigel also says “Try not to stare. He doesn’t like it when people stare.” Which could relate to The Stranger. While all the Entities are connected, overlap, and need each other for a ritual bringing them into the world to work, with even seemingly opposing Entities bleeding into each other or having overlapping fears, The Stranger can often have an antagonistic relationship with The Eye and forms of being known. The Stranger tends to thrive off the fear of being unknown so staring at something aligned with The Stranger might make it react negatively. In MAG 092 (Nothing Beside Remains) Jonah tells Jon “We thrive on ceaseless watching, on knowing too much. What we face is the hidden, the uncanny, and the unknown.” In MAG 165 (Revolutions) Not-Sasha says this in regards to The Eye’s Post-Change world “Do you know how it feels? To be – anonymous? And yet known! To have all the sweetest dread I can create tainted by the relentless gaze of that damned Eye. I’ve suffered enough.” So if my theory that Bonzo is tied to something like The Stranger is correct that would explain a potentially negative reaction to being looked at for too long since aspects of The Stranger often don’t like it when people try to figure out what they are.
Nigel introduces Gwen and Bonzo by saying “Mr Bonzo meet… I didn’t actually get your name. Probably for the best.” Which makes me wonder why it’s a good thing he didn’t get her name. Is one of the factors that determine who Bonzo attacks are whether it and / or Nigel knows their name or something? The transcripts go on to say-
NIGEL
“(urgently) I said don’t stare!”
Gwen does not reply. It is clear she is trying not to hyperventilate.
So Gwen is definitely in shock. Mr. Bonzo begins to become agitated and Nigel says “The name, the address – tell him where to go.” Nigel begins to panic and after telling Gwen to give Bonzo the envelope again “Gwen holds out the envelope and Mr Bonzo snatches it into his
mouth, audibly chewing it. His teeth are not soft.” and then “Mr. Bonzo excitedly lumbers away, violently throwing open the door and lumbering off into the night.” Nigel notes that this situation almost went very badly and says “Tell the people who sent you “you’re welcome. Again.””
Okay, so what is Mr, Bonzo? I know that sometimes Entities like The Stranger just do weird uncanny stuff but I wonder if the “suit” actually is Mr. Bonzo’s body or if there is something wearing the suit? Or is Mr. Bonzo literally a living suit that is wearing some poor sap and Bonzo needs to find a new wearer / host periodically to wear him or shove inside of him? That could explain why the murders Geraldine mentioned are 3 murders that occured over the course of 5 years. It’s possible that these murders were just the ones that were caught but I wonder if Bonzo is collecting body parts for the inside of his suit or something. Part of the reason I’m thinking about this is because it’s funny that Bonzo eats the letter in order to read it. Maybe Bonzo is just trying to be scary but you have to remember that he is a suit. So by consuming the letter who / whatever is wearing it might be able to then see the letter. Then again presumably Bonzo would have had eye holes in the original costume so this might just be Bonzo or The Stranger being weird again.
Nigel acts like whatever is being done is a favor for the OIAR. Did the government stick Nigel with Mr. Bonzo in an attempt to appease it as much as possible while also offering the occasional sacrifice to calm Mr. Bonzo or is whatever’s on the letter some sort of enemy or threat? Maybe, Mr. Bonzo is being sent to go deal with more problematic or harder to control Monsters / Avatars / threats? I don’t know much other than the fact that it’s probably a favor for the OIAR. Meaning that someone wants this to happen. I don’t know if it’s Lena or her mysterious higher ups. This all also sounds like it might be related to the three Bonzo murders Geraldine mentioned. Is Bonzo being used as a weapon or is he just a threat that the government doesn’t know how to kill? Maybe killing Bonzo would somehow release something worse?
The interaction between Gwen, Nigel and Bonzo in regards to her job leads me to suspect that the OIAR is working with various supernatural factions. I don’t know if they are doing so out of convenience or some other reason but it looks like Gwen’s job involves sending messages and contracts to various supernatural beings at least. I wonder if all the letters are being sent to Mr. Bonzo, a variety of monsters, or just a pool of “agents” connected to the supernatural. Gwen’s new job was stated to have something to do with contracts so did Nigel or even Bonzo himself sign some sort of contract? If we assume the OIAR is connected to some Entity like The Eye we know such beings have a precedent for magically binding contracts (like the one Jonah used). So is something similar happening here but on a larger scale?
It’s kind of funny that when Nigel tells Gwen to leave he says “Now get out of his house.” It’s pretty obvious that The Stranger has a connection to the loss of identity or being unable to identify either yourself or other people. So I wonder if this is supposed to be some weird metaphor for an artist having their identity overtaken by that of their creations? Like people not really knowing who Nigel is outside of “the guy who made Mr. Bonzo.” Nigel even said “Besides, people think of Nigel Dickerson and Mr. Bonzo is never far behind so it’s not like its changing my reputation. In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show.” Nigel views Bonzo as a core part of his identity which could mirror how sometimes artists stake to much of their value or identity on their own art and creations. The interview we just saw seemed to revolve entirely around Bonzo and it seems to be Nigel’s most famous creation. Bonzo has become the main character and quite literally taken on a life of its own while Nigel is stuck in the side-car as he sits in Bonzo’s shadow.
Conclusion
I’m only becoming more and more curious about the OIAR. Also, what was the thing escaping the Institute’s ruins. Is it somehow related to the gifted program kids?