Recap: PARANORMAL WITNESS – The Contract

[All photos courtesy of Syfy unless they are GIFs]

Season 5, episode 4: “The Contract”
Directed by Elliot Goldner

Read our prior recaps here.

Have you ever watched an episode of a ridiculous TV show and said to yourself, “Yes, self, this is why we watch bad TV. For beautiful moments like this”. Well friends, buckle your seatbelts and prepare for a wild ride, because this is one of those precious episodes.

22 year old Eric decides it is time to move out. His younger sister Ashley moves back home with her husband Chris and son Gage so that they can save up money to buy a house. Ashley and Chris stay in Eric’s old room. You can definitely tell that a teenage boy used to live in that room. The walls are all black, and it is clear that Eric probably singlehandedly supported his local Hot Topic. As the couple leaves the room, Eric’s old gaming computer turns itself on and starts chirping…ominously.  

Later that week’s Eric’s mom decides to redecorate his old room for Ashley and Chris. She is up on the ladder painting and she hears this whispering voice but looks around the room and sees no one. She is confused.

One night when it is very late, Ashley has put Gage to bed and is headed to bed herself. We see her undressing via a webcam, which is really creepy and voyeuristic, Syfy. Suddenly she hears a scream from Gage’s room. He says there is a tall smiling man standing next to his bed, at which point she probably should have just burned the house down because HEEEELLLL NO. Ashley tells him it is a nightmare because she can’t see anyone, but he refuses to be in his room alone. His closet door creaks open when they leave.

Ashley feels uneasy in Eric’s room and can’t sleep, which to be honest could be from the creepy goth decor or the paint fumes, it is really a toss-up. She feels she is being watched. Suddenly, she feels a cold rush like she has just stepped into a walk-in freezer and knows someone is in her room. The camera switches back to the webcam and shows a tall man standing next to their bed (!!!).

Eric comes to visit and see how Gage is doing. He says the house brings back some good memories and some bad memories…

Ashley and her mom go and get Chinese takeout for dinner since that is what Eric likes to eat (good taste, sir). Eric is playing with Gage when he sees some creepy drawings of a tall man. When Ashley and her mom get back, they see a very tall man wearing all black standing on the porch. The man is there and then abruptly disappears. Their father goes to check it out and sees nothing.

Early the next morning their mom Kim is putting on her makeup when she sees a man standing in the hallway looking at her in the mirror. She sees him go into her room. She busts into the room and wakes up Billy saying the thing came in there. They find nothing and no one when something under the bed grabs her leg and tries to pull her under. Billy pulls her back out. They see nothing under the bed. They then burn the bed in the backyard and everyone lives happily ever after. Just kidding!

Kim says they need to seek the help of a godly man to get this thing out of their home. They call on Pastor Danny Owens, who explains that he has wanted to be a preacher since he was a kid, when he would walk down the railroad tracks preaching to the trees. (??????)

 

They explain to Pastor Danny everything started happening the day Eric moved out. Eric starts whistling innocently and walking away. Pastor Owens asks Eric is there is anything he would like to tell him.

Eric explains that six years earlier, when he was 16, he was extremely obsessed with gaming. There were times when he felt like he lost control of reality. Eric says that he wanted to experience power and control and be able to do what his characters could do. (I too, have been desperately attempting to become a level 17 half-elf dual wield fighter with warhammers named Drazor and Glacius. Dream big, kids.) He explains that it wasn’t a big deal to talk to strangers anonymously online. He did it all the time through his games.

In a flashback to the past, a message pops up on Eric’s screen inviting him to try a new game. It is a roleplaying game based on Heaven and Hell where you have to try and beat the devil. The mysterious “Magus” says he will put his name forward.

Eric doesn’t have many friends and isn’t an exemplary student. He wants to date Marnie, the most popular girl in school who, predictably, is a blonde cheerleader.

A few days later a private message pops up from Magus. He says “Hi Eric” which is concerning because he never used his real name online and no one knew who he was. Not super creepy at all. Magus asks if he still wants to play the game and sends him a link to a game called The Contract.

When Eric logs onto the site, the message boards are full of doctors and lawyers and police officers who are claiming that the game is the reason they have achieved all that they have. Magus asks if he wants to take the game to the real world. When Eric asks who he is, Magus says he is someone who knows him very well. To quote Arthur Weasley, “Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain”.

A few days later, while going to school, he passes a beautiful black car. A hand grabs his shoulder and when he turns around there is a very tall man in all black standing there. He carried himself well, is dressed nicely and looks successful. “You like the wheels?” he asks. “Yeah, what’s your secret man?” Eric asks. “I made my first million before I was 23”, the man replies. His eyes are baby blue. Eric says he “couldn’t take his eyes off of him”.

The man says “but you already know the secret don’t you? It’s not about the money. It’s about power, and you’re looking for it. Have a nice life, kid.” His license plates reads: Magus 1. He gets a private message from the guy asking if he is still interested.

When he asks what the contract is, Magus says it is a blood pact. Magus will send him the contract and at the bottom, Eric will sign his name in blood. A few days later, he prints out the contract and lights some candles for romantic mood lighting.

He pricks his finger and starts signing his name in blood. Following the instructions, Eric lights it on fire immediately after. As he does it, he thinks that maybe this will be real.

He tells Pastor Owens he signed a blood pact and the pastor is appropriately appalled, because seriously, WHO SIGNS A PACT IN THEIR OWN BLOOD??? Who DOES that??? There has never been a single story where someone has said “Well gee whiz, honey, I sure am glad I signed that blood pact a while back because goodness has life been swell since then and nothing bad has happened ever”. NEVER.

Overnight, Eric starts getting better grades. He feels more confident, Eric starts dressing like he has money, becomes far more popular and has friends and girls following him. He asks Marnie, the popular girl, out and she says yes. He feels like he has won life’s lottery.

After a while, Eric notices things are changing, and not for the better. Magus messages him saying he needs to recruit and get more people his age into it, that it is time for him to pay back his debt. He does a lot of his recruiting at his church. Magus says he is under his quota for this month and that they need more recruits for The Contract. Eric begins to question what he has done.

He starts to hear voices whispering in his ear that Marnie is cheating on him and that he should teach her a lesson. Magus starts to text him. Eric hears the voices all the time, constantly. The voices will tell him to hurt someone, like his mom, his sister, his dad. He feels like he is possessed by something and doesn’t want to hurt anybody, but that it is pushing him to kill someone.

There is one Sunday when he is sitting in church and feels the sense of being watched and followed. He and Marnie are passing notes back and forth in the pew. There is a little girl over to his right. The voices tell him to stab her in the neck with a pencil.

He feels like he is losing control of his mind. His fingernails are digging into the palm of his hand. He fights it as best he can, but is about to kill her when he yells “no” and runs out in the middle of the service. He tears up and is crying and hits the dashboard. He says he has had enough and is in a living nightmare.

Marnie breaks up with him when she realizes he has changed. He thinks she has started to recognize a darkness, an evil in him, and may also have noticed his alarming Hot Topic receipts. He tells Pastor Owens that there seemed to be no way out.

Back in flashback land, he wakes up from a dead sleep one night and sees a man standing at the end of the bed that says “don’t you disobey orders”. Eric thinks that maybe if he gets saved and gets baptized, it will go away. When he is in the water, he hears a ringing in his ears and hears the voices. They say not to do it and that this is his last warning. They say they will hang and crucify him. When he comes back up, he feels different. The voices go away and it seems like things are over and he can be normal again.

Pastor Owens asks if he understands the consequences of what he has done. The pastor says he has opened a door but hasn’t closed it. The demon has been here biding its time and is now starting to torment Gage.

They do a house blessing but when the pastor lays hands on Eric, a cold breeze comes down the hallway. Eric overheats and says he needs to go outside and get some air. Once outside, Eric begins making animalistic death growls that would put Amon Amarth to shame. Pastor Danny and his father attempt to hold him down, but Eric is straight up hulking out, and throws them both off. Ashley’s husband, Chris, tackles him and it is the greatest thing ever.

At this point, sh*t goes full blown Supernatural episode, and I was frankly surprised to not see Misha Collins getting in on some exorcising action. Pastor Danny blesses some water and pours it on Eric, who begins screaming. He continues praying. Eric opens his eyes, which are suddenly blue. He looks at his mom and sister and smiles, drawing them into his creepy baby blue eyes. As Pastor Danny continues to pray, Eric begins to twist in ways that a body shouldn’t. A black cloud streams out of his mouth (told you this was an episode of Supernatural) and every animal for miles begins to go off. Eric goes limp and lifeless.

Pastor Danny begins to worry that he has literally prayed someone to death. This is not at all groovy. This is not what the trees would want. Eric’s heartbeat begins to drop…but then he survives! Surprise! (Because seriously, otherwise, this would never have made it onto a Syfy TV show). But Eric feels real guilty.

This episode was a real standout for me. After five seasons, there isn’t a lot this show HASN’T covered. Werewolves? Check. Aliens? Absolutely. Creepy historic ghosts? More than you can shake a stick at. But this was the first time the show has managed to unearth a person who actually a) signed a contract in their own blood and wasn’t immediately alarmed by this fact and b) sincerely believes that said contract was with a demon. This was abundantly hilarious to me.

Beyond sheer hilarity though, I got to see the show through a bit of a new lens this week. My viewing partner (because I am far too big a sissy to watch this show alone) happened to be a medical professional, who very reasonably pointed out that hearing voices, seeing hallucinations, and having violent urges that seem outside of your control are all symptoms of a psychotic break.

So PSA everyone: don’t sign contracts in your own blood. But if you do, and start feeling weird, please see a qualified mental health professional before you see a man who preaches to trees. Also don’t talk to strangers on the internet who mysteriously know your name. Also don’t talk to strangers on the internet. Maybe just don’t be on the internet.

Seriously, stop reading and go hide.

 

Paranormal Witness runs on Syfy on Wednesdays at 10/9 Central, and is available to view on Syfy’s website.

Be sure to check out our other coverage on Syfy programming here.