Episode 18 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 17 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 18 “Solo Work”
As always, we are witnessing the events of the podcast via various devices. We start off in the evening with Alice’s phone as she encounters Teddy in the courtyard outside of the OIAR. Alice grabs Teddy’s attention and the transcripts say “Teddy looks over and sees her. He does his best to seem pleased to see her. ALICE comes over and takes her earphones out.” An interesting reaction to be noted in the transcripts and one that points to a possibly rocky relationship or some kind of friction between them in the future. Although, I can’t say if Teddy pretending to look pleased with Alice is because of any personal gripe, he’s attempting to cut all ties with the OIAR, or because he’s tired / stressed.
Teddy says “Hey Alice! Hi. I er, didn’t recognize you.” and the two get to talking. Alice had assumed Teddy came to visit her but it turns out he had an interview. Alice makes a joke about Teddy being unable to make it without her but he responds “You do realize there are other businesses in Royal Mint Court? It’s not just the creepy basement nightmare factory.” before Alice responds “(genuinely surprised) Huh. I never considered that.” So Royal Mint Court is definitely a location to keep an ear out for and I might have to go back and see if the location has been previously mentioned. Also, fun fact about Royal Mint Court, it’s an actual place in London that wikipedia states “The main building, designed by James Johnson and completed by Robert Smirke.” If you’ve seen TMA you’ll understand just how important Robert Smirke is.
There’s still a lot of questions up in the air in relation to how closely the Protocol universe mirrors the TMA universe and when the supernatural events started appearing. If this universe has its own Entities then there’s a chance this universe’s Robert Smirke also had a connection to the supernatural but if these are the same Entities from TMA then the question becomes about some weird multiversal time and space shenanigans affecting when on the timeline the Entities would have appeared in the Protocol universe that I won’t get into today. We know that based on Anya Villette’s account in MAG 114 (Cracked Foundation) it seems possible for things being sent through the gaps in reality to actually end up at a time before they left. Exactly how much of a time discrepancy there can be when traversing the gap or if there is any limit or condition to the weird time stuff is unknown. This is all to say that I can’t tell you if Smirke will have any level of importance again in this universe or if he’s just a normal architect and this is a reference for TMA viewers.
Teddy’s comment about the Royal Mint Court makes me wonder a bit more about how the OIAR is set up. We know Lena seems in charge, Gwen is currently the Externals Liaison working under her, and in Episode 11 (Marked) Gwen says to Celia “And I gave a full explanation for my lateness. Which, I might add, I didn’t actually need to do for a subordinate.” Which might imply that officially the Externals Liaison somehow outranks the station of Sam, Celia, and Alice. We also know that Lena has her own bosses that she answer’s too based on Gwen’s blackmail. I wonder if the OIAR has a day shift and if there’s always supposed to be an Externals Liaison? If so, who was the Liaison before Gwen? Also, if the OIAR is a part of the government how far does knowledge of the supernatural go? Does the prime minister know about what the OIAR exactly does? Are the king / queen kept in any sort of loop?
Alice asks how Teddy is doing and he says “I’ve been better. I have some savings, though – I’ll get by.” and Alice remarks “Be cool if you got this job, right? You working here by day, and me lurking in the night… Hey we could even go for drinks! A little snifter to start your day off right!” To which Teddy says what is basically a “maybe” depending on how the interview goes. Teddy says he’ll have to keep her posted about said interview and Alice mentions how he needs to keep her posted about everything because she never gets to see him anymore.
Alice mentions Celia to Teddy and explains “Oh, you’ll love her mate. She’s really weird, but like, in a hot way. She’ll make you forget about all about your embarrassing obsession with Sam.” Makes me wonder if Teddy did genuinely have feelings for Sam at some point and if the reason Alice seemed upset that Celia was going on another date with Sam is because Alice also has feelings for Celia. This is me saying I wonder how many of Alice’s jokes or comments are projection. We then get this interaction:
ALICE
“Then text me back, you loser.”
TEDDY
“I will.”
ALICE
“Liar.”
That last line hits harder than intended, and the air suddenly goes out of the conversation.
I wonder if the reason this line hits so hard is because it hits too close to home or Alice’s comment has more truth to it than either would care to admit? One of the last things Alice says as Teddy leaves is “Look after yourself Teddy.” I wonder if this worry is connected to the reason Teddy quit his job or if it’s just how anyone would worry about a friend.
We cut to the breakroom at night as Sam pours himself some coffee and Lena walks in. Sam notes that he doesn’t see Lena in the breakroom often and she says “I forgot to fill my thermos this evening.” Lena makes note of how nervous Sam appears and he explains “Oh, well, I mean, if I’m being honest, you’re my boss, but I’ve hardly ever actually spoken to you still.” Which leads to:
LENA
“Why would I need to talk to you? Your work is satisfactory. Unless you have a work-related issue I could assist you with?”
SAM
“Um no, nothing like that.”
LENA
“Then Consider my silence a compliment, if you like.”
SAM
“Right.”
Lena indeed comes off as a bit strange. I wonder if she doesn’t need to talk to Sam most of the time because she has some way of monitoring where people are or what they are doing like a certain boss from TMA. Also, does this mean Lena is going through each of the cases after they are categorized by her subordinates or is she just saying that whoever / whatever checks them hasn’t complained? Maybe she has a way of watching Sam work or maybe a possibly supernatural way of automatically going through the forms?
Sam asks Lena where Celia is in an interaction I find kind of funny and Lena answers “(taking slight pity) She called in with a “childcare emergency”.” We know that by the end of this episode it was probably Celia teleporting somewhere randomly suddenly again.
SAM
“God, I hope Jack’s ok.”
LENA
“Who’s that?”
SAM
“Uh, Celia’s kid?”
LENA
“Oh, is that its name?”
SAM
“Uh Yeah.’
LENA
“Hm.”
SAM
“No kids of your own?”
LENA
“No.”
SAM
“No. That makes sense.”
Never change Lena, never change.
Case
This case is already notable because it’s being told to us by Augustus. A voice that’s not only implied to be rare when Alice says “Hey! Augustus! Feels like I haven’t heard from him in forever!” but we actually haven’t heard the voice since Episode 4 (Taking Notes). I have some thoughts about Augustus but let’s go through the case first. It starts off with:
Report of medical examiner’s investigation for inquest into the death of Violet Parker.
Autopsy and examination performed by Dr. S. Rashid.
Decedent: Violet Abigail Parker
Sex: Female
Age: 41
Ethnicity: White British
Occupation: Teacher
Home Address: 74 Willowtree Close, Ickenham, Greater London
Type of death: Found at scene
Notification by: London Metropolitan Police
Investigating agency: As above
Situation of body: Clothed, in the middle of Milton Court Open Space
Estimated time of death: 0300 20.03.2024
Rigor: Yes
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Brown
Height: 172 centimetres
Weight: 31 kilograms
Marks and wounds: Extreme malnutrition. Tissue damage on both feet and stress fracture on left ankle.
Probable cause of death: Starvation, dehydration, exposure.
Manner of death: Unknown.
The examiner leaves some comments about the autopsy and notes how despite being dead the body of Violet keeps talking: “Shortly before finishing my autopsy, the deceased, Violet Abigail Parker, began to talk. I can confirm absolutely that she was dead when this happened and I was at that moment examining her heart and lungs, and neither of them was active. How she could speak with an open thorax is beyond me.” They note that Violet’s body is reciting some kind of story with something akin to an involuntary reflex and they suspect that the story in question has something to do with the nature of her death. “After a few minutes the cadaver ceased to speak, and has not resumed since. Unless the morgue technicians or funeral directors report something similar prior to cremation, I will probably keep this record private. I want to ask the next of kin about it but unfortunately noone has come forward to claim the body. Besides, I doubt they would appreciate finding out she gave her last words after her death.”
Okay, there’s already a lot in common here with the drowning woman that appears in Episode 15 (Well Run). It’s a bit hard to tell when listening to it for the first time but the drowning lady also seems to be recounting some kind of story or experience. I sloppily edited what the drowning woman says in that episode together to give a better idea of what she is saying- “- 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.”
What the drowning woman talks about also seems like it could relate to her death. However, I don’t think that the drowning woman Alice encounters and Violet are the same person. Most notably, the examiner doesn’t make any mention of there being any evidence of drowning or waterlogging. We only get “Marks and wounds: Extreme malnutrition. Tissue damage on both feet and stress fracture on left ankle.”, “Probable cause of death: Starvation, dehydration, exposure.” and “Manner of death: Unknown.” We know that the drowning woman had an autopsy and her lungs were full of too much water. However, there is no note of that here. I also don’t think this was any of the bodies we saw Ink5 digging up since this one seems like it died super recently. The examiner also transcribes what Violet is saying and it doesn’t really sound anything like the drowning woman’s speech. The entire speech goes-
AUGUSTUS (CONT.)
“-and of course mother always said not to. It was an old house, and an empty house, and mother said that that made it a dangerous house. There will be spiders, she said, rotten wood to fall through and oh so many rusty nails. And most importantly, too many rooms. So many turning passageways to confuse you, so many locked doors that even if you didn’t hurt yourself, you might never find your way out again. And then you’d walk till your feet broke and you starved to death. She wouldn’t come for us, if we went in there. She’d leave us to wander all alone. That’s what mother said. And we never did go in that house on Church Street.
But it’s strange, even though we never went inside, I’ve been in the house on Church Street my entire life. I try to escape it. If my mother says she needs money, I give it. If Tom needs me to put together more lesson plans, I will. If Hannah needs her clothes washed I’ll do it. Because if I don’t, if I don’t listen and I don’t do what I’m told then they won’t come for me. I’ll be alone in the house. I’ll be alone.
And it’s always there, waiting for me. I’ve dreamt of it my whole life and I still am dreaming.
When I was fifteen, we were told that we had to study Wordsworth in school: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. Everyone laughed: soppy, stupid poetry. But in my imagination the clouds rolled silent and thick through the old house on Church Street, choking and hiding, so that even if anyone had thought to look they would never have seen me. The daffodils pushed and strained and tore through the old wood of the house, a rotted mass of yellow that would be my only company. From that day forward the empty grey of the house was laced with fog and moldering yellow.
The house itself is long gone, of course. They tore it down when I was ten. Reduced to splinters and stones. But it was already too late. With my mother’s help I had built the house anew, not on Church Street, but inside me. Where no-one would find me or ever think to look.
And here I am. The corridors stretch onwards with the doors all blank and strange. Even the daffodils are here, stinking of mildew. Someone has brought me here but who? Some figure reaching asking questions in an alley? It does not matter. They are not here now. No-one is here now, and no-one ever will be.
Because I broke my promise. I went in the house on Church Street and I’m still here. Now all I can do is walk. Walk and hope and ignore the burning in my throat and the aching in my belly. Keep screaming hoping someone might hear me through all that cloying fog.
But no-one is coming to help me. So I must be careful on the stairs or they will break and I will fall. I must be careful on the floor or I will step upon an upturned nail. I must be careful with the doors or the handles will give me splinters. And the fall will break my legs. And the nails will give me tetanus. And the splinters will turn to gangrene. And all the while the daffodils will watch and wilt and laugh.
I wander lonely. I wander lonely. I will die in this place. And no-one will miss me.”
So this speech doesn’t make mention of drowning or water. Whether this is caused by the same force / Entity as the drowning woman or by something like ERROR is something I cannot say for certainty. It’s also possible something like ERROR is causing these people to speak after their deaths without being the thing that killed them.
If we were to look at the case through the lens of Smirke’s 14 + The Extinction, Violet’s account has some similarities with a couple of Entities.
One of the most apparent is that of The Lonely. Violet recounts how her mother wouldn’t come for her if they entered this strange house and “She’d leave us to wander all alone. That’s what mother said.” Violet also says “I try to escape it. If my mother says she needs money, I give it. If Tom needs me to put together more lesson plans, I will. If Hannah needs her clothes washed I’ll do it. Because if I don’t, if I don’t listen and I don’t do what I’m told then they won’t come for me. I’ll be alone in the house. I’ll be alone.” which shows that she fears she will be abandoned if she does not appease the people around her.
Violet recounts an experience she had at school by saying “When I was fifteen, we were told that we had to study Wordsworth in school: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. Everyone laughed: soppy, stupid poetry. But in my imagination the clouds rolled silent and thick through the old house on Church Street, choking and hiding, so that even if anyone had thought to look they would never have seen me. The daffodils pushed and strained and tore through the old wood of the house, a rotted mass of yellow that would be my only company. From that day forward the empty grey of the house was laced with fog and moldering yellow.” The Lonely is known to have an association with fog, which is a type of cloud. This is probably because fog makes it harder to see what’s around you and muffles noise, so it’s harder to tell if others are around you and it can make you feel more alone. Martin was tied to The Lonely in TMA and liked performing poetry alone but this feels like a bit more of a stretch. However, the fear of being ostracized or being unable to connect to other people does connect to The Lonely pretty well.
We also get “The house itself is long gone, of course. They tore it down when I was ten. Reduced to splinters and stones. But it was already too late. With my mother’s help I had built the house anew, not on Church Street, but inside me. Where no-one would find me or ever think to look.” This could easily be a metaphor for loneliness, with the idea being that her mother caused her to feel alone even when the house disappeared. She feels lost in a house she associates with bad memories. Violet emphasizes the loneliness even more by saying “Someone has brought me here but who? Some figure reaching asking questions in an alley? It does not matter. They are not here now. No-one is here now, and no-one ever will be.” and believing that she was sent there “Because I broke my promise. I went in the house on Church Street and I’m still here. Now all I can do is walk. Walk and hope and ignore the burning in my throat and the aching in my belly. Keep screaming hoping someone might hear me through all that cloying fog.”
We know that some people, such as Peter Lukas, had the ability to magically cast other people into The Lonely, but whether this is anything similar is anyone’s guess. There’s more mention of fog and the speech ends with “I wander lonely. I wander lonely. I will die in this place. And no-one will miss me.” People have died in The Lonely before too, In MAG 150 (Cul-de-Sac) we get “I didn’t know them, as it turned out. A young woman, conservatively dressed. Her face was bloody but I was sure I didn’t recognize her. She had a bag with her, and her ID read “Yotunde Uthman”, not a name I’d ever encountered before. Just another victim of this place. It looked as though she had forced her head through the mirror on the dressing-table. The shards cutting her face and neck to ribbons, a particularly large piece piercing her jugular, spilling blood all down the unremarkable white table and onto the light brown carpet below. I don’t think she’d been dead that long. I’m not a doctor and I didn’t really try to check.” So we know it is sometimes possible to die in The Lonely or maybe The Lonely was just trying to amp up the fear by generating dead bodies.
Plus, when Jon is describing Martin’s Domain he says “It’s a small domain. A swirling mix of The Eye and The Lonely. Inhabited by a few lost souls whose fear is not of their isolation or their agonies, but that no-one will ever know of them. That they shall suffer in silence, and be mourned by nobody. That’s why you can’t really see it. It’s why even if we do travel through it, you won’t be able to see any of the people trapped there.” So there is a precedent for The Lonely being connected to the fear of dying alone or not being missed.
Violet’s account also shares similarities with Entities like The Spiral, Corruption, Eye and even a bit of the Desolation.
Violet mentions “And most importantly, too many rooms. So many turning passageways to confuse you, so many locked doors that even if you didn’t hurt yourself, you might never find your way out again.” which could connect to Entities like The Spiral and / or Stranger via the fear of being lost, mistaken, or not knowing where you are going. A place with too many rooms and corridors sounds similar to something like the Distortion. We also get “And it’s always there, waiting for me. I’ve dreamt of it my whole life and I still am dreaming.” and Violet mentions that she is unable to recall who sent her to the house and The Spiral has an association with misremembering stuff while The Stranger has an association with forgetting things. The Spiral has also had an association with dreams and being unable to tell if you’re asleep or awake. As I mentioned in Episode 8 (Running on Empty), fog could theoretically be associated with an Entity like The Spiral since some other definitions of fog include “something that obscures and confuses a situation or someone’s thought processes” and “bewilder or puzzle (someone).” Both of which could point to the idea of fog or mist manifesting as a metaphor made literal in order to confuse someone. There’s also an argument for an association between fog and The Stranger with how it makes it harder to make out what’s happening around you.
The case also has some themes of The Corruption with all the rotting imagery. Things such as “There will be spiders, she said, rotten wood to fall through and oh so many rusty nails.”, “The daffodils pushed and strained and tore through the old wood of the house, a rotted mass of yellow that would be my only company. From that day forward the empty grey of the house was laced with fog and moldering yellow.”, and “And the nails will give me tetanus. And the splinters will turn to gangrene. And all the while the daffodils will watch and wilt and laugh.” The Corruption is an Entity tied to fears relating to disgust which often includes things like rot and diseases. Additionally, The Corruption can connect to disgust with non-physical things (such as certain relationships) or even a sort of self-loathing with someone being disgusted with themselves. Violet seems to have a low opinion of herself here.
A place that The Lonely and Corruption may overlap is with certain forms of isolation. If people find you disgusting or off putting then they are less likely to want to be around you, which might cause you to feel both disgusting and alone. In this way the house within Violet could represent how she sees herself.
There’s also some themes relating to The Eye here. There seems to be a fear of judgment with “If my mother says she needs money, I give it. If Tom needs me to put together more lesson plans, I will. If Hannah needs her clothes washed I’ll do it. Because if I don’t, if I don’t listen and I don’t do what I’m told then they won’t come for me. I’ll be alone in the house. I’ll be alone.” and “When I was fifteen, we were told that we had to study Wordsworth in school: “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”. Everyone laughed: soppy, stupid poetry.” There’s also “And all the while the daffodils will watch and wilt and laugh.” Whether the daffodils are watching literally or metaphorically is debatable but a white daffodil might vaguely look like the whites of an eye from a distance. The Eye also tends to have a big emphasis on memory and being forced to relive things. This is most obvious with TMA’s various statements but characters like Jon can also force people to recount things that have happened and people who give live statements will suffer nightmares revolving around said statement every time they sleep. In fact, the account Violet is giving after death is very statement-like and I could totally see The Eye do something like make dead bodies give statements or accounts based on what happened to them in order to scare the people listening.
There is also a little bit of The Desolation here via some of the pain and dangerous accidents or things breaking. Violet mentions “rotten wood to fall through and oh so many rusty nails” and “So I must be careful on the stairs or they will break and I will fall. I must be careful on the floor or I will step upon an upturned nail. I must be careful with the doors or the handles will give me splinters. And the fall will break my legs. And the nails will give me tetanus. And the splinters will turn to gangrene.”
You could also make an argument for an Entity like The Web in relation to the fear of being at the whims of other people or like you are not in control of the situation / you’re actions, The Vast in relation to Violet’s mentioning of falling on a couple of occasions, and The Buried in relation to the fear of not having enough space (since you might accidentally step on a nail or splinter and you seemingly cannot leave the house).
Violet’s account also shares similarities with something like a Domain in TMA and, as I mentioned earlier, it does share some thematic similarities with Martin’s Domain.
AUGUSTUS
So I’ve been going through each of the computer’s voices to see if there’s any pattern. If you want most of my thoughts on them you can see them here (Episode 12 TMP Quick Thoughts) in the conclusion section. TL;DR CHESTER (Jonathon’s voice) tends to have cases relating to the Institute or people looking for things while NORRIS (Martin’s voice) tends to relate themes of isolation, losing loved ones, or feeling abandoned (watching people you care about die, disappear, etc.). However, AUGUSTUS is a bit of a mystery because we’ve literally had only one case to go off of, so it was impossible to find any overlapping themes or connections between the AUGUSTUS cases. Well, until now anyway.
In Episode 12 I wondered if AUGUSTUS’ cases were either really old or had to do with people using the supernatural to gain power. However, this case doesn’t fit into either one of those categories, not only did Violet’s death presumably occur around “0300 20.03.2024” (so in 2024) but Violet didn’t seem particularly power hungry and she didn’t have any victims.
However, there is one thing both cases have in common and that’s that both Violet and Bardwell are dead. Violet was murdered and events written down in Episode 4’s case occurred in the 18th century. So it’s possible that AUGUSTUS deals with cases from people that have already died, which would make sense if you buybuy the theory that Jon, Martin and Jonah are somehow trapped in the computers. Not only was Jonah afraid of death, so much so that he enacted the Change in an attempt to extend his life, but Jon presumably killed him. Of course, some may ask “If Jon killed him how is he in the computer?” Well, when the Catalogue of the Trapped Dead exists we know it’s not impossible for Entities to copy, or recreate the minds of specific people. Considering that being the “Pupil of the Eye” means you were literally joined with The Beholding it wouldn’t surprise me if a part of Jonah somehow got tied to it before he died or if The Eye is sort of recreating parts of him that it likes.
Rest of the Episode
Sam notices some of the obvious similarities between Violet’s case and Alice’s encounter with the drowning woman and tries to point this out to Alice.
SAM
“As in telling the story of its death. Sounds like she was trapped in her greatest fear which then actually killed her.”
ALICE
“Look I see where you’re going with this. You think it’s something to do with- With what I saw?”
SAM
“Yeah. I think maybe there’s something out there that killed both of them.”
ALICE
“(growing sarcastic) Hmmmm. I see. So you reckon I should have a look at this case? Maybe note down some connections? Pin it up on my corkboard, circle some key dates in bright red, connect them all with string and stare at them while moodily sipping bourbon?”
SAM
“I mean, maybe?”
ALICE
“That’s dumb.”
SAM
“You can’t just ignore this.”
ALICE
“Why not? Ok, let’s assume you’re right. These cases are connected and there’s a weird murderer who can kill you with your deepest fear and then make your corpse narrate it. Let’s take that insane premise as a truth.”
SAM
“Fine.”
ALICE
“Did your case give you any clue as to how to avoid this killer?”
SAM
“Uh… no, not really?”
ALICE
“Okay. Did it give any hint as to where they were going to be in the future so that I can avoid also being there?”
SAM
“Well no but”
ALICE
“Did it, in fact, give any details as to how it works, what it looks like, what it wants, why it’s here, anything like that?”
SAM
“No.”
ALICE
“Then with the greatest respect, your idea is bad and you should feel bad.”
SAM
“But now we know something’s out there”
ALICE
“And? If even one percent of these cases has even a grain of truth to them, then there are hundreds of somethings out there, thousands! This is just the latest flavour of awful.”
SAM
“But you might have actually met this one. In person”
ALICE
“And in case you didn’t notice, it messed me up! So why the hell would I want to know more about it!?”
SAM
“I mean, it might help you come to terms with it, or…”
ALICE
“No, Sam. Absolute best case scenario it does nothing and just wastes my time. Most likely scenario it makes me too scared to walk down the street without freaking out. Worst case scenario it gets me curious. Because if there’s one thing I’ve noticed with all these cases over the years it’s that it’s curiosity that actually gets you killed. So, thanks but no thanks.”
Sam sighs.
SAM
“Sorry I brought it up.”
ALICE
“It’s ok. I know you’re just trying to help but”
Sorry I’m copying and pasting so much here, but I just find this conversation really interesting. I find both Sam and Alice’s positions to be very empathetic here. Alice is kind of right in the fact that currently they lack any way to actually do anything about what’s happening. So why bother stressing about something you can’t control? But Sam believes that they might be able to find more of the answers Alice is talking about by investigating further and that knowing more can bring closure. My personality leans a bit closer to Sam’s logic I think but I can understand the feeling of not wanting to know something terrible when you don’t think you can do anything about anyway. Sometimes knowing about stuff you can’t exactly control causes extra stress.
This conversation also helps show that while Alice means well, and is doing what she can to protect herself, her defense mechanism of ignoring the problem might cause her to come off as heartless or not taking things seriously enough as she shields herself with layer upon layer of jokes and irony.
I also find one of Alice’s comments very interesting- “Worst case scenario it gets me curious. Because if there’s one thing I’ve noticed with all these cases over the years it’s that it’s curiosity that actually gets you killed. So, thanks but no thanks.” If you’ve read my TMA article on The Eye (COUGH (Google Docs- The Relationships Between the Dread Powers: The Eye- Knowledge is Fear and Ignorance is Bliss) COUGH(Tumblr- https://douglysium.tumblr.com/post/735599414228484097/the-relationships-between-the-dread-powers-the)) then you know that the idea of curiosity being dangerous or the fear associated with knowing something is actually a pretty big theme in TMA. Most notably, with The Eye. A lot of the people see The Eye as just being the fear of being watched but it actually has a much larger swathe of fears it embodies. It also includes the fear of being judged and In MAG 111 (Family Business) Jon says “R-r-right. I know The Eye. Fear of being watched, right?” and Gerard states “Being watched, being followed, having your deepest secrets exposed. Needing to know, even if your discoveries might destroy you. The feeling that something, somewhere, is letting you suffer, just so it can watch.” The Eye doesn’t seem to just be the fear of being watched but more broadly the fear of knowledge. This is to say, that The Eye isn’t just the fear of being known or watched but also the fear of knowing too much or being the watcher, seeing something you wish you didn’t. This is why Jonah can force information into the heads of people like Martin and Melanie, and in MAG 200 we are told that The Eye was born from the fear people had “of their eyes showing them too much.” If you want to read a more in depth explanation about what I’m talking about feel free to check the previously mentioned article.
I bring these points up because I feel like Sam and Alice are a sort of continuation of these themes from TMA. I’ve mentioned previously that Sam has a level of curiosity that The Eye likes to prey on or take advantage of (in a manner similar to how The Slaughter can encourage rage or The Hunt the urge to chase) and Alice has an “ignorance is bliss mindset.” I’m not saying that Sam and / or Alice are secretly Eye Avatars or something, but rather that the OIAR is probably tied to The Eye or a similar Entity that attracts people like Sam. Also, something might be feeding on the fear of the workers in the OIAR reading the statements. Plus the cases resemble statements. Whether Sam and / or Alice will fall into The Eye’s clutches or already have remains to be seen.
Alice’s comment also tells us that Alice’s personality might be a fair bit more curious than she lets on and she is actively trying to suppress her curiosity. There have been a couple of times in the transcripts of previous episodes where Alice seemed interesting in learning something “despite herself.”
Gwen enters the room and it’s clear something is bothering her. After some probing from Sam, Gwen does what we have all been waiting for. She tells Alice and Sam the truth about the OIAR’s Externals… or at least tries to. You see, the first External Gwen met, and the one she presumably has had the most experience with at the moment, is Mr. Bonzo. Who, mind you, already exists as a very popular children’s character in the Protocol universe. It would be like if creepasta version of Elmo was a hitman for the government.
This entire situation goes about as well as you’d think which leads to Sam and Alice taking it as a joke, and Sam gives a surprisingly accurate if a bit rough impression of Bonzo when he says “You absolute asshole, Gwen! You absolute- You totally had me going there! I was- ha! Christ, could you imagine though? You’re turn up to the tv studio all all like (sinister voice) “I have a job for you, Mr. Bonzo” (normal voice) And he’s all like (Bonzo voice) “BONZO BONZO BONZ-“.” Okay, maybe Gwen didn’t pick the best example but it’s the best one she’s got and she didn’t find Lady Mowbray super monstrous.
Gwen describes the Externals as being “They’re not… I don’t think they’re people. Not all of them, anyway. Not fully.” and “In the cases, you know how there are often things or places or people or whatever who… aren’t right? Who seem to be causing all the awful things to happen. ” to which Sam asks “Like… the monsters?” Mr. Bonzo is probably some kind of monster, and while monsters can look like ordinary people and Avatar’s can look monstrous it wouldn’t surprise me if characters like Mowbray were some kind of Avatar (something that might make them seem like “people who aren’t right”).
This scene is interesting because making a joke like this seems kind of out of character for Gwen but I can’t blame Sam for assuming it’s a prank or something. Sam notices that Gwen is taking this very seriously:
ALICE
“Told you. Curiosity will get you killed. Best try and ignore it.”
ALICE starts putting her earbuds in.
SAM
“Alice, she’s really messed up, you can’t just keep ignoring”
ALICE
“(loudly) Can’t hear you! Headphones!”
SAM
“For god’s sake…”
More “ignorance is bliss” style theming from Alice and this also shows how Alice ignoring problems can easily come off as cold hearted or outright mean. It also shows the differences in Sam’s and Alice’s approach to stuff like this. I assume that Alice literally has seen at least one person die or disappear and I wonder if one or more of those events are what led to Teddy quitting.
We cut to Celia’s flat via baby monitor and we learn that Jack is indeed a real baby (and not just an excuse Celia made up). We also get to see the Protocol universe’s Georgie, which is an interesting treat. Georgie is playing with the baby and pretending Jack is taking her face: “(covering her face) Oh no! Who keeps taking Georgie’s face?” I pray this is just a joke about how this is an alternate version of Georgia and not some fucked up foreshadowing because The Stranger is known to steal skin and faces, as seen in The Stranger’s Merry-go-round Domain in MAG 165 (Revolutions). The Domain is watched over by NotSasha and it involves people fighting over faces in order to regain a sense of identity. This could also be seen as ironic since the Celia that appears in TMA seems to have had her original name (Lynne Hammond) taken away from her in a Domain that could be tied to The Stranger. That Celia was also a part of Georgie and Melanie’s cult in the Post-Change world. So seeing them interact like this does have me thinking. Does Celia still worship Georgie as a prophet or anything?
Anyway, Celia returns home with some baby food and tries to explain her sudden disappearance as well as why she didn’t call Georgie beforehand, but Georgie calls her bluff and says “Celia, I’m saying you don’t need to lie to me.” Celia’s excuse about baby food makes no sense because Georgie found tons of baby food in Celia’s house after Jack woke up hungry.
Georgie then says “Celia, I like you. And I love little Jack. Yes I do! He’s so cute! So I’m not going to ask about all these “emergencies” that you have to run off to, or your “civil service” job that happens to last all night. But if I’m going to be helping out I need you to be straight with me on something.” before asking if Celia is spying on her for the government, the illuminati, Masons, some secret organization, or aliens. Georgie’s comment on Celia’s “emergencies” would imply that Celia’s disappearances are probably random and involuntary as opposed to some active experiment she is continuously trying to do. Georgie being a sort of paranoid conspiracy theorist is also a funny juxtaposition from TMA Georgie. Is this what Georgie would have been like if she didn’t lose her sense of fear in that encounter with The End? Weird.
We also get:
GEORGIE (cont’d)
“Speaking of… have you been out all night in your Pajamas?”
CELIA
“Yes. Yes, I have.”
GEORGIE
“Okay.”
This once again implies that Celia’s disappearances are involuntary.
Conclusion
Things are moving at a pretty slow pace but there was a surprising amount to think about in this episode. If you want the category this case was filed under in the transcripts-
CAT1RC2374-20032024-10042024
Memory (derelict) -/- compulsion
Incident Elements:
- Isolation
- Strong Language
- Arguments
- Trauma Triggers
- Mentions of: corpses, autopsy, starvation
You can read my other articles here- TMAGP Quick Thoughts Archive