Episode 15 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 14 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 15 “Well Run”
So the transcripts have an error. While the document title matches the name of the episode on the youtube channel, etc. the transcripts themselves say Episode 15 “Good Show.”
Weird, but probably just an error. Either this was the episode’s original name, and it was changed, or some other episode was originally in the slot for the 15th entry (stuff can move around a lot in development). Anyway let’s dive in.
We start the episode from the perspective of a CCTV in the breakroom at night. Sam asks Celia on a second date by showing off some theater tickets he bought for “The Pillowman.” Celia laughs, much to Sam’s confusion, and sarcastically says it’s a “very romantic choice.” Sam says he doesn’t know a lot about the story but Celia does decide to go anyway “If only to see your face.” I haven’t seen Pillowman but according to the Wikipedia summary “It tells the tale of Katurian, a fiction writer living in a police state, who is interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a number of bizarre child murders occurring in his town.” So Celia’s reaction is understandable and it goes to show that Sam should have asked around a bit more. It’ll be an odd date for sure, but I’m very curious to see their reactions considering that Sam and Celia’s job right now is literally to sit around listening to scary stories. Although, they know Pillowman isn’t real so it might not be that big of a deal.
Alice enters the room, seemingly to Sam’s dismay or exasperation considering the sighing, and offers them a chance to come to the performance of her younger brother’s band. Sam wonders if it’s Dredgerman but Alice corrects him by saying “Don’t be daft, they’re taking a break before their tour! No, it’s “Penny for the Well” actually” and Sam wonders how many bands Luke is in (so Luke is part of multiple bands at the same time). Sam asking about Dredgerman is actually a bit of foreshadowing for the person Alice encounters later. The person in question keeps speaking of the deep water and drowning, similar to some of the stuff Gordon was saying in a previous episode, and a dredger is “a barge or other vessel designed for dredging harbors or other bodies of water”, to dredge is to “clean out the bed of (a harbor, river, or other area of water) by scooping out mud, weeds, and rubbish with a dredge.” / “an apparatus for bringing up objects or mud from a river or seabed by scooping or dragging.” and a dredgeman (no R here) is “one who is in charge of the operation of a dredge used to mine metal-bearing sands from the bottom of a body of water.” So there’s a lot of specific water imagery going on here. “Penny for the Well” also arguably ties into this theme since a well is “a shaft sunk into the ground to obtain water, oil, or gas.” Pennies are often thrown into wells and fountains for the sake of wishes and stuff but there are also stories of people falling into wells. So you could argue there’s still a theme of drowning or deep water being laid here too.
Alice says “Let’s just say that this revolutionary indie ensemble, which may or may not also include my incredibly talented younger brother, is playing The Gladstone Arms at ten thirty tomorrow evening and you are both on the guest list. You’re welcome.” but Celia says she has to go take care of Jack (the babysitter can’t stay late enough for her to go to the performance) and the revelation that Celia has a human baby seems to catch Alice off guard. Considering Alice’s reaction to Celia last episode, it’s interesting that she invited both Alice and Sam to the event and doesn’t seem to say Sam shouldn’t go on his date with Celia (just that they can swing by afterwards). It’s possible she wants to keep an eye on them or doesn’t want to piss off Sam but it’s interesting that Alice is actually taken aback by Celia’s baby. Maybe Alice herself isn’t really a baby person. It’s possible she’s just surprised Sam is dating someone with a baby or she just genuinely didn’t realize and is surprised / awkward. Sam comments “(standing) And you say I’m clueless.”
In case you’re wondering what a gladstone is: “a suitcase with flexible sides on a rigid frame that opens flat into two equal compartments. called also gladstone bag.” Gladstone also seems to be a person: “William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS (/ˈɡlædstən/ GLAD-stən; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-consecutive terms (the most of any British prime minister) beginning in 1868 and ending in 1894. He also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer four times, for over 12 years.” I also saw some, potentially questionable, sources saying that a gladstone can refer to a Prime Minister who’s served four years but maybe take that with a grain of salt coming from me. Since Protocol does seem to have a big emphasis on the government it wouldn’t surprise me if using the name of a politician is somehow going to end up being some sort of reference or foreshadowing for later.
At this point we are privy to 3 of the bands Luke has played for: Bullets for Saint Sebastian, Penny for the Well, and Dredgerman
We move to the statement of the episode. It’s in the form of a voicemail being delivered by someone to “The Sentinel tip-off hotline.” The bot on the other end says:
“If you are calling with information that you believe merits investigation for the public interest, please leave a message with as much detail as possible along with your name and number.
If you wish to remain anonymous, please instead leave a three word code at the start of your message that we can use to identify future calls or correspondence from you.
This voicemail is monitored by dedicated staff that are obliged to report serious crimes to local law enforcement if there is risk of imminent harm to anyone. Please speak after the tone. To end the recording, simply hang up. ”
The person giving the statement of this case is referred to as the “Caterer” in the transcripts and they are clearly in a rush since they say they can’t go to the police and start telling the story without leaving in sort of three word code or identity for future calls. The Caterer even says that they don’t know how much time they have left.
They begin to explain that they work as a caterer at a business they own. They tend to handle really high-end private functions: “We get called in for the really high-end stuff. The kind of event where the guest list is so rich that you’ve never even heard of them. There’s a big difference between “extravagance” and “elegance.” We sell the latter.” However, the Caterer’s company isn’t very big. In fact, it only has 6 permanent staff if you include the Caterer themselves (so there were 5 other permanent staff the Caterer worked with). Of course, the company did “…hire in fixed-term waiting staff and other contractors but even so…” But it becomes clear that something bad happened to the other permanent employees. For the sake of clarity, a caterer is “a person or company providing food and drink at a social event or other gathering.”
The Caterer’s company “…got the call a couple of months ago for a fairly small event at Wychwood Hall in the Cotswold’s. Apparently, they had a family shoot and wanted us to prepare the game. Normally that would be pheasant or partridge and we’d just swap it for stuff we prepared off-site since no one could ever tell the difference, but they were really explicit about it being larger game and wanting to know who’s kill they were eating. That meant a lot more prep time and equipment but they insisted and at this level you don’t get to tell the client no, just how much extra it will cost.” So immediately, we have some themes reminiscent of an Entity like The Hunt but it’s still pretty early on in the statement and Entities can overlap all the time so let’s keep reading.
The company “…set up the cooking gazebo during the early afternoon in the rear gardens on the butler’s instruction. The house itself was a massive sprawling Elizabethan thing with pristine flowerbeds and prim lawns that ran right up to the surrounding woodland. It wasn’t usual to be given center stage like that but I figured the client fancied themself a foodie and wanted to see the prep. Thankfully we brought the flashy gear, just in case. Normally you’d expect the shoot to have already been well underway by the time we arrived but people were only just arriving in their tinted Range Rovers and Rolls.” The Caterer notes that normally, the shoot / hunt would already be happening but by the time the Caterer’s crew arrived everyone else was just arriving. It would make sense that normally the shoot would already be taking place since the Caterer is just supposed to cook whatever is caught and it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have them just waiting around while you try to kill the game animal. However, this is actually foreshadowing since we later learn that the Caterer and their crew are what’s supposed to be hunted. The Caterer even mentions “Another hour passed with a couple more cars trickling in, but still no one had set out. Instead, I could see them through the leaded windows, just watching us work ” So the people are watching their prey (the caterers).
Eventually, the Caterer had the house staff fetch the butler to let him know “that unless he knew something I didn’t there was going to be a distinct lack of venison for tonight’s venison medallions. He just gave me this look, told me to “prepare” and then headed back inside. Obviously that pissed me right off but what can you do? They’d paid for the day so we just hunkered down and looked busy.” It’s possible that what the butler is saying has a double meaning. They shouldn’t just be preparing food but the caterers themselves should prepare to fight each other and be hunted. This is alluded to later when “the matriarch” asks the Caterer if they are prepared.
Speaking of which, the sun begins to set and all the hunters and dogs begin to come out of their vehicles. In front of them is someone the Caterer describes as a “matriarch.” “I don’t know how else to describe her. This big, imposing, like some Roman statue brought to life and given a gun. I kept thinking of my army days cooking for the top brass. She had the same eyes, like they didn’t see people any more just “assets” and “resistance.” And if that wasn’t enough, she had this huge custom rifle over her shoulder, like an antique elephant gun or something. There was no way it was UK legal, the thing looked like it could take out a jeep, never mind a stag! And it wasn’t gilded or anything, it was dull and plain looking despite its massive size and you just knew that this was a gun for killing with, not showing off.” I think it’s interesting that the Caterer has some sort of military background. There’s an obvious commentary about the military complex but often when the Entities show up they do so to specific people or at specific times that are advantageous. This is to say that the Entities often have thematic reasons for why or who they are manifesting around at a specific time and I don’t think the fact that a person with military trauma was picked is purely coincidental.
The Caterer says that the matriarch reeked with power and “…when she spoke they all listened. She had the guns all line up facing us with their dogs at heel and then they all just stood there watching the sun set as their staff and security all headed back into the house leaving us alone with them. That was when I knew something was really wrong. The woman stepped forward with her dogs by her side and faced me with this bright and wide smile splitting her face under her electric blue eyes and gunmetal-grey hair. Then she just locked eyes with me and began to carefully load the rifle without looking, punctuating each word with another cartridge. “Are you prepared?” she asked quietly.” This calls back to what I was just saying about the butler. I think what the butler was saying had a double meaning or was vague enough to be misinterpreted as referring purely to the food being prepared.
The Caterer answers with ““As we can be” I replied. “but-“” and then the woman silences them by raising a hand to their mouth. “it was as though she had slapped a gag in my mouth. I couldn’t even think of disobeying her, the words just died in my throat.” She returns to her group of hunters with her dogs flanking her and they are unable to make out the faces of any of the other people due to the dazzling light of the sunset. Then she stood tall and proud and said with just the tiniest hint of anticipation: “Let’s begin then shall we?” As one, the hunters raised their rifles as one and levelled them at us as we stood transfixed under our gazebo. Theres a very specific feeling you get when you’re staring down a barrel at close range. First the world gets very sharp and bright, then the horizon sort of shrinks around you till it’s no wider than the dark hole aiming straight at you. It had been a long time since I’d felt like that, but it was still so familiar. Too familiar. The woman hadn’t raised her own weapon, instead she called as though directing a firing squad: “Hunt.”” The caterers don’t immediately understand what’s happening so the simply sit in still silence until the Caterer realizes that the matriarch is talking to them and not her hunters. “After seconds that felt like hours the woman seemed to grow impatient. Finally, she sighed and repeated: “Hunt” before shouldering her rifle, sighting and then pulling the trigger without hesitation.”
One of the other caterers, Steven, falls to the ground dead (having been shot). “Without lowering the rifle, she chambered another round and re-sighted, this time at me. She smiled greedily then pumped her eyebrows just once, playfully. “Hunt!”” This time the Caterer understands what she wants: “Without taking my eyes from her I reached out and gently closed my hand around the handle of the clever in front of me. It shone, pristine and unblemished, ready for its bloody work. Then slowly, so slowly, I raised it overhead, bracing myself for what followed. The woman grinned widely, her finger caressing the trigger, then I brought my hand down sharply, smashing the cleaver into the face of Marcus, our Saucier. He couldn’t even cry out as it cleft deep into the base of his neck, his arterial blood gushing out and down into the overly-hot pot, releasing a plume of acrid iron smelling steam.” The other caterers run as the Caterer pulls the knife from Marcus and turns to them.
“The party ate well that night. All told, it didn’t take long, maybe a half hour at most? None of them got far. I caught Debra as she tried to hide up in a tree. Fair play to her, almost made it up there despite being in her fifties. Mira tripped over a rabbit hole in the darkness, I think she tried to beg, but I couldn’t make out the words. The only one who gave me any real trouble was Boris. He was a big guy, nearly six five, and that’s a hell of a size difference, even with my training. But it wasn’t enough. I had killed before, and he hadn’t. He hesitated, and that was that.” As the Caterer packs up the woman shakes their hand and compliments them “Then the butler handed me a thick brown envelope. It was full of cash and a note written in elegant cursive with just one word: “Run”.” They ran and say that they cannot stay anywhere for long, they can’t stop moving. “I keep hearing dogs barking and I don’t know if it’s just some pet or… I thought about handing myself in to the police, but that just feels like trapping myself in a dead end.”
The Caterer explains that they resolve to leave the country but as they explain their plan-
The car window shatters inwards from a sudden loud gunshot. The CATERER is wetly silenced.
Someone approaches, reloading an enormous rifle with growling dogs in tow.
They stop then yank open the car door.
LADY MOWBRAY
“Well run dearie. Well run…”
The line goes dead.
If we view this through the lens of Smirke’s 14 (plus the Extinction) the most obvious Entity here would be The Hunt. This case shares many similarities with plenty of The Hunt’s manifestations in TMA. For example, being hunted by colleagues or people you know in a death game type set up (such as in MAG 112 (Thrill of the Chase) with the Murder Club and the domain Trevor was stuck in with all the metaphorical witch hunts and people constantly turning on each other. Mowbray’s dogs are probably some sort of hunting dog and the Caterer is being chased / hunted by Mowbray herself like an animal on top of hearing the barking of dogs. Daisy from TMA has also been compared to a sort of metaphorical dog. Which makes sense if you consider the overlap between police and hunting dogs meant to pursue targets. Plus, in MAG 31 (First Hunt) we get “As I looked at him, the strangest thing popped into my head. Have you ever read The Duchess of Malfi? I had to study it for my O-Levels, many years ago. Dreadful play, as I remember, the worst sort of old revenge tragedy, all incest and murder and madness. But there’s a line that stays with me, a doctor diagnosing the Duchess’ brother with lycanthropy. As I recall it goes, “Once met the duke, ‘bout midnight in a lane behind St. Mark’s church, with the leg of a man upon his shoulder. Said he was a wolf. Only difference was, a wolf’s skin is hairy on the outside, his on the inside”. Looking at this thing that wanted to kill me, it’s the only way it’s the only description that feels right.” and Jon refers to the strange hunter in the statement as a “wolfman.” So The Hunt is not stranger to canines and it tends to lean towards more animalistic imagery.
The case also has some themes that parallel The Slaughter (with the violence and military background), The Web (the Caterer feeling physically unable to disobey Mowbray’s command. Although, this could just be due to the fear and massive guns), The Eye (with the fear of being found or someone knowing where you are), The Dark (with the hunt taking place at night and one of the caterers tripping over a hole in the darkness), The Flesh (with all the food imagery and the caterers are in the place of a game animal (which is meant to be caught and cooked)), and The End (with the fear of being killed).
Some people might wonder why I usually bother going through some of the other possible Entities or parallels like this (especially since if we are to assume Smirke’s 14 is still at all applicable this is the most Hunt hunts to ever Hunt. For one, it’s supposed to be a reminder that the Entities aren’t completely distinct and exist on a vague spectrum at best. All the Entities constantly bleed and overlap each other so trying to perfectly and neatly box them tends to be unhelpful and it’s very rare that only one emotional fear is present. I also do this to help try to keep my mind open. Like I said, Entities bleed into each other all the time and this can sometimes make it hard to pick apart (if at all). Sometimes I get so pigeonholed into the possibility of a single specific Entity I kind of lose sight of other possibilities or Entities. For example, while I think this case screams the Hunt there is a very good argument for something like The Slaughter here. Assuming Smirke’s 14 are even still relevant anyway.
As the line dies Celia is clearly disturbed and we hear Lady Mowbray herself say “Fascinating.” Yeah, she’s in the office now with her dogs and it was very trippy listening to this for the first time. Celia is startled by her appearance. Once again, I have to wonder if Mowbray was quiet or if the cases sort of draw people in. In TMA the statements could have strange effects, for example some characters would find it difficult to stop reading statements once they started and may sort of space out. The statements are also noted as being stressful or taxing for some people to read / listen to. However, this could also just as easily be because Celia was listening to a horrifying first hand account.
CELIA jumps up with a cry and turns to find Lady Mowbray and her dogs
standing right behind her. The dogs growl threateningly.
LADY MOWBRAY CONT.
“Sit.”
CELIA
“Excuse me?”
LADY MOWBRAY
“I was talking to the boys.”
The dogs sit. They are not fur babies, they are what turns up when
someone says “release the hounds”. (Yes this is actually in the official transcripts you can go check)
The transcripts also say “MOWBRAY sniffs her as though she were a particularly odd vintage.” and it describes Mowbray as stalking while she asks Celia for her name. So Mowbray is acting like a dog or animal sizing up some prey and comparing Celia to a vintage suggests that Mowbray sees her in the same way one might see a fine wine. Something to be savored and consumed. I think it’s interesting that Celia actually refuses to give Mowbray her name by simply saying “I didn’t.” upon being asked “What did you say your name was dear?” This isn’t the first time names have seemed important. In episode 10 (Saturday Night), as Gwen delivers the letter to Mr. Bonzo, Nigel says “Mr Bonzo meet… I didn’t actually get your name. Probably for the best.” and “The name, the address – tell him where to go.” This implies that names might have some sort of importance when it comes to how Externals find or pick their targets. The OIAR is also connected to the government so it may also have to do with the government being able to pull up a file or something using someone’s name.
Celia is definitely holding it together pretty well and Mowbray remarks on her high levels of bravery. As I went over in episode 7 “Give and Take” (TMP Quick Thoughts 7) Celia is heavily implied to have some connection to the TMA universe and know a suspicious amount about the Entities. She even shares the name of a character that shows up in TMA, specifically a member of Melanie and Georgie’s cult. With this in mind, Mowbray’s commentary on Celia’s bravery is interesting. Firstly, Mowbray’s dogs get aggressive when Celia was startled by Mowbray. It could be that they are just getting excited but if Mowbray and / or her dogs are some sort of Avatar or connected to a Power it could be that both her and her dogs are reacting to, and looking for, fear. Since Celia knows this she could be hiding or dampening her fear as a form of protection. The more fear someone has or shows the more tempting they are for the Entities to torment. Lena even says “But he didn’t, which means you’ve passed the first part of your probation. Congratulations. Did you scream?” and “You should. It really helps one cope with the more affronting aspects of the job. And they usually like it.”
Not showing fear isn’t guaranteed to keep you safe but in TMA a character named Fiona Law managed to survive many encounters due to her propensity to pass out. As detailed in MAG 167 (Curiosity): “Of course, retreat is not always possible in such a line of business, and when that proved to be the case, there was a single trait which Fiona possessed that saw her surviving encounters which had killed far braver souls than her: Because when she was pushed to the very limits of her terror, Fiona Law would faint. And while there are those things in the dark that would kill you as you slept, most get no real delight from it, unless you are awake enough to know what is happening. And so, through cowardice and unconsciousness, Fiona had survived an entire generation of Archivist. And even stranger, when Angus Stacey died and she had the chance to walk away, she decided to remain.” So while a lack of fear isn’t guaranteed to protect you it does help. Also, both names and outward displays of fear seem important in Protocol.
Gwen comes in to collect Mowbray and as she leaves she tells Celia “Catch you next time, dearie.” to which Celia says “No, you won’t.” Celia probably knows that Mowbray may be being a bit more literal when she promises to catch someone later. Gwen offers her refreshments but Mowbray declines, explaining that she ate recently. There’s kind of an implication that Mowbray ate one or more of the caterers, and probably the one that was giving this episode’s case. Mowbray also says “That’s me yes. I presume you’re Gwendolyn Bouchard?” when Gwen asks for her. It could simply be that Mowbray was told who Gwen was beforehand but I wonder if the other Externals have been told about Gwen, especially since, based on the comment I brought up from Lena earlier, they seem to enjoy scaring people like the Externals Liaisons.
Mowbray also asks “Bouchard… You wouldn’t be of the Cheshire Bouchard’s would you?” but the scene ends before we hear Gwen’s full response. Considering the implication from Lena that Gwen’s family has a ton of money (so much so that Gwen blackmailing her for money seems silly) and Mowbray is clearly very rich I wonder if Mowbray has had an encounter or connection with the Bouchard family. As for who Cheshire is, I have no idea. I wouldn’t be surprised if they turn out to be yet another person in TMA with too much money and time on their hands though.
As the scene closes the transcripts say “CELIA exhales shakily before turning back to the computer.” implying that she was suppressing her fear or at least not showing them. Mowbray said “interesting” when Celia finished listening to the case and I have to wonder what Mowbray was referring to. Was she referring to the computer itself, the information in the case she’s in, or even Celia herself? Additionally, she’s probably one of the OIAR’s externals. In the case she’s wielding a large gun that’s described as “this huge custom rifle over her shoulder, like an antique elephant gun or something. There was no way it was UK legal, the thing looked like it could take out a jeep, never mind a stag!” It’s possible she just owns this gun illegally but I wonder if the OIAR or some other faction supplied her with the gun.
I also have to wonder how many of the externals get their victims assigned to them by the OIAR and if so how many? Is it all of their victims or just some of them? The possibility of a target being in this episode is interesting since Bonzo’s target also seemed like they were wealthy or had a decent amount of money at the expensive club in episode 12 (Getting Off). Wealth and money seem like another noticeable theme in Protocol so far.
We cut to Alice at the performance of “Penny for the Well” as it comes to a close. She talks with Luke and it turns out that while Luke’s music was supposed to be a chill side gig it’s been really picking up. Luke also says “You joke but the managers already added seven more cities to the Dredgerman tour.” Alice also mentions Glastonbury and a quick google search tells me that it’s just a really big festival with all kinds of stuff (like music performances). So when Alices says “Hello? Yes? Is that Glastonbury? Why yes, we DO have a minute…” she is joking about Luke being invited to a massive event. Luke asks about Sam and Alice says he couldn’t make it. Luke says “Shame he couldn’t make it tonight” and Luke and Alice continue to hang out and drink. I think it’s interesting that Luke and Sam seem to have a possible friendship or acquaintance.
We then cut to a tape recorder again and get “A tape recorder CLICKS, distantly a body shuffles in an alley off the main road.” The body is of some sort of victim talking and muttering. They keep talking about things like how they are trying to breathe and how they are being dragged below the line of sea and sky. So it sounds like they are talking about drowning and they are also having trouble breathing as they gasp for air. Alice is heading home, and the transcripts state that she is still buzzing from the show (she’s slightly intoxicated). Alice runs into this seemingly drowning woman and the victim grabs her in some sort of panic or desperation leading to a small altercation as Alice throws the victim off. Alice begins to panic and call 999 for an ambulance as the victim appears to choke and gasp for air.
As Alice explains the situation she mentions “Yeah there’s someone I don’t know if they’ve OD’d but they’re going into a fit or something.” The victim then seemingly dies, or at least stops breathing, but the transcripts clarify that she dies from an impossible amount of water coming out of her lungs, and Alice starts performing CPR. As she panics the transcripts say “She sees the tape recorder next to the body and picks it up.” This implies that the tape recorder was on the strange drowning woman and it could be an Entity such as The Web trying to get the tape recorder where it needs to go or even give it to Alice. It could even have to do with the ERROR that escaped the Institute’s ruins in episode 10 (Saturday Night) since that situation was also being recorded via tape recorder. Maybe ERROR even saw it and picked it up at some point. However, as “The victim starts to speak again, quietly, bubbling up through the water and out of dead lips.” Alice panics, drops the tape recorder, and flees the scene, leaving what the transcripts describe as a dead woman behind as the deceased person’s voice trails off and the episode ends.
It’s kind of hard to understand what the victim is saying the entire time so here’s the transcripts of the entire speech awkwardly stitched together: “- the second time is up I try to grasp the air and fill my lungs that burn and rattle full. I can’t, there’s so much air but none inside as I go down again the cold surrounds and drags me down, the blue the black the weight of all the sodden fates awaiting me below the line of sea and sky. I kick, I lunge I flail towards the brightened blue and break above the third and final time. I know I’m spent there is no more within me save the salt spun death that reaches down my throat and spasms in my chest that cannot breathe inside me i’m done the water is… is… dark Deeper… Deeper… Down among the dead and swollen flesh so pale within this lightless place where eyes are open cloudy white and all the water pushes down upon a lifeless form that sinks and sinks down to the bottom that is not there no sandy grave below the swell no rest among the coral and the depths I feared so much but reached up and over land to claim me still.”
The force this victim is talking about is probably the same force that Gordon was talking about in episode 11 (Marked). I’ll refer to this Entity as “The Deep” like many other fans for now. In Episode 11 Gordon says, among other things, “I saw them hanging around the office when I was waiting. Waiting so long just to see it, just to know what’s in the water. And they took it. They think they’re smart, but I saw them I know where they’re staying and if they think they deserve it they’re wrong. It belongs to the deep. I’m going to go get it and I’m going to find it and if they try and stop me I swear the ocean will claim us all. I can taste the salt and spray. It’s waiting in the water.” So there’s a lot of the same imagery here, plus the earlier mentioned parallels with Dredgerman’s name.
Some people are arguing that The Deep is a completely new Entity of some sort but I would argue that what we have seen of The Deep fits in line pretty comfortably with The Buried. The Buried also has a strong association with water in the form of deep water, drowning, and suffocation (which seems to be happening to this woman). Gordon angrily says that the body Ink5 obtains belongs to the deep (which sounds similar to The Buried’s connection to burying bodies or making sure they aren’t dug up). In fact, some of The Buried’s many other names is “Choke”, “Too Close I Cannot Breathe” and “Forever Deep Below.” Forever Deep Below is especially an interesting name since the woman mutters “…the blue the black the weight of all the sodden fates awaiting me below the line of sea and sky…” So something deep below the horizon of the sea and sky. All the names I mentioned fit pretty well with what the woman seems to be affected by, she is literally choking and struggling to breathe as water fills her lungs. Even something like “The Deep” sounds like it could be right at home as one of The Buried’s names. The Buried ultimately revolves around the fear of not having enough space, whether that be from literally being stuck in a small space, metaphorically lacking wiggleroom, or not having enough space in something like your lungs to breathe. So being trapped deep underwater or underground first with The Buried as a motif. It’s also important to remember that the Entities are no stranger to having multiple names or titles. For example, there is The Eye and The Beholding but these both refer to the same Entity. I would actually be a little surprised if all the characters referred to the Entities with the exact same set of names even if Smirke’s 14 does end up being still in use by the OIAR or other people.
Some people might argue The Vast because it also has an association with the deep ocean, and Simon even tries to use this association for a ritual, but it’s important to remember that Entities can overlap in both fear and manifestation and it’s not always what they manifest as but why. When The Vast manifests as the ocean or bodies of water it usually does so to capture the fear in regards to the immense size of such bodies but when The Buried does this it usually has to do with suffocation and drowning (like what we see now). Obviously, these can overlap since something large can easily smother or crush you but hopefully you get my point, and remember even often opposing Entities are connected and bleed into each other.
Conclusion
Previously I hoped that the next external Gwen got to see would be someone who can talk and give some actual questions / answers and it looks like I could be getting my wish depending on how this goes. Although, whether Mowbray is an external is still technically up in the air and maybe she’s just been brought on but I think it’s safe to assume that her being an external is likely. I wonder if she knows anything if at all.
I’m also beginning to wonder if ERROR is somehow connected to the tapes and what it’s plan / goal is. Alice expressed fear of travelling alone previously ever since leaving the Institute’s ruins but despite seemingly being alone before and after running into the woman there is no sign of ERROR appearing to attack or anything.
If you want the categorization of the case the transcripts list it with-
CAT1RB-6451-22062023-22032024
Hunt (aristocratic) -/- compulsion
Incident Elements:
- Graphic Violence/Murder
- Futility
- Being Hunted
- Classism
- Dehumanisation
- Hostile work environment
- drowning
- Mentions of: blades, guns, military service
- SFX: Gunfire, loud music, suffocation
Archive for my other thoughts: TMP Quick Thoughts Archive